SairieBelle
Member
It's a nice way to end the day.
Thank you Kathy.
Thank you Kathy.
Story Zombies Aren't Real ... Are They?
- Thread starter Kathy in FL
- Start date
Jeepcats 3
Contributing Member
Kathy,
Thanks for the nice chapter before bedtime!
Jeepcats3
Thanks for the nice chapter before bedtime!
Jeepcats3
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank you very good as usual.
Dosadi
Brown Coat
Ah good stuff.
In the military any smart fellow with a new job learns to listen to the experienced guys, deal with the ribbing, and figure out how to apply and improve what he learns to make his situation more tolerable and himself more effective.
I'll skip dealing with the bullies as I see DD already has a pretty solid handle on that.
Thanks for more entertainment.
D.
. ..
In the military any smart fellow with a new job learns to listen to the experienced guys, deal with the ribbing, and figure out how to apply and improve what he learns to make his situation more tolerable and himself more effective.
I'll skip dealing with the bullies as I see DD already has a pretty solid handle on that.
Thanks for more entertainment.
D.
. ..
Page 131
I followed Mr. Marty over to a farm truck and he said, "Hop up there and hand me down a crate."
He hadn't said which crate to hand him so I handed him the first one I came to. It had in it what looked like duck pond weeds. "Is this one ok?"
He nodded. "Good one to start with. This here is arrowhead. Look at the green parts and you can see why. It ain't the green tops you want though, but the root, what is called a tuber by those of us in the know."
I bit my lip to not grin at how silly he sounded but when I glanced at him I saw he was smiling broadly and I realized that this man would be easy to like despite being a little scary at the same time. I looked at the "tuber" and said, "It looks like a potato sort of."
"Exactly and you treat it like a potato too. You can roast it, fry it, dice it, hash it, mash it, boil it, put it in soups ... anything you can do to a potato you can do to this little baby here. And it is pretty easy to harvest. You can either use a rake or a hoe and just loosen them from the mud and muck at the end of a pond or slow moving creek or river. If the weather is warm enough I'll send the kids into the water and let 'em wiggle their feet in the mud and the roots just float to the surface. They get a kick out of it and it keeps them out of everyone's hair. The plants grow in clumps so it shouldn't be too hard to get what you need from one location for just a patrol size. Now hand all them crates of arrowhead down while I get some of these useless boys to cart 'em over to the trailer so they can be secured."
After handing down all of the arrowheads I nearly tripped over a couple of crates of cattails. I handed them down next and Mr. Marty and I talked a bit about what I knew and traded recipes.
He said, "Cattails is a staple where there is standing water. People in the cities still ain't caught on to its use but trust me when I say folks out here get more than a little possessive of their plots so you gotta make sure no one is claiming ownership. Other problem near the cities is water contamination from run off and sech. Now you ain't dumb so you'll know you'll need to check the water things are growing in out here now too. And be real careful if you go onto one of the reservations, different tribes hold different beliefs on ownership of stuff ... particularly ownership of the land and what it produces."
"I didn't think we were supposed to go onto the reservations, at least that is what my sergeant told me."
"Not supposed to is right, but that don't mean it doesn't happen ... on accident and on purpose. Sometimes the military gets invited in if a tribe is having a bad problem with something but for the most part reservations are a no-go, even for a lot of trader convoys. People get set ideas in their head and there just isn't any communicating with them after a certain point. Now what's next?"
I pulled up a crate so I could see inside and said, "Hey! I know this stuff too. It's burdock. Mom grew it in her edible landscaping!"
"Well ain't you excited," the big man laughed. "Yep that is burdock only your ma probably grew domesticated burdock, this here is wild burdock. You can usually find it in rocky areas; it takes a strong root like this to make its way through that kind of soil. What's good about the burdock is that it will grow on land that hardly anything else will and that all parts of the plant are edible ... root, young greens, and even the flower stalk if you can get it before the varmints do. What other plants do you know?"
"Chickweed, Lamb's Quarter, dandelions, milkweed, ramps, ..."
He chuckled, "Ok, ok, Girly. Sounds like you've got some down. Now let me tell you about some you might not know about."
We talked about things called yampa, Oregon grape, pinon pine, salsify, miner's lettuce, and several others. He had me take a leaf from each plant he had in stock and told me to press them flat and then label them somehow so I'd have a "field guide" to the plants that were I could use without killing anyone. I thought that was such a good idea that after saying good bye I did exactly that using this notebook as the squasher part to get them flat and keep them safe.
Lucy saw me and asked what I was doing. I explained it to her and she said, "Sounds about like what I did right after I got my head banged up."
I looked at her but didn't say anything. She'd never spoken of her injury and I didn't want to upset her. She smiled, "Relax. I guess I understand how you feel about the others always looking over your shoulder because they did it to me for a long time. I know I'm not like I used to be but I can't ... can't quite explain what the difference is. I just know it's there."
Carefully I asked her since none of the others were around to hear, "Does it hurt your feelings? Being different?"
"Did at first," she admitted. "But to be honest there's been some good things come from it. For one I'm not so angry as I used to be. I remember that I was angry all the time ... and I worried about stuff. I'm not sad about not being that person anymore. What bothers me most is sometimes not being able to remember what things are called. I got me a notebook about like the one you are always scratching in. Shelly drew pictures in it and then labeled them and it's how I re-learned a lot of the stuff I forgot. It took me a while but I'm a good soldier again ... but I think I might just be a better person than I was before my brain got put in a blender. You know? It isn't like that for everyone but for me I think it is."
I shrugged. "I didn't know you before so I can't say but I think the you that you are now is a real good person to know."
I'm glad I said it because it seemed to make her happy and she flipped me in the head with her cap and then got all mommish and said, "You should hit the sack while you have the chance. Today was easy compared to tomorrow. Terrain is going to turn rough mid-morning and the units are going to split and start off-loading. We are one of the last and it is in an area no one has covered before so we are going to have to really be on our toes."
I followed Mr. Marty over to a farm truck and he said, "Hop up there and hand me down a crate."
He hadn't said which crate to hand him so I handed him the first one I came to. It had in it what looked like duck pond weeds. "Is this one ok?"
He nodded. "Good one to start with. This here is arrowhead. Look at the green parts and you can see why. It ain't the green tops you want though, but the root, what is called a tuber by those of us in the know."
I bit my lip to not grin at how silly he sounded but when I glanced at him I saw he was smiling broadly and I realized that this man would be easy to like despite being a little scary at the same time. I looked at the "tuber" and said, "It looks like a potato sort of."
"Exactly and you treat it like a potato too. You can roast it, fry it, dice it, hash it, mash it, boil it, put it in soups ... anything you can do to a potato you can do to this little baby here. And it is pretty easy to harvest. You can either use a rake or a hoe and just loosen them from the mud and muck at the end of a pond or slow moving creek or river. If the weather is warm enough I'll send the kids into the water and let 'em wiggle their feet in the mud and the roots just float to the surface. They get a kick out of it and it keeps them out of everyone's hair. The plants grow in clumps so it shouldn't be too hard to get what you need from one location for just a patrol size. Now hand all them crates of arrowhead down while I get some of these useless boys to cart 'em over to the trailer so they can be secured."
After handing down all of the arrowheads I nearly tripped over a couple of crates of cattails. I handed them down next and Mr. Marty and I talked a bit about what I knew and traded recipes.
He said, "Cattails is a staple where there is standing water. People in the cities still ain't caught on to its use but trust me when I say folks out here get more than a little possessive of their plots so you gotta make sure no one is claiming ownership. Other problem near the cities is water contamination from run off and sech. Now you ain't dumb so you'll know you'll need to check the water things are growing in out here now too. And be real careful if you go onto one of the reservations, different tribes hold different beliefs on ownership of stuff ... particularly ownership of the land and what it produces."
"I didn't think we were supposed to go onto the reservations, at least that is what my sergeant told me."
"Not supposed to is right, but that don't mean it doesn't happen ... on accident and on purpose. Sometimes the military gets invited in if a tribe is having a bad problem with something but for the most part reservations are a no-go, even for a lot of trader convoys. People get set ideas in their head and there just isn't any communicating with them after a certain point. Now what's next?"
I pulled up a crate so I could see inside and said, "Hey! I know this stuff too. It's burdock. Mom grew it in her edible landscaping!"
"Well ain't you excited," the big man laughed. "Yep that is burdock only your ma probably grew domesticated burdock, this here is wild burdock. You can usually find it in rocky areas; it takes a strong root like this to make its way through that kind of soil. What's good about the burdock is that it will grow on land that hardly anything else will and that all parts of the plant are edible ... root, young greens, and even the flower stalk if you can get it before the varmints do. What other plants do you know?"
"Chickweed, Lamb's Quarter, dandelions, milkweed, ramps, ..."
He chuckled, "Ok, ok, Girly. Sounds like you've got some down. Now let me tell you about some you might not know about."
We talked about things called yampa, Oregon grape, pinon pine, salsify, miner's lettuce, and several others. He had me take a leaf from each plant he had in stock and told me to press them flat and then label them somehow so I'd have a "field guide" to the plants that were I could use without killing anyone. I thought that was such a good idea that after saying good bye I did exactly that using this notebook as the squasher part to get them flat and keep them safe.
Lucy saw me and asked what I was doing. I explained it to her and she said, "Sounds about like what I did right after I got my head banged up."
I looked at her but didn't say anything. She'd never spoken of her injury and I didn't want to upset her. She smiled, "Relax. I guess I understand how you feel about the others always looking over your shoulder because they did it to me for a long time. I know I'm not like I used to be but I can't ... can't quite explain what the difference is. I just know it's there."
Carefully I asked her since none of the others were around to hear, "Does it hurt your feelings? Being different?"
"Did at first," she admitted. "But to be honest there's been some good things come from it. For one I'm not so angry as I used to be. I remember that I was angry all the time ... and I worried about stuff. I'm not sad about not being that person anymore. What bothers me most is sometimes not being able to remember what things are called. I got me a notebook about like the one you are always scratching in. Shelly drew pictures in it and then labeled them and it's how I re-learned a lot of the stuff I forgot. It took me a while but I'm a good soldier again ... but I think I might just be a better person than I was before my brain got put in a blender. You know? It isn't like that for everyone but for me I think it is."
I shrugged. "I didn't know you before so I can't say but I think the you that you are now is a real good person to know."
I'm glad I said it because it seemed to make her happy and she flipped me in the head with her cap and then got all mommish and said, "You should hit the sack while you have the chance. Today was easy compared to tomorrow. Terrain is going to turn rough mid-morning and the units are going to split and start off-loading. We are one of the last and it is in an area no one has covered before so we are going to have to really be on our toes."
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Ah o new area, thanks Kathy.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Thanks for the chapters Kathy it looks like DeeDee is doing well in settling into the camp routine. But serine never seems to last when she is around.
HuntingWolf
Membership Revoked
Thanks!
I was reading this at ZS, but forgot about it.
Guess I'll have to start over again.
Oh, and
MOAR!
I was reading this at ZS, but forgot about it.
Guess I'll have to start over again.
Oh, and
MOAR!
Genevieve
working on it
This is not MJOTZY. This is a new story for here. MommaHen hasn't been at ZS for a long long time lol
HuntingWolf
Membership Revoked
Ah!
I haven't been to ZS in a long time.
Didn't know she started a new story on the Zombie hoards.
Oh, and moar!
Part 132
Lucy wasn't kidding that the next day was to get worse. The complaining wasn't as loud but somehow it was more noticeble because of this. And rough doesn't do justice to the condition of the roads we were on. The only happy thought I had was when they off-loaded Limmer, and his patrol, right smack dab in the middle of a crap ton of pot holes. You should have heard his ... er ... colorful description of the landscape. I pulled my cap down to try and hide my laughter.
Before I forget I need to add one more thing to the hot dog cart descriptions. I had an old granny seat on mine that had more duct tape than vinyl on it. The other three had these fancy new seats ... only even as a person my age and size could have told them, those little things were going to get buried in their backside if they had to ride on them very far. Like a lot of stuff lately, it reminded me of a memory from before.
Toddie gave up the idea of begging our parents for a racing bike after one of his friends got one and they discovered that most of those bicycles must have only had seats for show because there is no way a sane person could use one of those things for long ... especially guys and I absolutely refuse to explain why because when I was finally old enough to figure it out I couda died of embarrassment and I'm not too far off from that right now just thinking about it in passing. Anyway ... I'm glad I didn't do anything to try and get revenge on the other three cooks because I have a feeling God is going to use those little seats and do it for me.
Second guy that off-loaded did it while the truck was in motion. That is actually what we were supposed to do but only if the roads were in good condition which was why Limmer got off as a stop. The number two show-off got his just desserts for his arrogance when he flipped the cart and all of the patrol supplies when spilling all over the place. The hot dog cart lost a lot of its shiney-new right off the truck and the convoy didn't stop ... it took over a minute to get far enough away so that I stopped hearing that patrols cussing and fussing.
Third guy was really weighted down but almost disembarked without a problem ... except he was a little too careful and went a little too slow. The transport operator started raising the rear gate before the guy was completely off of it and a couple of boxes from his wagon fell back into the truck. I saw him trying to run back and pick up things that had fallen off and I whistled - thank you Mr. Svenson for teaching me how - and football threw one of the boxes to him and he caught it but looked at me like I had lost my mind. I started to toss out the other one when both Sgt. Shelly and Josie stopped me.
"Hey!" I yelped, complaining at the handling.
"Hey nothing," Sgt. Shelly barked. "You think they would have done the same for us?"
I shrugged and replied, "Does it matter? I was just trying to do what was right."
Gayle shook her head while Sgt. Shelly rolled her eyes. Even Lucy looked at me like I was a couple of fries short of a happy meal. Josie said, "You know, that's sweet Pip." Only her tone said the opposite. Then she tapped me harder than was strictly necessary on the back of my head. "Now listen up. Sometimes the angels do a little a$$ kicking on our behalf and we get a bonus like this. You don't look a gift horse - or angel - in the mouth. Now get this box stowed quick before it is our turn to disembark. The convoy is take a sharp turn to the east and we are going to continue head northwest and they ain't gonna cut you no slack just 'cause you're a newbie."
I almost saluted and said "yes ma'am" but figured that would be more smart aleck comeback than my fellow patrol members could handle so I just let it go. Besides, she was right and I didn't need to get set to go because it was coming up fast.
Oh ... my ... gosh. Worse than riding the Himalayan at the fair. I puked on Toddie's shoes the time he forced me to ride it because Dad said if he didn't take me he couldn't go. I think they thought he would stick to rides like the Scrambler or the funhouses. Nope. And worse he fed me a birthday cake flavored shake right before just to see me turn green. He underestimated the effect and his new Converse trainers had to go to the dry cleaners. It was a year before I could look at a birthday cake again. Getting off the truck at that particular location was just about like that had been.
I was on the bike part and ready to go as the the tailgate began to drop and that's when I realized we had been going uphill. Oh geez man. A 10% grade might not be a big deal to a truck but on a hot dog cart? Youch. Add the little wagon I was pulling and holy mackeral. Talk about a wild ride to get that contraption under control and not go into the deep gully that ran beside the road. But I did it.
"Well that's a surprise," Gayle said sardonically. "I shouldn't have bothered unpacking my med kit. I figured you'd need stitches at the very least."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny."
But it was't funny at all because Gayle had been serious. And no one gave me a high five either for a successful disembarkation which told me more than anything else could that play time was over. I was now officially a grown up and they don't give out brownie points for things like that when you're a grown up. You're just expected to do your job with no complaints and get it right the first time around.
Lucy wasn't kidding that the next day was to get worse. The complaining wasn't as loud but somehow it was more noticeble because of this. And rough doesn't do justice to the condition of the roads we were on. The only happy thought I had was when they off-loaded Limmer, and his patrol, right smack dab in the middle of a crap ton of pot holes. You should have heard his ... er ... colorful description of the landscape. I pulled my cap down to try and hide my laughter.
Before I forget I need to add one more thing to the hot dog cart descriptions. I had an old granny seat on mine that had more duct tape than vinyl on it. The other three had these fancy new seats ... only even as a person my age and size could have told them, those little things were going to get buried in their backside if they had to ride on them very far. Like a lot of stuff lately, it reminded me of a memory from before.
Toddie gave up the idea of begging our parents for a racing bike after one of his friends got one and they discovered that most of those bicycles must have only had seats for show because there is no way a sane person could use one of those things for long ... especially guys and I absolutely refuse to explain why because when I was finally old enough to figure it out I couda died of embarrassment and I'm not too far off from that right now just thinking about it in passing. Anyway ... I'm glad I didn't do anything to try and get revenge on the other three cooks because I have a feeling God is going to use those little seats and do it for me.
Second guy that off-loaded did it while the truck was in motion. That is actually what we were supposed to do but only if the roads were in good condition which was why Limmer got off as a stop. The number two show-off got his just desserts for his arrogance when he flipped the cart and all of the patrol supplies when spilling all over the place. The hot dog cart lost a lot of its shiney-new right off the truck and the convoy didn't stop ... it took over a minute to get far enough away so that I stopped hearing that patrols cussing and fussing.
Third guy was really weighted down but almost disembarked without a problem ... except he was a little too careful and went a little too slow. The transport operator started raising the rear gate before the guy was completely off of it and a couple of boxes from his wagon fell back into the truck. I saw him trying to run back and pick up things that had fallen off and I whistled - thank you Mr. Svenson for teaching me how - and football threw one of the boxes to him and he caught it but looked at me like I had lost my mind. I started to toss out the other one when both Sgt. Shelly and Josie stopped me.
"Hey!" I yelped, complaining at the handling.
"Hey nothing," Sgt. Shelly barked. "You think they would have done the same for us?"
I shrugged and replied, "Does it matter? I was just trying to do what was right."
Gayle shook her head while Sgt. Shelly rolled her eyes. Even Lucy looked at me like I was a couple of fries short of a happy meal. Josie said, "You know, that's sweet Pip." Only her tone said the opposite. Then she tapped me harder than was strictly necessary on the back of my head. "Now listen up. Sometimes the angels do a little a$$ kicking on our behalf and we get a bonus like this. You don't look a gift horse - or angel - in the mouth. Now get this box stowed quick before it is our turn to disembark. The convoy is take a sharp turn to the east and we are going to continue head northwest and they ain't gonna cut you no slack just 'cause you're a newbie."
I almost saluted and said "yes ma'am" but figured that would be more smart aleck comeback than my fellow patrol members could handle so I just let it go. Besides, she was right and I didn't need to get set to go because it was coming up fast.
Oh ... my ... gosh. Worse than riding the Himalayan at the fair. I puked on Toddie's shoes the time he forced me to ride it because Dad said if he didn't take me he couldn't go. I think they thought he would stick to rides like the Scrambler or the funhouses. Nope. And worse he fed me a birthday cake flavored shake right before just to see me turn green. He underestimated the effect and his new Converse trainers had to go to the dry cleaners. It was a year before I could look at a birthday cake again. Getting off the truck at that particular location was just about like that had been.
I was on the bike part and ready to go as the the tailgate began to drop and that's when I realized we had been going uphill. Oh geez man. A 10% grade might not be a big deal to a truck but on a hot dog cart? Youch. Add the little wagon I was pulling and holy mackeral. Talk about a wild ride to get that contraption under control and not go into the deep gully that ran beside the road. But I did it.
"Well that's a surprise," Gayle said sardonically. "I shouldn't have bothered unpacking my med kit. I figured you'd need stitches at the very least."
"Ha. Ha. Very funny."
But it was't funny at all because Gayle had been serious. And no one gave me a high five either for a successful disembarkation which told me more than anything else could that play time was over. I was now officially a grown up and they don't give out brownie points for things like that when you're a grown up. You're just expected to do your job with no complaints and get it right the first time around.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Thanks Kathy great chapter, still waiting for the other shoe to drop, this IS DeeDee were reading about.
Wayne
Wayne
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Thank ya thank ye 
Jeepcats 3
Contributing Member
Rats, I thought since everyone was posting there would be a new chapter with all the twists and turns!
I guess I need to get a good foraging book as I've never heard of some of the local vegetation in this story.
Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Jeepcats3
I guess I need to get a good foraging book as I've never heard of some of the local vegetation in this story.
Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Jeepcats3
Nope but first of the month is usually our busy time ... this month being no exception and actually busier than normal as we had a ton of evictions and stuff the last few weeks and people with their tax money in their hot little hands are renting the units we turn and/or getting caught up on their rent. Makes for a lot of running around, paperwork, yada yada ... all boring stuff to you all.
Hope in the next day or two to get caught up enough so that I can write. If I could just get a block of time to myself but as you can see it is 1:16 am and hubby and I are still up doing paperwork ... well, he crashed and burned face down in his laptop so I gotta move him before he drools and messes something up ... etc.
Sorry for the delay but life happens y'all and I'm just grateful that we still have a business with the way things are going.
Well, I have to say that hubby really surprised me this year. For our 25th anniversary (in May) he is taking us to Alaska. LOL! I didn't think we would be able to go after a bump in the road at the beginning of the year but hubby said he saved for long enough that we are going. So, some extra work now is going to be worth it in the long run. Only 3rd time in 25 years that we are going someplace without at least a few of the kids in tow. Gonna be strange. But we both need this trip for multiple reasons.
stjwelding
Veteran Member
Wow, married years 25 years congratulations Kathy. Staying married for life is so rare in our (new america) culture that when ever I meet or hear of some one that has and is going to, it brings hope that there might still be hope for our country.
In running my own business for 38 years I understand where you are at, take the time you need, and stay healthy we will all be hear when you can post again. I hope that you have a great time in Alaska and enjoy your time alone with husband. Thanks for all of your time, and writing such great story's for us.
In running my own business for 38 years I understand where you are at, take the time you need, and stay healthy we will all be hear when you can post again. I hope that you have a great time in Alaska and enjoy your time alone with husband. Thanks for all of your time, and writing such great story's for us.
sssarawolf
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Nice Hope all works out so you can go. My dad went in 2007 and loved it (he was from MI) As for posting we know you will when you are able and you certainly don't have a boring life to us. I think you need some boring.
maineforlife
Contributing Member
That's so nice. A trip to Alaska! Are there puss heads in Alaska? 
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Are you flying in or taking a cruise?
Alaska has a huge amount of landspace and an amazing array of things to do!
Take up Ken on the inside scoop.
We lived there in the 80's and were too busy working to do much exploring outside of the Fairbanks area.
We'd love to go back up and exlpore the Kenai area.
If you go further inland, and are up near Fairbanks, they have a rocking country/country fair in late summer.
Alaska has a huge amount of landspace and an amazing array of things to do!
Take up Ken on the inside scoop.
We lived there in the 80's and were too busy working to do much exploring outside of the Fairbanks area.
We'd love to go back up and exlpore the Kenai area.
If you go further inland, and are up near Fairbanks, they have a rocking country/country fair in late summer.
Hickory7
Senior Member
25 years...wow. You really do deserve some alone time with hubby. Away from stress, kids, everything. I hope you have a wonderful time. And good for your hubby for making you go and saving the money. He knows what is impt.
And you know we will be waiting here like always for your story. You post when you can.
And you know we will be waiting here like always for your story. You post when you can.