From the journal of Marie Costa, May 13

May 13, 2017

We spent the last couple of days getting ourselves set up here at the cabin.  All three bedrooms have a set of bunk beds and a full size bed. Isabella says this place became a meeting ground for her father and his two siblings, once the grandfather who owned it died. They would all get together in the summer and camp out in the cabin.
We decided that Linda, Lisa and I will have one bedroom. Jorge, Alex and Jake will have one of the bedrooms and the last one will go to Isabella, Alice and Sarah. Will and Frank are going to sleep in the living room. This seems like the best way to make everyone comfortable. Although, I don't know how long Jorge will be with us. He has a wife and two small children at his home and he really wants to go see if they are still alive. I think Frank is going to go with him, so if they aren't alive anymore, Jorge won't have to take them out by himself. Frank wants to go see if his younger brother is still alive, too.

There's an old pick up truck that was in the yard when we pulled in. It runs, roughly, but it runs. Isabella says it was her grandfather's truck and her cousin fixed it up when he was living here. I bet that Frank and Jorge leave in the truck within the next couple of days. I don't blame them. If I had family, like they do, I would want to go see if they were still around too.
We worked together yesterday to organize our food supply in the trailer of the big rig. We have a really good supply for the number of people we have. Of course, if the guys find any family still alive, that number could change. We collected firewood from the surrounding woods, so we're able to keep warm and cook food. Linda and I cleaned the cabin, room to room, and put staples in the kitchen area. That way, we don't have to walk out to the trailer for a little sugar or a tea bag.
It felt wonderful to sleep in a real bed the last couple of nights and to able to take a shower. We all have to keep the showers short, but warm water pouring over me was wonderful, way better than the sponge baths we took at the store.
This morning, I got up early, left a note and went for a walk. I took my spear and a machete I found in the shed out behind the cabin. I just needed to get away from the others and get some fresh air. It was wonderful being out in nature. I saw a jack rabbit and four wild horses. The thought crossed my mind that we might need to work on domesticating some of the horses. They could be handy for hauling stuff and riding. Gas is not going to last forever. Even if we had an unlimited supply, it does have an expiration date, somewhere around two years. If none if manufactured by then, the gas will be gone and we'll be back to horse power.

I walked for over an hour, roughly in a circle, and was back by the time most of the others got up. We fixed pancakes and ate together on the porch. We were all lost in our own thoughts, but came back together to continue setting ourselves up to survive here. It's better than the store and safer, too, being out of town. We can make this work, even if some of the people here find family members still alive. And,  there's room to expand the cabin and even build a barn. We are going to have to sit down and plan for the long term, very soon.
Well, back to work. It's my turn to help with dinner, since we're all taking turns on the meals.

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.