Polenty Amaizing

Day 12
Weight: 216 lbs.
Blood Pressure: 120/78 at pulse 84 (WOW!)
Food Intake:
Breakfast: small cup of banana juice
bowl of grits
Lunch: stewed squash
corn (2 cobs boiled)
6 dates
thin slice of barley bread with 2 tablespoons avocado
Dinner: 1 ear of corn on the cob
small cup of banana juice
4 dates
thin slice of barley bread with 2 tablespoons avocado

When I woke up, the sky was dark and full of stars. A low light in the east over the ocean showed where the sun would rise in an hour or so. I decided to go search for the missing cow while she was still asleep. That might make her easier to catch. The old farm ruin was quiet. Some rustling of small gusts of wind played on the backdrop of the ever present crashing of distant waves on the beach. I moved quietly through the barley fields but saw no signs of a cow but a few tracks. The morning was becoming lighter as I crossed the dry wash and searched an adjoining field. No cows there either, but something that made me stop right in my tracks. Corn!

Now anyone who knows me, knows that corn is my most favorite of all foods. I could eat corn almost every meal and be happy. To find corn here made me very happy. Some of these corn stalks were old and the corn was hard. I gathered what I could and headed back to camp with my new treasure. On the way back I spotted what I thought was a cluster of immature coconuts. Turns out they were dates hanging from a date palm. I made a mental note of the location of that copse of date palms for later visits.

Using the same stones I'd pounded my barley into flour, I cracked the corn and ground it into grits. When I had about a cup full, I boiled, salted, and then devoured them. This was a breakfast that would easiily stick to my ribs until lunch.

My cart was looking really good and was ready for testing. Unfortunately, looks are not necessarily a good indicator of how something designed with a paved road in mind would work in the sand. It was a disaster. The wheels didn't roll, they just scooped up sand and became anchors. I finally ended up with a very simple cart drug along the ground on two long poles. I began the tedious task of moving mud bricks from the old farm ruins to camp. My goal is to construct an igloo-shaped brick oven. Not only will this allow me to cook better, it might prove useful in other ways later on.

For lunch I boiled and ate 2 fresh ears of corn, 6 dates, a barley and avocado sandwich, and some stewed squash. My belly was too full. I hadn't eaten this much in a long time. I think I overdid it.

I continued moving bricks all afternoon and started work on the oven. This is going to take awhile.

As night fell, I boiled a fresh ear of corn, had 4 dates and a barley avocado sandwich. I wished the stars good-night and climbed into my hammock thankful to have found corn.