Chapter IV: Christmas is Coming…
I know that y'all gave up on me during my very long pause. I am still here, however. What I started as a one-chapter peek into the lives of our favorite characters, turned into another whole short book. I began thinking it up before Christmas in 2018, and here we are still hanging around 5 years later. Life just keeps happening. Now we have 3 Saint Bernards, lol. There are at least a couple more short chapters, which I hope to put out before 5 more years have elapsed!
That night, all of the Green families living in Jericho gathered for dinner at Green Ranch. It wasn't terribly different than a usual dinner, since fully half of them already lived there, but it was nice for them to be able to visit, and they tried to get together once a month or so.
As they were being seated, the topic of refugees and how some particular issue should be solved was being bandied about by the adults. Brody and Chip, clearly paying more attention than the adults had given them credit, voiced their own view of the question:
"We should steal from the rich and give to the poor!" Chip shouted, brandishing his table knife like a sword and standing up on his chair.
Not to be outdone, Brody struck a similar pose and shouted: "You can be Robin Hood and I'll be Little John!"
April and Heather looked at each other, eyes wide, mortified. The Green family was undoubtedly the "richest" family in Jericho, and this outburst had the potential to offend the whole family.
"They got a copy of the old Disney movie 'Robin Hood' at the thrift store", Heather began by way of explanation, "They have been obsessed with it".
Fortunately, April and Heather underestimated the Green family. Johnston, who had mellowed considerably with the prospect of retirement fast approaching, was returning to his history teacher persona.
While the rest of the family chuckled, Johnston held up his hands to stop further maternal apology and indicated that he would handle the matter.
"Well, boys," he began, "That option has been tried more than you can imagine. In the First American Republic, they called it taxation. I'll give you an example. Let's say you wanted to buy another movie at the thrift store, but you have to earn the money yourself" he turned to Brody. "I'll give you $2 to wash my car. But now, here's Chip, who doesn't have any money. I'm going to tax you $1 and give it to Chip, so that he can have money, too."
Johnston sat back and waited a split second for the fireworks to begin as Brody realized what had happened.
"Wait a minute," Brody spluttered, "Chip didn't wash your car, why should he get a dollar?"
Johnston smiled at Heather, "You're doing a fine job educating these children," he reassured her. Turning back to Brody, he said "But you're rich! You're not even using that money to feed your family, you plan to buy a movie. That's a luxury. I'm definitely taxing you."
"Why can't Chip get a job and earn his own money? " Brody asked indignantly, arms folded across his chest. Johnston nodded.
"Why should I get a job when I can get free money for doing nothing? " Chip answered back defiantly.
"Exactly! " Johnston applauded the boys. "You have just boiled down into 2 sentences why socialism doesn't work. If we are compassionate to the refugees and give them food and shelter when they first arrive, and then expect those that can to become contributing members of the community, all will be well. If we continue to give them hand-outs indefinitely, they will learn to depend upon them, their dignity will suffer. They tried a form of socialism at Jamestown and almost starved." The boys nodded. They had learned about Jamestown. "It's been tried many times all over the world, and it has never worked," Johnston continued, "because people are better motivated to excel and invent and solve problems if they know they will be rewarded accordingly. If I tell you both I will give you $1 if you do an average job mucking the stables, or $5 if you do an outstanding job, which are you more likely to do? "
"Outstanding!" The boys answered in unison.
"Now, let's take one more look at dignity. You both know Cal and Lydia over at the Bennett Farm. They came to Jericho as one of the first refugees. They had put in a full life of work and could have been considered retirement age in a different world. But they were willing to work and to use their years of experience and wisdom to help the Bennett family. And Hope and Gil were willing to give them an opportunity. Now, five years later, Cal and Lydia have become the beloved grandparents to the Bennett kids and probably a bunch of other kids who lost theirs in the bombs. They will never want for anything as they grow older, because Hope and Gil, and then the children will always take care of them. I think that's a much better ending to that story than stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, don't you? "
The boys, wide eyed, nodded their heads. The adults at the table, who had been following the discourse just as closely as the boys, were also nodding and smiling. This was a side of Johnston they had not seen in many years, and some had never seen. As the woes of Jericho, not to mention the woes of the New Republic, were lifted off his shoulders, Johnston's mind was free to consider the philosophy of it all.
Eleanor hesitantly joined the conversation: "If I could interject our own story here. Your uncle and I could potentially have survived in out townhouse in Kansas City. We might have been able to put by enough food and water to sustain us. But it would have been a close thing, and a miserable existence, wondering if we'd planned well enough, if we would have enough to get through. By participating in the Planning Ahead process, by being allowed to come here and be a part of this family, even through nuclear bombs and a war, the past 5 years have been the happiest of my life. We have all worked together sharing the best and worst of times. I can't even imagine how horrible it would have been if we had ended up in a FEMA camp, having everything rationed, being surrounded by strangers. I know I've said it before, but I will forever be thankful to E.J. and to the rest of you for your foreword thinking and hard work."
By this point, dinner was cold, but no one cared. Everyone spoke at once, full of emotion, the rest of the Kansas City contingency echoing Eleanor's sentiments, the folks who had always lived in Jericho reassuring them that Jericho wouldn't have been the same without them. They shared laughter, hugs and tears. Eventually dinner was re-heated and eaten, but it was a conversation and a night none of them would forget.
Later that night, everyone who lived elsewhere had left and the children had been tucked into bed. Heather and Jake were sitting in the great room and talking with Uncle Emmett and Aune Eleanor over hot cider, a way they frequently concluded their day. A cheerful fire was blazing in the fireplace, warming the whole house. Heather had brought a basketful of socks to pair and fold while they talked since she felt better when her hands were busy (and there was always something to do).
"Socks!" She said ruefully. "That was something the Planning Ahead Committee didn't plan well enough."
Jake looked at her in puzzlement, since she obviously had a basket of perfectly good socks in front of her. Eleanor and Emmett chuckled.
"Everybody started out with a sock drawer, when the bombs fell, but no one took into account that we all would be doing a lot more walking post-apocalypse. Also, laundry practices changed. Gone was the convenience of washing delicate clothing separately, or loads sorted by color. If you were using the power, you filled the washing machine with everything waiting to be washed. So white gym socks quickly became gray, and soon developed holes. No one wanted to darn ratty gym socks. Those who had wool socks from before the bombs seemed to have less problems, so I asked McCall girls if they could start knitting socks. They could not: Something to do with turning the heel that was complicated, and they had never learned. Neither could I find anyone else in the whole town who knew how. Since the Amish ladies have helped us out in similar situations, we contacted them and were able to make arrangements. Erin McCall had been saving the fleece from her Icelandic sheep, not having had the time or need to process them. She was among the group who went to the Amish community, taking extra fleece and some salt from the mine with her in trade.
"The Amish ladies were delighted to have a different quality of wool to work with, and helped her learn how to wash, card and spin the wool in preparation for sock-making. Turning a heel wasn't difficult, but it certainly helped to have an in-person teacher to provide an example and help the ladies through the first one. From there, those who went on that trip came home and taught everyone else in town. All of Erin's fleece were immediately in high demand, so Erin put everyone she could find to work in carding and spinning.
"It was around that time that Ray Schmidt died suddenly – April thought it might have been a heart attack. Barbara had some kind of a mental breakdown or perhaps a stroke the next day and Erin was somewhat stuck having her and Thomas under her roof. Fortunately, Thomas had rapidly become beloved by the whole community upon his arrival in Jericho. It had started when he had taken his pony and cart around town to get to know people. His perpetual smile and warm greeting made everyone smile. Soon, people were asking him to deliver messages and small packages around town. Once that became customary, he became the replacement for the old postal service locally, collecting mail and delivering to City Hall, and delivering mail to townspeople as well. Rather than stamps or postage, people paid Thomas with eggs, garden vegetables, chickens or cuts of meat. Since he had no immediate use for these things, he gave them to Erin to use in the kitchen. Erin would have accepted this in return for the room and board of Thomas and Barbara, but then she had an idea. Barbara no longer spoke, but she sat and rocked in a rocking chair all day in the great room of Scout Ranch. Erin brought her carded wool and showed her how to spin on a spinning wheel they had received in trade from the Amish ladies. Soon, Barbara was spinning like a pro, and Erin was free to go about her many other tasks. Barbara was content to spin all day, stopping only at meals and when the wool ran out. Since we started with only one spinning wheel, this worked out well.
Knitting, on the other hand, everyone needed to learn. Much like the Scottish novels I used to read, if you don't knit yourself socks, you don't wear socks."
Jake interrupted her, looking at the socks he was presently wearing, "So, where did these come from?" He asked. He remembered new pairs of socks appearing from time to time in his sock drawer since the bombs.
Heather laughed self-consciously. "I knit them," she responded. "I wasn't very good at the beginning, but I think I've improved?"
"You're kidding," Jake exclaimed! He looked across the room. During their conversation, Eleanor had pulled out a ball of yarn and impossibly tiny needles and held them up to corroborate Heather's story. "These are amazing," Jake exclaimed, "Thank you, Hon, I'm very impressed!"
They all laughed at the lengths they had gone through since the bombs to retain their civility, and realized how much work their ancestors had faced every day.