Fades The Light: The Prepper Reconstruction

by Ron Foster

  “Its not a test man, it’s a “handle it, handle it” situation. You were chosen by your own merits to make decisive life and death descions based on your view of the situation. Your empowered now by comitee vote, that dosent mean not consult with the iron butt gang on things of importance. It just affords you the opportunity to take on the chore of field commander for better or worse and make split second or long term treaty conditions if need be. Calm the troops down, lessen the desent and give them something to look forward to. A change for the better in their lives is what they got to belive in. They also got to belive that this requires their 100% coperation and efforts no matter which direction it takes.” David said with some hesitation in his voice for the concluding sentence.

  “You mean we can go out in the world on our own and “ See the Elephant?” Clyde said smirking remebering Dave`s days of trading tutelage. Or wasn’t it you that told me PT Barnum was the Shakespeare of Advertising” Clyde said not quite sure David wasn’t setting him up for something.

  According to WikiPedia

  The phrase "seeing the elephant" is an Americanism (or American phrase) of the mid to late 19th century. Seen throughout the United States in the Mexican-American War, the Texas Santa Fe Expedition, the American Civil War, the 1849 Gold Rush, and the Westward Expansion Trails (Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail), the mythical elephant was an extremely popular way of expressing an overwhelming emotion.

  During the 20th century the phrase faded from popularity but when historians started taking note of its recurrence in historical newspapers, journals, and literature they often summed the elephant up too quickly and categorized it as a negative experience. Desolation and sadness may have been one trait of seeing the elephant, but it was certainly not the only or even the most prevalent. More often, American pioneers of the Overland Trails talk of the excitement and anticipation of heading west to see the elephant. Elephant "sightings" often begin with excitement and high ideals only to be disappointing or disenchanting. The high excitement followed by the low frustrations are what epitomize the elephant as something most wanted to "see" but few would have wanted to "see" again.

  “Hey you know that old saying can go two ways. I taught you critical thinking. And don’t be a smartass either just cause I sometimes have to tell you a story to make my points I want you to remember.” David said and proceeded with another story

  One of the most common origins many online sources cite of seeing the elephant is that of the optimistic farmer:

  There was an old tale of the farmer who upon hearing that a circus had come to town excitedly set out in his wagon. Along the way he met up with the circus parade, led by an elephant, which so terrified his horses that they bolted and pitched the wagon over on its side, scattering vegetables and eggs across the roadway. “I don't give a hang,” exulted the jubilant farmer as he picked himself up. “I have seen the elephant”

  Barnum's American Museum was so popular that people would spend the entire day there. This cut into profits, as the museum would be too full to squeeze another person in. In classic Barnum style, old P.T. put up signs that said "This Way to the Egress." Many customers followed the signs, not realizing that Egress was a fancy word for "Exit." They kept on looking for this strange new attraction, the "Egress". Many patrons followed the signs right out the door! Once they had exited the building, the door would lock behind them, and if they wanted to get back in, they had to pay another admission charge!

  Modern museums make sure that the last thing you see before you exit is the gift shop.

  “We got a lot of food to carry just for our own use let alone trade, you got any ideas about that”? Clyde asked.

  “Yea I got a few, one of which is powdered eggs.” David stated.

  “I thought you had used up all the ones in your stores.” Clyde said unsure where he was going to get some from.

  “You are going to make your own.” David said confidently.

  “Can I make my own powdered eggs?” Clyde asked.

  That is a less often asked question, but a good one. Most people don't know that it is actually relatively easy to do at home if you have the time. Of course, look at the costs of having it done for you and take into consideration whether you have the time and patience to do this yourself. Then make sure that you have a way to package them so they will store for long term.

  If you shop for specials at your local grocery store or big box club, you can still sometimes find decent prices on eggs even with the rising cost of foods these days. Then it is actually as simple as 7 steps to make your own fresh powdered eggs;

  Step 1; Scramble your eggs in a bowl. Pour them in a sauté pan and cook until done.

  Step 2; Drain the excess grease and moisture for a few minutes on a paper towel.

  Step 3; Break the eggs into tiny pieces.

  Step 4; Spread the eggs out onto a baking sheet.

  Step 5; Dry at 135° F for at least 10 hours.

  Step 6; Run the eggs through a blender until they form a fine powder.

  Step 7; Store your powdered eggs either in a heavy plastic bag, or a jar with a tight lid.

  8

  The Memory Master

  “Be glad we are not in a position like Mc Elroy came from. It is still hard to imagine how he even managed to get here.” David remarked.

  Mc Elroy was picked up by Dump on one of his trading and exploration ventures when Roland’s post apocalyptic railroad was still running the tracks on trading ventures.

  Dump and HopSing had found the man about 10 miles north of Atlanta sitting by the tracks and looking pretty much half dead. The man said he had lived originally in Manhattan and had been walking the railroad tracks for two months trying to escape to warmer weather down south as the Eastern Seaboard burned and chaos and social disorder took over. Things were bad enough in New York post hurricane Sandy, but getting hit with a Nor’easter, a terrorist cyber attack and then 3 months later a solar storm had pretty much sealed the fate of the big northern cities. Anarchy ruled and the dead bodies littering the highways were a gruesome testament to the masses trying to escape the societal breakdown like a herd of lemmings going off a cliff.

  Mc Elroy told Dump and HopSing a harrowing tale of overwhelmed police and National Guard trying to contain the riots and looting that followed within a week of the solar induced grid down situation.

  Mc Elroy said he had escaped Manhattan on a old leaky skiff with 4 others who had somehow banded together to search the left over wreckage of boats from Hurricane Sandy in order to escape the island. Somehow over the course of time Mc Elroy had lost all his shipmates one by one and remained the only survivor to live to tell the tale to Dump and HopSing.

  David went further to conclude how lucky they were to be where they were now versus other less fortunate locales.

  “At least our infrastructure and housing was still standing when the crap hit the fan. Those folks that lived in the storm impacted area of the North East for over 300 miles had stuff already whacked and a significant number of people already homeless to contend with separate from the solar disaster. On the best of days before the storm there was high crime, for the big city society of New York which has always been noted for its gruff manners and self centered ways. After the first couple catastrophes you had a very large number of people that were not going to even think about helping their neighbor unless it gave them a chance to rob them. The draconian measures imposed by law enforcement and Homeland security of early curfews, stop and warrantless search etc. already had the public and the responders at odds.

  Unchecked fires, no garbage pick up, rape, murder, robberies, looting etc. spun out of control and the cities basically self imploded. Improvised weapons by the former law abiding citizens in gun control states didn’t have a chance against the well armed gangs and criminals. Hopefully the gang turf wars took a lot of them bastards out, but with so much rich real estate to divvy up it was probably status quo for awhile until someone decided to eat each other
or try to take over a rival gangs food warehouse.” David concluded.

  “I am not seeing your point here David. I understand Mc Elroy had to bail from the big cities and we have at least our own brand of infrastructure here, but I think even you would admit it sounds like the reconstruction cities have more to offer in that regard than anything we can come up with. “Clyde said confident in his assessment.

  “That’s just it, where did they get that crap from? Nobody damn sure made it and who controls it? You are just thinking about “STUFF”, stuff you think is wondrous and will make your life easier. You don’t even know what that “STUFF” is or why you might need it. You just want to be able to be exposed to it if you want it and want it and you will because that’s the game. There is “STUFF” around from the technology era that was common place and well known you can’t even conceive of because you have never seen it or were taught it. That’s not because your education was limited, society and current needs dictated what you have learned or experienced as well as community norms. But we all tried to teach you in our own ways in this community in order to get you ready for this day. When you and your brother Cletus were growing up and I was stuck babysitting or training you all I used to ask whatever house we were visiting if they had anything you two could take apart or dismantle. Do you remember?” David said his eyes twinkling.

  “I remember. It took me awhile to figure out you were not just dumping us off or shooing us away to drink with Boudreaux or LowBuck so we could entertain ourselves but I see how it worked out. We learned mechanical skills, how to identify types of screws, the way things worked etc” Clyde said confidently.

  Clyde was proud of his position as “Memory Master” of the goods or resources around the area. David’s hands on approach to satisfying the boys curiosity and his use of it as a learning tool skill had paid off in the young man being able to mentally or physically ( by checking his ledgers) make a note of where a particular type of screw or bolt might be found if needed. There were no hardware stores anymore to run down to for a critical part. Clyde had an infallible memory of where a certain type of screw or bolt might be located at on an old piece of forgotten machinery and had become the go to guy for any hardware related project. All the weird screw lengths, threads, etc could be reliably called up from Clyde’s knowledge of where that specific type of hardware or mechanism might be found and salvaged from a certain location. His brother however was much better at twisting a wrench on a project so they complemented each other well. Our world in the past had relied heavily on computers and technology to effectively do business and connect across the globe for any types of parts and such. Nowadays it was mostly Clyde’s personal memory and some trade notes in a journal that supplied the needs of the community.

  9

  I Am Here For The Deer!

  “Clyde my buddy, “We have no choice but for all of us to stick together. It's a matter of the entire community’s survival at this point.” Food security forms the foundation of a culture's prosperity and social stability and we get by as a sovereign and dedicated community effort here on this lake. If you young folks leave now for the end of the rainbow we will be unbalanced and a new crisis will form. You yourselves will get by ok I guess, but you won’t have the wisdom or the material goods we old timers have to offer that can make life easier. I think however, we might have figured out a way to wean each other off some of our interdependence on one another and maybe profit a mite if you can get your crew calmed down enough and is working with us towards a new common goal and an easier transition.” David said trying to keep everybody’s ducks in a row until it was more feasible them all to try to rejoin normal society.

  “David I feel so bad we even have to have this particular discussion but you know how it is. Probably it’s some of your own damn fault everyone thinks there is a brighter world out there because you were always reading us all those adventure stories when we were growing up. I have been advocating staying here to the others but I can’t say I am not intrigued with the thrill of learning some new things and experiencing some new places.” Clyde said dejectedly.

  “I don’t blame you, only age and experience will show you the grass isn’t normally any greener on the other side of the fence than it is in your own backyard. I got a proposition for you and those kids that might want to go to the cities. You know times are tough any items we value are scarce and require trade goods or hard money to acquire. Both of those items being in short supply its hard to give you kids any kind of realistic start in life except what we have already given you as personal possessions over the years. Don’t look so freaked out. We are not talking about taking back guns or ammo even though you were told most of the weaponry you posses was sort of a lifetime loan to help the community. The majority of those hunting rifles and pistols you all are carrying were mine to begin with and I might add they were obtained by me at considerable expense before the fall so gifting them to you all without any benefit lowers my net worth and this communities considerably. I won’t say it wasn’t discussed by the committee of elders to hold some of those things you take for granted over your heads to try to influence a decision and buy us more time, but every one of fine boys and girls have paid for them 5 times or more over the years and it just wouldn’t be right to put any sort of conditions on them regardless of the original deal. You got to keep in mind; it was not like going to the store and buying a boy or girl their first 22 rifle for a birthday or Christmas. I had two .22 caliber rifles and a .22 pistol when we bugged out 10 years ago. I gave you a rifle and your brother one as a coming of age gift but it was also a basically community military or hunting issue with certain rights and responsibilities attached to them. You then as you got older were issued a shotgun or a battle rifle with other rights and responsibilities and had to pass on the 22`s to the younger ones for training and food procurement chores with the same promises you had kept. So you see you are as vested as I am as to their ultimate placement or ownership as a community asset. When is the last time you squirrel hunted or had to borrow a .22 to run the trap lines?” David said smugly letting his point sink in.

  “Every piece of gear from those jeep caps I gave out last Christmas to now was calculated and stored by us to recover after a disaster. Ha! Ha! I just thought about something. You don’t even know what it means when we say you look like Radar O`Riley because you never seen MASH on TV.

  “Damn, I see your point. Not having access to a .22 really cramps your style doesn’t it? I mean if nobody is hunting for themselves and the community with it daily it really impacts your survival to be with out it.’ Clyde said glumly looking out across the lake.

  “Well not so much a cramp on my style or needs, I still have a bunch of rat traps that work fine to whack a squirrel as well as snares but you remember that damned skunk that got caught in one of my live snares? I had to shoot that son of a bitch with my 9mm. It was either that or use some double ought buck. Ammo is friggin scarce after 10 yrs. I think you were about 15 when I had to teach you how to make a “cut shell” out of birdshot shell to substitute for a deer slug if you had a shotgun lacking shells for a deer.

  One can ring cut a shotgun shell in the plastic between the shot and powder area to make the cartridge shoot like a slug. You can turn a simple bird shot load into a man or game stopping "slug" with a quick turn of a knife.If you are like me cutting a circle never ends up straight, this time it is to your advantage.

  “Clyde you are going to a new hunting area so let me give you some new tips I have used to attract and pattern deer. You see deer have a undying desire of deer to find and consume calcium and sodium. Those baits I put out sometimes are a substitute for highly active sodium and calcium which react with moisture to release vapors that attract deer that desire nutritional supplements. Now when I put out my baits and they are activated the deer will lick, paw and eat the soil where I have spread it around consuming the needed minerals. Back before peanut butter disappeared I had another trick. You can take a peanut but
ter jar and screw the lid into the tree. then screw the jar on and cut the bottom out of it. Any deer in the area will lick it clean You fasten the lid to a tree or post about 3 feet off the ground.

  You need to put it where the Deer can get it, but not to too easily. That’s a key notion. You should make them work for it. This keeps them in the area longer and they will get use to being there, the smells etc. like campfires will become part of there normal routine

  Another idea I have used with great success is to mix the peanut butter with cheap pancake syrup, liquid molasses or honey. Used to be that you could buy staples like this at the local grocery ‘scratch & dent’ outlet the cheapest. Again, those are the places that have out of date items or scratch and dent type groceries, but honestly deer don’t care if it’s a week or a month out of date or if the can or jar is dented in on one side! Anyway, mix the peanut butter with pancake syrup (we might would pay $1 for 24oz) until it is pretty thin; then pour it over a dead fallen tree dispersed in a long line (puts out the scent further) and it will bring the deer back time and time again to that spot because now it’s got attraction power!

  An important point I want to make is that Boudreaux and I use the wind to our advantage 100% of the time. Always remember to play the wind and remember that the cover-up scent is only a tool not an answer to harvesting mature whitetails. One of our main cover-up scents was vanilla. If the winds do change and we can not back out due to deer movement, the smell of food is not alarming to them. Remember, one of the reasons for deer movement is for food.