Just got back in from my annual task of stringing electric fence wire around the vegetable garden to keep the raccoons out of the corn and happened to check out one of those survival forums.
It was pretty interesting, if not downright entertaining. I noticed that an awful lot of folks plan on "bugging out" to the country when the proverbial "ship hits the sand." I can certainly understand their feelings, but being an ol' guy who happens to live out in the country, I couldn't help but wonder...where in the heck do these people plan on going?
I may be wrong, but I think a lot of them see the "country" as that being portrayed in the old Shirley Temple movie, Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm....where there's an endless bounty and everyone is eager to share all their produce, smoked hams, and homemade peach chutney.
Do they realize that the "country" just isn't out in the middle of nowhere, for the most part. I mean, we have neighbors, too...we just have a little more elbow room than those folks who live in urban areas. Also, the standard of living is usually a little bit lower in rural areas than in the major metropolitan areas. Many folks out here just don't have an endless supply of commodities they can just magnanimously dish out.
Do these people who are bugging out to the country just plan on squatting on someone's land without some repercussions? Let's face it, the folks in the country probably have had more experience in dealing with trespassers than these urban folks have had in breaking the law.
If, by some chance, they do find some land they can squat on, and manage to plant their garden and raise a few animals, how do they plan on getting water? To those in urban areas, they probably don't give that much thought. They just turn on the tap and Presto!!!...water comes out.
In the West and Southwest, it's a different story. You have water shares. That's right...shares. That means you own so much water. And, to throw another wrench in the works, you just can't go out any time you want and turn on the water to water your fields, crops, gardens, animals, etc. Nope...you have to wait your turn, and sometimes your turn (which might only be an hour long) might come every other week at two o'clock in the morning. And there's a designated water master who has the job of patrolling to make sure everybody plays fair.
It doesn't matter if the creek runs right through your property or not. If you're caught diverting that creek water onto your crops during an unscheduled time, you're in a heap of trouble...up to $5,000 for the first offense. You think I'm kidding? People have gotten themselves killed over water rights, and fairly recently, too. Can everybody say, "drought"?
So, if by some chance, these folks find a quaint little spot with a creek running through it, and figure the creek is their emergency water supply, they might find themselves facing a bunch of angry country boys with guns.
Anyway...sorry to ramble on with this rant. I just found some of their remarks rather amusing. Oh well, enough of this and let's just hope we'll never have to face such catastrophes.
