Tuesday November 22nd
Today started out about the same as yesterday. The normal stuff like reading scriptures, my morning prayer, and yoga, getting dressed in yesterdays clothes( my turn to shower's at 11 am so I'll change then), and brushing my teeth. At breakfast everyone under 30 received their chore assignment. Once chores were done (about 10ish) everyone without a high school diploma was herded into the house to study.
Carl, Dan, Pricilla and Ruby were at the dining room table, while James, Steve and I were seated at the kitchen counter to work on math with Maggie. As soon as I was finished with math I got my turn in the shower.
After that I sat in the living room reading about the Spanish American War. Then I read from the Earth Science book until lunch. After helping with the dishes I was pretty much left to my own devices while the youngers worked on writing.
Left to my own devices means that I wandered the farm for a bit and then helped Hank work on an old Massey Ferguson tractor. Helped means that I kind of enjoyed the quiet, reading an old dog eared copy of "The Jungle Book", and handed him tools every so often. It's probably the closest to 'by myself" as I'm going to get in the near future. The music isn't so bad either. He has an old boom box he is running on rechargeable batteries. Most of his CD's are things like David Alan Coe, Dolly Parton, Conway Twitty and Johnny Cash.
Yesterday it was decided that Glenn and Daryl would take the motorcycle up near the farm, since it's small and can go places that a car or truck won't fit. They are supposed to go back to the farm and see how much damage was done and how many walkers are still there. They left right after breakfast and should be back by dinner, if the roads are clear and the farm is good. Otherwise they're supposed to give up in time to get back here by tomorrow evening. I think that's contributing to Maggie's anxiety.
Thanksgiving is in two more days! If things go well, I can be thankful to able home! Mr. Haywood and Dave went out hunting and got two huge wild turkeys. Their dogs had a fun time too. They came back shortly after lunch covered in mud and twigs and dirt.
The snare tripped but we didn't catch anything. Resetting it was easier this time. I added some stakes to kind of corral the critters into it using the small path I made through the raspberry brambles. Hopefully we will get something tomorrow. The kids were disappointed and I was too, but I think that if we keep trying we will catch something eventually.
Wednesday November 23rd
Yoga is going smashingly, as in, I was in a very steep and perfectly formed modified downward dog with my head resting lightly on my folded arms, when Maggie came barging into my stall and accidentally knocked me over. I was at nine minutes and thirty-two seconds, hoping to break my record of eleven minutes and seventeen seconds from Friday. To be fair, there was no door to knock on, just the curtain. She was too out of breath from panicking or running (maybe both?), to call out on her way in. It's hard to be mad at her. I was late for breakfast and she was worried that something had happened to me, and was upset because I promised not to skip meals. She worries because I forgot to pack the steno pad with my other books, yada yada.
All that happened was that I had over slept. I'm able to hold two of the three poses I've been working on for about about ten minutes give or take. Planks kill me. I got to about three and a half minutes once, only once. It was because of a spider. I say about because I quit looking at my timer. Fell on the spider, it squished, totally gross. My morning workout takes a little under half an hour.
She saw me head to the latrine earlier, and I guess she thought I was heading to breakfast.
When she realized she had knocked me down I think it looked worse than it was because I didn't fall very far. She thought I had landed on my head until I explained that my head was already close to the floor. I gave her a brief demonstration and she was cool, I was cool, we were all cool.
It was an auspicious start to the day.
We heard a mayday from the county south of us. They were being attacked but not by the walkers. It was a gang of some sort. We are going to have a watch at all times now.
I think they're back.
They got to the farm alright, but the farm is not alright. The house is completely surrounded. The fields are full of walkers. The outbuildings are surrounded. They talked about drawing them away, but where to? We don't want to accidentally toss them in someone else's direction. Put down that many? How? Reinforce the fences and just keep them there as a public service and pick them off a few at a time until they are all dead may work, but its kind of like figuring out which mouse gets to bell the cat. If they see some one trying to reinforce the fences and rush to that spot they could destroy the fence and maybe get whoever is working on it. They may wander off in the direction of someones home when minus our interference they would have stayed (sort of harmless) where they are. As long as they are there, no one will really mess with anything on the farm or in the house.
The stable was a complete loss. It and everything in it burnt completely. The horses were all bedded down for the night. Jack, Moonbeam, Nellie, Isabell, Jasper and Barney were all in there when it went up. Barney is pretty resourceful, I'm sure he managed to get out. The horses didn't make it.
I realize that the Sheriff was half panicked about being chased by a heard of those things, but couldn't he have given the horses a way out before lighting it up? All I can think about is how scared they sounded as the barn burned. All the work Daddy, Ottis, Jimmy and Shawn had put into expanding it was completely wasted.
It's sprinkling again. The sound on the steel roof is soothing. It's easy to pretend that everything has been a bad dream and just lean back and listen to the rain drops hitting the roof, Alabama on the boom box and Hank cursing every time he smashes his, fingers trying to get the rusted U joint off the drive shaft. I wonder if he's tried WD-40?
Thursday November 24th
Here I am, avoiding the frenzy in the kitchen, Mrs. Haywood had the youngers up early peeling potatoes and stuff. Dave was sitting on the porch plucking a scalded turkey and saving the feathers by putting them into a sack. Maggie, Lorri and Carrol were helping put the side dishes together. The men have spent most of the morning hanging out in the barn since it's warm, relatively quiet and far from the activity of the kitchen. Between the turkeys Dave and Mr. Haywood shot, and the venison, half a case of raspberry wine and some pear vodka Daryl and Old Man Jim brought with them I think that everyone will be stuffed full and mostly intoxicated before dark. Lori, Maggie, Daddy, the kids and I will probably be the only ones sticking to apple juice or some of the soda from the Little Sue.
The biggest topic of discussion remains getting the walkers off the farm and or containment and whether there are groups of people roaming around causing trouble. I think that it's going to be an ongoing discussion for the next couple of days. Old Man Jim doesn't seem to have an opinion either way.
It's kind of irritating that people would use this situation as an excuse to hurt others when we should be trying to help each other to get through this.
Maggies calling me.
I learned a few things today. Pricilla started everyone on a icebreaking game where you tell two lies and a truth about yourself. Then everyone tries to figure out whats true and what's not. Daryl's favorite food is potatoes in all its forms including vodka. Old Man Jim has a pet iguana that likes to hang out under the wood stove. Mrs. Haywood is allergic to coffee, and Mr. Haywood lives off it. Ruby studies with the youngers but does higher math than Maggie. Carrol was homecoming queen twice. David speaks 3 languages, James has a birthmark shaped kind of like a question mark on his thigh, T-dog crochets and Hank has a patent that he sold to Snap On this past spring.
Before Mr. Haywood said grace over dinner, we each said something that we are thankful for. Listening to everybody, I realized all I have to be thankful for. I have my family, and a place to sleep. I have food and clothes. Thats a lot more than most people out there have. I'm truly blessed. Like we heard over the radio, there are a lot of people in distress and scared. People have lost so much, homes, families and friends. We are surrounded by good fences and can sleep well knowing we're safe.
The food was so good. Maggie made current raisin, pumpkin and apple pie. Carrol made chocolate chip cookies. I think my favorite was the venison roast and yams. I'm so full. We will be eating leftovers for a week at least.
Friday November 25th
Breakfast was leftover pie. I had a piece of sweet potato with melted butter and a piece of currant raisin with whipped cream. What a way to begin the day. It's a good thing really, the rest of the day was dreary and overcast. I was happy to stay inside mending after school work was finished.
As soon as Mrs. Haywood discovered that I "sew well" (Her words not mine. Mama was an excellent seamstress and I hope to one day develop just a fraction of her skill), I received her entire mending pile and was excused from any other chores. Have I mentioned that she has 7 sons and a husband. 8 hard working active people who do farmin', mechanical stuff and welding and other things that turn cloth into rags. This will keep me busy for a few weeks or so. I sorted it into unsalvageable, patch, reenforce, re-seam and buttons. I began by discussing with her what was fixable and what wasn't. What wasn't has now had the buttons and other fasteners harvested and has been turned into either rags or set aside to be made into patches and quilt squares.
While I was harvesting clothes unobtrusively by the window, I was privileged to listen to a lot of tall talk. Some of the tall talk was about retaking the farm. A lot of ideas were tossed around.
I guess at some time before they came to the farm, Glenn, the Sheriff and a couple of the other refugees with them at the time, covered themselves in the guts and blood of some of the ill and were able to sneak through a huge crowd of them that way. Gross! Who wants to be covered in some poor ill persons rotten, stinking entrails. They proposed doing it again long enough to corral the ill inside the fences so they can take pop shots at them, unnoticed. Ick! Thats Plan A.
I can't fathom how someone could think of something so awful, let alone do it, and then be open to doing it again. That Glenn came up with that solution was surprising, or not. He did allow himself to be dangled over that contaminated well to fish out a rotting corpse. As nice as he seems, I shouldn't be surprised by anything he suggests.
Another plan is to drive a car into the south field with the radio blasting loud rap music or punk or whatever is most obnoxious to attract a bunch of them and have the car set to explode. I have no idea how they'll drive a car into the field unless they were still on about the guts and I missed it. I also don't get how making it explode will do much to any of them things, except those standing close to the car. A few of the ones nearest to the barn burned, but none of them actually walked into the fire on their own. The ones closest to the stable were kind of pushed by the crowd until they were in the fire. Looking back, very few actually ended up burning. I don't think its going to work.
I think the first plan has a better chance of success, as gross as it is.
I was looking through the book about snares this evening,and think maybe we could set up a pit snare or maybe a series of them and trap the ill that way. I don't know if anyone would like my idea very much unless I present it well, so I will give it a bit more thought before I say anything.
On the subject of trapping, the snare tripped. We didn't catch anything, but at least we know it works. We reset it and added a thin trail of pieces of dried apple slices. We'll check it in the morning before breakfast.
James and Steve made contact with a group of families on a farm just outside of Macon. They said that they're doing okay, but to be wary of letting people in unless you already know them. There are some groups of people who will take advantage of anyone who appears weak. I think that between Daddy, the Sheriff and Old Man Jim we can manage to figure out who is safe to let in or not.
I need to put out the lamp so I don't use up my kerosine too fast. I was told I can only fill it up every two weeks because its hard to find.
Saturday November 26th
We caught a rabbit! Dave helped me clean it, scrape the skin and stretch it on a whoop to dry. Mrs. Haywood turned it into a pot of rabbit and dumpling stew.
I spent the rest of the day in the rocking chair by the window sewing patches in pants. It's just as well I suppose. It was a drizzly grey day, with a bit of chill in the air. It was nice to watch Prissy, Ruby and Mrs. Haywood puttering about the house cleaning for tomorrow. Hank spent quite a while reading a Chilton repair manual for his tractor project. James and Steve fiddled with the short wave setup in their room. There is something to be said for quiet Saturdays.
Lori, Carrol and Maggie cleaned the stall's and painted. It's starting to look less like a barn and more like a home.
Daddy, Glenn and the Sheriff spent a bit of time with some of the Haywoods over at Old Man Jim's cabin discussing their plans for next week. Most of those plans revolve around getting the farm back and scheduling for people to be on watch.
Well, its getting late.
Sunday November 27th
Today we had Sunday meeting with the Haywoods, and then Daddy, Maggie and I had our own devotional after dinner. Maggie read to us from 2nd Nephi Chapter 10. It was about how G-d was aware of Nephi's trials and his family's trials, even though they had traveled far from their home. We
had an interesting discussion about how G-d remembers us no matter where we may be scattered. He knows us and our situation. He is always watching over us and offering help when we need it.
Maybe like how Old Man Jim was able to reassure Daryl about Merle, except that there's really nothing Jim or Daryl can do for him right now. He and Daryl were very close in a very co-dependent and barely functional kind of way. Nobody but Old Man Jim and Daryl has anything nice to say about him. I don't like to think to badly of people I haven't met. Most of what I've heard reminds me of Barney. I can remember Merle in my prayers, that he is kept safe and doesn't do anything too awful.
Monday November 28th
It's been a cats and dogs day. The rain started in earnest sometime in the night and still hasn't let up. Parts of the yard around our barn looks like puddles but it's a bog up to my knees. My flipflop is still in it and Mrs. Haywood had me change pants in the mud room before coming inside. I suppose my lot isn't too bad. I got to stay inside and mend while other people had to trudge through the mud and crud to take care of animals, stand watch or check fences.
I think I will be finished with patching things sometime tomorrow, then I can start restitching seams and reenforcing tears.
Everyone seems anxious about the rain. It has postponed Plan A for getting the farm back. I suppose guts would rinse off in the rain, sound doesn't carry as well in the rain either. I suppose Sun Tzu was right about calculating for the heavens when you make plans.
Glen and Maggie are on watch in the little hut by the gate. Its really an enclosed tree stand with a small platform and a nylon tent thing on top, but it works pretty well. It's big enough for two people to sit in comfortably, with a cooler full of ice cold soda to drink while waiting for a deer to happen by. Or two people to sit and watch the farm incase anyone happens to notice that there's people here.
Carrol and I have watch after dinner until breakfast. It won't be too bad. We can chit chat quietly and take turns letting each other have naps. No lights though. Just the moon and the stars and the night sounds and rain. The key is to not draw attention to ourselves.
Too bad I can't mend in the dark, because I think it's going to be pretty boring without anything to do. I remember when I could sit around doing nothing for hours, but anymore I always feel like I should be doing something.
Tuesday November 29th
Well, watch was about as uneventful as I thought it would be. That's not to say that it was entirely boring. I saw raccoons and bats and an owl and other nocturnal wildlife. There was a buck with a huge rack. As much as we do need to be able to eat, I hope Daryl doesn't come across him. Daryl would see him and want to add him to the collection of animal heads in Old Man Jim's cabin. They're beautiful to look at but I thought he was so majestic as he strutted along the fence line. I hope I see him again.
Carrol and I did whisper conversations but the night sounds were almost hypnotic and it seemed almost sacrilegious to insert our voices too much.
At about six am Daddy and Carl relieved us and I was completely ready for bed, I didn't even worry about breakfast. I slept past noon. I don't think I've slept so late in a very very long time. Mrs. Haywood saved me some lunch and then it was back to mending. James, Steve and Hank wandered in and out to chitchat throughout the day.
Maggie also kept checking on me, but her visits have nothing to do with social niceties, she has found a scale and has decided that I need a daily weigh in. I am now 102.4 lb. It's on the low end of normal for my height. No big deal. Unless you ask Maggie, she wants me to weigh 135. That's what she weighed at my age. She is also taller and bigger framed. I'm going to go to Daddy if she doesn't cool it just a bit.
As far as mending goes, I'm not just doing Mrs. Haywood's mending any more. It seems everyone has gotten word that I can mend and have access to a sewing kit. I don't even mind it much. If this had happened a few months ago I probably would've been annoyed, but now there's nothing I dread more than not having something to do. It seems that I will be patching jeans for Carl and Glenn, and trying to find a button that won't look weird on the Sherif's uniform top. Maggie had a loose button but it was reinforced in less than a minute. Daddy's clothes are in great shape considering that he didn't get a change of clothes until last week sometime.
While I was sleeping and sewing Daryl, Glenn, Dave, and the Sheriff went back to the farm to implement Plan A. We probably won't know how step 1 went until the day after tomorrow, if the weather holds up. Otherwise they'll come back sooner. From what I gather, they intend to rope off the driveways and reenforce or repair the fences. That way they can make sure that the dead on the farm stay put and also keep more from getting in. I hope they make it back okay. If it rains at the wrong moment things could get really bad really fast. I should try not to think about that though. Maggie, Lori and Mrs. Haywood are worrying enough to make everyone anxious. If it keeps up, I may ask Daddy to walk me over to Old Man Jim's cabin to work on the mending. Fortunately it's easily portable.
Wednesday November 30th
Well, the rain started sometime early this morning. Maggie and Daddy were on watch when it started and Maggie started to freak out. Daddy gave her some Benadryl so that she would settle down and go to sleep. I'm sure the guys will be okay. They know how to handle themselves.
After Daddy got up from his nap I was able to ask him to walk me, a basket of mending, a thermos of soup, some rolls and a pound of butter across the road for a change of scenery. It was a relief to be away from the gloomy atmosphere. Old Man Jim tells the best stories. Sometimes I have to wonder how much is hyperbole and exaggeration and how much is the Lord's honest truth.
It's funny kind of, how we use things until they are too worn out to use and then instead of just throwing it away we just use it for something else. Like the trash bags I have lining the inside of my 72 hour kit. I left the kit in my cubicle. The bags make great ponchos. Daddy and Steve and I stayed mostly dry on our way to Old Man Jim's cabin, and all the way back. I kind of wonder how many different ways those plastic tall kitchen trash liners will be used before all this is over. On the topic of bags, Jim was kind of irritated that I didn't have my bag with me.
The old man didn't seem to worried about Glenn, Dave, the Sheriff or Daryl. Now that I think about it, he really hasn't offered any input about getting the farm back. No opinion at all, from someone who never hesitates to give it freely.
Thursday December 1st
Today I have "Raindrops" running through my head. Mama used to sing it with me on on days that had "raindrops falling all around, on the housetops, on the ground. On my head and on my nose, on my shoulders knees and toes." It's funny the random things that just pop into my head.
With all the rain, most outside chores have been curtailed, except what's necessary for keeping the animals safe and healthy. That means everyone is mostly indoors. You can only play so many board games before you end up bored. Add to that the tension and worry of Glenn, Dave, Rick and Daryl being away, and you end up surrounded by a bunch of tense silent people. In other words it was as gloomy inside as outside. The only upside was that most of the moody adults are in our barn.
I was in Mrs. Haywood's rocking chair mending while the youngers worked on an arts and crafts project that involved using pinecones and acorns to make Christmas Owl's. They added to the cozy cheerful atmosphere by singing songs while they cleaned up. They had a blast decorating the cookies we had for desert. They shrieked with laughter during a very animated game of charades.
Don't think for a minute that I'm not concerned. I am, but if I let myself get bogged down won't help anybody. I trust that they know how to handle themselves. I figure they are holed up somewhere waiting out the rain.
In the meantime, I can make sure Glenn comes back to socks that are less holey and Dave has pants that are patched up nicely.
Friday December 2nd
Carrol and Maggie raised the alarm pretty late last night. By the time we had run from the barn to the gate, Glenn and Dave were already halfway up the drive, stinking and soaked and bedraggled looking. I was a bit concerned that Daryl was absent until they told me that they had gone to Old Man Jim's cabin and dropped him off, before coming back. He sprained an ankle outrunning a heard of dead people.
At the farm they had roped off the driveways and had gotten most of the way around the perimeter fence reenforcing loose boards. A military helicopter flew over the farm in a northerly direction and a few of the dead started off following it. They went through a weak section of the fence that the guys hadn't gotten to yet. The guys thought that since the dead hadn't noticed them so far that it would be okay, and decided to finish up. They were doing great until it started to rain. Within minutes the dead who had wandered out following the direction of the helicopter, found them to be very interesting and the chase was on. Daryl called out to Glenn, Rick and Dave to run for the tree line. One if the dead got a hold of Dave and Daryl turned just in time to see it and killed it with a bolt from his cross bow. In doing that he twisted his ankle, so Dave and Glenn helped him to the trees, while Rick did his best to provide cover. They decided that Daryl would have an easier time climbing a tree than running, and after giving him a boost up he was fine. They were treed for 3 days, eating out of their packs, until they ran out of food. They were able to collect rainwater in the plastic bags that had held sandwiches. So, another use for plastic bags. The rain did confuse the ill enough that they eventually wandered away, and the guys were able to climb down and find their way back to the car and come home.
Glenn and I went to see Old Man Jim and Daryl to make sure that they came to dinner. The first thing that hit me when Mr. Jim opened the door was the smell of steaming witch hazel and mint. It wasn't bad exactly but it was a bit heady. When we came in I was able to see that Daryl was soaking his leg in a canning kettle of a brown liquid. I got to see Mr. Jim's recipes in action. The mint smell was from the dried wintergreen and witch hazel in the hot pot of watered down whiskey. His foot looked okay to me, until I saw his work boot. It had been sliced off is foot. His response when I mentioned it was that his current pair of boots were wore out anyway. I wonder what he's going to do for shoes until he replaces them. He wears a 10 ½. Maybe I can find out if Mrs. Haywood has a pair of 10 ½ shoes somewhere or see if Maggie and Glenn can organize a run. Only having one boot will only work until he is off the crutches.
Dave is so grateful to be alive. I'm glad that everyone came out of it with nothing worse than a sprain. Mrs. Haywood killed the proverbial fatted calf. For the first time in days I got to be in on the cooking instead of mending. I made the potatoes, and I went all out with the bacon crumbles and cheese. I realized how much I have missed getting to cook.
The biggest topic besides the failure of Plan A and whether we should try again or move on to plan B, was what they should do for Plan B. Mr. Jim and I stayed out of that conversation in favor of things you can add to liniment if you need to improvise and what works best for different critters, and modifying for soaks.
Since the rain stopped we all saw Mr. Jim and Daryl to the gates and kept an eye out till they went past the bend in his drive. Mrs. Haywood sent them off with so many leftovers they barely managed to carry it all.
Saturday December 3rd
We caught a 4 rabbits in our snares this morning. My stack of stretching hides is growing. I'm going to have to make tannin soon so that I can properly preserve them. Its kind of gross really. I have to soak them in a mixture of urea and lye. DEF would probably work, but from what I've read most people use pee. Like I said, GROSS! James and I are going to work on tanning them tomorrow. I have enough skins now to make 3 hats or a fur baby bunting. I think I will make hats.
The baby isn't due till April. I asked Lori if she's thought about names yet. She hasn't. I think it makes her sad whenever anyone brings the whole pregnant thing up. Most everybody is sure it's Officer Walsh's, even Rick. That's put a lot of strain on their marriage. Rick mostly ignores her, they don't even sleep in the same stall.
It's really hurting Carl. I don't think he realizes a lot of what's going on with them but he does know that his Dad is mad at his Mom. He also knows that his Mom is sad. I think he even knows that it has something to do with the baby, it's just that he doesn't know enough about adult relationships to put one and one together and come up with a logical explanation. His parents won't talk about it and explain it to him so he is just confused. He is probably the only one excited about the baby. I think he's going to be a great big brother though.
The baby, the baby, the baby I want to call it something. I guess Lori Jr. will do for now. Or Peanut. Yes, I like peanut. I've already started to set aside some rags for quilt squares for a blanket for Peanut. Mrs. Haywood gave me a largish piece of flannel for the backing.
The yard is starting to dry out.
Oh, before I forget I should probably mention that Carrol gave me her rose hip and elderberry tea. recipe. She says it's good for colds and sniffles.
Sunday December 4th
A restful Sunday for sure. G-d created the earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh. I am so glad that I was able to take an easy day. I needed today. Even G-d needs to rest sometimes, and am I better than G-d? Not hardly.
Daddy, Maggie and I had our meeting today with T-dog, Carl and Carol. The focus was on the creation. I love how the Bible describes all the ways our Heavenly Father cared for us so much that he made sure every needful thing was here for us before he made us. He made water to drink, air to breath, a place to stand and plants and animals to provide food, clothing and shelter.
I know there's a lot of debate about evolution and some people have a hard time believing that our Heavenly Father could create the world and everything in it just 6 days, but here is my opinion...The Bible says G-d told the oceans to bring forth fishes and such. He told the Earth to bring forth plants and animals and birds and whatnot. The only critters the Bible says G-d formed with his hands were Adam and Eve. I think maybe there is room for evolution. I know Daddy dislikes speculation, but I think G-d has to be pretty smart and I don't think a bit of delegation is outside the realm of possibility.
Jethro, Moses' father in law counseled him to delegate some of his administrative tasks. He prayed about it and G-d agreed. I'm not 100% but I don't think it's impossible.
Daddy and I have decided to agree to disagree. I don't think I have ever actually openly disagreed with Daddy before, but it was okay. Daddy is glad that I am attempting to reason things out on my own, and says that I'm growing up too fast.
Monday December 5th
I guess they came to a decision last night. Daryl, Glenn, Rick and Dave are going back to try again. They are going to give Daryl's ankle a few more days to heal. He is putting some weight on it but Jim thinks he should take it easy for another week at least. He is exercising it and stretching it gently a couple of times a day. He is also keeping it wrapped in an ace soaked in liniment. He hates the smell and Old Man Jim has to bully him into keeping it on. Daryl says its a waste of good whiskey, but so far Jim is winning. He hates the crutches too, but the ache keeps him compliant with them. I don't think he has the sense G-d gave a worm to be planning to go back to the farm so soon. What if he has to run on it. I wish Rick, Glenn and Dave would tell him he can't go. Maybe Carol or Maggie or Hank could go instead, or even Mr. Haywood.
Maggie and Glenn left to go on a supply run to get a new pair of boots for Daryl and check out the local outdoor store for tanning supplies and primers. Dave has a special round he wants to make for his shot gun.
I think they look at supply runs as a form of dating. Glenn is always blushy when they come back, and Maggie gets all grinny. It's kind of cute how they try to hide how they feel about each other. I think that they actually think no one notices but they are so obvious. Even Prissy and Ruby notice, they think it's "sooo romantic". I'm happy for them, really. I just don't see how risking getting bit can be romantic. Maybe its a damsel in distress thing, maybe Maggie likes being rescued by Glenn, or maybe she rescues him, or they take turns. It makes my brain hurt.
I've never been on a date, so I'm no expert, but I always imagined that I would dress up, do my hair and make up and the guy would try to look nice too. Maybe see a movie and then we could get milkshakes or eat dinner and talk about school or the movie or something. Or bowling, or rollerskating, or visit a zoo or museum.
Gertie's mom and dad had date night every month. Once, when they first started having date night it was her dads turn to plan it. He tried to take her mother through the McDonalds Drive thru and then to Walmart for groceries. Her mother told him that wasn't a date. It was running errands. Two days later he took her on a pick-nick and a walk on the beach. Inexpensive and romantic. All he had to do was go to Hardees for chicken and biscuits and stick it in a basket with some plastic dishes and a vinyl tablecloth.
That's why I don't get Maggie and Glenn. They are essentially going to get groceries and getting a bite to eat. And hiding from, running from and killing sick people that want to kill them, while watching out for other people who may or may not be friendly. I suppose I shouldn't overthink it. If it works for them and they are happy, I suppose thats what really matters.
What should be really mattering to me is that I am finally almost to the end of the mending pile. I had gotten almost to the bottom of the mending pile by dinner. Just buttons and snaps, belt loops and zippers and button holes to fix and reenforce now. I think I'll be done tomorrow, unless someone is less than meticulous with their clothes. I don't know what I'm going to do with all the time I will have on my hands. Work on Peanuts quilt suppose.
On another note, I'm reading "Tom Sawyer" to the kiddo's. We kind of worked out a deal. One of them has to read a page out loud, and then I read two pages. It doesn't take me as long to read two pages, as it takes them to read one. It's not cutting into the mending time much at all. It Mrs. Haywood really wants them to value reading, and she spends a lot of time listening to them read. So much that someone is almost always reading to her. I'm mostly doing it to free up some time for her.
Tuesday December 6th
Well, Carl and I are at Old Man Jim's. I'm probably going to be in trouble again. By again I mean that when we got here I was only with Carl and my backpack. I didn't want a lecture about not keeping it with me. Inste-
Okay, that probably made no sense. Just forget it.
So today began normally, well as whatever passes for normal. My morning routine went off without a hitch. I was mending. Mrs. Haywood was vacuuming and Prissy was washing the lunch dishes and Ruby was folding laundry. We were actually having a pleasant time singing hymns and other songs to help the time pass faster. We were actually in the middle of "The Green Fields of France" when there was yelling in the yard.
I guess Lori and Rick finally decided to air things out, but instead of acting like adults they quickly spiraled out of control yelling and screaming. Lori yelled about Ricks less than stellar performance as a husband, indiscretions and such. Rick brought up every time she had spoken to another man, and questioned how long officer Officer Walsh had been sneaking behind his back. Anyway, it was ugly and didn't make anyone look good. It looked about ready to get violent and the other adults stepped in, but it seemed to be more of picking sides and escalating things than anything else.
Carl was crying and the youngers were just staring at him. That's when Rick started screaming about if Carl was his or Officer Walsh's. That's when I made and executive decision to remove Carl from the situation. After writing a quick note I grabbed my bag, told Prissy and James where we were going and gave them my note, took Carl's hand and we left. I wanted to be discreet so we went our the back door and circled around to the gate and left. We probably could have gone out the front and walked through the crowd without being noticed, but Carl was upset enough without needing to see or hear any more.
The gate was heavy and it took the both of us to get it open and closed again. I thought about leaving it open. Maybe a few ill people would have been a good distraction. Big enough for them to stop being idiots, but I figure we will be in enough trouble when they find us gone and got my note, that we should keep it to a minimum. Now that I have time to actually sit and think about my actions, I still think I did the right thing.
Old Man Jim was at the end of his driveway waiting for us. Carl ran up ahead to find Daryl, while I explained what was going on to Mr. Jim. He mentioned that he would have sent Daryl but "he's being a sissy today." What that meant was that Daryl was soaking his leg and Jim wanted to escape the smell.
Since Daryl is on light duty, He's taking care of the house and Jim is doing the outside chores. Carl was roped into taking care of the goats and chickens and helped Old Man Jim check on the mashed potatoes fermenting in the barn.
I went in and was greeted with a 'What the hell are you doing here'. Daryl isn't much for social graces I suppose. He wasn't mad or anything, he just wanted to know why I was here. I explained what was going on and he just listened. He is good at listening, probably because he doesn't talk much. So I talked and he listened. I finished about the time Carl and Mr. Jim were coming in from the chores.
I tidied up and asked if there was any mending. There was a little bit but it only took an hour or so. There is still a pair of pants and a sock to fix, but I'll do it before bed. I'm going to make dinner first. I promised Jim I'd fry chicken and make biscuits if he'd go butcher a couple. That's why I have time to write in the middle of the day. He, Daryl (with his soaking Bucket) and Carl are on the porch plucking chickens. I'm supposed to be getting things ready but that took less than 30 minutes. The biscuits are ready to go in the oven but I want them to still be hot when I serve the chicken. I actually made quite a bit extra so they can have biscuits for a couple of meals. There is also a jar of green beans that Mrs. Haywood sent over at some point. It's dated from a few years ago so I'm going to open it. All there is to fry in is beef fat and bacon drippings, but that's fine. It will actually taste really good. I never used to use so much fat to cook. How did our ancestors avoid getting turned into huge blobs?
Wednesday December 5th
I guess I'm getting used to waking up in new places. Daryls bed wasn't so bad. It smelled like him, and more slightly like liniment. My routine is the only thing giving me any sense of normalcy. After dinner and cleaning up while listening to Jim and Daryl ribbing each other Carl fell asleep in one of the recliners. Daryl called dibs on the couch and Jim agreed that ladies need privacy. I tidied up the room a bit and made the bed.
It was pretty early so I made sausage gravy and toasted the leftover biscuits for breakfast. That got the boys up. After they finished, Jim drug Carl outside for chores and "manning up". Daryl translated that to mean a variation of "the talk" which would be the lead in on a variation of the differences between men and women, relationships and how sex messes things up, and makes adults act like children. It would be somewhat similar to the talk he received at about the same age, minus explaining how his parents loved him but were too broken to know how to act like human beings.
Usually I talk and Daryl listens. I've gotten to know a lot of the people with us pretty well. Daryl remains a bit of a mystery because he's mostly a closed book. It was kind of nice listening to his thick drawl peppered with the creative application of explicative. I cleaned and he talked about growing up with Merle. I sat down to mend a pair of his jeans and, he talked about how he enjoys the whisper of the trees while he's out hunting. I worked on quilt squares for Peanuts blanket and he described the buck he couldn't kill a few weeks ago, because it was too beautiful. It was probably the same one Carol and I saw.
Shortly after I started the chicken soup from last nights leftover chicken we were joined by Mr. Jim, Carl, Lori, Rick and Daddy. The silence was uncomfortable. They were talking as they came in but just clammed up as I handed Daryl and onion, and a knife. I just tried to act naturally and thought what Mama would do so I said, "Ya'll just have a seat. We'll have lunch ready in about 20 minutes." like everything was just fine and hunky dory.
They sat while Daryl chopped the onion and I added some hot water from the kettle to the canner he'd been soaking his foot in. What proceeded next was a very awkward conversation about how Carl was loved and how sorry Rick and Lori were that they had dragged him into their problems.
By the time they were done so was the soup and the last of the biscuits rounded out the meal. The meal was very quick and before I knew it Daddy was shoeing them off ahead, as he wanted to have a conversation with Daryl and I.
I think Daddy is a wonderful father and is looking out for my best interests. That said. He's an idiot. His opener was so out of the blue that it about knocked the both of us over. "That was quite the little domestic scene, but she's too young boy." The rest is a bit surreal. Daryl was insisting that he's not a child molester and how a romantic thought had never and would have never ever crossed his mind. Way to make a girl feel totally undesirable. I know he didn't mean anything personal...but still. Mr. Jim grinning like the Cheshire cat stating the idea was baseless because I'm for someone else, unless he does something terminally stupid!... And all I could do was stand there dumbly with no idea how to react, as they argued about propriety and young ladies.
I couldn't leave soon enough. I don't think I can ever look at Daryl in the eyes again. It might just kill me from the embarrassment. I couldn't even make my mouth work to defend him. He will never want to talk to me again. I'm glad I don't see him often.
Thursday December 6th
I wish the Earth would just swallow me up. It seems that Lori thinks Daryl and I have something going on. I was cooking for him and cleaned the cabin and mended his clothes. I've done that for Rick, T-dog, Glenn, Carl, Shane, the Haywood boys and old man Jim. Is something going on with them too? Maggie thinks it's cute that I have a secret crush. Here's the secret. There's no crush. Mostly because there's no one crush worthy around. Daryl is nice, but He's so old. He is also a bit of a redneck. No one is clean cut around here although some of the ladies have put a lot of effort into helping the guys keep their hair well trimmed, but Daryl seems content to just let himself go. The only trimming he does is when his face hair is long enough to be noticeable.
Hank wouldn't look at me and didn't need any help with the tractor. Mrs. Haywood tried to nicely explain to me that "Daryl is a mature man with mature needs", that I'm not ready to meet. So here I am in my stall hiding from looks. I think I have finished all the quilt squares that I will need for Peanuts quilt. There are 20 of them. I will get the flannel from Mrs. Haywood after dinner so I can make the strips that will go between the squares. Then all I have to do is get a batting and tie it to the backing, and bind the edges.
Friday December 7th
Well, I guess that since Maggie and Glenn came back from their supply run me and my non existent crush are old news. Maggie is insisting that the guy they saw in town Randal's older brother Simon. He was with a bunch of men who were bragging to each other about doing unthinkable things to some people they found in a house somewhere. I wonder if he knows Randal is dead. I don't want to be the one to tell him. He always was a bully. I just never imagined that he would get up to rape and murder.
I guess they lure in the ill into where people are to cause a commotion, and then swoop in to play the hero's. Afterward they take advantage of their hero status and kill anyone who objects.
They were able to get me a quilt batting for Peanut, so I have it stretched on a makeshift quilt frame. It's tied and basted. I will bind the edges last. I've been thinking about Christmas. I really want to make something practical for everyone. I'm thinking about ponchos. I just need cloth and Mrs. Haywoods sewing machine. They look quick and easy. Also, coats are hard to find. Maybe I can talk to Maggie about it.
The kids and I finished chapter three yesterday. Since then "Tom Sawyer" has disappeared. I, personally think that someone got impatient and swiped it to read ahead. I guess I will know when it reappears. Whoever seems suddenly less interested or has made unexpected giant leaps in their reading will be my number one suspect. Of course I wont do anything about it. It's kind of self punishing. It's no fun when you already know what happens.
Saturday December 8th
Well, I spent most of the morning sewing the quilt blocks to the strips of cloth that will help form the quilt top of Peanut's quilt. Carl read three chapters of "The Indian in the Cupboard" to me as I sewed. Occasionally I would help him if he got stuck on a word. It was a nice quiet morning.
I realized that I still had Daryl's pants when I picked up my bag last night. I didn't want to stir up a bunch of innuendo asking someone to walk to Old Man Jim's cabin so I asked James. He sullenly told me he was not going to help me have a meet up. That was a fail, soo...They will be under my sleeping bag until Daryl and Jim come round visiting the Haywood's again. I rely don't want to admit I have them to anyone. Most everyone thinks I like him and that would be the thing to convince them that they are right. I do like him. Just not like that.
Sunday December 9th
Adam fell that men might be, man is that he might have joy. Today for our Sunday devotional we talked about the fall of Adam and marriage. The commandment G-g gave to Adam about multiplying and filling the Earth could not be fulfilled without the fall. It was part of G-d's plan. Even when Satan leads people astray, it leads right into G-d's plans for us. If he had refused the fruit Eve would have been cast out of the garden by herself and Adam would have been left alone, which G-d had already declared to be bad. That was the whole purpose of making her, to be a companion for Adam.
It says a lot about the sanctity of marriage or how much Adam liked Eve that he would risk dying with her. The fruit was supposed to make them die. I guess it did, just not instantly. They became mortal.
I kind of wonder what it would be like to be loved like that. Sort of like Romeo and Juliet, except they did die. Horribly. Well, I think poison would be an awful way to go. Actually, I can't really think of a good way to go, except quietly in my sleep of old age. I kind doubt that quietly in my sleep will be an option.
I can't help wondering who I'm "for". Old Man Jim seems to know but I'm kind of wary of asking. I don't want to rely on soothsayers. I know G-d gives people insight sometimes. I suppose that the good Lord will guide me, and when I need to know I will.
Monday December 10th
Rick, Glenn and T-dog have been mapping checking the position of the herds of ill people on the map and watching where they are going for a week now. It seems that they don't climb well so they go around rocky outcroppings. Stragglers and smaller groups tend to converge with and become bigger groups. At the same time the ill on the edges and back ends of the herds seem to get distracted easily. I suppose that this information can help us figure out how to avoid them or figure out how to lure them away or corral them somehow. Tomorrow they are planning to venture back to the farm again. I think they want to see how many of the dead wandered after them when Daryl sprained his ankle.
Today I worked on the quilt top. I don't think I will be ready to stretch it out until tomorrow or Wednesday, so long as nothing happens. It's going to be pretty. It is like a kaleidoscope of colors and textures. Everyone has contributed, whether they know it or not. The rag bag is only a little bit emptier, but, I think it will refill quick enough. The strips running between the squares are a really pretty butter yellow, and the backing is green with tiny red, yellow and blue flowers all over it.
Since "Tom Sawyer" is still AWOL we have started "A Christmas Carrol". It's actually better reading than any of the plays or movie renditions would suggest. The kids are enjoying it, and I suppose its appropriate for the time of year.
The youngers want me to go on a walk with them to collect different kinds of leaves, acorns and pinecones for a project Mrs. Haywood has them working on. Probably a project to have a quiet cup of tea and a moment to hear herself think. I know she really appreciates Maggie helping to tutor the older kids in math. Especially Ruby.
Tuesday December 11th
I spent the morning helping the kids go through Mrs. Haywoods wild plant books. We managed to identify all the leaves, nuts, pinecones and acorns. Then we carefully pressed and glued the leaves flat to a board, waited for it to dry and shellacked it. When we had done, she traced each of the children's hands with gold, copper and bronze paint pens, and then she wrote their names inside of their hands. Later the pine cones were cut in half and the acorns and nuts were brushed clean and dusted with bronze powder and glued around the edge. Finally when everything was dry she shellacked it again and it made a beautiful platter. It looked nothing like the rectangular scrap of plywood it had started out as. We all learned a lot too. Many of the leaves were from edible plants including wild yams, wild potatoes and chicory.
The only other thing I did today was my schoolwork and sewin and readin. The Christmas Carol is coming along really well. The kids are very into it. They are reading it by parts. I'm just helping when one of them happens to stumble on a word. Its been quite entertaining.
I'm almost done with the quilt top. I only have four more blocks to connect together, but I am tired. I'll do it tomorrow.
Wednesday December 12th
Rick, Daddy and Hank went out to drive around and look for signs that a herd has passed through anywhere nearby. You know, trampled muddy pressed down grass in large swaths, missing parts like fingers and ears or other bits of flesh, shreds of clothing and such. When they follow roads its not so obvious. You find parts and stuff, but without trees and bushes to catch on them they don't seem to leave much behind. I don't know if they actually follow the trails or not, and I'm not asking.
The weather was a bit cloudy and it was cold but T-dog played football outside with the youngers most of the afternoon. It was nice to see the kids outside getting exercise and T-dog just loved it. When I see him with the kids I can totally see him coaching PeeWee teams. They absolutely love it. Even Prissy managed to find a pair of jeans and was content to get dirty for has a chance to tackle her brothers or Carl. I'm glad we have electric because we would be scrubbing the mud out by hand tomorrow without it.
I finished the quilt top a few minutes ago. It turned out really nice. I've been keeping it folded on top of Daryl's pants under my sewing basket when I haven't been working on it. Tomorrow I'm stretching it with the backing so I need to find a different way to stash those jeans.
I've been thinking about my next project but I'm not sure if I can sew enough of anything to have something for everyone by Christmas Eve. I only have 11 days. Maybe I should do family presents, and something for each of the kids. I'm going to talk to Daddy and Mrs. Haywood about how we are going make Christmas fun for the youngers. I can ask their opinions on a project then.
Thursday December 13th
If I had to describe today in two words they would be Horrifyingly Awkward.
It started of kind of normal: yoga, scriptures, chores and schoolwork. I got the quilt top stretched and pinned. I was actually under the quilt starting to tie a stitch I had made in the middle with rainbow variegated yarn when Maggie came in and started asking me what I was doing and acting weird. She knew what I was doing. She helped me stretch it and pin it down first light this morning.
It turns out that Old Man Jim gave Daryl a clean bill of health, or more accurately, Daryl got tired of sitting around and Jim realized he wasn't going to sit anymore.
Long story short, I gave him back his pants and he gave me a nod and a "Thank you Ma'am." and everybody suddenly remembered that we (Do not) have a thing going on. Someone muttered something about how we get along and he couldn't get away fast enough. I went back to quilt tying and managed not to be interrupted again tonight.
Good night I suppose.