DD Date 1984.01.21

January 21, 1984

Winter has been milder than scientists ever thought a "nuclear winter" would be. In fact, we are experiencing a rather warm and wet winter here in South Carolina. Or at least in our little corner of that fine state. From what has been gathered so far by authorized explorations - gasoline and diesel being scarce as it is with no new deliveries in over three months - the state south of Laurens county may have been largely destroyed. Nobody seems to be coming up the interstate since the first of December, so whoever is still living counties outside of the upstate are keeping to themselves nowadays.

Local politicians, not knowing what is happening nationally, nevertheless are busy gearing up for the presidential race in November. The Democratic party is all excited about the candidacy of local hometown candidate Jesse Jackson - presently living and working in Chicago. Of course, like all big cities in a nuclear war, Chicago may have suffered like Charlotte and Atlanta did. But anyhow, talk is all around town - especially among the black community - that Jackson has a chance against former vice president Mondale. The Iowa caucuses are a month away - and if anywhere survives today it would be Iowa! - and both Jackson and Senator Hollings are on the ticket then. Of course, if the world beyond our state is like what we have seen so far, there probably hasn't been any campaigning going on. But still, you never know.

If there is an election, though, I think President Reagan can beat anybody the Democrats end up with. I really wish we'd get at least some radio coverage from somewhere. I mean, we've got some electricity and there are at least some radios that didn't die from the electromagnetic pulses. The mayor's office and county counsel insist that everything is being done to restore communications with the rest of the world, but I'm not so sure anything can be done. Well, it's time for my ride to work to get here, so I'd better turn out this light and say good night to Debbie.

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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.

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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!

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DD Date 1983.12.30

December 30, 2011

Well, this ends three months of weekly diary entries to try to make some sense out of life after the "unthinkable" has happened. It is a wonder that civilization here in the USA has not collapsed. Of course, it may have outside of our immediate area. As far as I know there have been no expeditions beyond short ones across the state lines to Georgia and North Carolina, and no one has received any messages from further away.

So, while I still have some notebook paper, I guess I will write what I remember of the "last year of the United States of America." I don't follow world events too much, so this will be somewhat short.

Back in January, President Reagan surprised many when he nominated a woman from North Carolina, Elizabeth Dole, to oversee the Department of Transportation. She is the second wife of Senator Bob Dole of Kansas. We got a preview of "hard times" to come when the Independent Truckers Association went on strike in response to the federal tax on fuel going up. Some stuff got scarce for about two weeks. The trucks stopped running three months ago and we are learning that the shelves don't restock themselves!

February saw the first of a bunch of Democrats after Reagan's job in 1984. In all I think seven -- including Fritz Hollings! -- had declared their intent by the end of September. Personally, I think American hero, now Senator, John Glenn is the best among them all. We can assume president Reagan was waiting to announce his intentions sometime this winter. I don't think there is any question that he will be the candidate -- if there is an election next year and he is even alive. It's hard not knowing what's happening around the world! Bringing a 'light note' to a bad situation (the Korean War), the television show M*A*S*H ended a series that lasted three times as long as the war it portrayed. -- I missed that show but caught it on the summer reruns!

Spring time saw more conservatives in high places -- Germany elected Kohl and in England Margaret Thatcher got re-elected. It was looking good for us conservatives. Reagan has been talking tough against the remaining Communists out there and I think we may have been winning that ideological battle before what I guess is World War III -- still no draft or anything -- began. I think the "new enemy" we were facing was a religious one in Israel and surrounding countries. The Muslim fighters don't hesitate to kill others by killing themselves. They showed the world that the US was their enemy by blowing up the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon!

In America, though, the Supreme Court made what could be a "liberal" decision concerning what would seem to be a freedom of assembly issue -- against Bob Jones University! Back when I was there I let it be known that I thought some of their policies didn't go along with my interpretation of the Bible. One of the things I disagreed with was their stand on 'inter-racial' dating. Heck, I had a great 'preacher boy' in a group that I ministered with that was from the Caribbean that was of 'mixed race' heritage. Anyway, the school would not change this on threat of 'losing' its tax exempt status. Well, its seems that the IRS can trump the constitution! The school lost its exemption. From now on, any contributions to the school cannot be counted as deductions.

The Summer saw more terrorism - hijackings and bombings - around the world. From the Mideast, to South Africa, to the Pacific, things started going bad. I don't understand how people can be so deranged as to kill themselves to make a political point. Assassinations at least make sense - going back to ancient Rome and beyond - but suicide bombs are insane! There was a major assassination, in fact, in the Phillipines -- Aquino, I think, sometimes this past summer. Anyway, the summer ended with the mess between the US and Russia - first the downing of that Korean jet with Americans on it -- a congressman from Georgia being one of them -- on September first. I'm sure that probably had something to do with the beginning of the war that perhaps has destroyed this country. And then, three weeks later we get the world as we NOW know it!

The fall months were a time of getting used to the weirdness of life without the pleasantries of the twentieth century - at home anyway. I am sure that the emergency generators in use won't last much longer either. According to the authorities - as posted on bulletin boards and spoken in town meetings - the nuclear power plant is a long way from being fixed. Other power alternatives - such as the coal powered facility in Pelzer, are closer to being on line, but the EMPs that wiped out electronics all over the place mean that re-wiring and re-engineering will take quite some time.

And so, there it is, what I remember about this year. I'm sure it won't be part of any history archives anyway, but it helps me put things in perspective as I look forward to a new year coming up this weekend. I will be working, of course, and probably won't actually 'celebrate' 1984 -- the year of "Big Brother"! getting here. Ironically, I suppose, the computers that were predicted to usher in that socialist era have been largely silenced. Wow. I wonder if that means we win after all.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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