Chapter 185: Coffee and Complaints

By: Emmeran, 22 September 2021

Editor:

I never made it away from my chair at that table that morning. The moment people knew that I was there they started queueing up to air their concerns with the ‘man in charge’. I had thought that the council would alleviate this problem for me but I was desperately wrong, some people had an overwhelming desire to discuss their concerns with the person at the top. In this era they demanded it be a man; it didn’t matter that Michelle had answered their questions before, this group required their answers be accompanied by a set of testicles and a poorly shaven face.

Throwing apologetic looks in Michelle’s direction didn’t help, I could still see her fuming as previously heard complaints and questions came up. What I did notice is that most of them simply wanted to have their grievances heard by the person at the top of the food chain. They also apparently wanted to have whatever claim to fame there was by having a personal sit-down with me. Sonya sat diligently next to me taking notes and thankfully making the appropriate sounds of understanding and support while avoiding outright agreement.

On the plus side the coffee was good and the weather wasn’t sweltering yet, on the negative side there were a lot of complaints to hear. Rarely did an original and valid complaint come up, most were just some form of a previous complaint regarding changes that were in the plan already. Naturally, some were just outlandish and never going to happen. As a community we were still in the baby steps phase of making sure everyone survived the winter. We would begin to make major strides next spring but long leaps were still quite a ways off.

And so it went, a morning spent having my ear bent by complainers and attention seekers. Not the worst morning of my life but far from the best. Having Mouse at my side made things much easier

After dinner we surveyed the lower pastures and rode the fields. The horses were kept inside a simple single rail fence and the cattle were simply rode herd on to keep them from deciding they had someplace better to go.

Mother Nature had been kind to us and the first cut of hay had finished drying and was in the process of being stacked for transport to the haybarns, you could already see the second growth coming up. We were a little late with the first cutting so we missed a lot of the best of it but we cut far more than we needed and would have plenty to carry us through the winter.

The tomatoes were being harvested and crated up for our first run down river, along with a goodly amount of sweet corn. The amount of buffalo being dried and jerked was amazing to see, the different techniques from different cultures was promising a interesting if not delectable cuisine during the winter. Of course Matilda was filling the freezer with fine cuts of all sorts of meats including some sausages made for her by the local butcher. Winter might be boring but it wouldn’t be hungry.