by Tj Reeder
The green house roofs would be built on top of 5 ft walls made from earth bag construction using the sand and red clay from here on the place, after compaction, the walls would be almost 3 ft. thick with wire and concrete stucco on the outside, I asked why these type walls and he said without smiling “Bullet proof “I knew then that he had put more thought to this then I knew and that the days to come were going to be real interesting.
As for the ranch, it was in an almost enclosed horse shoe, the road in passed thru the narrow land bridge so to speak, it was about a quarter mile wide maybe more, the river while not deep in the summer still had a good flow and the course was cut deep around the ranch leaving high banks dropping right down to the water.
We talked about security and Sing asked if it would work to plant brambles on the facing edge of the river bank and then plant blueberry and raspberry’s in from the bank edge back about 10 feet as both an intrusion barrier as well as provide their fruit to the ranch larder, well both of us looked at her and she laughed and admitted she had been reading a lot of survival stories on the net…
I agreed with her on that for sure as I had taken many a walk in the woods around the area, between the brambles and such things and the heavy brush you didn’t get far real fast and you didn’t get there without bleeding a good bit. That project was the first we all voted on and we guys dumped it on Sing’s pretty head, it was her baby.
She also said we needed to think about all the work needing done and if we were going to hire outsiders to do any of it and if so we might want to bring in workers from outside the area as a security thought, this too was passed by the 3 person committee as we started calling ourselves.
Sing said she would start on the bramble wall right away, using a nursery from a city 75 miles away; she would call them the next day.
We also talked about how to close off the front of the ranch between the river bends, while not open by any means it was a way onto the property, we decided to plant the fast growing pine trees the area was known for after clearing out the brush in a 50 yard corridor across the front leaving all the trees already there.
With the ranch entrance being a road that zig zaged into the place, easy but slow access due to the turns, each would act as a choke point to stop intruders if needed, as we all knew it would be.
While Sing was looking to dinner Jody and I took a walk around the ranch house area, there was a nice barn built with the same logs as the house though several years later, a few of the usual out building, some old chicken houses and stock pins, no longer in use and in truth needing replacing, this was another project, what kind of small live stock would work best?
From having been in the area so long I knew a lot of the folks with small acre homesteads had Goats , because they were small, easy to handle, ate less then cattle and goats milk was good right from the goat to the table, no pasteurizing needed but the fat didn’t separate as with cows milk so no butter, So goats we would have and a few young milk cows and a bull to start a small dairy herd with the intent to sell the surplus milk locally “ As pet food only” this brought a laugh from us both.
We wanted a lot of chickens; all free range but in an area fenced to at least slow down the chicken eating critters which the area abounded with.
There was no need to have hogs as Texas had about 5 million wild ones running all over tearing up the country side, in fact they were breeding faster then shooting and trapping could control them so we wouldn’t lack for pork, all we had to do was shoot a few when it was time to fill up the freezers.
While Jody and I both loved Horses we agreed that only a few would be kept on the ranch simply because they ate way more then they were worth if not used all the time, That discussion brought up the idea of farming with horses and mules, another note on the rapid filling note books we both carried. So several of the bigger draft horses and a few riding horses which could be very handy if used enough to pay for their upkeep. More internet time looking for draft animals and harness for them, and the tools to go with them, plows and wagons and all the other things needed for an operating 1875 ranch. IF it came down to that, we had no intention of not having electricity and all the many uses for it, but we would need to create our own, not relay on the power company’s in any way.
I think we were both just starting to see the size of the task before us when Sing clanged to old triangle calling us to dinner, Jody laughed and said she had just been dying to use it for It’s original purpose , and it still worked as well as it had when it was first hung long ago.
Dinner was once more outstanding, I was looking at a big weight problem if I hung around here much, which was the next subject after dinner, over a pair of tall Beam ditch’s Jody brought up the subject of my moving out to the ranch, an involuntary glance at Sing showed she was waiting for my reply as well, after stuttering a bit I said well it would be handy and all but the old house was pretty small, Sing spoke up and said no, in fact there is a very solid well built basement under this place, which surprised the hell outta me! But Jody nodded and said because of the rise in the land ground water wasn’t the problem it usually was around these parts and that Sing had staked out one of the bedrooms down there so I had my choice of taking one up stairs or the second basement bedroom, well this caused some really wild thoughts to pop up in my head and I took a quick drink and choked on it, if you have never had the pleasure of squirting Jim Beam thru your nose, please let me say….DON”T !!!!! After both of them pounding on my back and laughing so hard they had tears we all settled down again… I was trapped on the back of a run away dilemma , being that close to Sing was a wonderful thought but I sure didn’t want to screw things up, Sing spoke up and said “Dad“? Well! That surprised me to no end, but Jody looked at her and smiled and then looked at me and said, when she wants to get her way she uses the “Dad” thing, the rest of the time I’m just Jody. Sing rolled her eyes and said that is not only so untrue it’s also unkind, then burst out laughing. She then reminded him that the idea was to set up the second upstairs bedroom as a computer/communications room with a bed for Song ( Who still had not made an appearance) Jody nodded and said well that is settled, your bunking down stairs. I wasn’t sure if I had slid into Heaven or fell into Hell, but whichever I was pleased.
After talking about it we decided that using my town house as a sort of bunk house for the out of town hired help was a very useful idea, mainly because other then the area where they were working they wouldn’t have a reason to see any more of the place, that settled we decided tomorrow we would start the tongues wagging by moving me out of there and onto the Ranch.
We agreed to meet at the usual time for breakfast and get the job done, Jody would bring his truck and a trailer, Sing would bring the ranch Suburban with luck we would get it done In one day, with that I headed out the door with Sing walking with me, at the truck she hugged me and said she would see me for breakfast and then she was gone.
After a night of tossing and turning and fitful dreams which I won’t go into here I did sleep some, after a long hot shower and then a dash of cold water I was awake and while not trotting off to breakfast I was able to walk to the café.
Jody and Sing were already there and Miss Ellie started bringing the food as soon as I sat down after giving a howdy and a nod to all. Me and Jody had our usual , but I sat there completely astounded watching little Sing destroy a small steak, 3 eggs, hash browns and 3 hot cakes and a large glass of milk and hot tea that Miss Ellie made from some tea Sing gave her.
Then the next surprise of the day if not year, Miss Ellie sat down with us and had a cup of coffee and watched that tiny little gal eat a breakfast that most men couldn’t handle, I can’t remember how many times I ever saw Miss Ellie sit down and have coffee with her customers, or as she called us, her “guests“, anyway it was a treat and a sign to the whole country side that Miss Ellie really liked Sing and everybody who wanted to be welcome in the Early Bird ever again had best note it.
I won’t
go into the day of moving because moving sucks, big time, but I became embarrassed that after 10 years I really had nothing much to move, the furniture was staying, so out side of my few cloths and such there just wasn’t much, Sing looked sad but Jody said, Sam, time for mourning is over, today you start living again and stuck his hand out for a shake, Sing did better with a hug that beat all the others she had given me.
All loaded and ready to roll in less then 3 hours, and Sing announced she was hungry and the café wasn’t crowded, I just shook my head, she usually ate like a bird , so lunch it was, with Miss Ellie joining us as the place was empty in the hours between breakfast and lunch, after we got our food Jody filled her in on what was going on and had happened so far and what we had planned up to that point, She just sat and listened and then said well you just do your thing and I’ll keep my ear to the ground to see what word gets out and who’s talking out of turn amongst the people you hire, as we were leaving she came over and hugged me and said “ Sam, I’m so happy for you, you’ve been sad far too long and it pleases me to see you smiling again, Now what that was all about I had no idea but as all were smiling I figured it was a good thing whatever it was.
Moving in took even less time then moving out had which was good, moving was a big PITA. After I was settled in we sat on the porch and had ice tea and talked about getting started on the plans we had so far.
Sing said the Nursery people would be here this afternoon to look at the job we had for them and to give us a bid, she had left them with the impression that they were bidding against several other nursery’s even though they weren’t, Sing had done her home work and said this was by far the best outfit in a hundred miles of here so they were getting the job regardless but they had to at least work at getting it.
Jody and I decided that Sing didn’t need us and we were going to drive into Tyler to get set up to start interviewing what we hoped would be the permanent ranch team, also we could look over the equipment dealers for farm equipment for the place, even though we were planning to use animals
For the farming someday we needed equipment to get started.
As we drove in we talked about all the things that could cause a national collapse , from economic melt down to nukes, we talked about it all, we both felt a collapse of the Market and the dollar was more eminent at this moment then a nuclear war.
But we both agreed that whatever might start the breaking of the dam so to speak it was going to be really bad for the people who survived.
We are a nation of free people who live in a society of plenty, anything that cut off the food deliveries to the super markets could cause mass panic, riots and ultimately complete break down of law and order.
The police would be helpless as would the National Guard, all of whom would after seeing it was a lost cause pull out for their own homes and families who needed protecting also.
People would be on their own and as things spiraled out of control many thousands if not millions would die, the elderly and sick, the young, all would fall victim.
Gangs or just people banding together would turn on the weak and take what they wanted, killing any who objected or just because they could, man would revert very fast and as the element that has always remained hidden came out into the light more and more would fall in behind them and become a human plague, feeding on the survivors until they too fell victim to somebody stronger and more vicious or maybe just hungrier.
Our plan was to save as many as we could while storing and guarding the information and works of the ages so that man would not have to fight for hundreds of years of darkness to make his comeback.
At least in this tiny bit of Texas US of A the lights would remain on and the rule of law would stand, Damn but we sounded high handed, but in truth all it really amounted to was a few people willing to put their money where their mouths were, and if nothing ever happened as we believed then we would still have a wonderful home and a place to grow old and no matter what, at the end of the day what more is there to ask for?
Chapter 3
Today we do the first interviews for a MD and tomorrow a Vet. The meetings were to be in a suite in a very nice Hotel, each interview would be done in an hour with a 30 minute break for the three of us, Sing would be the main interviewer while Jody and I would observe and ask a few questions as we came up with something.
Sing had narrowed it down to 3 young Doctors just out into the world, if the one wasn’t in this batch we would look elsewhere.
The first person showed up about 15 minutes late, from a room one floor down, his name was John, after he got over the tribal tattoos on the lovely Sing and had almost raised his lip Sing asked him why he was late and he got defensive right away and said that Doctors as a rule set their schedules and if they were late then it must be for a good reason, enough said!
Sing gave a frosty smile and said well how about your patients time? His reply was that they should know that when they were given an appointment time that it was at the Doctors convenience.
With that Sing stood up and said thank you for coming in John and good luck in your practice, well this took the wind out of John’s sails!! And his face turned red and he jumped up and lurched out the door, so much for that one!
We then spent the time reading the resumes on the other two , at the moment the second one was to be there the knock on the door came, we all smiled and I went and opened the door, this one was a young lady who’s name was Ellen, She looked at Sings face and cocked her head over and looked closely and smiled a nice smile , after the introductions Sing got to it, Ellen told us all about her life in a small town in Oklahoma where her family still lived, then about her academic life which was outstanding , after all the usual questions from Sing, Jody leaned forward and asked Ellen why she didn’t want to set up her practice in her home town, she answered that she would rather deal with strangers to begin with then people she had known all her life, that it was easier to tell somebody they were dying if you hadn’t know them all your life, well I sure could see that.
She also added that she had no intentions of working in a hospital that she wanted to be in a rural area and was going to be the kind of Doctor like her family doctor, one who made house calls and was more interested in his patients then driving a fancy car and playing golf.
So far Ellen was leading the pack, so to speak, I asked her how she felt about the 9/11 attacks, she said that as far as she was concerned the terrorist involved should get the usual fair trial and then be executed , And this with with a fire in her eyes and a quiver in her voice, I asked how she felt about the ones in Gitmo being interrogated harshly, she sat up straight and said she would be willing to go down and use the red hot pliers to remove a few finger nails if it made them talk.
Well I thought, you ask the question you get your answer. I didn’t say it but I was thinking I’d be willing to help her do it.
Jody asked her why she felt so strongly about it, she sat back and looked like the wind had gone out of her sails, and said my boyfriend all thru high school was killed in that war by a road side bomb set by a terrorist who didn’t have the guts to come out and fight and die like a man.
With that I could only nod and sat back to listen to the rest of the interview, Sing asked her is she could stick around for a while in the room we had gotten her, she stood up , smiled and shook hands with us all and left the room, Jody said well do we like her? I did and said so, Sing said she did but wanted to do the 3 interview as planned before we had a second meeting with Ellen.
The last meeting was a tiny bit better then the first but not by much,, He showed up on time but informed us that his starting salary was going to be 6 figures or no go, we had no problem with somebody being paid what they were worth, but we wanted someone dedicated to the people not to the bank account, after a few easy questions he was sent on his way, don’t call us we’ll call you. In fact it was over so fast he never even noticed Sings tats…no taste on his part!
After talking about Ellen a
nd how we were going to approach her on what we had in mind we called her back to the Suite, As soon as she walked In she pretty much won us all over, she had changed from the business suit and was wearing a pair of jeans with a tank top and very little makeup and had her hair down, she looked at us and laughed right out loud and said “well I figured you better see the real me instead of that blow dried Brooks Brothers wanna be, this is the real me take it or leave it.
Jody led us all to the more comfortable sitting room of the suite where he said, its happy hour someplace in the world and I’m having a drink who will join me? All three of us said me! And he looked in the mini bar and read off what was there, surprising nobody Ellen asked for a beer, we all dittoed that and settled down to chat.
Sing had left the room for a moment and returned wearing her Black jeans and a tank top and no shoes, Ellen looked and took hers off and curled her feet under her the way only women can do.
Jody sat a moment and waited for Ellen to get nervous, never happened, she made eye contact with him and never blinked or moved, just sat and watched in a relaxed way, he then said with no warning, I think we want you .