Change

This is the time of year that the seasonal changes are the most striking to me.  Earlier this week, there was a big frost that nipped the last of the tender plants in the garden.  The leaves on the hardwood trees are turning bright red, orange, or yellow and are turning loose and being carried along by the swirling Fall winds.  As this is being written, clouds associated with a cold front hang low overhead, obscuring the view of the top of our mountain.

The beauty of the changing weather and landscape is exhilarating.  This is the time of year for Fall festivals and celebrations.  It is also prime time for public estate auctions.  People are bustling about preparing for the coming cold weather and popular holidays.  Sportsmen trek to their favorite hunting spots to engage in sport and/or to harvest natural food for their families.  Weekend football games inspire many to don the colors of their favorite teams.

But, there is tension in the air.  There seems to be an unusual urgency to people’s preparations this year.  There is a pall hanging over this beautiful place.  Many are nervous about the upcoming election for the U.S. Presidency.  Most are also very concerned about the crisis in the world economy, although few truly understand its significance to their personal situations.  Economic principles are as foreign as Mongolian herdsmen to most of our citizens due to our government schools being primarily under the control of socialists.  That being said, they can still recognize that their job may be the one that will be eliminated.  That creates a feeling of fear that is palpable.

Both major candidates for POTUS make populist appeals that cater to the ignorance of the masses.  In spite of their ignorance, most people can sense that something is not right with that and are distrustful of one or the other or both of the principle candidates.  The bias of the national media outlets instills frustration and anger in those that take the effort to educate themselves from other sources.

I feel that we are past a point of no return on a path toward either a totalitarian state or total collapse of the U.S. as we know it.  We have few choices available to us.  One party’s candidate will, in my humble opinion, cause a rapid escalation in the slide toward the inevitable outcome.  The other nominee, on the other hand, will simply delay the inevitable outcome thereby giving those of us inclined to do so more time to make preparations.

It seems to me that many people recognize that the night following election day, and perhaps for the days and weeks following, will see much violence and unrest in the major cities of this country.  Regardless of which candidate wins, there will be either demonstrations of protest or riots of celebration.  In neither case do I expect conservatives to be taking part.

It is as if an ill wind blows forth like that emanating from the land of Mordor in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings masterpiece.  Yet, I still see peace and serenity in this place.  I see farmers busily going about baling hay, tending livestock, and maintaining Fall gardens.  I see children playing happily in the schoolyard just down the road.  I see neighbors carrying covered dishes into the local church fellowship hall in preparation for a homecoming feast.  Horse drawn wagons and buggies filled with laughing riders pass by accompanied by the clippity-clop of horseshoes on the pavement.  Life is good here, with the problems of the world seemingly having no effect.

But, it is not that problems do not effect this community.  The problems are here.   The people here are aware of them and they take them seriously.  The fact that the serious situation that exists seems not to have an effect is an illusion caused by the attitudes of the people.  They simply recognize that the only way they can address the problems that exist is to remain steadfast in their beliefs and continue to conduct themselves in a responsible and self-sufficient manner.  They are aware that their vote has little consequence, but they have lined up in droves for early voting.  They are aware that the major population centers that are populated by masses of people that are simply burdens on society have a much larger voice in national political decisions than they do.  And still they go about their lives striving for as much normalcy as possible.

To me, it is a matter of character.  It is internal.  It is basic and inherent.  It is the only way these people know how to act.  It is part of their upbringing, a part of their heritage.  The people here are of the earth.  They, in general, don’t know anything else.  Most of them have never lived anywhere else.  They have never experienced the rudeness and the contempt that followed hurricane Katrina in those areas that hosted “evacuees”.  They have no concept of the way ethnic gangs in major cities hate white people and conspire to kill them at their first opportunity.  Although there is very little ethnic minority presence here and the major news media consistently stereotypes people from here as “racist” and “bigoted”, I only see the acceptance of anyone of any race as long as their behavior remains in acceptable bounds.  But, those that are here illegally are, expectedly, regarded as any other criminal would be.

The people here don’t want to “change”.  They like what they have well enough.  Improvements are always welcome, but few of the changes that come from Washington, D.C. actually cause improvements in the lives of the people here.  Most of the “change” refers to what they have left in their pockets after government is through with its confiscation of their property that they have worked so hard to earn.  The people here are producers. And they are tired of having the products of their labors confiscated by government to be redistributed to those that are not producers.

Like the seasons, I am afraid change will come all too soon to the good folks in this community.  It won’t be pretty, and it won’t be welcome.  How people react here is yet to be seen.  Will they knuckle under like so many times in the past in the interest of peace and harmony, or will they rise up and resist.  I don’t know.  But, in this case, the reaction here may not be what is expected by the powers that be.  I firmly believe that local residents here are ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to protect their families, their property, and their way of life, even at the price of forfeiting their own lives.  It will likely be very interesting to watch from an “up close and personal” viewpoint.

With all the change that is threatened or that is inevitable, there is still a peace here that is very reassuring.  I am reassured by the belief that the people of this community will band together out of the sense of personal responsibility that is a function of the character of the populace here and do whatever is necessary to preserve the beauty that is this place.  That is one of the thousands of little things that make me love this place so much.

Simple pleasures

Yesterday, Mrs. Mann and I decided on the spur of the moment to take a little drive and have a picnic.  We assembled makings for hot dogs and a couple of drinks and headed out.  Anywhere we drive here is lovely anyway, but we headed for a particularly pretty spot in the Cherokee National Forest.

The Horse Creek Recreation Area is well-maintained by the NFS and is only a few minuted from our home.  It is a beautifully wooded area along Horse creek that includes a campground and a picnic area.  When we arrived, since it was not on a weekend, the whole area was deserted.  We chose a picnic site next to the creek and began our preparations to roast hot dogs on a charcoal grill.

While the coals were getting ready, we relaxed watching the water bubbling over the rocks in the creek bed.  The leaves are beginning to turn color and several in our view were already bright red.  The only sounds we heard besides the creek were birds singing and insects buzzing.  The peacefulness was deafening!

The only other people we saw the whole time we were there a father and his two children who came rock-hopping up the creek.  After a few minutes, they too were gone leaving us to eat our hot dogs in paradise with nobody other than the squirrels and birds to share it with.

When it was time to go, a little side trip up Round Knob and a stop by the Creekside Market for an ice cream cone made the trip home sweet.  There is nothing more comforting than enjoying the beauty of this place with the one I love.

Coincidence?

Many people have commented on the fact that the muzzy attack on the U.S. on 9-11 subliminally referred to the telephone number people in this country dial for help.  I, for one, don’t place any value on such things since dates and their meanings are an artificial concept invented by man to help manage his time.

However, if the worldwide financial collapse that began recently leads to a Wall Street crash today, it will have occurred on 10-7.  For those of you not involved with the emergency response business, that is the voice radio code used to indicate “out of service”.  How appropriate!

Another beautiful day in paradise

Life is good!  The sun is shining in a beautiful clear blue sky.  The temp is just cool enough to make long jeans comfortable, which is good because I have to do some string trimming.  Birds are singing their little feathery asses off and the bugs are busy devouring my turnip greens.

The foreboding overcast of impending doom that hangs over our country should be putting a crimp in my happy lifestyle.  But that is surprisingly not the case.  I think I have reached that state of mind that accepts that whatever is in store for us I will just face as it gets here.  My preparations will continue, but are far enough along that if the SHTF tomorrow, we could probably outlast most of our peers.  Anything that comes along is just another challenge.

Now let’s see if I can find some magic dust to sprinkle on the turnips that will send the bugs to heaven.

Life is good!  Bring it on!

A touch of Fall

The weather here next to the mountains has turned a bit cool.  And, it is wonderful!  The clouds are hanging over the mountain like a shroud.  This is truly a beautiful place.

Hunting season is here and I have taken advantage of that for the first time in about 30 years.  I look forward to doing more of it, but I have realized my arsenal is not really up to the task.  This weekend, I will be taking steps to increase my firepower.  That, my friend, is going to be fun!

Later…

I’m back!

To those few wonderful souls that have read any of this in the past, I am sorry for not posting more.  I will try to rectify that.  For now, just let me say that I am really pissed about what is going on in D.C.  Our government has passed the edge.  Unfortunately, all we can do now is prepare for the impending crash.  Which WILL happen, no matter which path is taken by said government.