Snow and Ice

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

www.youtube.com

Snow and Ice

Journal Entry - September 2 2018
Alan Scott

Now that September was upon us, it was time to celebrate our success and to give thanks for our good fortune.  It was time for those that believed to give God the credit for what He has done.  I know that sounds religious, but I don’t see it as a religious thing, but as a means to let our God know that we can put our hand to the plow, but it’s His blessings that bring the growth and prosperity.  I wanted to bring us together as one and bless our food and fortune without causing division amongst us, as we had Baptists, Catholics,  Morons and who knows what else.  So, I broke out my bible and quoted scriptures that all could agree with.  It actually went well and the beer and wine helped everyone to enjoy the evening.  

Heading into fall, we had little to no down time.  I was still the lead Elder as they have taken to calling us.  Elder meaning my hair is grey and I’m not dead.  I feel older and don’t get out of bed as fast as I use to.  It didn’t help to be responsible for almost 327 people.  Even so this was a good time in the colony.  Our stores were all but full and moral was high.  We could actually increase the size of the colony by spring and that would bring its own issues, but that was for spring, now was the time to get ready for winter.  

Throughout the summer we kept the batteries charged on the Ham radios to see if any civilization had survived.  Our antenna was on top of the old water tower along with a lookout.  This gave it close to a hundred mile radius and even more for signals that bounced off the atmosphere.    Mostly we heard static.  It was the first week of September when I was summonsed to the tower because the lookout could hear people talking on the radio, they claiming to be scientists and were discussing an issue with the Earth’s orbit.   Susan was called as well, because she was as close to a scientist as we have.  In our past life, she was a science teacher and had worked for NASA during the summers.  She has been invaluable when it comes to creating chemicals and medicines for our well being.  

It was not easy to hear what these scientist were saying, but you got enough to know that they were concerned that the weather patterns we're going to change even more.  Apparently the Antarctic Ice was still building, while the Northern pole was just about devoid of ice during the summer.  It was causing an imbalance in our orbit.  We were wobbling more and more.  Causing further instability on our weather systems.  The climate change had shifted the jet stream so that it dumped an enormous amount of moisture on the Southernmost continent and skipped most of the southern tips of South America and Africa.  As the conversation continued it became apparent that this was not the real problem, but the fact that this was reducing the total amount of fresh water to an extremely new low.  Our air was becoming drier as the fresh water was piling up into mountains of ice and snow at the Southern pole,  Frozen in time and thousands of miles from anyone that could use it.  

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse, now the very ice that was melting and threatening the shores as water levels rose, but now the water is collecting thousands of miles away and out of reach for as long as this trend continued.  We were dependent on hydroelectric generators and water to grow food, if the Pacific Northwest becomes arid, we would perish.  But what could be done, no one knows where the weather will be generous or stingy.  It was Susan’s opinion that we should not be affected too bad as our weather pattern originated at the equator.  

As for myself, this actually could work to our good.  There is a study of the air called Psychometrics, where the relationship between air temperature and water were directly related.  You see, if the air did not have moisture, it could not carry heat.  Blow this up on a global scale and one would think that the lack of moisture would reduce the heat in the atmosphere and thus start us on a path back to where we were before global warming became a thing.  However the one issue you don’t think about is that, moisture also absorbs heat from that comes from the sun.  This radiation (heat from the sun) warms things that it comes in contact with.  If this radiation is not absorbed in the air, it reaches the ground and bakes the earth itself.  So, on a global scale it could be good that the air is cooling down or just add fuel to an already scorched Earth.

About the only thing Susan and I could agree on, was that we could do nothing to stop the build up, our rainfall or the sun’s effect.  All we could do, was pray they didn’t cause any further changes to our weather.  Nonetheless, we should keep a record of any changes we see.  Maybe an alien race will want to know what happened to us.

Next Chapter

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

When Philosophers Become Kings

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

adventurejay.com 

Chapter 17
When Philosophers Become Kings

Journal Entry - August 6 2018
Personal Log: Alan Scott

It’s a cool night for August.  Nothing of concern on the horizon...

I sat out on the porch sipping on some wine I had managed to store away for a quiet day.  I was looking west and that’s when it’s finally hit me.  The world was quiet.  It was much like the days after 911 and the towers in New York were destroyed.  All Aircraft were grounded and the world seemed to slow down and take a break.  Well, it’s much like that now.  We have no aircraft sounds, no machinery and no vehicles going up and down the roads.  The frogs and bugs are doing their best to fill in the void, but it’s still quieter than it use to be.  I just hope that as we build this new world, we take a few lessons from the old and make our new effort something that we, humans, and nature can both live with.  

I know, I sound too much like a tree hugger, but there is something to be said about a society that looks to the future that is beneficial for both the Earth and humans.  The Native American’s were trying to do this, but I think they took it just a bit too far.  As the Earth is nothing more than sticks and stones with a wildly organic organism going crazy everywhere it gets a chance.  As the dominant species on this planet I see it as our mandate to cultivate the highest standard of living without the cost to the environment around us.  This was dangerous way of thinking and very much contrary to our previous way of living.  Again go back to my foundation, that being the Bible.  We are to use our God given talents to the best or our abilities and at the same time we are to be good stewards over all that we have.  to put it in a current perspective.  I may have a talent to produce things from a tree, but that does not make it right to cut down an entire forest to feed my talent.  Pure beauty is a blend of things that give and take to create a balance that allows for creatures to not just survive, but thrive.  In our endeavors to rebuild we will need to keep this in mind.  We have learned so much from our home.  It must be sown into the fabric of our lives; that what we do and how much we do will affect everything around us.  

Now, the hundred thousand dollar question.  How do we get people to buy this philosophy without making it a religious thing that future generations will through off when it is no longer convenient?  Plato mused these thoughts hundreds of years ago and he never came up with the answer.  Not that he did not try.  His writings and teachings sang of better times when philosophers were kings and greed and lust were kept in check.  I pray we do a better job at building our new society than the for fathers of the past.  If only to save my great great grand kids the pain of doing this all over again.  As history goes it takes less and less time to go from colony to empire to self indulgence, decadence and destruction.  No, we must find the balance between personal desires and responsibility for ourselves and our brethren.  We must build a check and balance system into our daily lives.  One that extends out of our normal boundaries.  That will take some thought.

This wine is so good as it is a blend of three grapes.  I wonder if it holds some answers as we blend ourselves together to form one nation looking to survive and build.  We will soon be collecting our last harvest from the open fields and replanting the partially buried crops.  That would be a good time to stop and gather as a community and enjoy some of the fruits of our labor.  A thanksgiving of sorts and a time to break bread with each other.  I will have to give this some thought and planning.  I want it to be something that brings us closer together and not by any means emphasize the differences.  

I will keep my mind working on this and try to keep my worried looks from Alison.  She is usually the worry wort, but lately I have been the one lost in thought or with deep creases in my forehead.  This makes her worry and then we are all in the drink.  I’ve always told her, you don’t have to worry until you see me worry.  That’s when you know it’s bad.  I will say this, I’m worried.  I know that it could have been worse if we had not made the preparations that we did, but it’s nowhere near good, as we are on the edge of failure each day.  

If by the Grace of God, go I.  No, go all of us.

I need to finish my wine, put my poker face back on and go in to help Alison put the kids to bed.

Next Chapter

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Container Christmas

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

en.wikipedia.org

Chapter 16
Container Christmas

Journal Entry - July 29 2018
Alan Scott

Mike spend an additional two day just trying to come up with a way to lift the containers enough to open the doors.  The containers themselves would not be too heavy to manage, but the contents made them impossible, so we emptied each containers by hand before we moved them.   The first container was lifted and opened.  It was like Christmas and we were opening our presents.  This first container was filled with summer clothes.  Jeans, shirts and lightweight jackets.  Thousands upon thousands and most of them would go to waste.  The contents were stacked out of the way and then our attempt to pull the container from the train car went from excitement to aw shit!  The first container destroyed the platform it was supposed to slide onto and  It took almost four days to remove it and way too much fuel and manpower.  

At this rate it would be winter long before we were ready.  Mike and Kan Ho, a former shipwright, set out to build a better “mousetrap” and reduce the time and energy required to pull the containers off the cars. With all the scrap metal and barrels they managed to build a  system that could lift and move the containers from the car to the ground.  Once on the ground, pipes would be placed under them and they could be rolled to another locations.  It was slow, but doable.

We continued to work on the container problem well into July.  Three weeks in and we only had four containers off the cars, but we did empty all of them to find that most of the crap was electronics.  95% of which were useless in our current situation.  Which was ironic a just a year ago, I only dreamed about a 80” flat screen Plasma TV, now we had almost a hundred of them stacked in a pile along with surround sound systems, radios, gadgets and crap.  About the only thing useful were the rechargeable batteries and charging stations.  These we could use and convert for thousands of uses.  All the useful items were put back in a container that had been removed and positioned for storage.  As for the other containers that we managed to offload, we pulled them down to the old grocers parking lot and arranged so that the doors faced inward.  A wall of fencing was placed around them and a large gathering area was build under the covering of the old gas stations.  This would become our common gathering area for food distribution and meetings.  Eventually it would be enclosed, but now it was open and air moved through it easily.  Six members of the original militia were set up with other individual to guard our stores.  A phone was placed on the guard shack.  Once the place was full we then asked everyone to bring in their emergency storage containers, the ones they used to get through the winter, so that we could fill them again.  A central storage was great, but if we were overrun and someone sacked this place, we would all perish.  So filling the emergency stores at each location was insurance that we would again survive till spring.  Eventually we managed to get all thirty containers to the site and set up storage and a perimeter that would be difficult to penetrate without some serious firepower.

By this time our crops were starting to mature and we were eating like kings with meat, vegetables, potatoes and corn.  It was quite a moral booster.  We built six solar dehydrators and I managed to build two solar dishes that were strong enough to cook with.  We canned and dried everything we could in order to keep it for the winter.  By the beginning of August we were running out of things to store our supplies in.  We had to find or figure out how to make glass jars and lids.  

It was the last week of July when one of our patrols happened upon a large shed full of canning jars, lids and crates to store them in.  Further exploration showed that this family was also storing up for an end time event, where they were now was uncertain.  A note was left on the door and the contents of the large shed was emptied.  Jonathan, the sheriff’s son, had left the note because he felt that it was only fair that if these people managed to survive that they should join us.  It was a small price to pay, as they were giving up their supply and preparation for our benefit.  Once I found out about the note I was so angry at Jonathan that I was yelling at him for giving our position away.  He then explained that he left our coordinates in longitude and latitude.  This way it would take a true survivalist to find us.  It took a few minutes for me to accept this.  I was not out “there” and it was hard to understand decisions like this from the inside.  Nevertheless Jonathan agreed not to leave notes again and the matter was dropped.  They did manage to bring back almost two thousand jars for canning and twenty 55 gallon drums for storage.

We set out to sanitize these containers and prepare our crops for storage.  With all this happening it was difficult to find time to write, but now with the summer crops were close to harvest and our hunting parties filling up the dehydrators and storage bins.  Our stills were producing alcohol for disinfectants and a small portion was converted to a variety of alcohols for consumption.  

Whisky was used as a replacement for morphine for minor medical procedures and wine and beer for sore muscles.  I asked for a small batch of the wine be made into brandy as it took so little to put one at ease.  Susan gave me a bad time about the brandy.  But as we sat back on this lazy evening anticipating the last of the harvest, we broke out a bottle of this bandy and the teasing melted away.

Next Chapter.

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Bugs and Bugs

Graham Heights 

Beginnings 

www.flickr.com 

Chapter 15
Bugs and Bugs

Journal Entry - June 22 2018
Alan Scott

So our first test came in late May in the form of a cold or what started as a cold and quickly turned into something far worse.  More than sixteen members got sick in one day and had to be quarantined.  Our medical people thought they had it under control, but another twenty six people came down with our mysterious illness and were quickly put in our makeshift hospital.  Without diagnostic equipment we could only try to ease the suffering. Our naturopathic Doctor continued to treat the symptoms, not the cause.  It was her hope was that the body would fight it off, given time.  She was wrong…

The first patient died three days later.  By day seven, two more died of high fevers and pneumonia symptom.  All three patients were over sixty and panic was easy to see in the rest of the population.   Even though it seemed that only the elderly were dying, this cold-flu had affected a wide variety of people.  The council actually considered removing the sick from the area to ensure that it did not spread further.  Susan, our resident scientist and teacher, insisted that we keep treating them and use stronger antibiotics even if it meant breaking into our hospital stash.   If we were successful we could create and antibody to help treat other possible patients.  

By day twelve we had other issues.  As our world had changed and humans were not as sanitary as they once were  and pestilence was becoming more and more of an issue.  Mosquitoes, flies and all nature of insect and rodents were invading in numbers no one could think possible.  With the number of unburied dead and the fact that tons of pesticides and traps were no longer employed to control these things, their numbers exploded along with their insatiable appetites.  It took all the manpower we could muster to keep them at bay.  We employed less than traditional methods to keep the numbers down.  We had to use smoke and a mixture of liquid detergent and water to keep the insects from eating our crops.  Dogs and cats were no longer fed from the tables and they hunted the rodents as well as setting water traps.  However this did not solve the underlying problem.  We had to destroy them at the source.  The thousands of homes that now littered the areas around us were filled with filth and death which was the perfect breeding grounds for what is plaguing us.  It was time to send out the patrols and go house to house, checking for things that could be used and ensuring that they were empty.  Once a neighborhood was cleared, it was scheduled to be burned to the ground.  To do this we first employed our drone to fly the skies above our patol and ensure that there were no heat sources, ie humans or animals.  Then we sent in the patrol to investigate and clear.  a large X was painted on houses that were devoid of anything useful.  

It seemed to be such a waste to destroy all those houses, however it would be decades before we would need to expand into these territories and these homes would be decrepit and useless.  We needed to help nature take these areas back and prevent them from being a harbor for death and disease.  So, once an area was cleared and the weather provided some rain, we did one more pass with the drones and then burned the structures.  It was slow going and the number of dead was surprising.  Our patrols were getting discouraged, so we sent a pastor along with them to bless the dead and ease the spirits.  It Sounds crazy, but it made a world of difference for our people as they rummaged through strangers homes and belongings while they lay dead.  

Fighting two fronts seems to take everything we had.  I was just praying that we didn’t get hit with any other problems, however with crops growing and time moving on we would need to build storage for the crops to be held in and for seed to be stored for the next year.  This would require more manpower than we currently possessed.   As much as I hated to bring everyone together with the flu still an issue, we needed to come up with some solutions to our problems.  So we broke out our paper masks and called a meeting that could potentially give us some answers, but with those answers came additional demands.  

It was decided that we needed to venture out to collect the containers down at the port.  So with a small group we set out to cleared the railroad tracks from our colony to the port.  We then found an old rail car and pulled it up to camp.  From there Mike converted my old truck to run on the rails.  It was crude and I could only go about 10 miles per hour, but it worked.  We made a dry run in mid June and found that the port was all but abandoned.  With the way cleared it was time to see if we could collect the thousands of containers at the port and bring them here.  We flew our drones over the area and counted thousands of contains, some open and empty some with who knows what in them.  These containers could be use as building blocks for walls, shelters and storage facilities.  The only drawback is that we had to find a way to get them back up the hill to the colony.  It appeared that all of the forklifts were burned and the overhead cranes needed electricity. Not to mention the problem with securing the area while we work.  It was going to be risky because the only way to ensure security was to war against anyone left in the area.

With only a few hundred people, we could not afford a war.  So we would have to work quietly and employ the drones to keep us in the know about others movements.  As for the strange illness, well it ran its course and people were beginning to get better.  Our doctor developed an antigen from the white blood cells from those that kicked the virus and started inoculating the other colonist.  

I visited the port  and could not believe how empty Tacoma had become since my last visit just six months ago.  Millions of homes and businesses all rotting in the rain.  We would eventually inhabit this place again, but not now.  Now we had to find a way to keep Graham Heights going. As I looked around I saw a flash in a window from the old Unions station.  I pointed it out to our scouts and they sent a drone to see if anything showed up on the infrared camera.  Once the drone circled back into range and down loaded its footage we saw nothing, so we continued to concentrate on our goal.

Between our six mechanical guys we managed to get two of the old Tacoma Rail system engines up and running and found enough fuel to keep them that way for a few weeks.  This did not solve the crain problem yet, but that would have to come later.  We did find about a thirty containers loaded onto rail cars.  It only took us four days to disconnect the tracks electric switchers and manipulate the system in order to put these cars together and pull them up the hill.  In our first attempt we were a bit too ambitious and the engines could not pull that much weight up the hill.  So we had to disconnect about half the cars and hope that we could come back to get them.  You see moving things around on rails was extremely limiting.  Every move had to be carefully planned out.  We spent almost two days jocking the cars around so we could put the engines in the back.  This way we could return with the engines and leave the cars at the camp to be unloaded.  As the engines leaned into its load and started working its way up the hill I made my way back down to where the street met the tracks and pointed my old truck towards home.  I looked back at Union Station which was converted to courthouses about two decades earlier and saw that flash of light again.  Someone is watching us.  The big question was who?  And are they trying to signal us or warn us?

Next Chapter

Please add a comment.

If you like Graham Heights, please share the link with friends www.rogeratlarge.com.

As you know this blog contains two books of the Remnant Series. Graham Heights is book 3 of the series. Below is more.

Book 4: Obsidian Arrows

Book 1 is now available in paperback or kindle The Grey Abyss

You can Leave a comment.  

Or follow us on Facebook.  

Or hit the subscribe button to get updates on new chapters or books.

Thank-you
R. A. Legg

Learn about the individual heroes of Graham Heights. 

R.A. Legg © 2016. All Rights Reserved.