Chapter 209: Hay, Harvest and Shoes

Editor: nnpdad 24 May 2022

It was all about finding the rhythm of the season and generating the appropriate routine. There were tasks that absolutely HAD to be completed on time, however the deadline and order of those tasks were determined by Lady Gaia and the weather she sent.

Heavy Rains? Lost hay crop and low vegetable harvest.

Hard Frost? Lost vegetable harvest and low fruit harvest.

Early Snow Storm? You’re going to starve this winter.

Of course you could just have perfect weather and when the hail storm came it would be gold nuggets stead of ice. Fat chance of that happening.

Work was allocated out, I wasn’t even sure by whom. Michelle was in overall control of the harvest efforts but it seemed to me that she was actually more of a figurehead and decision blesser than the actual decider of things. I do know that the cutting of wood never stopped; the saws sang, splitters chopped and wood was stacked for use or seasoning.

There was a large crew out cutting hay; getting that put up for the winter was of vital importance even if the second cutting wasn’t nearly as productive as the first harvest in early summer. A team of women and children were harvesting vegetables and fruit for storage, moving from field to orchard and picking as the produce ripened. There would be a final pass after our first hard frost and even the green tomatoes would be picked and stored away.

Everyone was bone tired and sore, well everyone except me, apparently. I basically was paraded around in a series of motivational appearances and allowed to do fifteen to thirty minutes of basically ‘photo op’ type work. I’d then be herded off to the next team, or a meeting, or to approve financials or to basically go insane.

I was stunned to find out that our population was now almost one hundred and fifty adult souls. We would progress from village to town in very short order. Of course this did include the half-breed families that just joined us, but did not include the Pawnee who were wintering over within the town borders and would probably move on come spring. We also didn’t count most of the boat crews unless they claimed a plot of land; most of the boatmen were still young and footloose, they’d settle down eventually but not now.

Our craftsmen (and women) were still working full time producing goods for winter. For example, we had a textile cottage industry cranking out boots and cold weather gear as fast as they could. It was all rough gear without any fancy workings or fun colors, the team focused on warm and dry. Long johns were in high demand and a boat had already been dispatched to find bales of wool or cotton. We had plenty of leather but fabric material would always be an import item for us. I was bemused and horrified to find out that most people here only had a single pair of shoes and a single pair of socks, by comparison I was basically the Imelda Marcos of Rulo town.

Yep, that’s me, apparently by comparison I was the shoe collector of the western frontier. However in my defense I had owned most of those shoes for years and they were all purchased for a modern life function. Snow boots for example, and water shoes for another. I had my ‘go-fasters’ (tennis shoes), boots, sandals and a beat up pair of top-siders. I only had one pair of office/dress shoes and a pair of boots that buffed up real pretty for going out. And of course, my work boots which I wore almost constantly these days. Still, that was almost ten pairs of shoes in an age where they didn’t generally make left/right foot specific shoes yet.