Scouting
Geneva
With the addition of the two dogs, our survival unit grew to five elements. The two German shepherds amazed us. They had a distinct personality, marked by self- confidence. Taxi and Tarantula were poised and, when the situation demanded it, they were eager, alert and ready to serve in any capacity. They proved to be exceptionally loyal and tended to be especially protective toward Annah. I believe they understood she was the youngster of our pack and paid extra attention to her.
Days passed by and I started to venture around with Taxi and Tarantula. If anything, it increased our mutual understanding and trust. Annah came on patrol with us a few times, even more so whenever the intended route hit the countryside to visit farms. Sometimes we found the farmer had died while attending the cattle. I was careful not to expose Annah to too many scenes of death, though it was inevitable.
We freed farm animals whenever we saw them confined. Carefully, as the animals were frightened and they literally jumped out onto the pasture grounds. What else could have been done? I fantasized about having a horse for when cars disappeared forever and horses once more became the principal means of transportation. I dreamed about getting milk from cows and producing our own cheese. The reality was we had little knowledge about those things.
We checked from time to time that everything was fine at the farms we visited. Animals had grass to eat at their leisure all year long in our regions and, with help from both Mary and Annah, we opened barns and gave them access to the hay supplies. In the future, they would have to fend for themselves as they, too, had to learn new habits and new routines if they wanted to survive. One thing was certain, we could not visit every farm in the surrounding area, but even that limited activity gave us things to do and reasons to plan for the days ahead. It made our presence in the world meaningful; we still served a purpose.
I really didn't believe I would have to resort to riding horses in my life time. I thought if my car broke, I only had to find another one, even a brand new one. Gasoline wasn't a problem. With the portable generators, I could operate the pumps at gas stations even when the electricity went out. In the worst of cases, I could use the manual pumps I found at the hardware store and access the station reservoirs directly.
With the company of our dogs, I grew more confident scouting the area with Mary and Annah. I relied on the dogs to increase our overall awareness. At times, I had the impression they were scouting on their own, then coming back to reassure everyone all was fine. Sometimes Mary stayed home, waiting for us, especially when the surveillance raids we planned weren't going to last for too long.
My wife and daughter