Restoration

by J. F. Krause

  While I’m talking about Edwards Air Force Base and the solar array, the people working and living there just took their first steps to becoming an actual community and not just an outpost. They elected a council and set about creating a crèche. They’re expecting their first babies soon after the start of the year.

  As for all the damage around Southern California, we’ll make the repairs necessary, but other than that, we have more pressing things to do with our limited number of people than to pick up bricks and rebuild unused and extremely redundant facilities. We’ll try to make sure things are safe and stable so people in the future who may have forgotten about this earthquake don’t get crushed by a collapsing building.

  If this is the ‘Big One’ it may give us up to 150 years or so before LA has another earthquake this large. That is not to say that smaller ones, and there are quite a few of those going on all the time in California, aren’t a problem, too. It should be pointed out that while this may be the Big One for Southern California, the area around San Francisco and Sacramento, while slightly feeling this earthquake, has it’s own calendar for when to expect their next Big One.

  Here in SLO, we felt it and there was some damage, but we didn’t get the damage that Los Angeles and areas further south did. Calloway House seems to have come through with no discernable damage. Calloway House, while looking like a giant Tudor mansion was constructed less than 20 years ago. It may look old, but it’s actually fairly new and pretty Earthquake resistant.

  The kids were pretty agitated by it all, but I think they thought it was fun more than anything else. Kevin and I were already up since he starts work at 6 AM, and we had just started our day with a cup of coffee and our usual morning chat. Even before the shaking had stopped, the kids came running into the kitchen. Besides getting Nelda spayed, we need to make sure the kids know what to do before the aftershocks begin. We had Cedric neutered as soon as we figured out that Nelda was pregnant but Nelda will need to give birth first.

  The Gap Year people at Pendleton were treated to a great ride, but in the end, there wasn’t anything there that suffered any real damage. We previously had decided that Gappers are not an emergency workforce and will not have their studies and parties interrupted.

  Even though we are not worried about most of the rebuilding, we are getting lots of offers of help from around the globe. This is a great opportunity for everyone to get some practice building or rebuilding bridges and making extensive road repairs. This gives everyone a chance to put their talents to work and for all of us to practice coordinating on a large scale. The Los Angeles Speaker has her hands full.

  One of the hardest concepts for anyone to get used to is the fact that money is no object anymore. People aren’t getting paid to do any of the things they do. They work for other rewards now. One of the biggest rewards is that no one wants to live in anarchy and almost everyone wants to be part of the group. For instance, I know for a fact that prostitutes survived The Sickness. But without money actually exchanging hands, are they still prostitutes? By the way, we don’t have a prostitutes guild, and they don’t get voluntary work credit.

  We also don’t seem to have a market for illegal drugs anymore. We don’t enforce any drug laws from before, and it doesn’t appear that our drug addicts moved away. There’s just no profit in selling drugs nowadays, and we don’t recognize drug dealing as a real job so the pushers retrained to do something else, and the addicts had to get their fixes from our doctors who don’t have to worry about the government taking their licenses away for treating drug users. We had a rash of suicides that we thought were drug related and people went searching for previously illegal hidden stashes, but in the end, word got out that doctors would help them get through their personal crises, and we’ve moved on from there.

  I understand that most of the addicts are stabilized or have been successfully weaned off their drugs. I know there are still a few meth heads out there, but the problem is disappearing. Very few of the addicts in our world, or the world before for that matter, actually want to be victims of their addiction, and the only way we deal with them is through our doctors. Drugs, like every thing else can be found, but the price you pay is isolation. In the end, this is a medical issue and all medical issues, physical and mental, are dealt with through the healthcare system.

  November 27

  The Earthquake has been followed by numerous aftershocks, but we’re pretty much business as usual. Volunteers from around the world are flying in to help and we have the road network up and running although we are going to have to repair or rebuild several sections including quite a few over/underpasses. The California north south canal will need a bit of repair as well. The epicenter has been determined to be just east and south of Palmdale, just south of Hwy 58, pretty close to Little Rock, one of Palmdale’s suburbs. There’s a gap in the main road of over 12 feet where the road just ripped apart and some of it moved north; it’s very clear to the eye. LA really is heading up to San Francisco. And I stand corrected: this may not have been The Big One. Evidently, The Big One is still building up somewhere beneath LA proper. Our seismologists aren’t sure if this buys us time or hastens the inevitable. We have a lot to learn.

  One thing that has helped is that much of the work our people do is simply studying, training, maintenance, or food related. Many people work no more than four hours a day with a lot of their time taken up by leisure or study activities. There’s no wonder we have so many pregnancies. I know, I’m perseverating on pregnancies, but it’s truly amazing how many pregnant women there are. Unfortunately, the theory that free time begets pregnancies doesn’t really hold up when we consider that many women with long work-days are just as pregnant as the women who have shorter work or study commitments. In reality, many of us, by our own choice, work longer, sometimes much longer. I regularly put in 9 or 10 hours a day, sometimes six days a weak. Kevin voluntarily pulls a full 8 hour shift and then volunteers another 3 or four hours daily at the school and crèche, and he frequently has the kids alone for much of Saturday. Thank heavens he loves being a dad. The crèche and school systems help, and being able to pick up cooked or ready to cook meals is a godsend, but work is work, pay or not.

  As I mentioned, a lot of people take classes four or five hours a day, and still put in four hours of regular work. The farmers all have heavy work schedules, but I don’t hear complaints. Everyone who carries a heavy work or study load fully understands that they have chosen to work harder than expected. We make it a point to recognize hard workers, but in the end, they do it because they want to. If they didn’t do all they do, we’d work something out. Even for me.

  Other than a turkey dinner, we didn’t do much for Thanksgiving. When it comes down to it, how do you celebrate surviving another year when almost everyone you love didn’t. We took the kids to a couple of religious services, one at our church, and one at the Zoroastrian Fire Temple up the hill. Maybe next year.

  December 9

  I’m discovering that the Tristan da Cunha contacts are very stressful to me. I worry; that’s all there is to it. I worry. The two ships have completed their deliveries without a problem. As far as we know, the new convicts are integrating with their colleagues, and all is right with the world. Who am I kidding? It’s probably already a bloodbath. Or not. We just don’t have any idea. Frankly, the less I know the better. I feel bad because we have to treat other people this way, but I’d feel worse if one of our guards were hurt or killed in a prison. We can’t spare the personnel to man a prison right now, so this is the way it will be. Still, I feel worried and guilty every time it comes to mind.

  Anyway, after a rocky start, the original exile group seems to have gotten its act together and managed to get some potatoes planted and some cows milked. They didn’t live like kings, but they got themselves fed. They had butchered too many animals, but that was put down as ineptitude and inexperience. We’ll see how things look next time.

  Four of the original 32 were dead and their
bodies were accounted for. We didn’t ask how or why they died. Stanley Hawkins was among the dead so I’m guessing it had to do with a power struggle that he lost. There was obviously a leader in charge, but we didn’t find out who, and there was some minimal sense of order about the place. Even so, there had been a fire at one of the houses in The Village that they had left as it was, and there was trash strewn around. Pretty much all of them were hostile and surly. Still, they would have starved if they hadn’t done something that worked. They overused the medical supplies we originally left with them and ran out. Not our problem; as we did last time, we left them with a supply that should last until the next time we make a supply run and come back with more. We left them with more gardening seeds, a few more animals, a few more books on animal husbandry and agriculture, and an assortment of footwear and work clothes.

  They seemed surprised that we were providing so much medicine and food for them. They were also told very clearly that if they failed to continue making regular and complete radio reports each month, their next shipment of supplies would reflect their lack of cooperation. It’s probably become some sort of an adult version of the Lord of the Flies.

  December 30

  Christmas was unlike any I’ve ever experienced. People were, and still are, really deflated. Of course, there were other holidays taking place as well, and all of them, regardless of the faith, were overwhelmingly depressing. In the choral group that Kevin and I sing in, even as we started practicing to sing the more traditional carols, men and women burst into tears. At first, there were quiet tears, and then people wept more openly and soon, virtually the entire chorus was weeping and hugging each other in shared grief. That was how it began. I thought it might be cathartic, and we’d get through it, but I noticed that the chorus was never able to sing any of the Christmas music with anything other than a sense of melancholy. In the end, our carols were little more than dirges that we sang through the heaviness of our hearts. When we sang ‘Away in the Manger’, our audiences openly, and sometimes loudly, cried. Our soloist in ‘Silent Night’ broke down during her passage and cried all through the section. We persevered, and in the end, it was probably good that we could collectively share our grief in such a personal and touching way. At least I hope so. Somewhere, at least I think I read it somewhere, every special event during the first year becomes a moment of reflection and grief. Thanksgiving had been bad, but the Earthquake out here in California must have deflected some of the collective sadness. On the other hand, Christmas and Hanukkah, at least in California, were the first holidays that almost every one of us shared post Sickness. Together, we went through these holidays that are filled with very personal memories of families and friends now lost to us all, but we also experienced the pain of the season all alone. Our new friends and loved ones were suffering just as we were, and it was uniquely painful. Now that it’s mostly over, we can get on with our lives, but I wonder if Christmas will ever be the same again to any of us. I suppose time will tell, but I can tell you I never want to go through anything like this again. There just were no shoulders to cry on, no strong arms to help us muddle through.

  Unfortunately, there were a number of suicides again, worldwide. The Holidays can be a very trying time to those without families and friends to turn to. For many, even before The Sickness, it had been a painful period. Our communities had almost gotten a handle on suicides since this summer when we instituted a lot of formalized activities and groups designed to build bonds and camaraderie between our citizens. And now suicides are back again. We’ve had two since Thanksgiving here in SLO.

  Of course, with five kids, Christmas Day wasn’t sad for long. Kids rebound quickly, especially when they came downstairs to the basement where Todd had helped us set out all the gifts under our private family Christmas Tree. With so much readily available in the world for everyone nowadays, we’ve been very careful not to spoil the kids with instant gratification. In the pre-sickness world, we had to work for a living. We make sure there is still a connection to that particular cause and effect.

  Actually, there was one bright spot or maybe two or 10, depending on how you view bright spots. I’ll take them where I find them so there were twelve.

  Nelda had six puppies. And its finally obvious, Cedric was the papa. They’re adorable. They were born or whelped the day after Christmas. Two of them appear to be sort of platinum silver like their mama. The other four look like they’ll be black and white like Cedric. It’s a little early to know for sure. Personality-wise, we seem to have four very active little guys, and two little cuddlers. Nelda is a cuddler, and Cedric is a little hellion.

  The other bright spot is Carl and Irma also had puppies a couple of days after Nelda’s. Their dog is Butterbean, a little French Bulldog. Butterbean, or Butter as everyone calls her, was originally fostered by Chanelle and Anna, but after Anna went to her Gap Year and Chanelle moved in with Kevin and me, Butterbean came to live with us, too. When Todd moved in to the basement suite, he asked Chanelle if he could give Butter to Cynthia and Irma since they didn’t have a dog. That way, when Irma was gone on trips for me, Butter could keep Cynthia company. And that’s how Butterbean became Irma and Cynthia’s dog. Until this summer, Butter was here much of the time anyway since Cynthia was here with Todd quite a bit when Irma was traveling. And no, Cedric didn’t knock Butterbean up, too. When Irma became pregnant, she spent more time with Butter since she wasn’t traveling anymore. And so it came to pass that when Butterbean came into season, and Carl was away on a short trip, Irma took Butter over to Tomas Martinez’ house to be bred by their male French Bulldog, Bosco. Irma evidently forgot to tell Carl any of this, so while he was giving me a mini lecture on my responsibility to spay and neuter Nelda and Cedric, Irma just sat smugly by, knowing that Butterbean had just recently been on a date with Bosco.

  Nelda’s six puppies and Butter’s four puppies are all spoken for. By my count, two healthy pregnancies and ten puppies equals 12 bright spots.

  All five of our kids went bonkers when Nelda starting having her pups in the box we’d prepared for her. Dinah caught the excitement from the older four, but whatever your age, puppies have a way of making everyone happy. The same can be said of the Stein-Markowitz household, including Carl. I’m getting concerned that none of the puppies will learn to walk.

  So much for all our good intentions about not having puppies until the shelter pets we already had were provided for. For what it’s worth, Nelda, Cedric, Butterbean, and Bosco will have all been taken care of soon. Neither Nelda nor Butter has been spayed yet, but both sires have been neutered. Using terms like spayed and neutered is so clinical. Then again, I suppose I should at least try to sound like an adult about it.

  January 13

  I watched an episode of ‘Salvage Crew’ last night. They used the story of the rescue of the Apple Valley, Minnesota survivors as the basis for the plot. I’m either not very critical anymore, or we actually have some talented actors and writers who survived. It looked pretty much like pre-sickness quality, at least to me. Of course, we have all the pre-sickness equipment and so on, but good lighting, sets, and cameras can’t hide bad acting, writing, and directing. Aside from the news, we only have about a couple hours of programming most days and that includes the work the all the other countries are contributing. The British have a comedy that’s actually funny. I wouldn’t have thought that would be possible for years to come, but there it is. I honestly think that the only thing holding us back is the writing. There are only a few writers who had experience from before, and they are having to teach the newer writers as they go. On the other hand, judging from the programming so far, we’ve come a long way already.

  We’ve been having a lot of babies being born over the last couple of months. Irma is due at the end of February. Janet Mrozinki-Holloway is due any minute now. I’m still apprehensive, but since there’s absolutely nothing I can do about anything related to babies, I’ll just keep my worries bottled up, aside from what I wr
ite here, at least.

  January 20

  Janet had a baby girl. Dr. Mary was there for the delivery. It was Dr. Mary’s fourth delivery in a week. Avery says SLO has had seventeen newborns since the first of the year. There were also 11 born in December and 4 in November, and we haven’t even peaked yet. I understand that the peak month has been moved back since the last time I checked. I hope the school program can handle them as they go through the system. Of course, these numbers are being replicated all over the Coalition. It should be fun. Who doesn’t like babies? So why am I constantly worrying?

  I’m flying to Paraguay in a few days. There’s a Mennonite community that started out with only 21 members but has grown over the past year to just over 40. They’ve been picking up a few individuals and pairs from Mexico, Belize, Canada, the US, and a few other places that used to have Mennonite communities. It appears that they may want to join the Coalition, but they want some guarantees from me personally. I can’t imagine what I might have to say that could influence them one way or another. I can imagine, though, that if they want to continue to gather members from the Mennonite Diaspora, they will have to come to terms with the Coalition. That whole region from Chile to Brazil has some well-established Coalition Communities. The Mennonites, like the Panhandle, want access to the advanced training that we have in the Coalition, especially the medical training. Since we don’t accept non-community members into our colleges and graduate schools, this is a big motivator for communities to sign on as participating members.