Installment six in Rowan's Journey

Rowan was playing Candy Land with Joshua. She slid her red plastic counterpart into place near Lollipop Woods as a commotion caught her attention out in the front yard. There was Rascal bearing his teeth at a man. The most awful hissing noise came from the little critter. Rowan grabbed the shot gun once again and headed to the door. She instructed Joshua to hide behind the door and wait. As Rowan stepped onto the porch she felt a sinking feeling like she did when she confronted Rascal earlier in the day. It seemed like there was danger every time she unlatched that dead bolt. A smile spread across her face and she could not help herself but Chuckle. Cowering away from Rascal was their good friend Mac. Mac was a quirky man who looked about 20 years older than he was. He was only 52 but looked like he was ready for the nursing home. “Ro shoot this mongrel before it takes a bite out of me” Mac stuttered pointing towards the attack raccoon. Rowan jokingly quipped, “Oh that’s just Rascal our guard coon. He won’t hurt you much.”

Relaxing her grip on the gun Rowan playfully shouted, “It’s O.K. Rascal, He is a friend. You can stand down.” To their amazement the brute looked over at her and then ran off. Rowan thought to herself that a little Mac and cheese goes a long way. She then laughed out loud with a snort when she realized Mac was also her scared friend’s name. The scene was just too weird for her to believe. It must have been just in her head. Her nerves must be getting the better of her, she thought. With the sentry now gone, Mac ran up to the porch and hugged Rowan tight. It was awkward for a moment when he realized he had never even shaken her hand before. “By God Ro, I am so glad you are safe. Where’s Josh?” Rowan hated when people shortened his name to Josh, but for some reason it never bothered her when Mac did it. He was also the only one allowed to call her Ro. That is until he would start singing “Ro, Ro, Ro, your boat” at that point she would always send him home. She was so glad to hear it now though. Rowan pointed to the house and said come on in. Yelling to Joshua that is was “just Mac” they made their way to the door. They spoke for a while in hushed whispers because she did not want to scare the little one. He filled in her on what he knew, which was not much. He said that it was some sort of Electro Magnetic Pulse, but they (whoever they were) did not know yet what kind. It was unclear if it had been nukes set off above America or if it was some sort of solar flare or something else. As Mac relayed information Rowan began to grasp that most of what Mac was saying was gossip that he heard from that nosey Miss Tarcon down the road. Mac owned the big farm that bordered Wade’s property. He had made his rounds to each nearby house on an old silver moped that he had stored in one of his out buildings. Rowan was a little upset that she had not heard him approaching and she admonished herself for not being more vigilant and vowed to not let it happen again. For some odd reason she felt lucky that it was only Mac and not some stranger or worse. Though at that minute she could not figure out what could be worse or what she was afraid of.

Mac said that all of the local neighbors had touched base and that the two Drieffer boys had taken an old dirt bike up to City Hall to see if they could get any information. There was a “Neighborhood Watch” meeting scheduled for noon the next day where they could hopefully find out what happened and what they were supposed to do next. Mac asked if they had food and water. Rowan nodded her head and said, “We are O.k. Mac.” Mac then scrunched up his eyebrows and scratched his head messing up what little of a part he had left in his hair. Rowan always thought it was nice that Mac had a full head of healthy hair. It was still dark brown despite his deceptive age. Mac looked like he was struggling to find his words. Then he said, “No one’s heard from Wade. Have you heard anything or know if he is……um…alive?” For some reason the words hit her like a slap in the face. She could almost feel a sting on her cheek and her skin turning cherry red. Rowan had not really comprehended that Wade could have been hurt when the planes all crashed. By Mac’s report there were at least twelve maybe even fifteen planes that plummeted to the ground when whatever happened happened. Normally she would have driven right past Wade’s girlfriend’s house on the way out to the property. Since she had taken the highway around though, she avoided all of town. It had not even crossed her mind before, but if she had stopped at the apartment they may have been able to bring Wade home with them. Now Rowan’s eyes filled with tears and she realized that he may never come home. It was an unusual feeling for her. Over the last year she had wished him dead a number of times. Rowan moved her head back and forth and swallowing down a lump of goal said, “No his car is gone and the house was cold when we got here. I assumed he was with…..HER.” Mac chirped up saying, “You know Wade! I am sure he is fine. He will come wandering in here soon complaining about getting his shoes dirty because he had to walk home.” Mac pulled a flare gun out of his pants belt and handed it to her saying, “If you have any trouble or need any help or anything you just point that up towards my place and I will come with a posse.” Mac using the word Posse eased Rowan up a bit. He used it in the correct context but of course all she could picture was Mac rolling up with a truck load of Rappers wearing baggie jeans and gold teeth grills. The image was comical and gave Rowan a much needed sigh of relief. “I have to get back now, Molly will be worried” Mac said as he stood heading towards the door. Molly was Mac’s Golden retriever. She was old as dirt and never left the house any more. Mac’s wife had been killed in a car crash going on ten years earlier. Mac had never remarried or even dated since. He had a spell of drunkenness the first year after her death but straightened up when Molly was diagnosed with diabetes. Molly had become Mac’s reason to live and Rowan knew that when he said “Molly would be worried” he was really saying he was worried about her. Rowan had seen Mac age twenty years in the first month after his wife passed. Mac rubbed the boy’s hair and ordered, “Josh you take care of your Mom you hear.” Mac started out the door and stopped. He again hugged Rowan tight, this time it was not awkward at all. As he started the silver bullet moped, Mac waved and yelled, “Tomorrow noon at the Sherman’s place.” Rowan watched as Mac drove off, turning down the dirt road and disappearing out o


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Installment Four of Rowan's Journey

The rest of the drive went smoothly. On the off ramp a few car were stopped and abandoned. The Forerunner cleared them easily. The road to the house was deserted. As they drove past the junk yard it took on a new personality. The colors had long faded, dusty yellow, drab green, all looking ghostly. The light glinted off the windshields, at least the ones that were not broken yet. Rowan noticed a small plume of smoke rising from the center of the mass wreckage of cars. There was old Murphy the junk yard owner cooking something over a fire in the middle of the mess of metal. Rowan could smell the smoke and what seemed like bacon. She had seen bacon cooked over a fire while camping. Her mouth began to water as she suddenly realized how hungry she was. The excitement of the morning had kept her mind occupied. Now as she smelled the fresh smoking aroma of cooking bacon, she was almost ravenous. She glanced over at Joshua and noticed that he was playing with his chrome airplane, like he had done so many times on his way to his Dad’s house. The sound of fake propellers was vibrating on his lips. Rowan smiled and for a moment forgot about the dire situation they may be in. Rowan wondered for a minute if Murphy was his first or last name, she had no idea.

As they rounded the corner of road Rowan could see the house in the distance. A feeling of relief washed over her. As they pulled into the driveway she noticed the white Toyota Camry was gone. The house looked empty, dark, and cold. Rowan got Joshua out of the car and looked around the property a little. It looked like no one had been there in a while. Joshua’s Dad, Wade, must have been in town at his girlfriend’s house. Rowan shuddered and thought about how much she hated his new girlfriend. She hoped that Wade would make his way back to the house soon. The guy that lived in the apartment out back was gone as well. No one was there. Rowan found the key that was hidden under fourth rock to the right of the door. The air smelled unusual. The smell of smoke and something burning in the distance tickled her nose. The smell of fresh Earth made her feel calmer. They went in the house and surveyed the room. Everything seemed normal. The air was crisp and Rowan knew the first thing she needed to do was start a fire. The wood stove was cold. Wade must not have been home in a couple of days. She felt a weird sense of concern for him. As much as she disliked him now, she would give anything to have him home with them. Rowan grabbed a couple of logs and started cutting them down into smaller pieces. She had a good stack of feather sticks, kindling, and scrapings. The fire lit up pretty easy and Rowan was thankful for the warm glow of the fire. The red, yellow, and orange flames were soothing. Joshua asked where his Dad was and she reassured him. He sat in his Mom’s lap staring at the fire. They sat there for a while just settling in.

Rowan checked the lights. There was no electricity. The stove was electric so Rowan got out the cast iron pan and set it on the wood stove. In the fridge there were some pieces of Salmon. The fridge was still cold but she could tell the food would not keep long. Rowan decided to cook up as much of the food as she could to help it last longer. She also got out the cooler. The ice cubes were just starting to get wet as the melting process was beginning. Luckily Wade had a thing for ice so there was quite a bit of it in the freezer. Rowan filled the cooler and put as much of the perishable food in there as she could. The smell of salmon, olive oil and garlic filled the house. By this time Rowan’s mouth was watering. Joshua had been snacking on a banana. They also drank large glasses of milk. They feasted on a savory meal of Salmon, Cous Cous, and fried leafy greens. It almost felt like a normal day.

With their bellies full they unloaded the car. Joshua piped up, “How long are we going to stay here? When is my Dad coming home? Can I watch TV?” Rowan once again reassured him, but in her heart she had no idea what to think. Rowan set herself to task and made a list of priorities of things to do. She checked the water and it was off as well. There was enough for the time being with the fourteen gallon reserve in the basement, the water she brought from home, the water heater, and the Jacuzzi filled to the brim. Rowan was thankful at that moment that Wade was too cheap to chlorinate the whirlpool. The house was warming up. They had candles lit but the house was pretty bright from the sun flowing through the windows. Wade did not like curtains so most of the windows were uncovered. Strangely enough Rowan felt at home. Being there made her feel safer in some way. She got Joshua distracted playing with his toy tool set. She slid into Wade’s bedroom. It crossed her mind that she had not been in there in over a year. Dropping to her knees in the far corner she found the loose board. The wood squeaked and she pride up the floor board. Wade was a bit paranoid, but at this moment Rowan was happy to see the shiny blue metal of the pistol and shotgun. She had picked on Wade for as long as she could remember for hiding his guns under the floorboards, but as she lifted the weapons from there hiding place, she once again said a prayer of thanks. She loaded both weapons and put them up out of Joshua’s reach. As he worked on his carpentry skills, Rowan sat on the couch looking out the window, watching for any sign of movement in the distance. You could see for miles down the road. Nothing moved except the various streams of smoke lifting straight into the sky. It did seem that the fires were dying down. It almost looked like any Sunday morning out in the country. Rowan sat contemplating and wondering what to do.
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Installment Three Of Rowan's Journey

She slowly pulled out of the garage and parked next to the side door to the house. For some strange reason Rowan was relieved that they could not be seen from the street. She felt a need to be careful and not draw too much attention to them. She got the car seat out of the Prius and installed it in the 4Runner. Having extra room now, Rowan decided to get some more things from the house. They went into the kitchen and Rowan pulled the extra grocery bags from underneath the sink. Trying to keep Joshua and herself calm she asked the toddler to load a bag full of cans from the bottom cupboard. As the boy worked Rowan cleaned out the cupboards and loaded all of the food into the SUV. She also grabbed all of the food from the refrigerator and freezer. Over the last six months Rowan had become a bit of a prepper. She had been watching Glen Beck and following a few different stories on the Internet. Something about having extra things stored away made her feel safe. She had started buying extra food and stowing it away in her bedroom closet. She had saved up enough food to last two adults six months and enough water for two or more weeks. Rowan set her son to task and he was loading up his little radio flyer wagon with bottles of water. Some of the food was in a Rubbermaid tub, which Rowan now realized was way too heavy to move. Filling every bag in the house, she loaded every bit of food into the Fore Runner. They were almost ready to go and at the last minute Rowan grabbed the extra blankets from the closet and two sleeping bags. Ready to leave the house now, she took one last look around and sighed. She had no idea how long it would be before they would come home.

Rowan strapped Joshua into the car seat and buckled herself in. Joshua’s Dad’s place was not that far away but she had no idea what they would find on the road. It was a great property just outside of town and was surrounded by 150 acres of farm land. In the back there was a small stand of trees with a pond. The property itself had a large outbuilding, an old well, and a vegetable garden. The house was a ranch style 3 bedroom 2 bathe home. It was bought at auction and completely remodeled, including a small apartment in what used to be the garage. There was a wood stove, a fourteen gallon reverse osmosis water reserve in the basement. It was off city utilities and used a propane tank that was kept full always. The place was a pretty good start to self sustainability. Not yet off the grid but with great potential for it. The home also had sentimental value, as it was the house Joshua was born in.

As they pulled out of the driveway Rowan realized the Prius was blocking the driveway. She thought about trying to push it out of the way but decided just to drive through the yard. As she drove down the lawn people started to look at them. Rowan noticed all of the cars just sitting in the driveways. Her next door neighbor asked how she got the car started. Rowan shrugged her shoulders and yelled it just started. There were people walking down the street with suitcases and wagons full of personal belongings. The road was clear though. Because of the early time of the morning no one had been up and moving before the plane crashed. As they got farther away from their neighborhood Rowan noticed that the power was out all over town. There were smoke plumes all over the place. The sun was coming up over the horizon and as they crested the hill Rowan gasped for breathe as she counted at least ten other plane wrecks around town. What could have possibly caused this? Rowan felt a stir of panic well up in her. Joshua asked, “what a matter Momma?” She tried her best to cover her reaction up. “Nothing baby, Mommy is just trying to wake up.” Rowan decided the best option was to take the highway around town instead of trying to go through the streets that now looked filled with people. As she drove down the on ramp it was almost unnatural how deserted the road was. There were no cars, no people, and no movement what so ever. At first the drive was smooth then Rowan saw the small plane down in the middle of the highway. It was one of those cessna type planes, a four seater. The landing gear was gone and it rested on its belly off kilter on the road. It was blocking both lanes. The cabin door was open and Rowan did not see anyone moving inside. She was not sure what to do. She could only think of getting Joshua to his Dad’s house. They would be safe there. Wouldn’t they be? Rowan put the car in neutral and pulled the emergency break. Rowan had to lock in the four wheel drive on the tires. Once the tires were locked in place, she shifted into four high and drove off the road onto the center- median. The vehicle seemed to have no problem driving through the thick brush. Then she saw the landing gear lying across the brush. Rowan had to drive all the way to the other side of the highway. She felt strange driving the wrong way down the road but had no other option. After they had cleared the wreckage she got back onto the right side of the road. She contemplated unlocking the hubs but decided she would rather leave it in four wheel drive and go a little slower than to have to get in and out if they needed to used it again. Just in the short time they had been out Rowan could tell that something big had happened. She had no idea what it was, but it was BIG.

Installment four coming soon…


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Tuesday's Tips for Preppers - Safe Knife Usage

Re-post courtesy Riverwalker's Stealth Survival


Like any good tool, a knife can be a valuable part of your equipment. Making sure you can use that tool safely will make it even more valuable. Here are a few tips for using your knife safely.

Tips for Safely Using A Knife


1.) Make sure the knife is the right kind for the intended use. Check for any damage to your knife. If it’s damaged, be safe and use a different knife or buy a new one.

2.) Take care of your knife. Keep it clean and keep it sharp. A sharp knife is an efficient knife and more useful than a knife with a dull blade.

3.) Always close or sheath your knife when not in use. Don’t leave your knife lying around where an exposed blade could cause an unexpected injury.

4.) Stabbing or shoving your knife into the ground is a perfect way to damage your knife. Don’t do it!

5.) Make sure the cutting area is clear of obstructions and other people. This will ensure that any travel from a slipped blade will not hit anything or anyone causing an unexpected injury.

6.) Always cut away from yourself. Make sure no parts of your body are in the path of the blade should it slip or do something unexpected.

7.) Avoid lending your knife to anyone unless they are familiar with the safe use of knives.

8.) Except in emergency situations, don’t use your knife if the lighting conditions are poor or if it is too dark to safely see what you are cutting.

9.) Never attempt to catch a falling knife. This is an extremely dangerous thing to do.

10.) Don’t throw your knife at anything or to anyone! This will most probably result in damaging your knife or seriously injuring someone.

Remember, safety is no accident!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

Simple Survival Foods - Cheese and Processed Cheese Products

Re-post courtesy Riverwalker's Stealth Survival

There are many different processed foods available today. Unfortunately, not all of them are what you might expect. Many bear little or no resemblance to the real or actual product. Processed cheese is one that you should be aware of the different and varied types and their relationship to the actual food itself, cheese.

Basic Information About Processed Cheese

1.) Processed cheese is subject to legal restrictions and standards.

2.) Processed American cheese must contain at least 90 percent real cheese.

3.) Products labeled "cheese food" must be at least 51 percent cheese (most are 65 %).

4.) Products labeled "cheese spread" must also be 51 percent cheese. The major difference being that such foods have more water and gums to make them spreadable.

5.) “Cheese product" usually refers to a cheese that has more water and less cheese than American cheese, cheese food, or cheese spread. The specific amount of cheese in foods labeled “cheese product” are not regulated and vary greatly.

6.) "Imitation cheese" is not required to contain any minimum amount of cheese. Unfortunately, cheese is usually not its main ingredient.

Quality processed cheese should have certain general attributes. It should resemble cheese and possess a minimum amount of cheese type flavor, preferably with a "bite" such as a sharp cheddar cheese. The processed cheese should also be smooth and evenly colored. It should not have a rubbery texture and should not melt in the mouth.

You can find additional information about the nutritional value, the safe handling and storage of cheese and cheese products, and the many different types of cheese and cheese products here:

http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/nationaldairycouncil/nutrition/products/product_cheese.pdf

Say REAL cheese please!

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

.357 Magnum Handgun - Ammo Choices for Personal Defense

Re-post courtesy Riverwalker's Stealth Survival

The .357 Magnum has been in use as a personal defense handgun for quite some time and has been shown to be very effective for this purpose. For many years it was the only handgun carried by many law enforcement personnel for their own defense. When choosing ammunition for personal defense there are two main factors that need to be considered. Those factors are the difference between a rural and an urban setting.

Almost everyone will agree that the .357 Magnum works for personal defense while being in a size that is manageable. It has several distinct disadvantages when being used in a personal defense situation in an urban setting.

The first disadvantage is that a .357 Magnum round going off in an indoor setting is extremely loud. Loud enough that it could cause damage to your hearing. Secondly, the muzzle flash is extremely bright and the flash could cause reduced vision capabilities in a nighttime environment which would require additional time for vision to be restored to its full extent. A third issue with the .357 Magnum handgun is its rate of penetration. A normal .357 hollowpoint round can penetrate through large animals and emerge on the other side with enough velocity and force to hurt someone other than the intended target.

And last, but not least, is the ability to maintain control of your weapon. The .357 Magnum was originally designed for large-frame handguns and has a significant amount of recoil. This can significantly affect your ability to get off subsequent shots accurately in a personal defense situation. These factors should be seriously considered before deciding on the type of ammunition you will be using when carrying a .357 Magnum handgun for personal defense.

In the majority of cases, including an urban environment, a good .38 Special +p round would be the better choice for a personal defense load. You will have more control for follow up shots due to lighter recoil, have fewer problems due to over penetration of the round and will have somewhat less noise and muzzle flash than in a .357 Magnum round. My personal choice is .38 Special +P 125 gr. JHP round for a home defense load.

In a rural setting, where many of these factors are not as significant, my personal choice is .357 Magnum 110 gr. JHP for a defensive load. In a rural environment you would be able to take full advantage of the range and power of a .357 Magnum round. The main thing I consider is that the meanest thing I would probably come across is a feral hog and the distances involved in a rural setting would compensate for the fact that a .357 Magnum round has a very flat shooting trajectory.

The versatility of the .357 magnum which allows you to shoot these two different cartridge types allows you to adjust your defensive rounds to either a rural or an urban or city environment.

Remember, "It's not what you hit them with, but where you hit them."

Here is a link with a little more detail of Magnum ammunition: Magnum Ammo

You can read about my own S&W .357 Magnum here: Model 65 Revolver

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker