Scene Three – The Electric Bill
Two months later Jonathan had to tell Mildred and Marianne they could no longer use the heater, although it was now 15 degrees outside. “Bundle up,” he told them, trying not to cry. He and Mildred had bought the house when, “All Electric, the home of the future,” was gleaming with the promise that life could be as simple as flicking a switch and so clean you would never have to scrub. Every month Jonathan thanked God that the house was at least paid for. Their neighbors who had refinanced for vacations and improvements were slowly being squeezed out.
If they used the electric heater their bill every month was around $600.00; more than the mortgage had been. But now there was no income. So through that winter they bundled up, burning some wood in the fireplace; At least they had hot baths once a week.
Scene Four - Springtime
Jonathan had never been much interested in gardening but over the winter thinking about those tomatoes from his childhood, as their money slipped away, he started surfing the web. He found heritage seeds and shelled out the money for those and other kinds of seed that made his mouth water. All three of them were working at odd jobs to bring in cash. They had emptied the bank account and closed it just before the bank failed. They would need money to pay the Property Tax Bill this April and for that damned electricity.
The whole family got involved. Mildred and Marianne decided on more heritage seeds when he showed them those. It became their project, really. He got to do the heavy lifting as they all dug up the ratty grass lawn and the sad looking rose bushes to be transplanted. Nothing seems to have any life in it any more, the thought flashed through his mind.
By June the kids were working on making sure that the garden was kept busy. Seeds replaced plants harvested immediately. Mildred and Marianne found a nursery with half dead fruit trees and had gotten them free; that was just at the time they found the plant food from a friend in Indiana. They had managed to keep the phone connected. Now there are ten fruit trees and plans to turn the fruit into lots of things, jam, jelly, preserves, dried fruit. Marianne was determined to start selling them and had designed her own label.
The food was better than they had ever gotten in the store. Dinner had changed, with everyone interested and excited about how the food they raised was used. The heritage seeds made a difference and so did the suggestions Marianne found on line that got rid of the insect problems. They had tried pesticides but the nuisance just came back. The plant food had revived the fruit trees and they always used it now. Mildred had become the distributor for the whole area and loved seeing people and hearing about their families. Their community had changed in so many ways sometimes Johnathan had to think about how it had been. Families were working together now and, amazingly, there are fewer problems with things like gangs.
Over that winter the whole neighborhood had begun talking about the problems they faced. There was no money for welfare and the churches were also strapped with so many to help. In January the family across the street had started raising chickens and trading. Jonathan had built a hot house with scrounged glass so they had vegetables through that second winter. It had been the neighbor's son, Gordon, who organized the trading for several blocks around. Jonathan's family have a couple of hens themselves. Every day they all thank God they don't live in one of those fascist housing tracts with a Homeowners Association. Those people can't grow anything themselves.
There are a lot more problems but the Daunt family is ready to meet the challenges. They have survived and now they know that there is hope for the future.
Off the Grids
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