by Mary Griggs
"I saw a several deer on our way up here." Piper interjected.
"Yeah, we're pretty isolated so the herds have come back. You won't have to go too far to go to get a good buck or two. Of course, there are more things with meat that don't have hooves. There are fish and birds and other animals. I've got some snares and traps in the basement that I haven't used in a while. I've also got fishing supplies." Jay turned to Martha. "Am I right in remembering that you used to fish?"
Martha grinned. "Oh, yeah. I really like fly fishing."
"Excellent. I've got several rods and reels in the closet. Check them out and see if they are good to go."
"And if they're not?"
"We'll base the trip to the river on the number of complete sets we've got. With a little cobbling and disassembly, we should have enough for a successful jaunt."
"When do you think we should go?"
"The sooner the better. How about in a couple of days for a fishing trip?"
"That shouldn't be a problem."
"Hold on," Doris exclaimed. "Why the rush? We're all exhausted and need to take it easy for a while."
"Because we need to take advantage of the good weather. It'll be getting colder and food will get harder to find."
"I don't see that a couple of days will mean starvation come winter." Doris whined.
"Don't worry, you don't need to kill yourselves. Believe me when I tell you that with everyone's cooperation, I think you'll be working less than you did to survive in Oakland."
Martha added, "I think I speak for everyone when I say let's err on the side of caution. I definitely want to have more food than we need and we can always stop hunting and fishing when we reach storage capacity."
"Agreed." It was only one word from Piper but the glare she shot across the table at Doris was unmistakable.
"In that case, I'll take you down and show you a good spot. There's also a smoker near the camping area, so you can stay down until you get a good haul."
Martha nudged her lover. Blushing, Susan spoke up. "I volunteer Martha and myself to be the adults who go fishing."
"Oh, I suppose you think a little holiday is in order?" Piper laughed. "Have we been cramping your style?"
"Stop it." Susan's blush covered her face and neck. "New topic. What are we going to do today?"
"I figure that Doris is right that you all could use an easy couple of days." Everyone nodded gratefully. "There is still the rest of the tour to get through too."
"You've got more than what we've already seen?"
"We didn't do the outside. There's the garden, greenhouse and the rest of the land. How about after breakfast, everyone comes with me down to the garden?"
Everyone agreed and so they made a procession, walking out the back doors to the edge of the cliff. On the way out, Jay picked up a plastic container of kitchen waste to add to the compost pile. She set it in a small box that sat on rails on the top of the cliff. She then pulled off the tarp that was covering an old exercise bicycle. The chain from it was attached to a pulley that in turn was attached to the cart.
"What's that for?" Susan asked for them all.
"I don't know about you but I figured that hauling all the veggies up those stairs was too much work." She stood near the crumbling edge and pointed to the rails that led down to the base. "It takes just takes a bit of leg power but you basically peddle the cart up the rails."
Jay led the group down the steep stairs that were cut into the cliff face. At the bottom of the stairs was a large open plot surrounded by a fence. "The only real problem I've had is with deer. I put the fence up to discourage them from eating all my hard work."
"Can anyone see it?"
"No. This part of the mountain is far enough from the road and inaccessible enough that it's pretty secure."
"It looks safe," said Doris.
"It also gets southern exposure." Jay waved them forward to first of the rows. "That way, we can have two good seasons of crops from here. I was alone this last year, so I only did one planting." She pointed to a hose. "I even put in an irrigation system from the creek on the other side of the house." At everyone's look of amazement, she grimaced. "Just count yourselves lucky that you missed the fun of laying pipe by hand."
She began to walk the end of the rows, gently touching leaves as she passed. "We've only got a few plants that are still producing. In the next couple of months we'll need to haul down a few loads of compost and turn the soil over to rest for the winter."
Turning back to the cliff face, she moved over to a tall, square box. It was painted camouflage to resemble the lichen-covered rock. She knocked on the side and smiled at her audience. "I bet you're wondering what this is?" After receiving nods, she opened the door to reveal a short, wide toilet. "It's a new generation outhouse."
"What do you mean?"
"It's a carousel composting toilet. There are four composting chambers that rotate as each chamber is filled. With the power from the solar panel on the roof, it warms the waste and, with a little help from some microbes, turns it into a rich mulch." She opened one of the chambers and pulled out a spoonful. "Dry, fluffy and odorless. Great, huh?"
"Is this what is up at the house?" The look of distaste on Doris' face was almost comical.
"No, those are low flow systems that with two flush options. For liquid waste, you get half the water as when you flush solids." She put her hands on her hips. "Don't get me wrong, we had originally planned on incorporating this system everywhere but, as it was, we didn't get around to installing them. Trust me, we have a pretty advanced septic system that requires very low maintenance." Jay looked around at everyone. "Hey, I thought you'd be pleased that you didn't have to climb all the way back to the house if you needed to go. This outhouse is damn convenient and incredibly efficient."
"Yes, it's wonderful all right." Susan tried to sound enthusiastic.
"I can't believe you guys. What system were you using back at home?"
"Stinky, smelly outhouses," Cody answered for everyone.
"This is so much better, right?"
"It is. It's just the reality of still having to handle our waste that is hard to get our minds around," Susan replied diplomatically.
"It was so much easier when we could just flush."
"Unfortunately, Doris, we no longer have the benefit of a infrastructure to handle it for us," Jay answered. "At least with this system, our impact on the environment is minimized."
Doris didn't look convinced. "I guess."
"I told you it wouldn't take you long to get spoiled." Jay rapped her knuckles on the outbuilding. "By the time you actually handle this stuff, it is quite a distance from actually playing with poop."
"And remember," Carol and Cody said in unison. "Everybody poops."
Everyone laughed at the potty training reference and Jay stepped away from the port-a-john. She walked over to an overhang area of the cliff and indicated that the group should follow her. When she got to the rock, they could see a recessed door in the shadows. Opening it, she showed them a shed that had been built into a shallow cave. Inside was floor to ceiling gardening and farm tools. There were scythes, rakes, shovels, hoes, augers and a number of unidentifiable things.
Cody pushed a wheeled machine with one finger. "What's this?"
"It's a seeder that opens the soil and drops the seeds a set distance apart. Works great for long rows so you don't have to spend all your planting time on your knees."
"Where did you get all this stuff?" Martha explored through the packed shed. "I've never even seen half of these things."
"All I can say is thank goodness for the Amish. I found a number of companies that still made things that didn't require any power aimed for that niche market." Her eyes brightened. "I stocked up well before things came to a head."
"You knew this was going to happen?" Doris' tone was derisive.
"Actually, I thought a massive earthquake was far more likely. I did think that the direction the country was going was wo
rrisome but who knew that anyone was crazy enough to launch a sneak attack against the blue states?" She opened up a five-gallon container to reveal a whole bunch of cotton gloves. She handed out pairs to everyone. "How about we pick everything that is ripe. Tomorrow, we should go ahead and can as much as possible."
The group spread out over the rows and quickly filled up the baskets. They were all sweaty and dirt smudged by the time they loaded the last basket into the cart. Jay sent Cody up to peddle the cycle to pull the cart up the hill. He was huffing when Piper made it to the top to relieve him.
Once everyone made it topside, they divided up the load of vegetables and carried the produce up into the house. Jay made them another salad for the midday meal.
After lunch, they walked around the pond. Martha tossed a couple of pebbles into the brown water. "How deep is it?"
"It's just a little over my head in the center."
"Are there any fish?"
"No, it really isn't healthy enough to support life." Jay widened her eyes. "That's an idea, though. Any of you know anything about water gardens?"
"Nope," answered Martha.
"It might behoove us to learn, although I've always just enjoyed floating on the water."
She led them over to an oddly shaped building on the other side of the pond. Surrounded on three sides by trees, it looked like a large golf ball partially sunk into the ground.
Opening the door into the geodesic dome, Jay held it for everyone to enter. The temperature inside was slightly higher than the outside. Bracketing the door were two avocado trees. Around the outer edge were raised beds, with a range of plants in various stages of growth. The center area looked like an island with six seven-foot tall trees surrounded by moat. Floating around the island were several sizes of plastic yellow ducks. While Jay waited for everyone to finish exploring, she pulled one of the ducks out of the water and made it squeak several times before replacing it.
Leaning her foot on a pipe that trickled water into the tank, she began speaking. "Water flows down from the stream in pipes. I buried the pipes about a foot deep but they're made of polyethylene, so they can freeze and thaw without rupturing. The water flows into this moat and the water mass helps to maintain an even temperature year round."
She walked over to one of the walls and thumped it with one finger. It sounded like a drum beat. "The polycarbonate panels only let diffuse light into the dome. That means that it rarely overheats. There are solar powered vents for when it gets too hot. It basically works like a chimney. The bottom ones open to let in cooler air and the roof ones release the hot air." She pointed her thumb outside. "The trees I planted around it are deciduous, so they lose their leaves in the winter and let the dome get more of the available sunlight."
"That means you can grow stuff year round, right?" Piper was sitting on the bridge that led across to the island.
"Yeah, that's why the beds are raised." Jay bent down and opened up one of the panels. She pointed at the pipes that disappeared to run under the dirt. "There is a fan that blows warm air through the pipes to keep the soil warm."
Cody stepped over Piper to walk around the island. He reached up and pulled a lime off one of the trees. "Is this what I think it is?"
"You betcha." She grinned at them. "I thought that living in California meant that everyone got their own citrus trees. Unluckily for me, I relocated to the Bay Area and was shocked to learn that they couldn't grow up here. I decided not to accept that and researched until I found a way to circumvent geography. I've got two orange, two lemon and two lime. They're a hybrid dwarf variety, so that is as tall as they'll grow."
"How much do they produce?"
"Not much fruit yet but I have high hopes."
"What are those trees?" Standing by the entrance, Susan shook the trunk of tree that was almost twice her height with oval dark green leaves.
"Those are avocado." She held her hands up, surrendering to their stares of disbelief. "A girl can hope, can't she?"
Martha asked, "What else can you grow in this place?"
"Year round, I've got herbs growing in here. See those boxes there against the North wall? That's basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, dill, mint and oregano. In summer, I grow stuff that needs a hotter environment like beans, peppers, more tomatoes, cucumbers, and edamame. In winter, I primarily grow onions, garlic, broccoli, and lettuce."
"I'm floored at the variety," Martha mused. "I never had a clue what you had going up here."
"Oh, and I've got some mushrooms going but I get most of them wild."
Susan shook her head as she took a circuit of the dome. "I'm noticing a pattern here.
Where're the rest of them?"
"What do you mean?"
"You never were much of a vegetable eater and I don't see that you're growing anything you don't like." Susan put her hands on her hips. "Fess up, Jay."
"So, there aren't any carrots, spinach, collards, or peas. No big deal."
"Do you have seeds for them?"
"Well, duh. She could reseed the garden of Eden, right, Jay?" Doris' asked sarcastically.
"Actually, I do. There are jars of seeds up at the house."
"Why?" asked Piper.
"Why what?"
"You don't particularly care for any others. Why would you have them?"
"Because I always knew that someday I'd get called on my selection. Besides, I wouldn't want to disappoint the nutrition police." She smiled at Susan. "Come spring time you can plant what you want. Even beets."
"I'll hold you to that."
"I said I'd let you plant them. Nothing was said about me eating any of it," warned Jay.
Laughing easily and teasing one another, the group continued to talk as they walked back to the house to start dinner preparations.
Chapter Seven - Stand By Me
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When I do the best I can,
And my friends misunderstand,
Thou Who knowest all about me,
Stand by me (stand by me).
Words and Music: Charles A. Tindley, 1905
When Doris appeared in the kitchen late the next morning, she was taken aback by the room's temperature. "Where is everybody?" she asked, wiping her brow.
"They're out and about," answered Jay. "The morning is almost over and you're the last one up."
"Why is it so hot in here?" she asked.
"I've got the wood stove fired up."
"What's going on?"
"I'm just gearing up for some canning." Jay finished filling another pot with hot water and placed it on the stove. "Since you're here, you get to help."
"Why me?"
"Martha and Piper have already left to gather some firewood and Susan is collecting herbs. You snooze, you lose."
"What are the kids doing?"
"They're out swimming. No reason to trap them in this steam room."
"But it's fine for us?"
"Sure. We're real women." Jay flexed liked a body builder.
"I guess."
"If you want to eat, you'll help." Jay's voice was sharp. On only the third day of their acquaintance, it never failed that Doris could push her buttons within five minutes of opening her mouth.
"Wonderful. Do I get breakfast first?"
"If you can eat it on the fly. As you can see, I've covered the table with canning necessities."
Doris walked over to the table and lifted up an empty jar out of a box of empty jars. The tabletop was nearly covered with boxes of quart jars and lids. Putting the jar back down, she opened up a large pager bag. She stirred the band rings and asked, "What do we need all this stuff for?"
"We've got to put up the vegetables we took out of the garden yesterday."
"It has to be done now?"
Jay suddenly appeared behind her. At the startled squeak, she grinned, "Now's as good a t
ime as any." She handed her a jar of honey and the basket of biscuits. "Not much but it should take the edge off."
Doris sat down heavily and pushed some jars out of her way. She flipped the towel off the basket. "I can't believe this is all that's left."
"Next time get up earlier."
"This is the first chance I've had to sleep in forever."
"You slept later than everyone else, so don't bitch about the chore choice or lack of breakfast."
Doris glared up at her as she stuffed part of a honey-covered biscuit into her mouth. She couldn't believe how rude the woman was being. "Is there any tea?"