Sinagua Rising: A story of survival after a worldwide catastrophe

by R. G. Andersen-Wyckoff

  Using a #10 can, the bather dipped water from the warm water supply, wet themselves, and then soaped and washed. They could sit on the stool to help with balance. Using the #10 can again, they would rinse, all the time staying within the confines of the tub. Each bather would limit themselves to one five-gallon bucket of water. The ladies helped wash the children, who used less than five-gallons and someone would return to the field kitchen to replenish the warm water supply as needed. The women found this to be a time of camaraderie, though sometimes, as it was today, a solo bathing experience was a nice thing. After each bath, the tub was dumped and the water ran through the pallet, down the graded area under the floor, and out into the valley. It was crude, but it was effective.

  On the coldest days, a propane heater was used to heat the room.

  The men hadn’t taken to the group experience as quickly as the women but soon the method of bathing, reminiscent of the showers in bathhouses, and the group use became the norm. Others even helped pour the warm water over the head of the bather for rinsing purposes. That’s a good thing, Colby had mused, because this is the kind of bathing facility I have planned to build later up in the pueblo, albeit the permanent ones will be a lot nicer and have readily available hot water. Jack had hooked the small water heater in the trailer to the solar panels but it was sufficient only for minor washing at the sinks.

  Carly couldn’t help but smile as she rinsed off and remembered how quickly the men had reacted to the women’s plight. I guess we still have some influence, she concluded.

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  They skipped right over Thanksgiving as a holiday: their Thanksgiving was now July 10th, one week after the CME had occurred and the date of the first celebration in Duwa. They would celebrate next year. By the middle of December, however, as Christmas was approaching, thoughts began to turn to how they would celebrate this most important holiday.

  The weather had turned cold, mid 50s in the daytime and into the high 20s at night. From time to time there would be a dusting of snow, but nothing deep, though it would stay around for a few days because the ground was so cold.

  Deer could be seen in the early morning and at dusk grazing on the wheat sprouts that poked up through the snow and this gave Colby an idea. “Why don’t we kill and butcher a deer for Christmas?” he suggested to Bishop. “We can make a Christmas feast, something special for all of us.”

  “Great idea,” Bishop responded, “but I’d hate to have you shooting your rifle near the village.”

  “Don’t worry about that,” Colby said. “Remember, I’m a bow hunter and I think I know where I can get a buck without having to shoot one of those out in our wheat. As soon as I bag one Dad and Jorge can bring the ATV so we can hang it right away. We have a hanging rack made specifically for the ATV. The three of us can field dress it and then we’ll bring it back and hang it in the maintenance tent to age. We have just enough time to age it before Christmas and once it’s aged, Jorge can butcher it into manageable cuts.”

  “We can hook up the freezer to the solar panels,” Bishop said, “and that will operate the freezer most of the day. The night time temperatures are low enough that the venison should stay frozen overnight until the solar kicks in again in the morning, and, if need be, we can use a generator. We’ll have fresh venison to supplement our dried foods for quite a while. Where are you going to hunt, Cole?”

  “I think I’ll find plenty of deer using the Horse Mesa tank a little further up the mesa. I’ve hunted there before and always bagged my buck, so I don’t see why this time should be any different. And, it’s easy to get to with the ATV. I’ll hike up there just before sunset tonight and use one of the blinds I’ve used before. Dad and Jorge can wait with the ATV up on the mesa above the tank,” he responded.

  When the time came, Colby got his hunting bow out and made all the preparations necessary; coordinating with Bud and Jorge. A couple of hours before sunset he left them with the ATV and hiked down to the tank. The hoof prints and deer scat around the watering hole told him it was still heavily used. The water in the tank was not yet frozen, though ice crusts sparkled along the edge of the tank. He hid in a downwind blind that gave him a clear view of the water’s edge and would only require a bow shot of about 25 yards.

  It was a perfect set-up and he only had to wait about 90 minutes, until the last rays of the sun crested the mesa and leaked over into the tank, before a mule deer buck cautiously approached the tank. Its blue-gray winter coat made it difficult to see in the waning light. With head and ears alert he stood erect and surveyed the area around the tank, almost like he had a premonition, and then dipped his head to take a drink.

  Colby waited until he finished drinking and then stood erect again, showing his left shoulder to Colby. His arrow was true and hit the buck right behind the shoulder and into his heart. He dropped almost instantly. Colby moved slowly from his hiding spot, just in case the deer wasn’t dead. He didn’t want to get gored with those nice eight-point antlers. But there was no need to worry; the arrow had done its job. The does that had also been near the tank scattered as soon as Colby moved from his hiding place.

  Colby estimated the buck weighed upwards of 200 pounds and was probably around four to five years old. He would provide them as much as 115 pounds of venison. Doing the math in his head, he estimated that would provide at least eight meals for the entire village.

  Colby radioed his dad and within minutes the ATV was as near to the tank as it could safely get. The three of them dragged the buck to the ATV, hooked the cable around the rear ankles of the buck and hoisted it up. They then moved the ATV back up on the mesa, downwind of the tank, and began field dressing it.

  Bud and Colby had done this many times before and, with Jorge’s skills quickly eviscerated the carcass. Jorge set the heart and liver aside to be used for dog and cat food, even though they could have made good human food too. Colby placed the brains in a container to be used in the tanning process. They rinsed the carcass thoroughly with a firefighter’s water pack. The unusable remains, including the head but excluding the antlers, which Tanner had requested be saved, had been dropped onto a plastic canvas and were dragged to the edge of a small side canyon and dropped over the side. Coyotes and other wildlife would make quick work of the offal. They rinsed the canvas with the water back pack and headed back to the village. The carcass was hung in the maintenance tent on a tripod Colby had built in the period leading up to the hunt, with the canvas sheet beneath it to catch any drippings and a lightweight cotton sheet to protect the carcass from any flying critters. It would age there, with the skin on for six days. The temperatures were almost perfect for aging the venison.

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  On the sixth day Colby and Tanner began the skinning process so Tanner could tan the hide and Jorge could butcher the deer for storage in the freezer. Colby was the teacher and Tanner was a quick study. They worked carefully so as not to damage the hide or the meat. Once the skin was removed they laid it on a plastic sheet, and began the process of scraping all the remaining fat and tissue from the hide. They used a putty knife until they had it as clean they could get it and then carefully used a meat cleaver for the final cleaning. Colby had previously built a wood frame to stretch and dry the skin on and, when the hide was as clean as they could get it, they carefully washed it with clean water and soap. They then bored holes along the edges of the hide and tied it to the drying rack using sash cord. They stretched it as they went. All the scrapings were dumped in the small side canyon with the other carcass remains.

  Four days later, Tanner took the hide off the drying rack and, again using the cleaver, which was not the ideal tool for the job, carefully scraped the fur off the hide. While he scraped the fur, Colby cooked the deer’s brains with some water in a #10 can until the mixture resembled a smooth, thick soup. He once again washed the hide with clean water to remove any remnants of hair or epidermis from the skin, wrung the moisture from the hide and then rubbed in the bra
in mixture, covering every square inch of the hide. He rolled the hide up and wrapped it in plastic sheeting for 24 hours. The process of softening the hide, using a piece of broom handle while the hide was on the stretching rack, and then removing it from the rack and being hand stretched by Colby and Tanner until they were too tired to pull any longer, and then repeating the entire process, went on for several hours until they had no more strength. They then left the hide on the rack to thoroughly dry in the tent. It took several days, but when it was dry Tanner was sure he had an excellent, soft skin with which to make moccasins, vests, leggings, shirts or other articles. Of course, he would have to repeat this process each time they butchered a deer in order to have enough hides to accommodate the needs of the entire village over time. The whole tanning process had taken them six days, a considerable amount of work for just one hide. But, he thought, if the Sinagua could do it, so can we. We’ll just need to train more people in the process.

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  While Tanner and Colby had been tanning the hide, Jorge and Bud had moved one of the stainless steel tables they had salvaged from Tequa into the maintenance tent and, with the precision of an artist, Jorge butchered the deer carcass. It was the day before Christmas.

  Bishop took one large roast and moved it to the big barbecue smoker he had set up outside the maintenance tent, in which he used the last of their briquettes along with scraps of construction lumber to cook the roast. He basted the roast with a mixture of olive oil and spices that Michael had prepared for him. Other roasts, steaks, ribs, and stew meat were placed in miscellaneous plastic containers in the freezer, along with the heart and liver Colby had stored there earlier. The remaining meat was ground into hamburger using the meat and corn grinder Maria had salvaged from her home when they first moved to Duwa. Jorge also cut thin slices of venison to make jerky, which Michael marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar, and spices. They would let it marinate until the roast had been removed from the smoker, and then let the jerky cook long and slow. They knew that the ingredients for the marinade and basting sauce would not be available in the future, but wanted this first venison meal, and as many others as they could, to be as tasty as they could make it until the ingredients for making the marinade ran out. Again, any remains from the butchering were gathered into a five-gallon bucket and, along with the skeleton, were dumped in the same side-canyon they had used on the day of the hunt.

  This was the first time they had seen Jorge use his butchering skills and they were all duly impressed. He would be a major asset when they were forced to live more and more off the land; which was inevitable.

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  Bishop had spent the day restringing the colored lights inside the Meeting Hall while Travis and Jason had gone up on the mesa to find a Christmas tree. They returned with a small juniper, about three feet high that, using a shovel and pick, they had been able to dig up and place in a five-gallon bucket. Travis planned to replant it after Christmas somewhere in the village. Carly used some of the Christmas decorations Bishop had salvaged with the colored lights to decorate the little tree and the ladies again used the candles and table cloths to decorate the dinner tables. For many reasons, this would be a Christmas to remember.

  As they gathered in the Meeting Hall on Christmas Eve, Kiera asked: “Is Santa going to come tonight?”

  “Well,” responded Tanner, “I’m afraid he might not be able to find us this year.”

  “Why not?” asked Kiera.

  “Because we’re not living where we used to,” he responded, “and it’s very possible his sleigh and reindeer were grounded by the storm that caused all the fires.”

  “That’s not fair,” she blurted on the verge of tears.

  Todd, Colby and Maria’s youngest son, who was only eight, was visibly affected by the conversation, wiping the tears that streamed down his face and causing Maria to hug him close. None of the other children seemed to react.

  “Let’s just wait and see,” said Maria, as she winked at Michael.

  Then Travis, who had been quietly sitting in the corner near the radio said, “How about some Christmas Carols?” He pushed a button on a boombox and recorded Christmas Carols echoed throughout the Hall. Now Jason knew what Travis had brought back in the file box along with the boxes of worms. Travis explained that he had a whole box of CDs of all kinds of music they could listen to and could use to educate the children about music. Everyone joined in singing the familiar carols except the Amado children, who didn’t seem to know the words—or maybe had never heard the carols before. It was cozy inside the Meeting Hall with the colored lights on instead of the LEDs and the warmth provided by the propane floor heater. Slowly, as the children began to fall asleep in their parent’s arms, the families drifted away to their own tents with quiet “good nights” to the others as they departed.

  They woke to a dazzling Christmas morning. The sky was crystal clear and the sun’s rays fairly bounced off the soft white covering that still clung to the ground. The squeals of children could be heard from the tents as they found packages of candies beside their pillows. Michael and Maria had found packages of hard candies in the inventory of goods from the Disaster Relief storage shed. They had sequestered them for just such an occasion.

  “Santa’s been here,” said Manny, followed by “I knew he would find us,” from Todd.

  “But it’s only candy,” huffed Kiera.

  “Well,” said Tess, “that’s all that Santa brought us each year for Christmas. We didn’t have much and moved about a lot, so it was hard for Santa to keep up with us. But he always managed to find us and leave us some hard candy. Merry Christmas everyone,” she yelled out.

  The Christmas greeting was exchanged from tent to tent and even Kiera, who already had a candy in her cheek, said “Merry Christmas,” though somewhat more quietly than the others.

  Breakfast was hot chocolate and cream of wheat hot cereal accompanied by a batch of Maria’s now famous sweet rolls. Travis’ Christmas CDs played in the background. The little Christmas tree sparkled with the tinsel Carly had wrapped around its thin frame and the few small ornaments its limbs could sustain without drooping.

  The day was spent relaxing, chatting, and reading, while Tara, Carly, and Jess entertained the children. They could all smell the tantalizing aroma of the venison cooking in the smoker and, though breakfast had filled them up, they could hardly wait for dinner.

  Dinner was served in the late afternoon because no one wanted to wait any later and the venison was ready, having been basted regularly for the past 24 hours as it cooked. The table had again been set with real plates and utensils and the food was served to the tables by Maria, Estella, and Tina. Jorge sliced the venison roast and each plate was given a sizeable portion, along with steaming corn, green beans, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Maria had also baked some rolls to complete the meal. What a feast!

  Before the meal began, Bishop had everyone hold hands, while he offered a Christmas prayer: “Lord, as we celebrate your birthday, we ask your blessings on our community. We thank you for protecting us all from the dangers of this past summer and for bringing us all together in Duwa. We thank you for the talents of our members and for their willingness to share those talents for the greater good of the community. Bless this food and the people who have prepared it, and keep us all safe and healthy, we pray, Amen.”

  Everyone, including the children, echoed the “Amen.”

  Everyone was complimentary of the chefs, Bishop and Michael, for the tastiness of the venison, and no one questioned that they were eating deer meat. Even the children didn’t question where the meat had come from which, to Colby’s way of thinking, was good, because they would be eating a lot more venison over the coming years.

  The evening was crisp and clear, as the day had been, and all gathered around a campfire to sing and enjoy each other’s company until it became too cold to stay outside any longer. As they all climbed into their beds they were serenade
d by coyotes that sounded nearby. The coyotes were still enjoying the leftovers from the deer carcass thought Colby. Nature’s dispose-all!

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  Things settled into more or less of a routine for the balance of the winter. It took the villagers some time to get used to the cold weather, at first wearing several layers of clothing, but as their bodies became more accustomed they were able to shed some layers. Inside the Meeting Hall they used the electric heater less and less as time went on, more in the evenings than during the day. The evening campfires slowed as the cold increased because it took too much wood to feed the fire, and they all agreed that was wasteful. A good lesson for the future: they would need to lay in major wood supplies before winter, scavenging more and more from the Village in order to use less of the nearby supply.

  One evening, as they were all gathered in the Meeting Hall socializing, as was now their normal routine, Chloe came in and jumped up onto the couch with Kiera.

  “Look, Grandma,” Kiera exclaimed to Carly, “Chloe’s here!”

  “I see,” replied Carly. “I wonder how she got here. Someone must have left the tent door open and she got out and then got in here when the front door was opened. I guess we’ve locked her up long enough and we’ll just have to see what she does with her new-found freedom.”

  And so another chapter was opened in Chloe’s life: the freedom to roam at will through the village; assuming someone let her out.