comin’?”
He shut his laptop. “Nobody knows for sure. We can only talk in probabilities.”
“What does that mean?”
“When you’re talking about future events that are affected by millions of different factors, you can only estimate the likelihood of occurrence. You never know for sure.”
She frowned. “That still don’t make sense.”
“For example, what is the likelihood that I will die in a car accident on my way to class tonight?”
She glared at James. “I don’t even wanna think about somethin’ like that.”
“Bear with me. It’s a thought exercise. I’m a pretty good driver, if I do say so myself. There’s very little traffic on the way to work, and the weather’s good. All these factors lead me to believe that it’s very unlikely that I’ll die in a car accident tonight. But what if I was drunk, and there was a huge rainstorm, and the traffic was heavy?”
“It would be more likely.”
“Exactly. So, when I keep up with the news, I’m calculating the likelihood of various events.”
She furrowed her brow. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“What question?”
“What do you think’s comin’?”
“There’s a lot to be concerned about, but the big problem, as I see it, is that we have an economy that has to grow or it falls apart, but we live in a world with limited resources. So here we have an economy that requires more of everything every year, but we live in a world that is becoming more and more polluted with less and less high-quality resources to go around.”
“So people end up with less.”
“Pretty much.”
She shrugged. “Seems to me that’s already happenin’.”
He nodded. “You’re right.”
“Is that why you came here?”
He sighed. “Partly maybe. Nothing was really holding me to northern Virginia. It was so expensive and crowded. Definitely not the place to be if you’re trying to live a more self-reliant lifestyle.”
“Is that what you’re tryin’ to do here? Live a self-reliant lifestyle?”
“I’ve been trying. I’m terrible at it. The best thing I’ve done is meet you.”
She smiled.
He continued, “You know things in nature like the back of your hand. It’s all unfamiliar territory for me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive.”
He laughed. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
“We should prob’ly get more wood and food for the winter. Gram used to have a root cellar filled to the brim with stuff from the growin’ season. I’m surprised this cabin don’t have one.”
“It does.”
James removed the oversize doormat and showed Brittany the hatch. He opened it, led her into the cellar, and turned on the single bulb. She gazed at the boxes and fifty-gallon buckets on pallets.
“Food?” she asked.
“The boxes have freeze-dried meals,” he said. “The buckets have dried stuff, like rice and beans. It’s all vacuum-sealed. Should last twenty to thirty years.”
She nodded. “Are you gonna eat this stuff?”
“I hope not. It’s for emergencies.”
“Like a blizzard or a war or somethin’?”
“Anything that might stop the trucks from rolling. Our grocery stores operate on just-in-time inventory. If the trucks don’t run, we only have three days until the food runs out.”
James shut the hatch and covered it with the mat. “I’m going to check the mail,” he said.
He walked to the end of the driveway and grabbed a small stack of letters from the mailbox. He flipped through the letters as he strolled back to the cabin. Shit . He stopped in his tracks, looking at a return address—North Schuylkill Township Police. He hurried to the front porch and sat on the wooden bench. He opened the envelope, quickly scanning the typed page.
10-22-2015
It was recently brought to the attention of the police department that the property you own or occupy is in violation of the North Schuylkill Township Ordinance, Chapter 10, Section 101, which covers the area of grass, weeds, and other vegetation.
He shut his laptop. “Nobody knows for sure. We can only talk in probabilities.”
“What does that mean?”
“When you’re talking about future events that are affected by millions of different factors, you can only estimate the likelihood of occurrence. You never know for sure.”
She frowned. “That still don’t make sense.”
“For example, what is the likelihood that I will die in a car accident on my way to class tonight?”
She glared at James. “I don’t even wanna think about somethin’ like that.”
“Bear with me. It’s a thought exercise. I’m a pretty good driver, if I do say so myself. There’s very little traffic on the way to work, and the weather’s good. All these factors lead me to believe that it’s very unlikely that I’ll die in a car accident tonight. But what if I was drunk, and there was a huge rainstorm, and the traffic was heavy?”
“It would be more likely.”
“Exactly. So, when I keep up with the news, I’m calculating the likelihood of various events.”
She furrowed her brow. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“What question?”
“What do you think’s comin’?”
“There’s a lot to be concerned about, but the big problem, as I see it, is that we have an economy that has to grow or it falls apart, but we live in a world with limited resources. So here we have an economy that requires more of everything every year, but we live in a world that is becoming more and more polluted with less and less high-quality resources to go around.”
“So people end up with less.”
“Pretty much.”
She shrugged. “Seems to me that’s already happenin’.”
He nodded. “You’re right.”
“Is that why you came here?”
He sighed. “Partly maybe. Nothing was really holding me to northern Virginia. It was so expensive and crowded. Definitely not the place to be if you’re trying to live a more self-reliant lifestyle.”
“Is that what you’re tryin’ to do here? Live a self-reliant lifestyle?”
“I’ve been trying. I’m terrible at it. The best thing I’ve done is meet you.”
She smiled.
He continued, “You know things in nature like the back of your hand. It’s all unfamiliar territory for me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep you alive.”
He laughed. “That’s what I’m counting on.”
“We should prob’ly get more wood and food for the winter. Gram used to have a root cellar filled to the brim with stuff from the growin’ season. I’m surprised this cabin don’t have one.”
“It does.”
James removed the oversize doormat and showed Brittany the hatch. He opened it, led her into the cellar, and turned on the single bulb. She gazed at the boxes and fifty-gallon buckets on pallets.
“Food?” she asked.
“The boxes have freeze-dried meals,” he said. “The buckets have dried stuff, like rice and beans. It’s all vacuum-sealed. Should last twenty to thirty years.”
She nodded. “Are you gonna eat this stuff?”
“I hope not. It’s for emergencies.”
“Like a blizzard or a war or somethin’?”
“Anything that might stop the trucks from rolling. Our grocery stores operate on just-in-time inventory. If the trucks don’t run, we only have three days until the food runs out.”
James shut the hatch and covered it with the mat. “I’m going to check the mail,” he said.
He walked to the end of the driveway and grabbed a small stack of letters from the mailbox. He flipped through the letters as he strolled back to the cabin. Shit . He stopped in his tracks, looking at a return address—North Schuylkill Township Police. He hurried to the front porch and sat on the wooden bench. He opened the envelope, quickly scanning the typed page.
10-22-2015
It was recently brought to the attention of the police department that the property you own or occupy is in violation of the North Schuylkill Township Ordinance, Chapter 10, Section 101, which covers the area of grass, weeds, and other vegetation.
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