For the disclaimer, please see the Authors Note at the beginning of Chapter 1
The Journals Of Elizabeth Anne Green
Chapter 3
Tuesday July 26th
With all the hubbub Mama, Maggie and I kind of let the house go a bit so when Daddy and I got home from the clinic Maggie and Mama had the cleaning in full swing. Shawn was putting the siding on the stable with Uncle Otis and Newnan Mechanical had just left. They had the pipes and installed everything.
Barney was sitting on the porch twitching his tail agitatedly and pacing back and forth on the railing watching the work going on. He was not happy about the assault on his home. Barney is a barn cat. He is fiercely protective of this territory. We haven't seen a rat or mouse in the barn since he moved in, except dead, placed on the bottom step of the porch.
The woman who gave him to us had taken him to Daddy's clinic. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. She had bought him from a pet store in Atlanta as a kitten six months before. He was aggressively playful and at first her daughter loved him. Over the weeks and months that followed he began attacking them viciously and constantly and she wanted to know if having him fixed or de-clawed would help. He is a pure breed Birman and he had won a competition a month before so she really wanted to be able to breed him with the female she had at home. In the end she opted to have him de-clawed. Loosing his claws did not make him defenseless or more gentle. In fact, it made him even meaner. So mean that he had started biting people and other pets in the house. Now, Daddy had guaranteed that if he didn't calm down in a week or so, that she could bring him back and Daddy would give her back her money from having him de-clawed back and that Daddy would find him a new home. Barneys reputation was already well known and no one wanted the spitting, hissing demon. I was six when Daddy brought him home. I had been down because one of the kids at school had been mean to me. Daddy saw me and patted the chair on the porch next to his and began to ask me how my day was, when this massive fluff ball hopped onto my lap and started licking my chin and purring. Daddy, thinking it was safe, reached out a hand to pet him and got bit up pretty bad.
Since then I've been the only person he really tolerates. He was not tolerating the people in his barn well at all so I tried to soothe him with some catnip. Catnip makes most cats hyper, however it will knock Barney completely out. It worked for an hour or so.
When I walked inside there was bread rising on the counter and more was in the oven. Mama said when it comes out I can take a few loaves over to Shawn and Jennie. Jennie is at work at the Little Sue and won't be home until 8pm so I don't need to rush over there or nothing.
Gertie got a job as a cashier at the Food Lion. She starts Monday.
Wednesday July 27th
I was listening to the radio this morning while hanging the laundry and heard about a state of emergency in Missouri. Homeland Security thought there has been a terrorist attack on St. Louis using a modified version of rabies. What ever it is has been making people get a fever and become violent. A lot of people were leaving St. Louis in a panic and that there were traffic jams and that the National Guard had been called in. At the clinic I had the radio on and Rock'n'Randy kept interrupting the music for updates on the Missouri situation except it isn't a Missouri problem. By lunch time there were reports of human rabies in Indianapolis and Chicago Illinois, Kansas City Missouri, Louisville Kentucky, Nashville and Memphis Tennessee, and a few towns in Arkansas.
A lot of people called the clinic to ask about rabies vaccinations for themselves or their kids. While Daddy didn't discount the notion entirely, He told me he can get in a lot of trouble if he practices veterinary medicine on people. Something about scope of practice laws. He told me to refer them to their doctors or the hospital. Several people walked in asking for rabies shots and were kind of irritated that Daddy and Dr Pierce wouldn't do it. Finally, I made a sign and put it on the door.
Mama and Maggie had picked a bunch of tomatoes from the garden. She says canning season is upon us. There are wax beans and green beans and squash cucumbers that will be ready in the coming days too. The berry bushes are ready too, and she sent Maggie and I out to pick raspberries. We picked three bushels between the two of us. Tomorrow Aunt Patricia is going to come over to help Mama, Maggie and I can berries, squash and peaches. Shawn carried all the jars up from the root cellar then went back to the stable to finish working on the interior. When Daddy and I got home, Mama and Maggie had already canned 10 gallons of tomato sauce, 10 gallons of stewed tomatoes, and 7 Gallons of salsa. In all we canned over 7 gallons of raspberry jelly, 5 gallons of raspberry preserves and 5 gallons of raspberry spread. Tomorrow we start peaches. We will probably do peaches daily for the next couple of weeks.
Daddy thinks the stable will be ready for the final inspection Friday. Several people have already booked boarding for their horses and Shawn is very excited about the prospect.
Thursday July 28th
St. Lewis has been entirely over run with people who have the rabies. The army is being called in to control the whole state of Missouri. There have been a few outbreaks in the neighboring states but the CDC says that they are being contained. Daddy doesn't think it is as serious as the news portrays because they often exaggerate and inflate stories for ratings, but I'm kind of thinking that it's awful to inflate a story like this. It's scaring folk.
Aunt Patricia, Uncle Otis and Jimmy came over today to help on the farm. Uncle Otis and jimmy are helping Shawn finish the stable and Aunt Patricia is going to help with the canning. They brought 10 bushels of zucchini and seven bushels of rhubarb. They are going to stay over tonight, tomorrow night, Saturday night, observe the Sabbath and drive back home Monday morning.
Shawn and Daddy brought the portable gas burners out of the shed so Mama could do the water bath outside in the shade of the trees. Mama and Patricia washed the produce out side too, so they could get out of the heat.
Mama sent Jennie, Maggie and I berry picking again, while she and Aunt Patricia canned in the kitchen. I'm happy to be outside, with all the canning going on. Every window and door has been propped open and there are box fans in all the windows, but all the canning is still making the house feel like the inside of a volcano. We are almost positive there are no more berries to pick now. We washed them, sorted them, mashed them, simmered them, strained them, packed them into jars and water bathed them. We also picked peaches, scalded the skins off of the peaches, mashed them, sliced them and processed them into plain canned slices, preserves, pie filling, jelly and nectar.
The whole house smells like peaches and berries. I love canning season.
Friday July 29th
Today I managed to get away from all the caning because I was at the clinic, but I think it would have been better if I had stayed home. People are really getting upset. Dr. Pierce set up the answering machine to direct people who wanted to know about rabies to press one. When they do, it sends them to a recording that tells them how rabies is spread, the symptoms and instructs them to call the hospital or their primary care physician. If they press two it directs them to a recording about our hours and location. If they press three it rings the desk phone and I take the call. I was still yelled at for being heartless a few times but not as constantly as before he changed the phone system.
We still had several people show up wanting vaccinations. Jedediah Jenkins threatened to shoot Dr. Pierce if he didn't vaccinate him and his kids. I was in the bathroom when that happened, and when I heard that I called the Sheriffs office and they sent three cars. When Jed saw the police he stopped threatening. Daddy talked to the police and also talked Dr. Pierce out of pressing charges.
Part of the reason people are scared is that there are huge outbreaks in a bunch of other states now. The national guard has been called up in other states and the military is on alert. The reservists have been called up, and on the news they were saying that retirees under the age of 55 are on standby and need to contact the military instillation closest to them because they may be called back into service.
Some of the news shows are saying that Missouri may have to be evacuated, and that the military is trying to contain the entire state. Refugee Centers have been set up in Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, Okalahoma, and Kentucky to handle the numbers of people who are sick. Hospitals in a lot of the cities have been over run, and there have been riots and looting by people.
When I got home I watched the news with on TV with everyone. We don't watch TV much, so, when I got home and the TV was on in the middle of the day I was a bit surprised. On the news while the reporter was talking we were watching what was going on behind him. A woman ran past him screaming "RUN" as she went. Within moments more people could be seen running in panic. The news guy just stood there ignoring everything as he read the press release about how the National Guard in co-operation with local police and the Army had everything under control, and that Memphis, while under a state of emergency, was completely fine and that the outbreak was contained. Suddenly he was grabbed by a man running past who bit him. Then some more people grabbed him and started ripping him apart and it seemed like they were eating him. When it was clear what was happening the news channel cut to the news room but you could tell that Bryon and Cindy were in shock, and Bryon announced that they were having technical difficulties and that they were going to a commercial break.
I was horrified. I don't watch scary stuff usually, it just isn't my thing. I prefer romance or comedy, That's why I made Jennie and Gertie take "Dawn of the Dead" out of the VCR after 20 minutes. Mama and Patricia looked ill. Daddy looked worried. Otis looked sick, Shawn ran to the porch and did get sick and Jimmy looked disturbed.
Mama's timer went off then and Mama used it as an excuse to leave the room followed by Patricia, Jennie and I. We went to the kitchen and got busy with canning. About an hour later Maggie joined us and told us about what was going on. The riots that had been reported weren't riots at all in the normal sense. The government, in efforts to reduce panic hadn't wanted people to see what was really happening. Apparently, people infected with the virus go so crazy and violent that they will bite and scratch anyone, don't seem to respond to pain or recognize anything or anyone around them. Anyone they bite will get it also. Within between 30 minutes and 16 hours a person who is bit will begin to run a fever. The fever may last a few hours or a few days The CDC thinks that only one person in a thousand has any immunity.
Gertie came over to spend the night, and so did Jennie. They are going to help make pickles tomorrow. Gertie's mom sent almost a bushel of cucumbers out of her garden along with a bunch of beets, carrots and onions.
Tomorrow is going to be busy.
Saturday July 30th
There was an earthquake in California this morning. Fortunately only a few buildings were damaged. Supposedly it was a strong one. Seven point something, but, the news lady said building codes in California require buildings to be able to withstand that kind of thing. They are not sure how many people were hurt, so far they think about 150 or so.
The rabies is spreading everywhere. It's spread as far as the Great Lakes to the north and the northern parts of Alabama and Louisiana. There have been a few cases here in Georgia too. Gainesville had the first case late last night and this morning there were some cases in Rome and Atlanta. Everyone is starting to get worried.
We have been pickling all morning. We have pickled cucumbers, carrots, bean salad, beets, and garden mix with beets, carrots, onions, squash and cucumbers in it. When everyone else is done with lunch we are going to can green beans and peas. We made sweet, dill, and bread and butter flavors.
Jennie, Gertie and I are having our first sleepover since Jennie and Shawn got married. It will be so fun. We are going to have ice cream and watch a movie and make popcorn, and do mani-pedi's. Sleepin' in cause there's no cannin' tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a blessed day of rest. I'd do a happy dance but I'm saving my energy for pampering and having fun.
Sunday July 31st
I think that with no ward to attend Sundays are going to be different than before. Daddy announced that we were going to have Sacrament Meeting in the parlor at ten in the morning from now on. Shawn stayed in the guest room last night, and Jennie joined him after Gertie and I went to sleep. After breakfast they went home to change. I'm used to listening to Mama play the hymns in the parlor, but, It was odd to see Daddy and Uncle Otis setting the sacrament up and blessing it on the coffee table. It was odd to see Jimmie passing it around the room. It was odd listening to Aunt Patricia give a lesson on honesty out of the Gospel Principles book. It was odd listening to Shawn teach out of the Teachings of Joseph Smith about when he was in Liberty Jail and what he taught about the trials and tribulations of life and enduring them with joy and grace. It was odd to see Jennie bare her testimony in our parlor, although she would have during family home evening eventually. If everything was normal. It was odd to see Gertie bare her testimony in our parlor. I didn't know she had read the Book of Mormon. It was odd to see her be baptized in the creek thirty minutes later. It was odd because usually her mother and father would have had to give their consent. It was odd because Daddy did it anyway.
If everything were normal we would not have turned on the TV on a Sunday glued to the screen watching the news. If everything were normal there would be no one panicking or any evacuations from Atlanta and the surrounding areas. If everything were normal there would be no announcements telling people to go to their designated refugee center. If everything was normal Mrs. Palmer would not have asked us to bring Gertie home early. If things were like normal I wouldn't know that Gertie ran out of her house screaming in terror chased by a bunch of people who ripped her in pieces as Shawn and Jennie tried to help her get back in the car. If things were normal Jennie wouldn't have a huge bite in her arm. If things were normal the hospital would not be diverting people back to their homes. If things were normal Daddy would not have given her thirty-seven stitches in her arm.
Before Gertie left with Jennie and Shawn I hugged her and told her I loved her. If things were normal I would have done that anyway. Mama held me when I cried. She would have done that anyway. Shawn and Daddy gave Jennie a blessing. They would have done that anyway.
Monday August 1st
Jennie began to run a fever at about three this morning. By seven it was 105 degrees and Shawn brought her to the house to see if Mama knew what to do. While Mama was helping Shawn with Jennie, Maggie and I started making the weekly bread.
While Daddy, Uncle Otis and Jimmie were washing up for lunch an Army jeep pulled up to the house. Daddy went out to meet them and a man got out and said that the were here to take us to the refugee center. Daddy told them that we were staying put. That we had been on this farm for five generations and had always managed to weather any situation that came up. The soldier let Daddy know that it was our own risk and that the US government would not be responsible for whatever happened to us but that our safety was guaranteed at the refugee center. Minutes later they left and we had BLT's made from tomatoes and lettuce from the garden, bacon Daddy and Uncle Otis had smoked last fall, and some of the bread Maggie and I had made.
As soon as Mama finished eating she put a tray together for Shawn and Jenny and took it upstairs. Mama came down again with tears in her eyes. She thought Jennie had passed away and wanted Daddy to check on her. Mama went back upstairs to be with Shawn while Daddy went out to the truck to get his kit. Before he came back inside there was a commotion coming from the guest room.
Jennie had woken up but she just wasn't herself. She managed to bite both Shawn and Mama before they could hold her down. She is so confused and doesn't recognize anyone. Also the bite on her arm looks really bad. Daddy and Uncle Otis tied her to the bed so she can't hurt anyone. Shawn is devastated. We all are I think. I don't know what to think. I'm worried for Mama and Shawn though. Mama is running a fever and doing poorly so I need to check on her.
Tuesday August 2nd
Mama is in the guest room with Jennie. At first Daddy and Shawn were worried that they might try to hurt each other, but they don't seem to notice each other at all. They just stare, and wander back and forth. Any time they see anybody else they lunge at them snapping their teeth and making gurgling sounds.
We were up late last night watching the news in the hope that a cure has been discovered. For days we have only had 6 or 7 TV channels. Yesterday we had FOX News and Bloomberg News. At lunchtime we had FOX News. At 3 this afternoon we had no TV channels but could pick up PBS radio. During dinner we lost the electricity.
To keep busy Patti, Maggie and I picked and canned green beans and wax beans. We actually managed to can about 15 gallons of green beans and 8 gallons of wax beans. We tried to distract ourselves so hard, but it is so hard to really think about anything else. It feels like the whole world is falling apart. I'm scared. I'm so scared, and although every one else is trying real hard to hide it, I know they're all scared too. Everyone is throwing themselves into work but its not enthusiastic, its more like plodding along at break neck speed so that they don't have time to notice or talk and only have the energy needed to eat, shower and stumble exhausted to bed.
Wednesday August 3rd
When Maggie and I woke up it was early. There were some unusual shuffling sounds coming from Shawn's old room. He must have gotten the fever during the night. Maggie opened his door and slammed it shut as soon as he started to lunge at her. Daddy has been checking on them throughout the day. He is worried that they aren't eating or drinking anything. Daddy is also worried that something else is wrong. He says they aren't making waste.
Maggie, Patricia and I picked up the usual routines around the house, and everything was spiffy in about an hour and a half. I'm glad our stove is an old fashioned propane stove. With the power out we had to go out and use the old hand pump. Daddy and Otis had already primed it when they watered the animals but they made sure Maggie and I knew how to do it just in case they weren't around and we needed to use it. House work takes longer when you have to lug the water inside.
Daddy found some old wash boards and a free standing crank wringer in the shed along with four galvanized washtubs. Maggie and Patricia helped me heat and lug water to the tubs. Patti had helped her mother wash by hand when she was a child and gave us the basic instructions. Fill one tub with hot soapy water. Fill two with clear water. Add starch to the last one. Wash the whites first. If you have something that is white that needs to soak put it in soapy one first at one end and leave it there. After you wash something put it through the wringer, then rinse it in the first rinse tub and then the second. If you intend to iron dip it in the starch tub. If there is a lot of laundry you may have to change the water but we didn't have to. It took the three of us all morning to do it. We have decided that until the power is back on, everyone needs to wear their clothes two days in a row unless something gets on them.
Every hour or so Jimmie or Otis come in and fiddle with the radio to see if they can pick up anything. We only have a couple of batteries for it so they haven't spent a whole lot of time on it though. When Daddy tried the phone there was no dial tone. Maggie's cell phone is getting no signal. Neither is anyone else's. Daddy and Otis intend to check on the neighbors tomorrow if we can't contact people by other means before sundown today. Daddy is running the generator to power the fridge but he doesn't want us to use the lights too much.
Patti was making biscuits and Maggie was working on frying a chicken when I came up here. I told them that I would get the salad greens and make my special raspberry mint herbal iced tea to go with dinner. I can smell it now so I had best get a move on.
Thursday August 4th
Mama and Jennie smell bad, like rotting meat. Maggie and Patti were going to help Daddy give them bathes today but they didn't get very far. Daddy had them both put on their thickest coats to protect them from bites and collared Mama with the catch pole. They were doing ok until Maggie started to wash Mamas hair and part of Mama's scalp came off and an overpowering stench filled the bathroom. Maggie went into hysterics and neither Daddy nor Patti did much better.
They aren't much interested in food. They shuffle around their rooms constantly and don't seem to have stopped to sleep at all. None of the tranquilizers Daddy has given them has had any effect on them. All they do is try to bite us. They are super strong. Maggie doesn't think Mama felt anything when her scalp was injured. They stink. They could make us sick too.
Daddy and Otis are going to move them into the old tobacco barn. Daddy, Otis and Jimmy are moving the equipment that was being stored in it to the main barn by the house. To make room in the barn the horses are being moved into the stable. They also have to fix all the loose and broken boards in the tobacco barn. Even with Maggie helping them it will probably take until sundown, so I doubt that we will move them out until tomorrow.
There is still canning to do. Maggie, Patti and I went and picked goose berries and black berries. We picked about five buckets full this morning, and there were still a bunch that weren't ready yet. We will probably get those next week. Patti and I canned most of them, and froze the rest.
Friday August 5th
Daddy and Otis moved Mama, Shawn and Jennie to the tobacco barn this morning. Patti, Jimmy, Maggie and I went along as well. They didn't seem to notice the change of scenery at all.
Daddy, Otis and Jimmy started to cut the south and east fields of alfalfa this morning, and will leave it to dry until Monday. They will mow the Coopers Road field and the field with the pond this afternoon. They will do the other 3 hay fields tomorrow. Monday and Tuesday Jimmy will run the bailer through while Daddy and Otis mow Otis' fields. It will probably take until Thursday to mow because Otis has more acres in hay than we do. Jimmy will be running the baler through next Wednesday probably.
Daddy went to town with Otis today to see if they could find out any news. When they came back they were horrified by what they had seen. The military seems to be in charge and while Daddy and Otis weren't forced to stay, they were strongly encouraged to. They strip searched Daddy and Otis to see if they had been bitten. Anyone who is bitten is put in a holding area. They are looking for people who are immune. If they are immune they are taken to the CDC because they are trying to make a vaccine or cure. So far, in the entire country there have been 5 people. Daddy said that the military claims the people who are sick are already dead. They are euthanizing everyone who is sick. Like Nazi's or something.
The Lieutenant they spoke with said that we need to be on the lookout for hoards. They tend to gather in groups and if they over power someone that there will be nothing left. They are attracted by light and noise. They wont eat dead things either. They only eat if it's alive and still moving. Apparently it has spread across the country and there have been some cases in Asia, Africa and Europe. Australia is supposedly untouched, but they have ramped up their coastal security and are letting no one in.
Maggie, Patti and I canned more tomatoes and squash and pickled more beets and cucumbers. The honey dews are ready. We had some with lunch and dinner today. We will have them for breakfast to. We would usually have them at the little stand at the end of the driveway but our road hasn't had much traffic recently. If we don't want it wasted we need to use it up. Maggie, Patti and I were talking about what we are going to do with all this fruit. We're having bumper crops with our cantaloupe, honeydew, squash, cucumbers, watermelons and pumpkins. Some of it we shall can or pickle. I have never canned or pickled melons. Patti says we can pickle watermelon rinds but for the rest we need to look through the Blue Ball canning books.
Daddy wants us to be in bed by sundown from now on. No noise, no candles or flashlights unless we are in a bathroom, closet or the basement. I don't have a flashlight or candle anyway. Its almost to dark to see so I will write more tomorrow.
Saturday August 6th
Isabel and I are in the tree house again, enjoying the cooling breezes in the shade of the kudzu and trees. I brought the gallon thermos of herbal raspberry mint tea and a picnic basket with ham sandwiches and peach cobbler for Jimmie and I.
Maggie, Daddy and Patty took three chickens to the old tobacco barn for Mama, Shawn and Jennie. Daddy has been real worried about them not eating anything we've given them, so he decided that since the sick seem to only want to eat living meat, he would put a chicken in for each of them and see what would happen. What happened was that as soon as the chickens realized they were being chased with les than friendly intent they flew up to the rafters and stayed up there out of reach. Mama, Shawn and Jennie didn't seem to realize that they weren't going to reach them and kept reaching towards the birds for an hour and a half. Maggie took a ladder and leaned in the open gable on one side of the barn and tried to knock the chickens off of the rafters with an old straw broom. The chickens just flew off to another rafter just out of reach. Maggie then tried to throw rocks at them, but all they did was hop around from one beam to another.
Daddy was relieved that Mama, Shawn, and Jennie seemed to be interested in something so he went back to the coop and got three more. This time he broke a wing and a leg on each one so that they wouldn't run so fast and wouldn't be able to get up to the rafters. Maggie said that the rest was pretty grisly. When Mama, Shawn and Jennie managed to catch the chickens they ripped them up and ate the feathers, guts and everything.
Daddy is just glad they are eating. He refuses to neglect them any more than we already are. He realizes that its not safe for us to have them in the house unless they are tied up. Keeping them tied up is cruel. If they got out of the room they are in they would be dangerous to us because they could spread the sickness. If we get sick who will take care of them and the farm? We feel bad about them being in the barn, but realize that it is necessary. We are all horrified by how they are eating but they need to keep their strength until a cure is found for them. They are truly in an awful state.
In the meantime Daddy wants us to be extra safe and healthy, healthy and safe. No one is going anywhere alone so I'm not alone. I'm watching Jimmie mow the hayfield that this tree house is suspended near. I have one of the walkie-talkies Daddy, Shawn, Otis and Jimmie take hunting with them every year. Daddy and Otis are keeping one with them, Patti and Maggie have one in the house to use and the last one is being kept as a spare incase one of the others gets lost or broken.
When Jimmie and I left, Maggie and Pattie were slicing peaches up to dehydrate. They are also going to make puree to dry into fruit leather, kind of like fruit roll ups without the gelatin powder and sugar. Monday they will dehydrate tomato slices and dry tomato puree with spices into sheets to use in soups and things. It doesn't take many hands to do that so I get to have a lazy day.
Tonight I wont be so lazy. I need to get out Mama's Make-A-Mix book out so that I can make more biscuit mix and corn bread mix because we are running low on both. I think I know where it is, but if I cant find it the mixes can wait 'till Monday when we go to Uncle Otis and Aunt Patricia's home and borrow her copy. They are going to pack up some things to bring to our home since Daddy has asked them to stay until everything blows over. Daddy, Jimmie and Otis already herded Otis' cows, sheep, and goats to our pastures. They are going to get his prize winning hog, sow, and gilts today as well as his chickens. Monday will mostly be bringing in his early crops, hay, and garden produce. We usually do all our canning together anyway, so that won't really be much of a
Sunday August 7th
Sorry I left off so abruptly. Some one came out of the woods that block the view of the farm from the road yesterday and came at Jimmy, but she couldn't keep up with the mower. I called Daddy on the walkie-talkie to tell him what was going on. Shortly after I talked to him Uncle Otis and he came with the catch stick and took her to the barn. Daddy thinks the most charitable thing we can do for her is keep her safe until a cure is made. Once they had her collared we went with Daddy and Otis to help put her in the barn. I distracted Mama, Shawn and Jennie by stirring up the chickens in the rafters by tossing small pieces of gravel at them like Maggie. While they were distracted at the other end of the barn Daddy kind of shoved her into the barn and released the catch stick and Otis and Jimmy quickly slid the door shut again and padlocked it so that our sick don't get out and get lost wandering around aimlessly like they seem to do.
Isobel doesn't like being around the sick. She shied away from the girl whenever we got within a few yards of her. As we began to approach the tobacco barn she got even more skittish so I ended up having to tie her to a tree with the lead rope so that I could help put the girl in the barn.
Today was a lot like last Sunday. Maggie played "I Am A Child of God", "He Lives", and "I Need Thee Every Hour". Daddy gave the opening prayer and I did the closing prayer. Otis blessed the sacrament and Jimmy passed it to everyone
Daddy taught lesson 32 from "Gospel Principals". It was about how G-d gives us everything and we should be grateful and realize that nothing is ours. It's all his and so we should be willing and even eager to impart what we have to others. In that way the Lord can work through us to bless others.
Maggie taught Lesson 32 from "The Teachings of Joseph Smith Jr.". She taught about how the early saints were persecuted for what they believed and how they overcame their trials and endured and remained steadfast in their principals to the end.
Patti and I made chicken vegetable soup. I made bread bowls by rolling the bread dough into six flat rounds. I placed each one over an overturned, greased soufflé dish to rise and partially bake. Then I removed the bread from the soufflé dishes and set them upright on a cookie sheet and brushed a thick coat of whisked egg on the insides and let them finish baking. We served the soup in the bowls and it was wonderful.
Today was a very peaceful quiet day, except for feeding Mama, Shawn, Jennie and the girl. I think everyone needed a little quiet time to reflect on how we have been blessed, gather ourselves from our recent trials and try to put things in an eternal perspective, and just rest because we all worked very hard this week and we will likely work really hard next week too. Just because Mama and Shawn are gone does not mean that the things they did don't need to be done any more. We have to divide up their work and get it done as well. We still have a lot of canning to do. We have had bumper crops with the produce and hay. Daddy and Otis are anticipating that there will be a lot of silage too. They will be working on that next week. They were talking about inspecting and getting the overflow silo in the south field ready. It's been 3 years since there was enough silage to need to use it.
I need to get to sleep if I'm going to do the ironing before it gets hot outside. I am going use the old flat iron Mama always used as a doorstop to the root cellar. I intend to iron some rags before I iron anything that I don't want to spend a lot of time fixing.
Monday August 8th
It's been an nice summer day. The sun was bright in the sky, the air was humid and clammy, with occasional less hot breezes. It was a good lemonade in the shade day. Maggie, Patti and I spent it harvesting as much as we could from Patti's garden, dragging canning jars up out of her basement, and hunting down her Ball Blue Books. She has every issue published since 1968. She also grabbed her Make-A-Mix books for me to borrow.
We were home in time for lunch. Afterwards we canned. I am starting to get tired of canning. We have never come close to filling the shelves of the basement pantry. Most years we only use about a quarter of them. This year we have filled almost a third of them and we aren't even half way through canning season.
Jimmy and I stopped at the pond to eat the lunch Aunt Patti packed us. While we were there we did a little fishing and we sure caught a bunch. Jimmy caught 5 as big as my arm, and I caught 4. They were biting good but since we had more than everyone was likely to eat in one meal we decided to quit. Everybody was excited to see the fish. Otis wants to smoke some in the smoke shack by the tree line near the orchard so we may all take a break and go to the pond and relax a bit, maybe have a bit of a picnic and do some fishing. When I came up here they were planning for Friday.
I made peanut butter cookies for after Family Home Evening tonight. It's my turn to plan it and I really felt that with how serious things have been and with the constant pace of the last week or so that we should do something fun. We are going to have a game night. I think Apples to Apples and Headbands will be fun, and no, there is no such thing as too old for Headbands. I was going to bring Scrabble down to the parlor too but it has disappeared. I will probably find it on accident in the morning.
By the way, I burned up three rags while ironing with the flat iron today, but I totally had the hang of it by the 6th rag. I just got to remember not to have the gas burner on too high cause it gets hotter than wood coals would get it and I also need to remember to let it cool a little before I use it. I found that I can keep a small ramekin of water on the ironing board. If I dip my fingers in the water and flick the water at the old iron, I can tell how hot it is by how loud it is when it sizzles off. Once I figured that out it was a piece of cake.
Tuesday August 9th
Well, I finally got around to making more cornbread mix, biscuit mix and basic cookie mix. I made the bread today so that Maggie and Aunt Patti can put their efforts into canning. Once they had a system doing they were quick, almost as fast as when Mama and Patti canned. I really wish Mama was well. She is so fun to can with. She would start every one singing and it would make it seem less like work and more like a social occasion.
I guess we are all a little depressed about what's been going on but Daddy has been trying really hard to keep every ones spirits up. Maybe I should start the singing for Mama. If she were in her right mind she would be awful disappointed in how I've been letting all this get me down. She always said waiting the bad things out only gets us to the other side eventually, but if we keep an eye out for the beauty around us and keep enjoying life through our trials not only do we get to the other side but the journey can be looked back on fondly and we can appreciate what Heavenly Father was trying to show us.
I wish I could figure out what I'm supposed to learn from Mama, Shawn and Jennie being sick like they are. Maybe that I should appreciate them better. I've gotten better at taking care of the house, I've learned more about canning and I now know how to take care of the laundry and ironing without the 'lectric to do everything. I guess I'm having to trust that the Lord will bring us through this.
I haven't been working on my goals lately so I will start over again. I will work on being more thankful and showing the people around me how much I appreciate them. I will start thinking good thoughts about people when they annoy me or frustrate me, and I will sing more because Mama would be sad if she realized I was so down I haven't sang outside of Sunday Sacrament Meetings since she got sick. That will be my new Smart Goal.
Specific I will sing a minimum of 5 songs a day.
Measurable Yep, 5 songs is measurable.
Attainable I know plenty of songs so unless I loose my voice somehow yes it is attainable.
Relevant Well, it will help lift me out of my moodiness, and maybe lift those around me too.
Time Bound Yes, 2 weeks.
I'm going to write Aunt Patty a note thanking her for helping Maggie and I learn about canning, rather than doing it all and only letting us watch. I'm also going to thank her for teaching me how to set up the washing and starch for hand washing. Then I'm going to help with the dishes and sing When We're Helping We're Happy. Maybe I can get Maggie and Aunt Patty to join me.
Wednesday August 10th
I sang well over 5 songs today. I don't know how many I did sing but it was gobs more than 5. Washing the laundry by hand is hard work, even if everyone wears their clothes an extra day. Singing made the work seem to go faster. Maggie and Aunt Patty offered to help but I told them that I realized how important the canning was going to be this year and that I could handle it. Believe it or not, I had the washing done and hung out to dry by the time Maggie came out to tell me lunch was ready.
After lunch I volunteered for dishes. There were a ton of them, mostly from canning. I started singing and soon Maggie and Aunt Patty joined me. Daddy commented that it was so nice to hear us being happy.
The only problem with washing laundry by hand is that it really dried out my hands, and my arms are sore from the lifting and carrying and cranking and scrubbing. I'm glad that I put the wash tubs in the shade or I would be sun burned too.
I am almost out of lotion. Aunt Patty knows lots of things, maybe she knows how to make lotion. I should ask her.
Thursday August 11th
I am on the warpath. I will figure out lotion. Aunt Patty said her Grandma used to make lye soap. First she made lye by dripping water through a flour bag of oak ashes and collecting the lye in a bucket under the bag. Then she melted animal fat and a bar of glycerin and stirred in the lye over medium heat. Sometimes she would stir in herbs so it wouldn't smell so bad. For lotion she used lard which is beef fat, pork fat and chicken fat(or any fat at all)melted and stirred until it thickened and then melt some.. After everything was smooth she poured it into crocks to cool. She put herbs in that too. Sometimes to smell nice and sometimes to make ointment for wounds and scrapes. For colds her grandma would chop up spearmint and sassafras and boil it until most of the liquid was gone and mix it into the lard to make a homemade kind of Vicks.
For lotion like I want I need cocoa butter, shea butter, petroleum jelly or lanolin and fragrance oil. In the meantime, I can use some of the udder cream Daddy keeps in the cabinet by the milking stalls. It's greasy but is working really well.
I decided that ironing will go better if I do it the day after I do laundry. If it is still a bit damp it's easier to get the wrinkles out of things. When the starch air dries the wrinkles stay and set hard. I had to dampen all of the laundry I had set aside for ironing. It was a pain in the neck.
Daddy and Jimmy and Otis are almost done bringing in the hay. They will replant the hayfields in alfalfa and clover for October hay. They went to town for a part for the bailer but they said most of town seems deserted. Daddy helped himself to the part after they found Lou and Bill sick at the store. They brought them back in the pickup to put in the barn till the government figures out how to fix everyone. Daddy figures they cost of the chickens they will eat over the next few weeks will pay for the part.
Speaking chickens, I promised Maggie I would make chicken and dumplings.
Friday August 12th
Well, I think we have canned and pickled about everything we can pickle. We have been eating up the melons. I usually love melon and the only reason I'm not sick to death of them is that Aunt Patty has been alternating between watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. She has this sweet marinade she puts over them cubed and mixed together that's good too. Especially when she adds the berries. All I know is that it has mint and thyme.
Maggie and Aunt Patty think we should be done with the canning in a few more days. All that is left is tomatoes and more peaches. We are almost out of canning jars and seals anyway so its just as well. The rest of the garden should be able to keep us well fed if things stay the way they are.
I know that seems like I've lost hope, but I think we would have heard something on the radio by now, or the TV. Maybe a cell signal or a flash of electricity, or something. Also, usually we would have seen someone by now. We have seen no one who isn't sick. Aunt Patty and I are the only ones who haven't been into town, but from what Maggie and Jimmy have said, things are pretty gruesome. Bodies lying around and left to decompose. You would think someone would see to their proper burial. Someone of the governmental variety at least, but according to all of them Newnan and Sonoia seem completely deserted except for the bodies and sick people in some of the buildings. This may not seem like enduring well, but I think I should prepare myself for things to stay the way they are. I think Uncle Otis is thinking this way too. This morning he was talking about his wheat harvest and looking at the old mill house.
Well, I had better get on the mending, otherwise it will be dark before I finish. I don't want to do mending tomorrow because Maggie, Jimmy and I are going fishing and plan to be away from the house most of the day. Maggie and I will be up early to pack a pick nick.
Saturday August 13th
It was so nice to get away from the house and actually have some fun. Daddy and Uncle Otis insisted on us taking one of the walkie-talkies with us. Jimmy drove us to the reservoir in his beat up 1982 Dodge Ram. It's red and primer. Mostly primer and bondo really, but it runs. He has rebuilt everything on it. He was even set to get it repainted but then everything happened.
We swam, we fished and fished and fished. We ate and laid in the sun. We had a water rigged the zip line back up and we took turns on it landing in the water. We played and relaxed and had more fun than I've had all summer.
I have come to the realization that I have grown since last summer, taller some and my hips and chest are larger. My waist and thighs and arms are much more toned. I noticed this because of how my swimsuit fit. It must be from constantly lugging water for laundry and for Aunt Patty to can with. Anywayir was tighter around my hips and boobs and it barely came up high enough to be decent. I figured since we were family it didn't really matter but Jimmy gave me a few looks, and even though Aunt Patty and Uncle Otis adopted him, the idea of him getting those thoughts makes me kind of nauseas. After the third time I caught him staring I put on my t-shirt. Its probably a good thing too. I'm burned enough as it is.
All together we caught more than forty fish. They weren't small either. I guess its because not a lot of fishing has gone on with no one around to do any fishing. We caught mostly trout and bass. Maggie caught a few catfish but tossed them back because she doesn't like them. She think's they're "Gross".
I finally got to soak in the sun and work on my tan and managed to attain an even medium pink color. Ok, maybe a pale pink but it feels like it may as well have been lobster red. Maggie put aloe on it when we got home but it still itches and burns.
Since we brought back so much fish, Otis showed us how to prepare the fish for smoking. First we cleaned all and set aside what we were going to grill for dinner tonight and tomorrow. Then we soaked the rest in marinade made of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. While the fish soaked up the marinade, he showed us how to set up the smoker with wood chips. He likes hickory for most smoking, but he said fish does better with peach wood. I guess we will know tomorrow night at supper.
Tonight we are having it grilled with fried okra, squash and onions, salad greens and Patty's melon and berry salad. Cooking outside has its advantages. The house doesn't get so hot for one thing. When our house was first built there was a summer kitchen near where the pump is. It burned down about eighty years ago, but it was used as a place to cook in a huge fire place and over a wood stove.
There is something going on!
Sunday August 14th
Nellie foaled yesterday. It took her 3 hours. She had a beautiful little filly. She is pure black with a thin white mark that runs most of the way along the middle of her back. I'm thinking of naming her Moonbeam. She was really wobbly at first but was skipping and prancing around her mom like a pro today.
Nellie is really protective of her. Jack seems well aware that he is a father. He nuzzles her and Nellie a lot.
I've been keeping her stall extra clean. Daddy And Uncle Otis drove to the clinic to get her vaccines and vitamin drops. Nellie will continue to use her prenatal vitamin block until Moonbeam weans.
Instead of talks and testimonies, Daddy thinks that with so few of us, we should only partake the Sacrament and have two lessons out of the manuals or as the spirit guides the people giving the lessons. Daddy, Jimmy and Otis are going to take turns with the first lesson of the meeting. Maggie, Aunt Patty and I will take turns with the second. From now on we will have testimonies on Fast Sunday. I'm kind of glad. I know he has been worried about conducting worship since there are only six of us now. Its amazing the difference four people can make.
Today, Sunday Meeting was focused on new life and how the Lord blesses us in our trials. Daddy asked me to play "Sabbath Day", "With Humble Heart" and "How Great Thou Art". Uncle Otis and Aunt Patty did the lessons. It was almost like a regular family home evening.
Dinner was really good. Sliced fried sweet potatoes, grilled fish, bean salad, cooked greens and raspberry mint iced tea. Maggie made a peach cobbler.
Maggie, Patty and I have gotten really good at working together in the house. Its different than with Mama. With Mama you knew she was in charge and the buck stopped with her. Don't get me wrong. I totally respect Aunt Patricia. At the same time, she isn't Mama. She is family but a guest as well. She always consults us about the menu and the daily aspects of running the household. She knows more about cooking than Maggie or I, and to keep busy Maggie has been doing a lot of the dusting, sweeping, mopping, and polishing in the house. I've been doing the washing, mending and water hauling. The kitchen has become mostly her domain because she had to take charge of the canning. Maggie and I have helped in the past, but we were never in the thick of it. We were relegated to fetching and peeling under the direction of Mama and her. Even Mama followed her direction at times because she is almost seventeen years older than Mama and two years younger than Daddy.
Maggie is still bossy but she has been quieter. A little withdrawn. I think she misses a lot of her friends. Most of them went to Utah but a lot of them went to the refugee camp outside Atlanta. I think she worries about them. She has been spending a large portion of her free time in the stable reading or out riding Jasper. She proclaimed herself finished with all of her assignments for her online classes Wednesday. Now all she needs is internet so she can submit them.
Ordinarily I would be getting ready for school to start back up in about a week and a half. With everything that is going on, I hope Maggie doesn't have too much trouble resuming school.
Monday August 15th
Today we cleaned out the root cellar. I don't think anyone has been down there in years. It has sort of become storage for things no one wants ant more but cant justify throwing away. Daddy thought it would be a good project to keep Maggie, Jimmie and I occupied. The root cellar is connected to the rest of the basement and pantry by about three feet of hallway. There is also a set of stairs that come out next to the back porch. We started by the back porch. We found baby clothes that were probably from when Maggie, Shawn and I were babies. A highchair made of stainless steel and looked like it was from the 40's or 50's, several trunks of vintage clothes, and what may have been my Grandmother Green's wedding dress. We also found a butter churn, the remains of the still Daddy's grandfather kept set up in the woods nearby, washboards, kerosene lamps, a molasses pan, various tools, some really old books, a fully intact treadle sewing machine with the instruction book, lots of canning jars that had the old fashioned spring lids and rubber seals, a cradle, a cast iron spider and dutch oven set, some long handled cast iron fry pans, fire tending equipment, cauldrons, a free standing spit for cooking over a fire, and a bunch of other things that must have been salvaged when the cookhouse burned down. It took all day but we got it organized and actually found a lot of things that will be quite useful now that the power is out. With everything organized by category and straightened out the junk isn't to the stairs. It takes up about a third of the root cellar. Daddy want's to store the garden produce we didn't can down there.
Maggie and Aunt Patty have been making plans for dehydrating the rest of the produce that they can. The sweet potatoes and potatoes are going to be ready soon to. Patty is going to show us how to braid the onion tops together for storage, and the garlic to. Then they want to string up the peppers to dry and they need the cool of the root cellar for that. Now that its been cleaned up they have been boggling my brain with their plans. You would think that they have no belief that this time next year they will have access to a grocery store. It can't last that long. It can't, it can't, IT CAN'T!
I couldn't stand them any more which is why I'm watching Moonbeam instead of helping them make dinner. Otis brought the smoked fish in this afternoon and while I'm looking forward to eating it I just can't be around those two right now. I'm 16 and officially allowed to date but there is no one to date. I'm going out of my mind. Gertie is dead. Mama, Shawn and Jennie are sick and don't know me any more. No one to talk to. Just writing, writing, writing. I'm just so lonely.
Tuesday August 16th
I volunteered to bake today and mind things while Daddy, Uncle Otis, Aunt Patty, Maggie and Jimmy go to check out the other farms in the area and go to the grocery store to see about toiletries, dry goods and the like. I made 4 loaves of white bread, 4 loaves of wheat bread and 4 loaves of potato bread.
I also made 2 loaves of pumpkin bread and 2 loaves of cinnamon raisin bread. I also made a sour cream pound cake and a batch of raspberry syrup. The cinnamon raisin bread will be made into french toast in the morning.
By the time I finished putting the bread in the Rubbermaid bread boxes and cleaning up the kitchen it was well past lunch time, and they weren't back yet. I swept and mopped the entire downstairs, I even rolled up the parlor rug and swept and mopped under it too, and they weren't back yet, I drug the parlor rug outride and flipped it over the fence to beat the dirt out of it, smoothed it with the rug brush, drug it back inside and unrolled it back in the parlor, and they weren't back yet. I made my bed and picked up my room and I went out and fed the animals, and everyone in the barn, and they weren't back yet. It got to getting dark outside and I realized I was hungry so I started dinner. I dished out mine and put the rest in the fridge. I ate, washed my plate, I went out and got the milking done for Daddy. and they still aren't back.
I hope they are ok. The army guy said that if you get surrounded by the ill you can become overpowered and killed. I've prayed so much since dinner. They were supposed to be home in time for dinner and they could be just about anywhere, at one of the farms, Food Lion, Little Sue, or Rite Aid or anywhere. It's almost dark and it is safer with the lights out.
Wednesday August 17th
They still aren't back yet. I did the washing. That took until about lunchtime. It was all dry by about 2pm. I had it folded and put away in time to start dinner but instead I ate leftovers from last night like I did at breakfast and lunch. I fed the animals before breakfast and dinner. I groomed the horses. I got the milking done this morning and after dinner. The house is as neat as a pin. I'm starting to get scared. I'm out of things to occupy myself with and I'm to anxious to just sit and read. Ironing is for tomorrow, but I'm going to go ahead and start on it or I just might go crazy.
Thursday August 18th
Well, they're back. They went out to check on the farms. The Jensen's farm is Ok and so are the Haywood's and the Hogge's and the Stevens'. The O'Keefe's, the MacMillan's, the Taylor's and the Anderson's have been abandoned. The Barclay's the Littman's and the Warren's are all sick. They were put in a few horse trailers and brought to back to keep in the barn until this is all over. There were 3 people at the gas station, 7 at the grocery store and 5 at the drug store. They are in the barn now too. That makes almost 40 people in the barn. I think it could be dangerous if they managed to get out of the barn. It's a good thing Maggie, Otis and Daddy made sure it was really extra sturdy when they reinforced it.
So why were they late? Because there was a whole bunch of sick people outside the gas station on the way home. They waited on the roof for two nights waiting for them to move on. Fortunately the ladder to the roof was in the store room so they had access to Doritos and potato chips, candy and soda and bottled water. They brought back a ton of it. That purple spot there? Yep, it is wonderful, refreshing, delicious grape soda. The first one I've had in over a month.
While they were gone, before they went to town they checked up on Grand Daddy's flour mill. Daddy, Otis Jimmy and Maggie think that they can get it up and running again. The stone and gearing is still intact. All it needs are some repairs to the water wheel. That means that Daddy and Otis will bring in their wheat crop instead of making silage and plowing most of it under. It hasn't run since 1952 when the local farmers started selling to Gold Medal Co. They had their own grist mills where they ground wheat, buck wheat, corn and made rolled oats. Daddy and Otis are going to start making the new wheel tomorrow morning.
I am so glad everyone is safely home.
Friday, August 19th
This morning after the chores, Patty showed Maggie and I how to use some of the old canning jars that were down in the root cellar. The ones that used paraffin and the ones with the rubber rings, but she doesn't trust those really, and said that we should only use them like Tupperware or for things that can be left out without spoiling. I think that they are prettier than plastic and washing any greasy residue off of them is easier. Also, they won't melt if you accidentally leave one near the stove. They shatter. I guess that is more of a minus.
This afternoon we all rode the horses out to the river for a pick nick, swimming and fishing. We decided to take the horses because they have an uncanny way of knowing when people with the illness are nearby. Daddy and Aunt Patty stayed on the banks watching the fishing poles from folding chairs, while the rest of us played in the water. Otis and Maggie raced to see who could swim the river to the other side and back, and Otis won. I'm a slowpoke on land and see and didn't bother racing. We got home in time for Otis and I to get the fish in the smoker while Daddy and Jimmy did the chores and Maggie and Aunt Patty got dinner ready.