Fortune and Favor

I see you are a wild thing,
free to run, roam, and fly,
A traveling ghost with a quiet way,
Never asking why.   
... S.E.Cook

Perhaps one of the most wonderful things has happened since the end of our civilization. Since the weather turned a little warmer a few days ago, we chose to remain a while in this wild and desolate land known as the Wind River Range. We always send out riders to scout our backtrail, watch for signs of game, or pursuit. Today, Reese, and John returned with four people I knew well. My father, mother, aunt & uncle. My eyes not beleiving what my heart already knew, I could only stare for time in disbeleif. Dismounting and handing off the reins, I saw mom, the jaunty stroll I knew so well, the smile, and little wave so natural to me as the wind. My father, a little sore from riding, but still the same strength, and economy of motion so easily recognizable. It was them. All mom said was "glad to see ya". There were no words between Dad and I, the twinkle in his eye, the pleased smile, and warm embrace saying all that was needed.  Now I must explain.
When the end came,  Mom and Dad had been in Las Vegas, on a vacation. At the end of things some terror group had used the event to create havoc.  A Pocket nuke had exploded in Vegas and in 14 other cities across the U.S. We assumed they had died in the attack. Hearing of the bad times, mom, dad, and mom's sister Kay, and husband Daniel, decided to visit Laughlin, and were between cities when the attack came. Knowing all that was to come, and with a full tank of gas in his pickup like dad always did at bad times, they headed for the wild country, found backroads around the main cities and headed for home. Hondo valley was on thier way home.  Realizing that most ranch houses would have all the latest news, and knowing it was one of our run points, they had stopped and talked to a rancher. As fate would have it, the same one we traded gun for horses with. Never having an AR-15 before, the gun had jammed, and dad being the builder of the gun, fixed it for him, our names came up in the conversation, and the rancher being extremely grateful, traded dad's pickup, and the 20 gallons of now very expensive gas, for horses, saddles, and supplies. Though you may never see it, dad always has a gun close. My Uncle Dan is no exception. This time dad had his Beretta with him, and Dan his WW11 vintage P-38. From here it was no big trick to guess which way we had gone. North, just like we told the rancher we were doing, and it was only logical to follow the national trails. Seeing the same things we had, they came upon the traffic jam we had passed by, except dad and Dan seeing the opportunity. Dad came away with a 223 bolt action carbine, and a couple of hundred rounds, while Dan found a Taurus "JUDGE" and several boxes of ammo, and a 30-06 Remington 700.
I learned my woodcraft from my father, and knowing my natural caution, it was easy for him to follow me. Dad is cautious too, and at Riverton, he saw what we had seen, and avoided it. Now, they were here. Thanks to the powers that be.
Earlier tonight around the campfire, with our entire family there, except for a few, we drank coffee, ate, and talked long into the night, there was no need to post guards, this party would last till morning.  It was around three A.M. when all the stories had been told, all the memories relived, My sister Ann even telling on herself a few times, and eventually the fire burned low, everyone else having turned in except dad and I. "you did good getting everyone here" dad said. "I had a good teacher" I told him. There again the secret smile that means understanding, that can only come between father and son. "good night dad".
Fortune favors the bold,
nature loves the wild at heart,
and love guides the quiet spirit.

giggles and gumdrops

There is much to tell.
We left the Medicine Bow, after having to do defend our supplies, and followed the Platte River north. A couple of days hard ride, we came across what had once been a big resevoir. the dam had been destroyed in some manner, and the rushing water had found a new path, making a  lake in a flat area to the west. Although it was no good for drinking, still being too muddy and full of debris, we were able to wash a few clothes, and have a good place to camp.
later: a days ride to the north, we found the reason for the first destroyed dam. a dam upriver had been blown up. It was obvious. It explains alot. Why the river downstream had been muddy, and so full of debris. The water was running faster here so we were able to gather badly needed drinking water, and having all clean clothes, and watered horses rested, and fed, we turned northwest.
Three days brought us to the west of what I think is the city of Riverton. There seemed to be some trade there, but upon closer examination, we saw several travelers attacked, and robbed after leaving the town proper, and their goods promptly returned to the market along with the survivors of the attack, in chains. Slavers. So it has started. The scum of humankind making their play. We quietly left the area, and headed to the west and one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The Wind River Canyon. We did not enter the canyon itself, appearing to me to be a good place for a trap, but followed a little way off. Earlier today,  myself, Scott, and John, went to the river for water. John decided to try a little fishing while Scott and I filled containers. A short time had passed when we saw John smiling, and pulling in another fish. In only two hours, John had caught enough fish for the entire party to have all we wanted. I never asked what he used, or how, being much too grateful that he had. Tonight around the fire, with the Wind River Range above us, the smell of frying fish made us all hungry beyond reason, and we ate with all the gusto of barbarian kings. The water from the river was cold and clean. There is a chill in the air, and above us all the stars in the sky twinkle and shine.  It seems to me the death, and destruction in the world has not touched this place. There is no sadness here, just a wild and desolate land that seems to have changed little in hundreds of years. I will never forget the look of satisfaction on John's face as each member thanked him while we gorged ourselves on River Trout. He just nodded, and took another bite of fish. He is happier than I have seen him in many years. Abby is quite obviously very proud of him, and tonight everyone is at peace.

The Hunger

I have heard it said, when the belly speaks, the conscience becomes blind, deaf, and dumb. Two nights ago, Reese, on guard duty, was sure he heard prowlers around our camp. At a prearranged sign, he tossed a rock at my tent, and I was up and out in a moment. We low crawled around for a while, and saw nothing. Later that day, we had the nagging feeling we were being watched. Just now another  ground tremor, they come and go. Putting John in the lead, Reese and I got off our horses on the down side of a good hill, telling the others to wait for us about a mile on. We saw them, three men, looking rather ragged, and carrying a shotgun, and each a semi auto, running after us.  Staying behind cover, we waited. It was very obvious to us they were trailing us, and waiting for a good opportunity to attack, steal our horses, food, gear, and leaving us for dead. even if all they had in mind was stealing a little food, that is what keeps us alive, and stealing food is a death sentance in this environment. Hunger will drive a man to do many things he would not do otherwise. In the former world, we might have stopped, helped them, or invited them to join us for a meal. In this world it is a luxury we cannot afford. Having no choice, we ambushed them, took what few guns and ammo they had. One guy had six rounds in his gun, and a few extras.  Another was less fortunate. there was only seven rounds for the shotgun, but we took it nonetheless. I am not sorry for what we did, we are saving our own lives. We did not make this world, we are but travelers through it.   Though violence is not the answer to everything, Sometimes, it is the only option. The seperation between man and beast, is knowing the difference. 

authors note-unrelated

We must try to return control of this country to its people. Governments should derive thier power from the consent of the governed. Yet, each generation of elected official gets farther and farther from the oath they take. As each incumbent is re relected they forget more and more of that oath. Voting them all out is the only true solution.
The "new world order" is no threat to us. The NWO is a bogeyman, a straw adversary, a lie perpetrated by those who would benefit from its existance. Just as with any program of disinformation, it a greater lie than the truth.
It is possible that a single act of trying to "kick them all out", will not work. What will work is a slow and steady evolution of thoughts and ideals, designed to return control of this country to its people. It may take 10 years, or a hundred.
Let it begin here, with us. If we continue to spread our message of political reform, and peaceful evolution, one day we will succeed.
He who gives up, engineers his own defeat. He who never gives up, cannot be defeated.

wyoming

We have finally reached Wyoming. The first thing we saw this morning was a trail sign that read "Medicine Bow National Forest. Colorado was long and difficult,  and being past it is an accomplishment, so we celebrated. though it was only mid morning, we opened the medicinal whiskey, and had a snort to celebrate being out of Colorado. My sisters eldest son, Riley, now considered an adult, stepped up to drink his snort, and with bravery and daring, drank it all in one gulp. I have never seen a young man turn so many shades of red and green, while still trying to appear cool, but he did. After several minutes of color changing, and coughing, a few half hearted attempts to remain cool, he manged to choke out a sort of snuffled "good", and much to his dismay, uproarious laughter from the entire family. Then it was Shawna's turn. She, of course, had just witnessed Riley's experience, and would've been happy to pass were it not for her husband Scott encouraging her. "come on" he said, "it affects different people differently", "you have a strong constitution, it shouldn't affect you like that". She looked to me, her loving father for advice. "daddy?" she queried, "is it gonna burn me?" "oh yeah" I told her "its gonna hurt". "no" Scott said "it won't do you like that, everybody else did, are you wimping out?" Gathering her courage, she took a big swallow and reacted worse than Riley  had. Much to the cackle of laughter from Scott. After chasing him around the clearing for a few minutes, she finally tackled him and proceeded to releive him of his shoes, and pants. He was laughing to hard to protest and she ran away with the offenders pants, and filled with them with grass, twigs, dirt, anything she could find, and tossed them back to him with a cavalier smile, and a jaunty accent,saying "your pants sire". Shawna can be very determined at times. It was a good day.