Day Nineteen
Another long day today, and we have an overnight guest which feels kind of bizarre.
Up before daybreak so that we could eat and get Scott out the door right at sunrise.
Breakfast: Today’s theme was Africa. OK, so we are talking a whole continent as opposed to a single country, but it was what worked. The South African Rusks I fixed last night were dunked into strong, hot cocoa. Not bad but I planned on a mid-morning snack of Melktert (sounds like a Swedish chef saying milk tart) which is kind of like a Chess Pie for those familiar with southern cooking. I also added the Day 5 ingredients to the bread starter and let Johnnie squish all of that together to give him something to do and to keep him out from under foot while James, Sarah, and I moved the plants back outside.
Scott left in the work van pulling the enclosed trailer. First, he swung by and picked up David then they both went and loaded the stuff from Home Depot. It was nearly 10 AM before they showed up here and I’ve never seen such a mess in my life. Scott is usually much more organized with his loading but apparently they were pushed out of HD as fast as they could toss supplies in the van and trailer. Scott said by the time he got through, the loading line was wrapping around the building as people waited to get their order verified and their ration books stamped. Luckily Scott has a commercial account which expedited things for us. No one has to know that most of the load was for our personal use. When they got in, they backed into the carport. Scott’s plan was to close off the sides of the carport before emptying all the supplies so that the neighbors couldn’t see what we were doing.
They got one insulated wall completely installed right as lunch was ready. Good thing I made a lot because I swear Scott, James, and David were hollow from the feet up. David looks quite a bit thinner than I remember him and he wasn't a big guy before. The weight loss doesn't look good on him. It makes me wonder just how bad things are getting for some people.
Lunch: I fixed West African Beans over rice. This recipe used canned white beans and plenty of onion and garlic and was served over white rice. I could have cooked the beans from scratch but didn’t feel up to that much work on top of everything else I was doing. The dish is also a bit spicier than the kids are used to so to cut some of the heat I made Liberian Rice Bread that used a box of Cream of Rice cereal as its base. Instead of the plantains the bread recipe called for I used a jar of banana baby food. Scott is still puzzled why I insisted on buying those cases of baby food; but, between one thing and another I know they'll get used. Another splurge I made since we had company was Ethiopian Punch. One of the last items that I stocked up on was individual serving sized cans of fruit juice. The reason I did this, despite the extra cost, was so that I wouldn’t have to open a large can to just have a cup or two of juice for a recipe. You can get an amazing variety of juices in these sized containers now – grape, orange, grapefruit, pear, pineapple, prune, coconut, apricot, etc. – or at least you could before everything hit the fan. I also poured off the remaining juice from a jar of maraschino cherries and used some raspberry syrup we had used for snow cones over the summer. The recipe made a whole gallon and I even had to cut it a little bit with water because it was really strong.
After lunch the fellas were back hard at it. For the first time in a long time Rose actually volunteered to help me outside in the garden. It took me all of two seconds to realize that her sudden interest in botany was actually generated by curiosity about David. Suppose it had to happen sooner or later and we’ve been lucky that she has been more academically focused up to this point. Hopefully Scott won’t notice and blow a gasket (or hurt her feelings by laughing). As far as I could tell David was completely oblivious so I’m not going to worry about it. He’s actually a good kid from what I can tell from closer dealings and it turns out, at 21, he’s younger than I thought.
The guys had finished up the other side of the carport plus put the gate across the front when James came inside to ask me to come take a look. When I went outside I could hear several sirens off in the distance. Given our proximity to two fire stations, an ambulance service, the interstate, and a road that leads to a major hospital I didn’t think too much of it at first, but when a pretty significant plume of smoke developed off to the southeast, I got a little worried. When a military convoy truck came through the neighborhood telling everyone to get indoors and stay there, I naturally gave the situation my full attention.
We all went inside and turned on the TV to see what was up. I had to ask David twice to come inside; he seemed a bit embarrassed and at a loss as to how to react and barely stood inside the doorway. He didn’t really move until Scott told him to come look what was on the news. First thing on every local channel was footage of the university hospital in flames. Luckily we apparently just missed the live coverage of the nurse whose face was eaten off being sanitized by the hospital's NRSC representative, then this same man looking down at his arm and noticing he was bitten and subsequently putting the pistol in his mouth and "sanitizing" himself. Needless to say that bit of footage will not be re-aired and there is a Federal Order for a 10-second delay on all “live” reporting from this point forward; all under the guise of FCC rules of course, so as not to unduly alarm the public. Hmmm, wonder if my typing is imbuing that last sentence with the amount of sarcasm that it deserves.
Official reports are that there were originally five NRS escapees from the mobile morgue that was parked at at the hospital. The mobile morgue was ostensibly to be used to separate out infected corpses and sanitize them. Apparently the new supposedly more “humane” sanitizing by lethal injection to the brain stem or by lobotomy doesn’t work. Over the objections of the ACLU officials are returning to the previous sanitizing method of brain destruction by blunt force trauma, bullet, or fire – whichever is more expedient. The asinine “catch ‘em with a net” mandate is out as well to the total relief of the front-line hunters. Three of the infected were apprehended almost immediately, but not before entering the hospital via a loading bay and wreaking havoc. One was captured while we were watching the news. That leaves one still on the loose. One is enough.
The one escapee is also why our area is on lock down.
Dinner: Life must go on so while the guys watched the news I fixed African Curry for dinner. I did have to substitute canned chicken for the chicken pieces but that wasn’t a problem and all the other ingredients I already had on hand. Again I served it over rice. With the extra mouth to feed I’m glad I have plenty of rice and beans. There was a little Ethiopian Punch left and we served it over cracked ice for those that wanted it otherwise I had made a gallon of solar tea. For dessert I made an eggless African Ginger Cake. The spice came from cayenne pepper as much as anything else and was kind of interesting.
Before full dark we brought all our plant containers back in even though we weren't supposed to be outside at all. Now that we know what we are doing, moving the plants is taking less time, but it is still a pain. Tomorrow I’m getting the dolly out of the shed to help with the bigger pots.
When it became apparent that David was pretty much stuck here, Scott stepped in and convinced him to stay. But none of us could convince him to sleep on any of the spare beds. He opted for the air mattress on the living room floor.
When I asked Scott why he was being so stand off-ish he explained that David was just very self-contained and didn’t know what to make of our big-family-togetherness or what to make of him being so readily included. I guess it can get a little overwhelming for an outsider but David, for all his aloofness, is turning out to be surprisingly likeable. Poor kid; he is bringing out my mother hen side. Hope he can stand it for a while longer. He’s stuck with us for another day anyway as Scott wants to complete the carport tomorrow and try and at least get started on the false wall. Not to mention no one is going anywhere until the NRSC ends the lockdown.
I’ll also admit that there are benefits to having an extra adult in the house on a night like this. James and I are taking the first watch. Scott will take the second watch. And David will spell Scott for the last watch as he is naturally a very early riser anyway.
For those that wanted to relax I fixed West African Hot Chocolate. It used dark chocolate rather than cocoa powder or milk chocolate for its base. The sweetener was a mix of honey and brown sugar. It also had vanilla and cinnamon to it. I drank more tea to keep me awake but the warm milk after a day of hard work and nerves pretty much put everyone else to straight to sleep.
James is sitting here beside me nodding off and it is time for me to go wake Scott. I’ve been listening to large vehicles rumble up and down our road off and on for the last couple of hours. I guess they are still looking for the last NRS victim. Except for those trucks, everything has been unusually quiet. Not even the token dog or cat fight has disturbed the night. I hope they find the infected person soon if they haven’t already. I don’t want to be cooped up in the house all day tomorrow.
Another long day today, and we have an overnight guest which feels kind of bizarre.
Up before daybreak so that we could eat and get Scott out the door right at sunrise.
Breakfast: Today’s theme was Africa. OK, so we are talking a whole continent as opposed to a single country, but it was what worked. The South African Rusks I fixed last night were dunked into strong, hot cocoa. Not bad but I planned on a mid-morning snack of Melktert (sounds like a Swedish chef saying milk tart) which is kind of like a Chess Pie for those familiar with southern cooking. I also added the Day 5 ingredients to the bread starter and let Johnnie squish all of that together to give him something to do and to keep him out from under foot while James, Sarah, and I moved the plants back outside.
Scott left in the work van pulling the enclosed trailer. First, he swung by and picked up David then they both went and loaded the stuff from Home Depot. It was nearly 10 AM before they showed up here and I’ve never seen such a mess in my life. Scott is usually much more organized with his loading but apparently they were pushed out of HD as fast as they could toss supplies in the van and trailer. Scott said by the time he got through, the loading line was wrapping around the building as people waited to get their order verified and their ration books stamped. Luckily Scott has a commercial account which expedited things for us. No one has to know that most of the load was for our personal use. When they got in, they backed into the carport. Scott’s plan was to close off the sides of the carport before emptying all the supplies so that the neighbors couldn’t see what we were doing.
They got one insulated wall completely installed right as lunch was ready. Good thing I made a lot because I swear Scott, James, and David were hollow from the feet up. David looks quite a bit thinner than I remember him and he wasn't a big guy before. The weight loss doesn't look good on him. It makes me wonder just how bad things are getting for some people.
Lunch: I fixed West African Beans over rice. This recipe used canned white beans and plenty of onion and garlic and was served over white rice. I could have cooked the beans from scratch but didn’t feel up to that much work on top of everything else I was doing. The dish is also a bit spicier than the kids are used to so to cut some of the heat I made Liberian Rice Bread that used a box of Cream of Rice cereal as its base. Instead of the plantains the bread recipe called for I used a jar of banana baby food. Scott is still puzzled why I insisted on buying those cases of baby food; but, between one thing and another I know they'll get used. Another splurge I made since we had company was Ethiopian Punch. One of the last items that I stocked up on was individual serving sized cans of fruit juice. The reason I did this, despite the extra cost, was so that I wouldn’t have to open a large can to just have a cup or two of juice for a recipe. You can get an amazing variety of juices in these sized containers now – grape, orange, grapefruit, pear, pineapple, prune, coconut, apricot, etc. – or at least you could before everything hit the fan. I also poured off the remaining juice from a jar of maraschino cherries and used some raspberry syrup we had used for snow cones over the summer. The recipe made a whole gallon and I even had to cut it a little bit with water because it was really strong.
After lunch the fellas were back hard at it. For the first time in a long time Rose actually volunteered to help me outside in the garden. It took me all of two seconds to realize that her sudden interest in botany was actually generated by curiosity about David. Suppose it had to happen sooner or later and we’ve been lucky that she has been more academically focused up to this point. Hopefully Scott won’t notice and blow a gasket (or hurt her feelings by laughing). As far as I could tell David was completely oblivious so I’m not going to worry about it. He’s actually a good kid from what I can tell from closer dealings and it turns out, at 21, he’s younger than I thought.
The guys had finished up the other side of the carport plus put the gate across the front when James came inside to ask me to come take a look. When I went outside I could hear several sirens off in the distance. Given our proximity to two fire stations, an ambulance service, the interstate, and a road that leads to a major hospital I didn’t think too much of it at first, but when a pretty significant plume of smoke developed off to the southeast, I got a little worried. When a military convoy truck came through the neighborhood telling everyone to get indoors and stay there, I naturally gave the situation my full attention.
We all went inside and turned on the TV to see what was up. I had to ask David twice to come inside; he seemed a bit embarrassed and at a loss as to how to react and barely stood inside the doorway. He didn’t really move until Scott told him to come look what was on the news. First thing on every local channel was footage of the university hospital in flames. Luckily we apparently just missed the live coverage of the nurse whose face was eaten off being sanitized by the hospital's NRSC representative, then this same man looking down at his arm and noticing he was bitten and subsequently putting the pistol in his mouth and "sanitizing" himself. Needless to say that bit of footage will not be re-aired and there is a Federal Order for a 10-second delay on all “live” reporting from this point forward; all under the guise of FCC rules of course, so as not to unduly alarm the public. Hmmm, wonder if my typing is imbuing that last sentence with the amount of sarcasm that it deserves.
Official reports are that there were originally five NRS escapees from the mobile morgue that was parked at at the hospital. The mobile morgue was ostensibly to be used to separate out infected corpses and sanitize them. Apparently the new supposedly more “humane” sanitizing by lethal injection to the brain stem or by lobotomy doesn’t work. Over the objections of the ACLU officials are returning to the previous sanitizing method of brain destruction by blunt force trauma, bullet, or fire – whichever is more expedient. The asinine “catch ‘em with a net” mandate is out as well to the total relief of the front-line hunters. Three of the infected were apprehended almost immediately, but not before entering the hospital via a loading bay and wreaking havoc. One was captured while we were watching the news. That leaves one still on the loose. One is enough.
The one escapee is also why our area is on lock down.
Dinner: Life must go on so while the guys watched the news I fixed African Curry for dinner. I did have to substitute canned chicken for the chicken pieces but that wasn’t a problem and all the other ingredients I already had on hand. Again I served it over rice. With the extra mouth to feed I’m glad I have plenty of rice and beans. There was a little Ethiopian Punch left and we served it over cracked ice for those that wanted it otherwise I had made a gallon of solar tea. For dessert I made an eggless African Ginger Cake. The spice came from cayenne pepper as much as anything else and was kind of interesting.
Before full dark we brought all our plant containers back in even though we weren't supposed to be outside at all. Now that we know what we are doing, moving the plants is taking less time, but it is still a pain. Tomorrow I’m getting the dolly out of the shed to help with the bigger pots.
When it became apparent that David was pretty much stuck here, Scott stepped in and convinced him to stay. But none of us could convince him to sleep on any of the spare beds. He opted for the air mattress on the living room floor.
When I asked Scott why he was being so stand off-ish he explained that David was just very self-contained and didn’t know what to make of our big-family-togetherness or what to make of him being so readily included. I guess it can get a little overwhelming for an outsider but David, for all his aloofness, is turning out to be surprisingly likeable. Poor kid; he is bringing out my mother hen side. Hope he can stand it for a while longer. He’s stuck with us for another day anyway as Scott wants to complete the carport tomorrow and try and at least get started on the false wall. Not to mention no one is going anywhere until the NRSC ends the lockdown.
I’ll also admit that there are benefits to having an extra adult in the house on a night like this. James and I are taking the first watch. Scott will take the second watch. And David will spell Scott for the last watch as he is naturally a very early riser anyway.
For those that wanted to relax I fixed West African Hot Chocolate. It used dark chocolate rather than cocoa powder or milk chocolate for its base. The sweetener was a mix of honey and brown sugar. It also had vanilla and cinnamon to it. I drank more tea to keep me awake but the warm milk after a day of hard work and nerves pretty much put everyone else to straight to sleep.
James is sitting here beside me nodding off and it is time for me to go wake Scott. I’ve been listening to large vehicles rumble up and down our road off and on for the last couple of hours. I guess they are still looking for the last NRS victim. Except for those trucks, everything has been unusually quiet. Not even the token dog or cat fight has disturbed the night. I hope they find the infected person soon if they haven’t already. I don’t want to be cooped up in the house all day tomorrow.