First Post

The following is an e-mail I sent to a friend last August. It is as good a place as any to begin this journal…


Tonight’s meal will commemorate a solemn anniversary. I am here at an undisclosed location in S.E Michigan. What is left of the intentional community started in the early years of this millennium has become a rag-a-muffin group just trying to hang on. I digress…Sorry.

Our meal will be simple, fitting the occasion. We will re-hydrate some of our last venison jerky and try to assemble enough vegetables scrounged from our secret gardens planted in the area order to make a stew. Secret gardens have become a necessity because of the constant raids by the ever present security forces and scroungers. With dinner there will be fermented libations, harvested from this spring’s Dandelion crop.

As I have said, this will be a somber dinner. Tonight is the anniversary of the second Pandemic which ended up costing our community dearly. During the oil crisis of 2007, a lot of people found that by coming together as a community, (on line as well as in person), solutions could be found to most any problem. Even though the times were hard, most of us made it through; although sadly, not all. Communities came together, found their strengths and weaknesses, and dealt with the situation. Life was slowly returning to normal when the pandemic hit. Warnings of a potentially mutated strain of flu had been around for years. The warnings were largely ignored because people were preoccupied with mere survival. The effect that the virus had, (having crept in so covertly, and being so widespread by the time it was discovered), was devastating. Over 300,000 people died that winter. We were lucky; we quarantined ourselves and managed to skate without anyone getting sick. In 2012, luck was not with us. In July a young man joined our ranks. Not showing any symptoms, he was welcomed. We lost four of our key people.


During tonight’s celebration, I have no doubt that some tall stories will be told about some extraordinary people. Urban legend will run rampant. Things like “Illiana_speedster found a way of feeding thousands”, Gracesmom saved thousands from certain death” “Gala_Teah did such and such, “Kal was such a hero when he rode with those road warriors out to steal back the millions of dollars stolen from the local people!” (Somehow, I recall that he was out with a bunch of bicycle thieves, but, then again, I can’t remember what I had for breakfast today, so whatever…). I will sit back, smile, and nod my head, and celebrate all of these tales. After all, who am I to refute these “truths“?

My “truth” is that some very ordinary people found themselves stranded in a Denver airport in late 2006. They were warned by a complete stranger of an oil crisis, and by deciding to make a difference, made a difference. Their efforts changed a lot of lives;
Including mine.

Regards,

Megiddo