DD Date 1984.01.25

January 25, 1984

It's getting where I can't concentrate at work. Beth Eden Nursing Home has been officially closed. It has become clear that there are no more funds available from US governmental agencies to support the residents. It will continue as a nursing facility for the treatment of private citizens with the funds to keep their aged parents hospitalized. Medicines are scarce and getting scarcer. Meanwhile, herbal and alternative treatments are on the rise.

This does not bode well for me, for my job is low skill (taking blood pressures, checking temps) and physical (turning patients and bathing, for instance). As the needs increase, administrators are looking to hire more nurses and do with fewer aids. My hopes to finding a church to serve are slim, so it's going to be into the odd jobs market for me if I get let go. I would have thought in the current situation healthcare would be the securest of all fields. I certainly hope Debbie's job holds up. The hospital she works at is privately owned, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the patients there depend on government insurance to pay for their care (like Veterans' Administration).

On another related note, the abortion clinic near the hospital has been shut down! It came as a result of a rash of abortions after the reports of nuclear war became public in October. Hundreds rushed to end the lives of babies they didn't think they could afford. Some of my friends were outside on Grove Road trying to stop them, holding signs and all that. But mostly just praying publicly. Well, anyway, without proper facilities, the doctors got sloppy. Some girls died as a result, so charges were filed. The local police made it a priority, the courts pushed it through, and quite appropriately the order to close was affective last Sunday, January 22, on the eleventh anniversary of the famous Roe v. Wade decision.

The abortions continue over on Laurens Road, though. I talked with some friends at church and they want to picket the place. It's the least we can do, I guess. I wonder if the politicians locally will change things after this. I doubt if any courts of appeal will take a case when we can't even get a phone call to reach Asheville anymore. Maybe the next election will change things. You never can tell.

Previous Entry: DD Date 1984.01.21
Next Entry: DD Date 1984.02.14

DD Date 1984.01.11

January 11, 1984

Well, I survived another year. My birthday turned out rather nicely yesterday as Debbie and some friends put together a surprise party for me down at Freedom Baptist Church. Some BJ grads had worked with Debbie's brother Chuck to work things out. They called it a Bible Study and I couldn't resist checking it out since they had said there would be baby sitting for the kids.

There was even a cake -- 31 candles actually is quite a few to blow out at one time, but I did it! The ladies at the church had done their best to fix the dinner of green beans, pork chops and mashed potatoes using the facilities in the church kitchen. The families had called in some favors and collected some books and things from the campus bookstore at Bob Jones. They were cheering me on in my search for a church even though I'm a Presbyterian and they're all Baptist! But these last few months I've learned that the BJ community here in the Berea area is quite strong.

One of the men from the school works in the shop and he helped me set up the bicycle I got for Christmas to turn the car alternator and recharge the battery. It takes quite a bit of work, but it's like those exercise bikes -- peddling as fast as you can and getting nowhere! But I keep in shape while in the house while the kids are napping. Of course, I have work I could be doing, but I can do some of that at night to use up some of the battery!

Oh yeah, one of the birthday presents was a ream of notebook paper, a binder and a pack of pencils! I'm set to keep a record of this surreal adventure for months to come. Perhaps one day these pages will be read by civilized folk with electricity and automobiles of their own. I hope those people aren't Russians, though. That's the one thing that bothers me about this whole adventure -- the probability that the enemy is coming any day to clean up the mess they have made. The fact that we have not received any word from the federal OR state government is highly disturbing. Of course, we may have got them before they could completely destroy us - that "MAD" thing, "Mutually Assured Destruction!" I guess we'll know some day what really happened.

Previous entry: DD Date 1984.01.04
Next entry: DD Date 1984.01.21

DD Date 1984.01.04

January 4, 1984

It seems a little strange, it being the long "predicted" 1984. George Orwell's classic tale of a land ruled by a socialistic leader who took Machiavelli to the extreme has served as a warning to Western democracies of what the world would be like if the ways of the Soviet Union prevailed. Orwell was writing in post-war England in 1948 as London was rebuilding from German attacks not so many years earlier. He knew that Russia was an ally in that war, but he also realized the danger of the socialism that nation represented.

Well, I guess he was right, in a way, Russia seems to have been much more evil that even president Reagan imagined. For all of his talk, I shouldn't be surprised that Russia's leader Yuri Andropov attacked us. The man was KGB, and from what I have read those guys are not nice! Well, we survived his attacks, for now anyway. The winter is about to set in, though, and without electricity we'd better hope that the wood holds out.

As scheduled, I was working Sunday night when the year began. The silence was broken in the minutes before midnight by fireworks in the neighborhood. I don't know if the firecrackers were left over from the Fourth or whether people actually spent money on them instead of more important things. There's no explaining some folks. At least the patients I take care of didn't particularly care. Many of them only have days to live anyway, since we now are a kind of clearing house for the morgue. I think it's called 'hospice' and we are trying to keep the people comfortable without much more than out of date narcotics. I still visit some of the elderly folks that we sent home to live with family as part of my job, though. They at least have the comfort of knowing their family is near.

The good news is that we now have running water! Mayor Workman's office has worked with the utility companies to bypass electric pumps with a low pressure system bringing water downhill from the lakes and reservoirs. Flushing toilets is forbidden, though, since the sewage treatment system cannot handle the waste. Our outhouse is going to have to last a bit longer, I guess. As it is, runoff from the drainage systems is going directly to the rivers downstream. I suppose this is not good news for folks living downstream!

Well, Debbie will be home soon (it's been dark for some time and the kids are in bed). So I think I'm going to put down the pencil and paper and pick up a book to use up a little more of this light. I finally got plans on how to hook the car's old alternator up to a bicycle to charge the battery. Now if I can only get it working before the battery goes dead!

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.12.30
Next entry: DD Date 1984.01.11

DD Date 1983.12.14

December 14, 1983

We were greatly surprised today when the mid-week edition of the Greenville News carried reports from outside of Greenville County. It seems that the News has been sending volunteers as far as Athens and Asheville to find out what is going on. Asheville seems to have fared okay, but the story from Athens is like one from the twilight zone! The reporters apparently did not get into town, but the reports from those they met along I-85 was horrible. With what the eye-witnesses said, the University of Georgia had become the center of a new government of sorts, but things went bad fast. Apparently riots had begun over food and supplies and no one was safe. The reporters also heard that refugees were heading up to the mountain town of Taccoa, but they returned to Greenville knowing that they probably would not be chancing any more fact-finding trips.

Meanwhile, at home things seem peaceful. The police and highway patrol maintain a vigilant presence along the roads, preventing most vandalism and keeping unrest to a minimum. Occasionally we hear rumors of police overstepping their boundaries, but the mayor's office assures us that things are professionally managed. As for me and my family, we haven't experienced or seen any violence ourselves. I hope things stay that way, because I remember Athens as a nice town overall, though that was a decade ago. If my fellow Georgians turn on each other that way, I'm pretty sure South Carolinians could as well.

I can't imagine what things might be like in Albany - well known for racial strife! I hope dad and mom are okay. I mean, they go to church in Albany - dad works there - working with blacks every day in fact. Could they be like what they say Athens is like less than three months after Atlanta is bombed? Wow -- not a pretty thought as we head into Christmas season.

Debbie did some Christmas shopping at the K-Mart near the hospital. The hospital has worked out a credit system with both K-Mart and Bi-Lo allowing employees to write personal checks against their Hospital account. It's like the old "company store" -- hopefully we won't 'owe our soul to the comp'ny store' as Tennessee Ernie Ford used to sing! She has also begun picking up the rations at that store (though it took a lot of paperwork and several weeks to approve it).

We had put the tree up -- an artificial Debbie inherited from a college roommate before we were married -- on Monday, my Dad's birthday. We'll probably take it down on my birthday in January like we usually do. The one difference this year is that there is no way we'll be with the rest of the family this year -- neither there no here. That makes us all sad. All we can do is pray that everyone is okay.

We made it to Second Pres this week! Prayer meeting went well and there was a great "Christmas feast" prepared for the community. The cooks had called in some favors around town and had "all the fixings" for dinner for over 200 folks (over half visitors from the community). They did say that the supply of natural gas was about to run out and they may have to start using charcoal grills if they can find any. Otherwise, I suppose they'll have to quit serving food. That will be a shame.

This is getting depressing. Perhaps that is because I waited to do this by the headlight lamp -- the car battery is holding out! I suppose I'd better get to bed.

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.12.07
Next entry: DD Date 1983.12.21

DD Date 1983.12.07

December 7, 2011

It was a bit strange, but the local veterans of World War II honored the event that brought the United States into the last World War on this, the 42nd anniversary of what until this year had been the worst one-day man-made disaster ever. We had several veterans, most now successful business men and grandparents, that spoke at the community center at noon. Though they had someone in our church as a special speaker tonight, we opted to visit over at nearby Freedom Baptist Church instead. They had set up outside in their parking lot and had a full-fledged rally going on! Some of the local recruiters were even talking about trying to contact Washington - or whatever US military there might be still operating - to join the fight against Russia in what they suspect is an ongoing "World War III." They didn't get much of a reaction from the crowd, though.

The mail service has been cut back to one day per week, with the carriers doing their routes on bicycles, or in some cases motor scooters. Our mail comes on Wednesdays and is mostly notices from the consolidated government offices in Greenville. No mail has come in from outside of South Carolina - not even western North Carolina - in over two months. Some of the smaller retail stores - independent small businesses - have produced mimeographed ads to let everybody know that they still have stuff for those interested in Christmas shopping! Until the loss of electricity the only use of that old technology anyone ever saw was limited production for Sunday School and other church programs.

We found out over the weekend that the house we were going to be moved to won't be ready until spring! I was so hoping to be warming by a fireplace on Christmas Day. We have found out, though, that the wood burns a lot better in our converted heater than the oil did, so I guess we come out okay on that level. And who knows, we might be able to harvest our onions and garlic before we leave.

Facing Christmas not knowing the fate of our families elsewhere is really hard. Travel outside of even the county limits is almost unheard of. My family had a Marine Base nearby Albany that may have been hit, and you can bet Ft. Benning would have been a target. You know it must have been really bad since there has been no word from any government representatives since the attacks. Robbins might be a target as well. I doubt if the roads near there are drivable even if we had the fuel to get to Leesburg. Debbie's parents lived in Rhode Island and may have been traveling home from church in Connecticut when the bombs fell. I wonder if there are targets worthy of nukes in in that area. This is getting depressing. I think its time for a family prayer meeting.

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.12.02
Next entry: DD Date 1983.12.14

DD Date 1983.11.24

Thanksgiving Day
November 24, 1983

Well, I had been wondering whether we would be celebrating Thanksgiving this year since things went so bad for the nation two months ago. But Mayor Workman proclaimed the regular national holiday should go ahead 'on schedule.' And there have been community events planned at local schools as old fashioned grills and barbecue pits have been prepared since November 1st. The bulletin boards at Bi-Lo and K-Mart have had the notations up for two weeks, inviting everyone that can to bring dishes for a feast to be remembered even as we head into what may be our last winter on earth!

Well, that was my thoughts as I was getting in the church van to go to Second Church last evening anyway. Debbie actually had the day off at the hospital -- which means she'll be working Christmas! -- so we all were all together at the annual thanksgiving prayer service at the church. Since an elder at the church is in the printing business, church literature has given him business that otherwise is slim. Of course, with no new supplies available, local sources are going to have to be stretched. I'm clipping the program to this journal because the backside has the "first thanksgiving proclamation" in the Plymouth Colony (1623). My wife's ancestors, John Alden and William Brewster were there to here it proclaimed.

The service went well even in candlelight. The church had its usual community meal, so many non-members stayed for our service. There were many stories of surviving without the niceties of electricity and running water, as well as stories of kindnesses offered to and from neighbors unknown just two months ago. Local business men offered services to members and others to provide everything from firewood to digging wells to get us through until some level of services can be restored. City and county council members were making the rounds at churches coordinating plans to get the people they represent through the coming winter - which some say will be severe.

This morning I dug the pit a little deeper and cooked up extra green-beans to share at the dinner being held on the Berea Elementary School campus right between Bi-Lo and K-Mart. It turned out to be quite an event. It turns out that the mayor pro temp had chose "our" event to attend. Mayor Workman had attended the much larger event on the campus of Bob Jones University. I had considered catching a bus over to BJ with the family, but I have really started to connect locally so we went to our local event. Open pit barbecue was the 'main course' though both rotisserie and deep-fried turkey were available in smaller amounts. Bi-Lo had made sure there was a supply of cranberry sauce, but the managers rationed it out - opening cans periodically instead of all at once. It turned out that many people are fine without the traditional sauce. There may even be enough to get through Christmas this way.

After the feast, there were games and such reminiscent of the nineteenth century. I am writing this even as it is beginning to get dark outside. We had our oil heater converted to a wood-burner and have a supply of wood that may last about a month if we don't heat more than the two bedrooms on either side of it - and only when it gets below 50 degrees or so. Sweaters and coats will have to do before that. It has turned out to be a good holiday. Only 31 days until Christmas!

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.11.16
Next entry: DD Date 1983.12.02

DD Date 1983.11.16

November 16, 1983

I won the "lottery" at work. The prize was a the stack of newspapers that have collected since the war began. It turned out that the News and the Piedmont cut back production to a few days a week using back up generators and what supplies they have on hand. The paper is a lot smaller and doesn't cover much more than local stuff. I guess there is no way of knowing what is happening anywhere else. The last news from outside of South Carolina is the Sunday paper of September 25th - which is thicker than the rest of the papers put together - didn't mention any reason why Russia might attack us. It was a total surprise. There had been that mess with the Korean Airliner, but the coverage of President Reagan's handling of that, including released synopses of his speech that he was going to make on the 26th, had seemed to be put things in perspective.

Most of the news since then has been about how the cities and the counties of the upstate have come together to work through the crisis. No one seems to have power apart from places with diesel generators and their is very little diesel in tanks. The pipeline that runs from Texas right through the county has stopped running. Trucks have delivered gasoline and diesel from Anderson County storage tanks but have yet to go back for more - if there is more. Getting fuel out of the pipeline is the next problem, but authorities are working on solutions.

Having Bi-Lo headquartered in Mauldin turned out to be a blessing from God. In fact, the Frank Outlaw family - part of whom are members at Second Pres - has worked from the beginning to assure that no one goes hungry. The other super market chains have followed suit, mostly by joint efforts for now, to distribute what they have on their shelves as evenly as possible. The Farmer's Market has become a major player as well. The motto 'Eat local and Ride a bike' has become a way of life!

Some news has come from around the area by way of refugees that keep coming into Greenville. We know from them that at least Columbia and Augusta, the Savannah Nuclear Plant and Charlotte were hit with nuclear bombs. No refugees from Atlanta have come into South Carolina, but many people say they saw the mushroom cloud over the horizon. The pulse wiped out all communication right before most of the bombs hit, so we don't know much more than eyewitness reports. Travel between even Asheville and Greenville has been slow, but we do know that Asheville survived. Some sort of Black Muslim group has taken over down in Anderson according to people who have escaped from down there. I don't know how much to believe about that, but the paper says that some state troopers have moved to secure the fuel storage tanks in Anderson county.

I'm a little worried about Jimmy. He had been more or less been free of seizures, but we had him on medicine to keep them from occurring. The doctors say he has probably outgrown them, but we don't know exactly what to do now that the medicine is no longer available. We pretty much cannot go to the doctors down in Anderson who had been treating him, so we are beginning to bring him to the Greenville doctors at the hospital where Debbie works. So far their advice is more or less "learn to live with it."

Well, Debbie has left for work and the kids are beginning to wake up, so I guess I'd better get to my parenting duties and get some breakfast together. That will be measured oatmeal with a splash of canned milk (we get two cans of it each week but I don't know how long we can keep getting it). I'll open a jar of peaches - not a can, for those are long gone - these are locally 'canned.' More and more of the rations are already coming from local farmers working with Bi-Lo and the FEMA folk still willing to work for an invisible government they haven't heard from in over a month. My guess is they live off of the stuff they are in charge of distributing. They know that at least they won't starve.

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.11.08
Next entry: DD Date 1983.11.24

DD Date 1983.11.08

November 8, 1983

Well, I got the onions and garlic planted just in time to find out that we'll be leaving the crop to the next tenant in this place. I guess I have to be thankful that Debbie works for the county hospital system because they told her last Friday that we'll be moving before Christmas into a house close to the hospital. With fuel at a premium - even the cops are beginning to ride motor scooters - that's right motor scooters, NOT motorcycles. I don't know where they got the things, but they get great gas mileage! Well anyway, as I started to say, I guess with public transportation now running on rations, its harder and harder to get people to the workplace.

We'll be moving to the Dunean area two blocks from the hospital. Although the textile plant still runs a few days a week, their backup generators can't keep up with what they used to produce. And the market is gone anyway. Finished fabric is now being sold locally and then - who knows. We'll have a K Mart AND a Bi-Lo in our back yard! And business is booming in the health industry - I can't believe I used that term in time of war!

Meanwhile, I took time out this afternoon to take a bus over to Bob Jones to visit Chuck Creager, my wife's half-brother. He's studying to be a physicist - a science guy where I'm a math guy. We get along okay, but I worry about him because he is so close to his parents who we have no idea whether they're dead or alive. Debbie's full sister, her step-sister and other half-brother all live up north. Chuck's brother Jimmy is only 10. The sisters live with their husbands. IF they survived, that is. Life at BJ is surprisingly stable six weeks after the attacks. Chuck told me that Doctor Bob and his dad set up a tiny city there on campus. I guess other schools are doing the same thing with dorm students trapped at school with no idea if they'll ever get home. Like mine, the 'yard' at the school has become a farm. The school also has its own power plant! So it has a huge advantage as long as their kerosene holds out anyway.

Speaking of kerosene, I've heard talk that people are starting to figure out ways to make vegetable oil work in place of some of the heavier fuels. I don't know if any of this will help in time for this winter, though. I talked to a guy on Saturday who is converting space heaters like ours into wood burners. That's good news -- we're down to about five gallons in the tank. I hope the house we're moving to has a fireplace! That's the real way to go.

I've found that with Debbie working opposite shifts the only time I can write in this journal is at night before she gets home and after the kids are asleep. And so, after I parked the car, I had a great idea! For as long as the battery lasts I have light in a jury-rigged lamp using the headlight hardwired on the kitchen cabinet. A friend of mine has told me that I might be able to hook the cars alternator up to a bicycle to charge the battery, but I haven't tried that yet. I have taken it out of the car and put it in the bedroom, though, cause I've seen cars stripped for their parts right in people's yards -- a lot of the time while they slept!

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.11.01
Next entry: DD Date 1983.11.16

DD Date 1983.11.01

November 1, 2011

I cannot believe it, but the presence of law enforcement on regular patrol, and usually within sight of each other, did not prevent mischief last night after dark. It got dark 'earlier' by clocks that were turned back to standard time on Sunday - for those who have running clocks, that is. So far, our battery operated clocks are doing well, but I doubt if we'll be getting any batteries in our stockings this Christmas.

Speaking of the holidays, I guess last night was the beginning of the 'holiday season' even though we have little to look forward to this year. According to what mayor Workman said on Saturday, Duke Power company was hit hard by both the electromagnetic pulse and actual bombs launched at it. I guess the Russians had some conventional warheads they had to get rid of and figured nuclear plants can do enough damage just by being destroyed without wasting expensive nukes on them. We have received refugees from Oconee county, though, that were checked for radiation exposure since there was some leakage when the plant was hit. Nothing serious, apparently, but no one has gone BACK to that area since the bombs fell.

Before it got dark last night we actually had a few trick-or-treaters stop by. Most of them were from the neighborhoods around us, and Nanny had some candy she had stored away that she was able to give them when we sent them next door. The boys wanted to go out, but I talked them into staying home on account of the baby. They love their baby sister! We had a special program on Sunday evening at church where they were told the true meaning of 'Halloween' and what happened with Martin Luther on that day in 1517. There wasn't much candy there either, but Jimmy had a lot of questions about the 'repper nation' which we were able to answer.

I almost stayed home for work when I saw patrol cars leaving their appointed rounds to respond to calls for help due to Halloween mischief. However, when one of the patrol cars pulled up in front of the house 'on schedule,' I was assured that no real dangerous characters were on the loose. Still, I went to work not having slept a wink last evening. Nanny came over to watch the children after Debbie went to work this morning (she works from 9 to 9) so I could get a few hours sleep. She'll be home in a few minutes and I sure hope the kids all stay asleep because I can hardly keep my eyes open now. I'll be asleep before Debbie can unpack her stuff.

Well, I told myself I wouldn't use up the candles, but I had to have a light on or I would fall asleep! There is a car pulling into the driveway and if it's not Debbie we're in trouble. I'd better put this pad down and make sure.

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.10.25
Next entry: DD Date 1983.11.08

DD Date 1983.10.25

October 25, 1983

Whew, what a month this has been. One month ago today we lost all power and water at our house. The emergency systems at the hospital and the nursing home have barely kept up with the demand. I've heard that 'nuclear winter' may set in soon and we are low in fuel oil. This is definitely a time to turn to God because we surely can't pull ourselves out of this mess.

Mayor Workman has been going around to community meeting places, like the auditorium at Berea Elementary, telling us that there appears to be no communication so far from any federal agencies. The many of the local federal employees have quit by now, though those that have remained are working tirelessly with his office to provide the manpower to orderly provide essential goods like food and water. He told us as well that available sources of fuel in Anderson County are being utilized to keep relief crews busy throughout the upstate.

Personal vehicles, though, began to be abandoned two weeks ago. Praise God we always fill up on Fridays or our car would not have lasted as long as it has. I parked it for good on Sunday as the guage was below "E" after traveling over 300 miles back and forth to work. The major said that buses and taxis are taking priority for fuel, and that they are running regular routes during the day. For night and evening shifts, though, arrangements have to be made with law enforcement to get to work. A taxi picked me up for work on Sunday, but I walked the almost four miles home the next morning. The driver of the cab did not charge me - I guess the county or my boss is paying him - but he gladly accepted the dollar bill I gave him as a tip. I won't be doing that much more though because our cash is almost gone.

Already services at Second Pres are being cut back to just Sunday morning and early evening on Wednesday. The gymnasium, where we normally eat a meal before prayer meeting, is being changed into a kind of 'refugee center' for members and neighborhood folk alike. The kitchen at the church has so far been supplied with natural gas enough that it is able to cook a meal a day for the refugees that are staying in the gym. We talked to Casey Johnson Sunday and found out that their family had already started taking the church van. He said they would make sure it came by to pick us up tomorrow for prayer meeting. Though the children and I have been attending prayer meetings at John Calvin and Freedom churches, I like the idea of praying with my church family - especially now. Besides, even if it is just gravy and biscuits and hot Pepsi, the meal prepared on Wednesdays is one meal we don't have to cook on the pit in the back yard.

With a mention of our back yard, I guess it is good to point out that on my days off last week I got most of it dug up and prepped. I took the ashes of the grass I was able to burn as fuel in the pit and poured them back on top of the soil. I hope this helps it grow the crops I put in the spring. In the meantime, I am planting onions and garlic to harvest after the snow disappears! These things are not our favorite, but the planting season for everything else is past! Hopefully, though, Nanny's garden will be producing well in the next few weeks. Well, I had better go see if I can help with lunch - make that "dinner" since it will be our main meal today.

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.10.19
Next entry: DD Date 1983.11.01

DD Date 1983.10.19

Wednesday, Oct. 20, 1983

Jimmy asked me on Monday when he could start back to school - for him kindergarten at Berea First Baptist Church. Since that church is out of the way, I promised him that I would check the public bulletin board down at Bi-Lo to see if the church had a bus picking up children. It has become obvious in the last 25 days that no gasoline or diesel is readily available to those cars like ours that don't have electronics that help them run. After I had started the fire in the pit in the back yard, Jimmy and I walked down to Bi-Lo to see what notes had been posted there.

I had not been surprised that the church had suspended kindergarten for a while, but I saw many new notices had been posted since last week. One of particular notice was that a man with an old pickup and some cleaned-out 55-gallon drum was offering water from the Saluda River as long as he had a way to transport it. I assume that he has had little luck in getting any more gas than the rest of us with running vehicles. Anyway, I put a note that I would be interested in a barrel.

Pastor Settle told us Sunday evening that the mayor's office had formed what they were calling a "provisional government" for at least Greenville and Laurens Counties. Towns on the borders with Greenville county had begun to work with the major's office as well. County Council, which oversees where we live, had essentially merged with City Council though none of the politicians seem to have given up their offices. Word is that the plans are in the works to take over the Bell Tower Shopping Center across from the health department. It's nice to see that the law enforcement of the city and county have been very visible since that day the bombs fell.

Well, I started digging up the back yard with a hoe on Monday after we got back from the visit to the bulletin board. I talked over it over with our neighbor Nannie Ferguson who has had her garden of tomatoes and green beans behind her house every year since we moved here. I hope to hear from a guy who makes mulch from yard waste about how I can build my soil using clippings from mowing the yard last month. I have read in a book in the library downtown about how to change that gasoline motor into a generator - makes sense, if I can get all the stuff from Radio Shack to make it work. I think I may be able to at least keep the car battery charged that way. It would be nice to have some electricity in the house. I think only the hospitals and police stations have reliable power these days.

Speaking of the hospital, we started acting as a clearing house for refugees over at Beth Eden. We cleared at least half the beds of those not needing special care - you know, old enough but not quite 'sick enough.' I have been asked to check on a few that happen to live in the Berea area with families now having to take them back to live with them. I think its mostly those who had been expecting those social security checks on the 3rd. Local administrators of social security have told us that they cannot 'write checks' themselves, but hope to 'hear from Washington' soon. Somehow, I think we're on our own for a long time to come.

Previous entry: DD Date 1983.10.15
Next entry: DD Date 1983.10.25