It’s best to be flexible. Deb and I practiced that attitude on the road, and we brought it with us to The Mountain. Structure and discipline are fine, even essential, but life has a way of pitching curve balls.
After getting lots of business handled on Thursday, we thought we might have yesterday free to play catch-up. That went out the window when we were contacted by a prospective buyer for Ernie, asking if we were available to show our motorhome that afternoon.
We jumped at the chance. Until now, our ads had produced only low-ball consignment outfits, scammers and the equivalent of Nigerian princes. No serious inquiries.
For the sake of security, we met the would-be buyers — an Iowa couple about our age, who were in the area specifically to look at used diesel pushers for sale — at a strip mall in Mountain Home, then led them to the storage facility a few miles away. There we spent two hours going over every inch of the coach.
No test drive.
Nice people. We judged their interest to be genuine. Now we wait to see if anything comes of it.
Definitely the best part of our Friday was a call from the independent trucking company hired by Graceland to deliver our cabin to The Mountain. I had a good conversation with the owner, who made sure that I understood the clearances required for a 16×40 building to pass — essentially, 18 feet wide and 14 feet high.
Just as we did in May before our fifth-wheel came up the road, again we’ll break out the saws and cut back overhanging branches. We’ve contacted the utility company, too, asking them to address the overhead power line on the homesite. One other overhead line on our road may be a close call, so the delivery crew might have to lift it over the ridge of the roof as the cabin passes.
I can’t say that any of that has me worried, really, or concerned, or nervous. I’m simply keenly aware that these are the factors that’ll determine whether or not the delivery succeeds.
We’ll find out on Wednesday.
You read that right — we have a delivery date. If all goes well, five days from now the Ozarkansas sun will rise on our cabin on The Mountain.
While Deb and I were filling a water barrel this morning, we talked about our backup plans for SHTF — that is, what we’ll do if we can’t draw from her cousin’s well or ours. I’ve alluded to the options here in previous posts: Gray Spring (20 minutes from The Mountain) or Crooked Creek (a ten-minute drive or an arduous one-mile trek).
Both sources are viable. Neither is perfect or assured.
At the access to Crooked Creek south of Flippin, for example, there’s no water to be had right now — the bed is dry as a bone. Farther west it’s flowing, sort of, but it’s brackish and closer to town (which we’d prefer to avoid in a grid-down scenario).
Gray Spring always is flowing, to one degree or another, and it’s clear. For those reasons, however, I fully expect it to be “claimed,” for lack of a better word, guarded and defended (just like Confederate forces did during the Civil War). The sentinels may be friendlies or they may be belligerents, but any group that seizes control of a reliable source of potable water in a crisis is bent on amassing power and influence.
Why that’s perilous is obvious.
Water is Life. We have no source of it on The Mountain, save our well and our neighbors’. We realized that we need to explore and expand our SHTF contingencies.
When we settle on other potential sources, we also may have to come up with different tools for drawing and hauling water. Smaller vessels? Larger ones? A hand pump? Equipping the Ranger or the Wrangler for overland travel to a little-known spot?
Harvesting rainwater? Sure — but that’s of no use during dry summers like this one (and the last).
Maybe this discussion strikes you as a bit paranoid. If so, you and I see the world very differently.
In my view, we’re all on the brink of this subject (and others long seen as radical or unhinged) being crucial to survival. I suggest you give it your most serious consideration.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath #Ungovernable
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB