Chapter 13

Tuesday morning, in my own bed and own house, I awakened to the sound of rain. It pounded on the roof and windows. When I looked outside, I saw nothing but a wall of rain.

The low and thick clouds would most likely block the sun for hours, so I went back to bed. A lazy morning was a good thing once in a while.

After a late breakfast, I scouted grocery and other warehouses at a complex only about a three-minute drive from the house. Through the center doors, I entered an enormous building — I guessed it to be about 50,000 square feet and roughly twenty-five feet high.

Non-perishables foods were racked in the front third of the center set of bays, which

were not heavily stocked. Since there was less chance of a weather event ruining my supplies in that area, I moved pallets of my favorite foods to the center, creating an alphabetical stock system so I could easily locate every item.

In the middle of the bay, I built a "dry" room to keep unwanted wetness off the boxed dry goods. It wasn't all food. There were pallets of paper goods, band-aids and first aid items, kitchen supplies, pots, pans, personal hygiene products and a host of other household items.

There was a big frozen area, but I stayed far away from the rotting foods that were surely in that area.

Once I had arranged the warehouse to my satisfaction, I searched for safe, dry storage for my vehicle inventory. In the last two weeks, I had learned how important it was to assemble a big collection of vehicles to handle all my needs. What I didn't have was a big bay in which to keep them.

The auto parts warehouse was perfect ... and just across the street. It took no time to move all of the auto supplies. They would come in handy in months and years to come. And once I tightened up the space, the trucks and trailers would all fit.

By four PM I was tired of moving auto parts. It was time to collect some vehicles.

Perfectly usable tractor-trailers sat all around the warehouse complex. I checked the contents of the trailers, kept what I could use and dumped the rest in a big pit out back, for burning later. (I needed a way to dispose of garbage and burning seemed like the best short-term plan.)

My day was pretty much over by the time I emptied the last of the trash into the pit. For lack of a better plan, I used some paper and a candle lighter to set it off.

The flames took a long time to build then went through the piles like crazy. It was the biggest bonfire I had ever seen. But there was no one to share it with and the joy of the moment faded fast.

I collected what I needed and headed for the Lake House, still contemplating staying pretty much full time at home.