(Prepping for the game last night at Willow. Tex-the-bartender has come up with a solution to keep Old Jim and Vic contented at the Amen Corner of the bar: the Bucket o’ Bud has been supplemented with the Bucket o’ Sauvignon Blanc. It is important to be prepared. Photo Socotra.)

OK, the Tigers leaned on pitcher Justin Verlander, who sparkled on the mound and put the series with the Money Ball Athletics away in Oakland. Verlander has allowed one earned run in three postseason starts against Oakland the past two years, striking out 11 each game, not that the past is prologue, and the Tigers wound up breaking my heart again last year. On to Boston, and fabled Fenway for the Motor City Nine.

I love the playoffs, when the drudgery of the regular season falls away and everything is on the line. I wish it were the same here in Your Nation’s Capital. A pal wrote me a thoughtful piece this morning, looking beyond the circus that is Washington today. I thought his conclusion was pretty good, and very much in line with what I have been thinking:

“…none of the likely outcomes for the current crisis in Washington would shift the trend. Today, we see some small movement toward what I called option 3, wherein the President makes some concessions to Republicans while preserving the status quo of reckless overspending and runaway debt. Even that outcome would require Mr. Obama to pretend he didn’t compromise and House Republicans to pretend they actually achieved something. That is pretty much the sum of what’s politically achievable.”

He went on to address the question that no one outside the loony Right sees fit to articulate. Like, what happens if someone miscalculates and this goes off the rails?

The movement that has caused a spike in the sale of luxury fallout shelters is called the “preppers,” and not because they prefer chinos and madras shirts and appliqué belts. They are the lineal successors to the survivalists, who in turn replaced the Fallout Generation. The whole thing makes polite society a little uneasy.

See, most of us live in a happy place where things work out, eventually, and progress is the norm. All our history indicates that is the American Way, but when we continue to do things that a plainly and demonstrably unsustainable, my pal articulated the common sense position that we should be prepared just in case Mother Nature or al Qaida or the Park Service shuts everything down.

Sitting at Willow last night getting ready for the Game, I had a chance to chat with the Chief of one of the Agencies closely aligned with the Park Service. He was working, without pay, and was more than a little frustrated with what he and his people had to do.

With responsibility for millions of acres of public lands, he has to deal with the onset of hunting season, and the prospect that there will be tens of thousands of armed hunters eager to take to Federal Lands- the ones he is sworn to protect, and follow the orders of those elected to be in charge.

He is a Great American, and he has a problem to deal with. The problem is, of course, us: the fractious, contrarian and stiff-necked American people.

With a population that seems split pretty rigidly down the middle on a host of issues. The rhetoric, from what I see in the “comments” sections of the blogs I follow, is superheated. It is entirely possible that something could happen. If you consider Mother Nature and severe weather, acts of terror and the rest, I think it is really important to have a plan.

I doubt it will matter much, but my pal argues that there are matters short of a bomb shelter that are only prudent.

I agree, and my vote is for those who live outside the cities. I cast it when I started looking for rural properties that met the criteria the government applied to alternate operating centers- they had to be a hundred miles from Washington, at a minimum, and able to host at least some of the day-to-day operations.

Refuge Farm met the requirements. I was singularly blessed that I had friends who were looking for the same sorts of things- quiet, space, and acreage- and now have three generations of the family on their adjacent (and much larger) agricultural property.

The Russians have made a great start in growing their own food; the bounty is still coming out of their extensive garden. For my part, I have a supply of assorted dried foods and water on the property. It is not an elegant mixture, but should be sufficient for a few months in the event of a social dislocation.

The Derecho wind event of last summer here in Washington is a case in point: it had nothing to do with politics or acts of war; there was no warning and no regional contingencies were in place to bring in utilities workers from unaffected areas. Power was out in Blue Arlington for nearly a week.

When I got down to the farm, I was delighted to discover that things were just fine- full power and air conditioning- but the back-ups in terms of the cast-iron fireplace were ready to go just in case of some event with much more widespread consequences.

My pal recommends paying off the mortgage, and I am inclined to agree with him, but don’t have the resources. I have the place structured so that should things stumble along as they are I can make ends meet. I am not going to worry about the mortgage. If inflation kicks off, as it well might, I have a low rate that will essentially let the place pay for itself, and in the event of something really bad, it won’t matter.

I have some unease about squatters occupying the place in my absence is a concern, but I do have the neighborhood watch.

If the period of transition or recovery goes on an extended time, well, I may be able to deal with it. As my pal noted, we humans are an interconnected lot and down on the farm we have a small but cohesive local militia. We are well stocked with food, have water on the property, and are armed and stocked with ammunition in various calibers.

I guess we will see if we need it, won’t we?

My pal’s note was a good one for a society that seems unable to think much further out than the next round of the Major League playoffs. Things might be fine, and the Tigers could even win the World Series at the end of it.

But they also may not, and things will not work out the way we hope. The generator and hand-crank for the well are next up on my agenda. After all, It is only paranoia if they are not actually in the process of trying to get you, right?

Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303

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