Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Shopping List for the End of the World

Given the current State of the Union, I've been thinking about the end of the world and feeling woefully unprepared.  What does a Capricorn do when she's unprepared? Make a list! So, here's the beginnings of my shopping list for the end of the world.

1 stick of dynamite.  When it all goes down, I plan to blow up the irrigation ditch and restore the full flow to Mill Creek. Water is key, which is why our artesian well is such a blessing. May that aquifer hold out till long after I'm gone.

1 shotgun.  It's true, Sequoia and I don't own a gun; never had need of one. I find them repulsive.  But when push comes to shove, we may need to kill a few deer and/or fight off a few zombies 

55 gallon drums of beans and rice. 

Seeds for the garden.

Spare antibiotics

Gasoline. We might have to run the well pump or the generator or the chain saw.

Luckily, we already have things like a generator, a chain saw, a generous well with a gas pump and a solar pump. We don't have stockpiles of food and medicine, so that's the next priority. I think I have enough books to last a lifetime; I'll never lack for reading material.

Clearly I've been reading too much post-apocalyptic sci fi and watching too much news, but it appears to me that the center is definitely not holding.  Can't hurt to be prepared.

Making Sense

Another mass shooting, this time in Vegas. Some crazy old white guy with 23 guns sets himself up on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay overlooking the site of a huge country music festival.  The perfect vantage point, fish in a barrel. A friend who works backstage at Cirque du Soleil wrote about spending several hours in lock down. They had all been trained on what to do in case of an active shooter because that's the world we live.  I've been trained, although I'm pretty sure I'd be worse than worthless in such a situation. I'd crumble like a cookie.

One of my Arkansas cousins write a post about how gun laws have to change. Pretty sure he's not going to get the big piece of fried chicken at the family reunion this year.  If nothing changed after Newtown, I'm pretty sure nothing will change after this, no background checks, no bans on semi-automatic weapons, no limit on the amount of ammunition you can buy.  Health care is a privilege in this country, but owning as many guns and as much ammo as you want is a god given right.

My cousin's sister took out after him after he posted his opinion. She said that no law would have kept the shooter from doing what he was going to do. I wanted to tell her that maybe if he hadn't had 23 guns, including several semi-automatic weapons that had been altered to function as automatic weapons, maybe he wouldn't have killed and maimed more than 500 people. Just a guess. But, what's the point of engaging anymore? What can I say to person who believes that military assault weapons should be in the hands of civilians? It's like we don't speak the same language.

It's a beautiful time of year in the Colestin, I'll take the dog for a nice long walk this weekend, practice some music, maybe watch some TV.  Life goes on, until it doesn't