Chapter 6: New Eden Park

Within an hour, everyone was at the gravel beach along the river. Each couple or family brought some vegetable dish, and the Pastors indeed made some butter from their dairy cows. Bruno and Sonia baked bread, and those not cooking fetched the tables and stools on everyone's porch until there were enough for everyone.

With herbs to season the fish, and butter and citrus slices as toppings, it was a meal fit for a king. The women folk put a buffet together of fruits, vegetables, and salads. Carol also made pasta with her left over sauce. Then, just as it was ready, Yeshua showed up. Steve blessed the food, and they sat along a line of tables.

"This is fantastic," remarked Bruno. "I think it is wonderful that we can come together for a community picnic like this."

"We could use some picnic tables, and fire pits with grills," reasoned Allen. "We should make this into a park, since it is close to town."

"A gathering place for everyone," said Yeshua. "We can do this. I shall see to the tables that you speak of, and the fireplaces. When our engineers arrive, and build the bridge across the river, we can expand the park to that side."

"When is this?" asked Allen.

"On the sixth days, until the homes are all occupied," answered Yeshua. "I would like to take this time to tell you that tomorrow our first newspaper will come in the mail. It explains our reason for the dress codes, and Lena Clark wrote an article on preserving fruits and produce.

"There is also a communicator such as I hold in my hand for contacting one another. It is much like a cell phone, without all of your extra features. This is also possible through the home display monitors," advised Yeshua.

"The big screen TV," clarified Allen. "I have yet to try mine."

"We have, and it's awesome," announced Joshua. "There are movies, Bible lessons, trivia games, and all kinds of neat stuff."

"Very well Joshua," replied Yeshua. "As I said, others will arrive and you will meet them soon. Perhaps a communal dinner here is in order that evening, so that you may be acquainted. It was a great idea to make sure none of the fish went to waste.

"In answer to a question asked earlier, long before your fishing tackle wears out we will have a rod maker. There is a plant similar to your bamboo that grows here, but is more resilient, and will not break. There is also ore to mine, and make items of metals far superior to iron, and much lighter."

"Those people have yet to arrive," observed Allen, "but I have faith that they will."

"Now, take note of the stone fencerows on either side. These are to mark the property lines of Allen and James's acreage," Yeshua pointed out. "If you have need of going over these boundaries, ask first, just as you would have them ask before going across your land."

"Do unto others," said Steve.

"Yes, respect the property of others, and speaking of that, return the tables and stools to their homes from where they came." Yeshua paused to watch Jim land and release a big rainbow trout. "Always leave the area the way you found it. Thank you for sharing your catch, Mark and Melissa."

"Will we ever have freezers?" asked Mark. "It would help a lot when we store food for the winter."

"The fish and animals you eat keep best when they are alive," answered Yeshua.

"That's true," acknowledged Allen. "Will the river freeze?"

"No, it will not snow or freeze in the valley," noted Yeshua. "It will be cold here but not below freezing. It will snow and freeze on the mountains and hills."

"So, we can fish in the winter?" asked Mark.

"Yes, there are char that stay in the river, and the sea run trout," revealed Yeshua. "So there is no need to freeze your catch, or your fingers. Use the resources wisely, and they will sustain you and future generations." He smiled, and turned to walk back into town.

The group finished cleaning up the gravel beach just as the evening bell rang. Everyone shook hands, and made their way home. Finally, Mark and Melissa were able to back out once the vehicles blocking them in left. Allen, Jim, and Mark each had written permission to fish for two of the families. Allen had the Pastor and Baker families; Mark the Butchers and Barbers, and Jim had Juan and Jenifer Mercado.

Back home, Allen and Lena showered and dressed for bed. It had been a full day, but one of many accomplishments. One realization that they pondered was the other 192 passengers on the flight that did not make it. Aside from the possible 36 group home residents, the 36 single-family homes and 12 townhouses could accommodate just 40 more couples, or families.

"Perhaps the group homes can be used for a very large family, like grandparents, couples and children," reasoned Lena. "Or maybe it can be someone with more than one wife?"

"I know David and Solomon did that, but my limit is one, and no catch and release, after that," insisted Allen. "Anyone with 700 wives and concubines doesn't qualify as the wisest man in The Bible to me."

"But they are trying to repopulate this world," noted Lena. "So it might be allowed here."

"Are you saying that you want someone else to share me with?"

"NO! Don't ever think that; I only want you, and I will be your only wife forever."

"Thank you, because you're all I ever want."

"I was only thinking where we will put the new people."

"Querida, we have plenty of time after they arrive to place people, and register marriages and property. They aren't even here yet, so enjoy our time until then." And so they did.

The next day they filed the deed for the Riverside Park site, and wrote a piece about it for the next addition of the newspaper. They also featured the families with businesses to go with the advertising in the paper. The weekend edition listed all the marriages and deeds.

At the gathering, Allen told the other families that he and Lena would feature the rest in the next edition. By then, there would possibly be more or at least some individuals to add. The chances of each single pairing so quickly dropped as time passed. That meant that all of the group homes for the singles would fill up long before the houses did.

On that fourth day of the week, the Bakers and Butchers came in to combine the separate businesses and create a delicatessen, and pizzeria. They also applied for a larger space across the square for a market, providing as full a range of food needs as possible. They sat down with Juan on his first day in his Town Hall office, and discussed their resources.

"The Pastor family has dairy products, including eggs," advised Juan. "They also have some chickens, but not many. If we had a mill it would help, because a lot of the detached acreage is in wheat, and oats. Allen has five acres of each, and the Taylors have strawberries and blackberries. The rest that isn't woods is cotton."

"That would figure," said Allen. "Did you find any mushrooms?"

"I found quite a few, and several nut-bearing trees," Juan replied. "Yeshua said they are all safe to eat."

"I saw them too," noted Bruno Baker. "If I bring you some, would you mind if Sonia and I pick them? I will be happy to share credits for them, too."

"Mark is going to raise quail, partridges, and pheasants, but again, they won't be grown until late summer," said Juan. "This morning I heard geese on my way to work, but never saw them."

"I'll tell you where they are," said Jennifer, returning from the mail run. "They are in the marsh past our acres out of town. There are thousands of them, and it looked like snow moving on the ground."

"They're nesting now," replied Allen, "but this fall, I'll see to it that everyone has plenty at least once a week. I'm curious to see what kind of weapons they will assign Friday. Okay, Day Six, will I ever get used to that?"

"Don't feel bad;" offered Bruno, "I still have trouble with my new surname and the first month not being January."

"In time, we will learn it," said Thomas Butcher. "That is why so much of our personal garden is not ripe yet. There is enough, and perhaps a little more, but at least there is that much."

"We still have so much to learn," admitted Laura. "On the first day, we had a hindquarter of sheep but now it is gone, and we have nothing, even fish to market."

"You almost had a deer," remarked Jennifer. "Two ran in front of my truck by Tanner's."

"If you hit one, call me, and I will come for it," offered Thomas. "I have to go to Pastor's and get a calf. Its mother ran it off, and Steve said it is how life on the farm is sometimes. It is one thing to have the meat come on a truck from the slaughterhouse, and another to cut the poor baby's throat."

"If we do not kill it, then we will have no milk from that cow," explained Juan. "We all want milk, butter, and cheese. If it bothers you, I will go get him and do the deed."

"It is a new world, and I need to learn," confessed Thomas. "Tomorrow, we will have some veal, and mushrooms."