Shaken, we rode back to the horse farm, put the horses in their stalls and we all piled into the Coyote and drove back to camp. Tay and Teckla stayed in camp tonight.
Vespers were quiet, and yet the little that was said was heartfelt thanks that we had not suffered a worse fate than a few broken windows and a few trees down.
(Lance) Wow, just wow, nature in all it’s might, we had a storm like I have never seen before, lightening, the flagpole took a hit. The wind was wicked, we had a bunch of trees and leaves get blown down. Then there was the hail. I think we lost a half dozen of the solar panels. Some are obviously dead, but some may be still functional.
What I don’t understand is how the wind turbine survived. I am thinking that it had to be spinning at like 70 miles an hour. But it is still standing, and spinning at its usual pace. That would have been a big loss.
When Margo and Code got back they told us about the tornado that set down probably a mile or so from the camp. We were lucky, we never would have had a chance in these cabins, and there is just nowhere to hide.
Dinner was a little late tonight and a little light. Everyone was out trying to clean the place up and make certain that we did not have any safety issues like dangling wires, and such. Even Nick and Grace were out checking things, hence, salads and canned soup tonight. The good news is that the kitchen / dining room and food storage areas were unhurt.
Teckla and Tay came back with Margo, and Tay did a run through of her food inspection and inventory. As I said, we were not hurt by the storm.
(Matt) I could feel the storm; I knew it was going to be a strong one. I did not expect it to be as strong as it was. I didn’t expect a tornado in such close proximity. I know we have had them close by in the past, but you forget, or you put it to the back of your mind.
Tanya was pretty frightened by the storm, even after being out here for the last year and a half, she was a city girl and they never had any storms like this one, so up close and personal. I think I might have even heard a curse or two aimed at Mother Earth escape her lips.
I spent the reminder of the afternoon cutting up trees that had fallen. It’ll help us come winter and has made our efforts to supply ourselves with firewood a little easier. It’s right here, ready to stack, we don’t have to transport it.
At Vespers tonight we all were thankful that no one was hurt and that our damages and losses were minimal. Really based upon the information from Mom and Tay, we could have been in a very bad situation. Tomorrow, when I go out to check the corn fields and crops I will swing by the devastation. But tonight, it is all about family, being together, being safe.
June 23rd
(Lance) We’re still cleaning up after the storm, I have checked the wind turbine and we are still getting power from it. A total of 8 solar panels were damaged to the point of being no longer working. We have some spares so Code, Mark and I will get up on the roofs and do the replacements tomorrow. I spent the afternoon getting the replacements ready to go. It should be pretty easy, basically just take off the old ones, refit the new ones and plug them into the grid.
The good news is that while I am in repairman mode I am off the hook for Little Bo-Peep duty, and that is kind of good. It is so boring.
Beyond that, things are pretty much back to normal. I mean no one is freaking out about the closeness of the tornado, nervous, yeah, but not freaking out. God, I just thought about Ethan, he would have been having kittens.
Wow, I had not thought of him in a while. He was a nut, but back then, so was I, and that doesn’t imply that I’m not still a little whacked. But Ethan was kind of a special little snowflake. So many, so many have died, yet we hang on, we fight back, we keep on.
(Matt) Tanya and I headed out to the veggie garden first thing this morning, the damage there was not too bad, and in fact, it was pretty much intact. A couple of tomato plants were broken, but that was all.
The cornfield, that also was not too badly damaged, some of the stalks were bent over and broken. I would guess that we lost about 10% of the corn. The pole beans were fine, they held up okay and the squash was not hurt at all, they are close enough to the ground that the wind did not mess with them.
We took the broken corn and gave it to the sheep and horses for feed, can’t let it go to waste.
It was another warm day and we all have our tasks to take care of. Tanya spent much of the afternoon in meeting with Charlene and Teckla, The Three needed to get a grasp of the overall damage and any problems that might have arisen from the storm. They have pretty much concluded that we are good with our situation. Some minor issues like the lesser corn crop, but overall we’re good.
Tanya told me that there was a discussion about a storm shelter or things we could do to protect ourselves if this happened again. Really, there is not much we can do, maybe build a little underground shelter, but really how likely would it be that this will happen again. The consensus is that it would be a waste of time.
The heat is back, and so it the humidity, but we worked through it, we should be cleaned up from the storm by tomorrow.
Teckla and Tay headed back out to the horse farm around noon. They had not suffered much damage although they were much closer to harm’s way than we were. But they needed to tend to the horses, water, and feeding them.
Vespers tonight was light and short, between the heat and the heavier than usual work most of us turned in early.
(Margo) Code was working with the guys cleaning the place up. I ended up getting the call to play Sheep Herder. I guess I am okay with that, I really would rather do that than to pick up sticks, saw trees and move wood.
It was quiet out at the pasture, no moments of concern, no circling of the flock. Lucy was good with everything. It was actually kind of funny, one of the sheep wandered off to the far side of the pasture and she took off after it and chased it back into the area of the rest of the sheep. I think she picked that up because a couple of times I had done the same thing over the last month.
Code and I did a little lake time at sunset, just to cool off before sleep, we missed Vespers tonight. He was very tired from his tasks of the day, and I, well, an early night sounded good.
June 24th
(Lance) It was a cool, foggy morning, it was kind of weird, and it reminded me of something from a sci-fi movie. You could hardly see the lake from the cottages even though it was only about 50 feet or so. But it burned off by 9:00 and we were up on the roofs replacing the solar panels. The Major stopped by to see how we were doing, and before long we had a small audience looking up and pointing. But that did not last too long. The heat started to kick in and the humidity was brutal. Unfortunately, we needed to get it finished, and we did.
Lake time in the evening, before dinner; I had considered a shower, after all the sweating on the roof, but the lake did what I needed it to do. I am feeling cool and refreshed….damn, sounds like a soap commercial.
We used to all gather in the dining room during the winter to watch movies and play games. Now we go to the Fire Pitand tell stories, or listen to Matt talk about how we should live now, or in some cases sing, (Grace and those stupid rounds of hers). But it is peaceful, and just nice.
(Matt) We finished cleaning up the corn stalks that had been knocked over and brought them to the sheep pen. It will be soon that we will have a couple more sheep in the flock. There are two ewes that are looking close to birthing.
Tanya and I talked about the storm the other day and began to do a “what if” thing. What if there was another tornado, or what if there was a hurricane, or even for that matter, another meteor. And we realized that the “what ifs” were pretty meaningless to us. How would we know about the hurricanes, unless maybe we got word from the Pittsburgh, and even then, what is the likelihood that we would even see it here in the Albany area.
The tornado, or a meteor, well, there wasn’t much we could do on that one, it would be here with little warning
The topic was one that we spoke of at Vespers tonight,
and although it was unsettling to a number, if not most of us, it is a harsh reality. Lance said that he would try to reach the Pittsburgh and see if they, or what they had for weather tracking, at least in one case we might be able to get some hint.
Mom and Tay rode over tonight on the horses. Tay has named hers Magellan, and Mom has gone with Ranger. So now we have five of them named and can be ridden that I know of. There is also Lemon Drop, Strawberry and Chuckles. We are up to nine in the herd, and there may still be a couple more out there.
(Margo) I am little Bo-Peep and have lost no sheep….yeah, that was my day. I did some sketching, the mountain lion, that was what I was working on. It, she, has kind of become a fascination. I think about her, I will call it her. She makes me interested in learning more about them, from the spirit animal approach. I think that Lucy, I love Lucy, is a great animal friend, and she is loyal, and smart, but there is something, a connection with the lion.
It was foggy, then hot, and miserable. I look forward to and enjoyed some lake time. Code was in with me, and actually most of the crew was splashing and floating just before dinner.
Even the Major and Charlene hit the lake it tonight, we don’t often see them in the water. They are so cute, for old people. They’re often holding hands, or acting like a couple of teenagers. They are more into that than us actual teens, ha, ha, raging hormones!
It makes me think a little about, what do we call them, “bonded pairs”, and how they interact. Code and I snuggle and stuff, in private, but not much goes on in terms of public displays of affection. Mom and Tom were kind of that way, maybe it is just a sort of what we learned thing. Maybe I should change that a little. It is like, who cares.
Vespers tonight were kind of a downer. Matt and Tan started talking about the tornado and that it could happen again. They talked about hurricanes, or more stuff falling from the sky and how we have not real protection if it does. Yeah, I am gonna sleep well tonight. But then, when you think about it, how is it any different than it was before all the stuff started. It is all something we have little control over, we might get a little warning, but for the most part we are in the mess and have to hope for the best.
Code and I snuggled.
June 25th
(Margo) I had a dream last night, about a mountain lion. It was kind of weird, it was just sort of there, sitting, looking at me. It didn’t attack, or it didn’t run away, it was just staring at me. I was not afraid, I just stared back. It was like it was reading me, studying me, maybe even judging me. I want to talk to Matt about it; I know that he had dreams when he and Tanya were on the road.
Had the day off from Bo-Peep’in it so Code and I headed out to the horse farm. I spent the day working with Lemon Drop and Code had some chuckles with Chuckles. Teckla and Tay worked with him a little; they gave him some lessons about using his legs and not sitting flat in the saddle. By the end of the day he was getting pretty good at riding, his legs were sore, from the posting, but at least there were no butt sores.
I keep coming back to the dream, the mountain lion. I need to talk to Matt, maybe at Vespers tonight.
(Lance) I did a run early this morning, I have, we have been lax of late. Del went with me, and we took it easy. We just chatted along the way.
“So the solar thingies are all fixed?” she asked.
“Yes, the solar panels are all repaired, so we are good there.” I answered.
“Any other projects that you need to work on?” She was clearly just making conversation because she knew what I had on the fire.
“Well, I still have the fuel, diesel fuel issue. I don’t think I can make it, the bio diesel idea is not a practical one.”
“Oh, the horses could be a help, but what if we need to bug out, how far and how much can we carry.” She said, kind of thinking out loud.
“Yup, unless we can find a big source of fuel we are pretty much stuck.”
“Yeah I know, with the horses we could send out some scout parties, there has to be something somewhere within like 50 miles that may have a big supply.” She offered.
“True, but I am not thinking I want to spend a week on horseback, I can only imagine saddle sores the size of Frisbees, poor Code.”
“Hey, if Code can learn to ride, so can you! Besides, it isn’t all that necessary that you go riding yourself. There are a number of others who could do the scouting, Matt, Margo, Tay, Teckla and probably a couple of others.” She added.
“True, I guess, maybe when I get back I can do some looking at the maps and try to figure out where there may be a fuel depot of some kind. I am thinking that it would, or should be near the rail lines, but we never saw anything near them at Hinsdale or Pittsfield.”
The chatting worked because we were back at camp with an hour run behind us, and it seemed like nothing. It was still early enough so the heat had not kicked in yet.
I spent the rest of the morning looking at maps, I had a few ideas. Matt stopped by and asked what I was doing. I told him.
“Would an airport have some type of fuel?” He asked.
“It could, I hadn’t thought of that, I was thinking diesel, but I think jet fuel would also work.” I said slowly, the wheels were turning. I would have to check with Stephen, he would know better than I would.
(Matt) Standard day in Farmland, doing Farmland stuff. We are good there. The rest of the day was a laid back kind of day, I was able to get Tanya into the water this afternoon, and it did not take much persuading because of the heat. She is actually getting very comfortable with it, although the head still says above the water.
Vespers were interesting tonight, Margo once again started asking about spirit guides, and what they mean or do. It was as I told her, they, the guides, watch over you, give you a sense of direction to your life and that they share their traits with you.
“How do you know what the traits are?” she asked.
“Ah, well that is more complicated, because in many cases it is about what the individual sees as the traits.” I answered. The circle around the fire seemed interested so I continued.
“Do you recall when I found the old Native American axe?”
Some heads bobbed up and down.
“Well, I think it was more a case of it was shown or given to me by the Raven. I have always associated with the Raven, ever since I visited Alaska. It is just a creature that I resonate with.”
I continued.
“I think that Tom used to resonate with the Coyote, I can’t explain it from his standpoint, but from mine, the bird just was there, it had magic, a link to things beyond what I had seen in the world. It was a connection to the great existence.”
“Did you dream about the Raven?” asked Margo.
“Yes, and with time, we talked in those dreams.”
She looked at me for a long time, there was a question on her mind, but she was not ready to ask it, yet.
We broke up about the usual time and I expected that Margo to come visit and ask more questions, but she didn’t. Yet, I know she will soon enough.
June 26th
(Margo) Code and I headed out to the horse farm this morning, the weather was decent and we figured a little time in the saddle would be good. I was not so worried about me, I am doing well in the riding department, but I think that Code felt he had to get better at it, especially if we are going to start doing scouting missions. He does not want to be left behind.
When we arrived there were a number of people, some I did not expect, already there. Besides Teckla and Tay, we also had Matt, Michelle, the Major and Chels. Chels was on Strawberry. Michelle picked a name of Rascal, a nice little paint horse, and the Major opted to name his mount Grey, because, well, it was. We all were interested in the idea of riding, although I am not sure that the Major and Chels were planning to go on the scouting trips.
It was challenging for the new riders, the horses that they were working with had not yet been ridden by anyone other than Tay or Teckla, and so those horses were a little skittish.
Chels seemed to be the least adept at the horse thing and kept trying to rely on Tay for help. It struck me odd at first, but as the day progressed I noticed that for the much of the time Chels was just staring at Tay. Tay was cordial, is that the term? But she was a little uncomfortable around Chels. I think I get it; Chels is trying to hang on.
Overall the riding turned out well, and we were comfortable with riding as a group by the end of the day, even Chels. I wonder how much of her “I need help” approach was really a need and not a desire to be near Tay.
As we were getting ready to go back to camp Chels tried to stall, and stay longer, she offered to stay out there at the horse farm for a while but Teckla, Momma Teckla, stepped in and told her that they really did not need to have her stay but maybe down the road that could happen, but for now she and Tay had things that needed to be done and had a routine worked out. Clearly, Teckla had a handle on what was happening, and was trying to prevent a problem.
Back at camp it was business as usual, Vespers, stories, songs.
(Lance) Del and I did the Bo-Peep thing today; we brought out the sheep, and settled in for the day. She was bored and spent some of the time wandering around the field, or just practiced aiming her rifle. Lucy was with us and she has become quite the little herd dog, it is amazing to see how she keeps the pack, together.
I brought along an atlas and just looked at the maps for the surrounding area. I found that there were a number of airports, most of which were little local things. There are a couple that were close that were larger, the Albany International, and then there was the Schenectady County Airport. Both of them looked like they were good sized and might have a good supply of fuel.
The Event Trilogy (Book 2): The Gospel According to Matthew, Margo & Lance Page 29