The summer solstice. Hot. The message on the Lozenge was that there would be a three digit heat bubble any day now over the eastern part of the country. I’m still unclear if I’m in one of those protected zones with a dome but if it stays cool, that means I must be in one. They are almost transparent and hold the temperature and humidity at a constant level. These I think are being used for terraforming parts of the planet. The technology uses the energy from the sun to block some of it while somehow keeping it cooler inside.

  Gaia has inspired me to make a labyrinth garden with a pond in the middle. And I’m absolutely in love with the idea! So, I thought I would ask for flower seeds in the next drop. I also left a vision of what my plan was. Here.

  ‘Hi, this is Jenna on the old Conway rd. which is part of the great warrior's path of the Algonquin in the Smokies, no pun intended. After watching Gaia’s message, I am inspired to create a garden labyrinth as well. So, anything that would help me in this love project is welcome! My senses miss the sensual as well as energizing effects of those olfactory chemical interconnections that sustain the mesh and a nourishing habitat. I’m suddenly at a loss for words, deep in grief of the profound loss and Fubar, my spirit animal agrees! Ah, to smell the sweetness of flowers again!

  As you can see, I’ve been picking up the language from the book but also by living it. Bobby didn’t have the book so was winging it until he changed enough to understand.

  Four days later the drop next to one of the teepee greenhouses had an envelope of a dozen packets of flower seeds, all favorites of mine except two, the directions of one just said new cultivar, grows to thirty feet, needs compost side dressing, watered good and heavily mulched. Plant where doesn’t shade others and the other one saying a new low growing cultivar that spreads quickly, recommended as a ground and super nutritious.

  I sketched it out on paper. I had to figure how the sun moved and changed over the months, if any parts would be shaded and whether to use the one, I dug or the bigger one behind the barn.

  At first it was where the current garden is but as I kept obsessing on it, of course it grew so large that I decided to use the tiny pond behind the barn as the center and include the entire back property up to the road and including the old Red Oak that would provide shade for those that needed it. It would include both pollinator flowers, edible flowers and vegetables all mixed together with pathways that allowed the wheelbarrow to move through. I wanted to do trellises and teepees of beans and squash, with places for the greenhouses when needed.

  I divided it into parts, figuring I’d do a part a month. So instead of walks in the morning, I began work on Gaia’s garden maze. Found a bunch of old useless hoses, cut up the bunch of tomato stakes into pieces that would help with the placement of the hose marking the path. I didn’t have any mulch to put down to keep the weeds from growing but instead I used the fake burlap bags from the drops, cutting them to fit. I had to transplant some of the vegetables to make room.

  During the walks, I’d come to realize that time had no meaning and so when I got back, was amazed at how much of it had gone by. Same with this project. It was hard to stop once I got going, often going till dusk with lots of cooling breaks beneath the old tree. Fubar watched from the trees shade, yawned and came over sometimes to test out the path. My capacity for working long hours keeps growing, not just because I’m stronger and able to endure the heat but also what occurs to me to be a special ability to both work and envision different futures for this property.

  After I dug the beds for the seeds, I saliva soaked each, spit them into their places of growth and finally spit sprayed the soil around them. I figure the spit cuts growing time down by at least two thirds the normal time. I gave the new tall perennials two good spits and the edible ground cover a spray.

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  Mysteries continue despite others being solved. When I went out this morning, there was a pile of mulch and two large rolls of poly. I had decided to use logs from the burn part for edging the raised beds, so whoever hadn’t included lumber. It had to have come by air, but soundlessly because any little thing and I wake up.

  And the path that I had made so far was mulched withy the fake burlap! The sun was a shimmering lemon yellow all day with little smoke and comfortable so maybe the shield is up. If it keeps the smoke out it’s a win, win! Fubar agrees.

  I think it was close to five. I was tired, dirty and needed a change of pace and about to hose down when I heard Fubar hiss and a strange WHO..WHO… WHO. It was enough to cause an adrenaline spike that turned my attention towards the small near dead tree that I’d been trying to nurse back to life. Looking up, there was a large mechanical Owl studded with red gems, wings going up and down, eyes opening and closing and Fubar just below it, staring at it.

  The first thing I said was~ 'I saw that movie!'

  It flew down to the split rail fence, and said, ‘hello, I’m a WHO and have brought you a special message. You are Jenna on the old Conway rd. which is part of the great warriors path of the Iroquois in the Smokies, no pun intended. You, Jenna are now part of a highly secure Node and Military base that has presently deployed a weather shield. There will be no difference other then it being twenty degrees cooler with little smoke. It will allow rain through but shield you from any torrential rain, wind or extreme heat. In case we experience a supernado, the shield will exact the same force to counter its force. You have nothing to worry about. In case you are close to the boundary of the shield do not get close and never touch it. And another great benefit is that it normalizes the weather conditions so you are able to plan without any big surprises. Some of the genetic structure of the seeds have been modified for stressful conditions.'

  'Also this enclosed protected area is occasionally breached by humans, animals, or hybrids. When that occurs, we take care of it. Please don’t be alarmed, we never hurt anything unless it poses a threat, even with the hybrids. If one somehow evades our surveillance grid, and happens to pose a threat to you, please use your Lozenge by pressing the red dot on the back, three times quickly and a drone will be there within a few minutes.’

  If you feel threatened, please try only to wound or disable it, not kill it. We’ll pick it up and deport it to a safer location. Thank you. I am a WHO first created by the World Health Organization to deliver vaccines to remote areas and now repurposed to be a messenger facilitator with vital intel to occupants within the shield.

  It glided off over the canopy of live forest while Fubar and I wished we’d asked it a million questions.