Survival Part 2

WORM STEW

"It's time to eat," Marge cried out to Zed as he worked trying to rebuild part of the house demolished by the earthquake.

Zed washed his hands readying himself to eat.  He didn't use a pale of water to wash his hands but wet clover. He brushed the clover over his hands as the moisture from the clover cleansed the dirt from off his fingers. There was no need to waste water when you have wet clover.

"Now I'm ready to eat. What do you have cooking, sweetie?"

"I have our favorite earthworm stew. I used to hate those worms until you brought home some seasoning. I don't think I could handle eating plain worms."

"I see you found some chickweed and added it to our stew," inquired Zed.

"You're right. I only use highly nutritious foods."

"You do and I found some more worms today while planting my pepper plant. I put them in a pale of wet straw so we wouldn't run out."

"Great,  now let's enjoy our stew before it get's cold."

Zed remembered the days of spaghetti and meatballs and imagined that he was eating a bowl of it. The worms are really not that bad with chili seasoning, Jed thought as he reminisced of the good ol' days.

DRINKS FOR EVERYONE

Penny entered the outdoor dining area where the rest of her family was sitting. The outdoor dining area was sheltered from the elements with a thatched roof made of tall grasses.

"I finished juicing the grass. I found a little bit of everything: alfalfa, clover, timothy grass, and some over grown mint." I juiced it all.

Penny used a stainless steel wheatgrass juicer to make her green juice. It was a vital elixir of precious juice with minerals and vitamins that would keep them all healthy.

"Great!" answered her Mom. Would you all mind if I use some rain water to wash it all down?

"You can," replied Zed. "We got a good supply of water today. We might as well use it up before it becomes stagnant. If only we had bleach. We could add it to our water for long keeping. If I remember correctly, it only takes 8-16 drops of regular household bleach (visually about 1/4 of a teaspoon) to treat a Gallon of water. It disinfects the water and keeps it drinkable."

"Why don't we visit our neighbors down the road and see if they will barter" asked Penny?

Zed look seriously and said, "I don't know. People who survived the quake become desperate like a drowning victim. If they see we are healthy and surviving the elements, hunger and thirst, they might demand at gun point more than we can give. I think we should wait a few more weeks before checking on them. I hate to say it, it takes three weeks for someone to die of hunger and a few days if they don't get water. The worse scenario is that they are sick or have become cannibals. We would be taking a risk to visit them. I used to like to barter at the grocery store until those weird strangers arrived examining us like we were cattle for their feast."

Marge got in on the conversation, "What can we do. We need supplies."  

"We will wait a few more weeks and then check up on our neighbors. If they are surviving, at least they might be too weak to do us harm. It doesn't sound like a good thing, to wait for our neighbors to die. But I 'd rather have them die than one of us." 

"A neighbor is a friend until desperate times." --Larry Zoro

Obert Skye —"Desperate times call for desperate measures."