From the journal of Nathan Sanchez, March 17

March 17, 2017

     I haven't been able to write in almost 2 weeks. The farm is a good place to be now, out of the major local towns, there is livestock, and there is room for the children to run and play in relative safety. But Uncle Ramon is very old, gotta be close to 100, and the ranch is not in as good of shape as I remember it being when Nana and Papa lived here. He only managed to plant a small kitchen garden in the back yard this year and his grandchildren have had to come take care of the animals for a few years now. His daughter, Maria, moved in as his caretaker about 3 years ago, when her husband passed away. She cooks and cleans as much as she can but she is 63 years old, so there is only so much that she can do. Consuela, her daughter, came here with the rest of the family from town and has since taken over the household duties. She has pulled all the other women and girls into her little army and she runs this ranch house with an iron hand.

     The men have been making repairs to the buildings and getting the ground prepared in the fields to plant whatever we can find to grow for food. It has been a lot of work to get this place livable for our extended family, but we are finally seeing progress. It has been really good to be around the family again and I have not spent this much time around all the cousins since I was a child running through the fields and orchards here. Of course, they were in better shape then and would need work to produce edible fruit. The first few nights here, everywhere I looked were memories of get parties and reunions.  I could just about hear Great Uncle Carlos and how he used to say when our family had a get together, the 3 F's were involved:  food, family and fun. Back then, Uncle Ramon was Nana and Papas' caretaker, like his daughter is now with him.  We used to come out here every weekend in the summer time and the cousins would camp in the field while the adults did whatever mysterious adult things they did together.
     Darren, myself and several of the cousins are going to head into Elwood and go to the feed store to see what we can find. Uncle Ramon said he hasn't seen any neighbors since this all began, so another group of cousins is going to see if anyone else is still alive and if not, see what food and supplies they can find.
     Hopefully, between all of us working in groups together, we can find enough to make our survival situation better. There should be seed and other starter plants for a bigger food garden. But what we really wanted to find was something like sorghum, something sustainable and more pest resistant than regular corn. We have the land and with help from the older family members, we have the knowledge to plant and harvest it all by hand. Yes, we did have all the modern farming equipment, but they take a lot of fuel. This is something that we all know is going to become an issue. We have the human power and our stomachs will provide the motivation, even for the younger generation who are going through withdrawals from electronics.
     Every now and again, I see one of the electronically challenged look at their hands in search of their phones that used to be attached. They would blink and look around for a minute or so, and then the spell would pass. I don't think some of them have spent any time outdoors, outside of school, voluntarily for years. I keep expecting them to rebel and demand access to their Twitter or Facebook. We have given them all chores or tasks to do, like taking care of the animals or helping with the childcare, so the adults can do other things like cook and plant food.
     Nana even had Papa and the men get the outdoor adobe oven from the shed and set up the outside kitchen like it was when they were first married. With there being no electricity, the fridge, stove, and other appliances were useless lumps of metal. The older women are teaching those who want to learn how to preserve food like they did as girls. Salt, smoking and dehydrating for the meats; canning and preserves for fruits and vegetables. There has been an open invitation for years to be taught these skills, but no one was willing to put time into learning. Now, this is considered an invaluable skill that everyone might need to know and a schedule has been set up so everyone gets a chance to learn.
     Darren is yelling at me to get my ass moving so I will try to write more later. I hope we find what we need to get us through the days that are coming.

As a writer and artist, I appreciate any readers and their comments. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog. Please, come read the other blog I write for our artisan collective, Raven's Castle Creations, on our website at www.ravencastlecreations.com. It includes posts on art, the mythology of symbols we use in our art, history and more! Also, come see the art we produce in our Etsy store at etsy.com/shop/RavenCastleCreations. Follow us on Twitter at @ravencastleart and on Facebook at @ravencastlecreations.