The Art of War

From the R.M. Dolin novel, “AN UNSUSTAINABLE LIFE – The Book of Darwin”

Chapter 11: The Art of War

This winter’s intensity far exceeds Darwin’s expectations. It’s rougher than the one before or even the one before that. In fact, Darwin has to reach back to his first winter on Marquez Mountain to find one as bad. There was something ominous about this cycle, it wasn’t that it started sooner or lingered longer, it was the way clear sunny days abruptly and dramatically transitioned into raging storms of such intensity even the thought of having to be outside sent frostbite tingles to his toes. A debate’s been raging in Taos cafés about whether the way darkness surrounds light is a precursor for a storm’s intensity or if it’s how darkness chases light that determines how much rage is ultimately unleashed. East coast transplants argue it’s the latter, but locals confidently know what’s what. Darwin’s not alone in his opinion; Victor keeps complaining that if this is how things are going to be he’ll need to get a better truck.

Darwin wisely spent last summer amassing a surplus supply of firewood. Even though he doesn’t anticipate winter’s harshness with almanac certainty, there’s never a risk of running out. What was disconcerting is that with usable daylight diminished or in some intervals nonexistent due to all the storms, his solar battery-bank hovers near empty all winter. There are stretches lasting days and in some cases weeks where he must rely exclusively on his propane generator.

While still addressing minor aspects of his hacienda restoration, it is 95.7% complete. There will always be something, but engineers can live with functional over finished. The war on rats has lasted longer than expected but the losing side eventually capitulates in unconditional surrender. Fleeing refugees, however, have engaged in a guerrilla warfare campaign for the past several years. First, the rat bastards retreat to the festival tent where, due to lack of cover, they’re quickly routed. The survivors then migrate to Darwin’s massive firewood stack. There they make a gallant but futile final stand. Between Darwin’s constantly changing tactics, hungry hawks, opportunistic coyotes, and mercenary cats, the rats struggle to hold on. The surviving refugees flee deep into the forest to reestablish their colony in more hospitable territory. Every so often though, Darwin spots a returning rat running reconnaissance, but Murphy can be counted on to quickly run them off.

Once in a daring nighttime raid, the rat bastards attack his solar farm chewing through the cabling connecting photo-voltaic solar panels. It takes Darwin days to restore operations before he can launch a new offensive to deliver a crippling blow to the colony’s aspirations. Through it all Victor keeps teasing Darwin that what he needs is a couple rat terriers to hunt the bastard vermin down. Darwin counters by questioning which of Victor’s infinite cousins he should contact.

Even though Murphy’s almost two, the puppy part of him is far from finished, which is normal for German Shorthair Pointers. Murphy loves running around without restriction and can joyously chase an elk for miles across the mountain barking as he goes to keep Darwin appraised of progress. He has a quasi-stable truce with local coyotes, sometimes he runs them off and other times he doesn’t care if they hang around so long as they don’t get too close to the house. Darwin appreciates the coyotes because they’re outstanding rodent reducers.

Murphy’s more muscular than most GSPs, likely due to running all day over rough mountain terrain. His markings are mostly speckled gray with patches of liver on his top and sides. He has an all-liver face with a solid liver star on his chest. His tail’s cropped, his paws are huge, and he has a way of looking at you such that you’d swear he’s laughing, or at least in a damn good mood. At night he sleeps near the fireplace in Darwin’s bedroom, unless Darwin gets up to work or write, then Murphy’s by his side. He tags along no matter where Darwin might go and Taos cafés and restaurants having a problem with that don’t get Darwin’s patronage. The postmaster in Questa wouldn’t allow Murphy in his post office until Skyler files the paperwork to have Murphy designated Darwin’s support animal. Regardless of the weather, Darwin’s has to drive with the passenger window down because Murphy insists on having his head out the window. He tries training Murphy to ride in the back bed of the truck but with the rough roads they travel and, given Murphy’s propensity to put his front paws on the bed rail and lean around the cab to see where they’re going, it was just a matter of time before he’d fall out. Traveling with a high-strung dog in the cab of a pickup who needs to be constantly moving if the window’s up is enough to drive anyone to accommodate an open window regardless of whether it’s raining, snowing, bitterly cold, or unbearably hot.

Darwin installs a dog-door along the back wall of the utility closet addition but worries rats may use it to launch a surprise nighttime attack. Every evening before bed, he locks access to the dog door and every morning at dawn Murphy stands in front of it barking to go out. He may not have any idea what’s out there, but Murphy knows with all his heart and all his soul there’s something on the other side of the door that needs chasing.

Murphy and the Appaloosa stallion in charge of the wild mustang herd have come to an understanding; Murphy agrees not to harass the Appaloosa’s mares and in return the Appaloosa doesn’t care if Murphy chases satellite stallions. It’s a win-win arrangement but was only negotiated after the stallion impresses upon Murphy how miserable he can make life should Murphy chase his mares. Each spring and all summer while Darwin’s in the high mountain meadow writing in his journal or listening to the Cubs on his satellite radio, Murphy hangs out with the newborn colts. He playfully chases them around or rolls in the grass trying to get them to chase him. Since it’s controlled playground fun and the Appaloosa accepts that as long as Murphy’s with his colts the coyotes and wolves are kept at bay. Needless to say, Murphy loves going to the mountain meadow; between the adventurous ride up with its wonderment of sights and smells, and the playground meadow, it’s like a day at Doggie Disneyland.

Darwin still has the large vinyl tent he set up his first winter and he still keeps his RV parked inside. He’s constantly vowing to replace the tent with a more permanent metal structure but then never does. Mostly because the tent skin is holding up remarkably well so why scrap a perfectly good tent simply to replace it with something that doesn’t improve anything?

The three tank water system Darwin implemented his first winter still functions flawlessly. For the two winters he lives in his RV the tanks never freeze. Occasionally the tops get iced over but pressure on the water at the bottom of each tank keeps them from freezing solid. He still fetches drinking water from Questa, or Red River if he’s in the mood for ice cream. Usually, a 300-gallon tank can last weeks, unless he has guests, then it goes surprisingly fast. Last fall he started constructing a cistern system since it rains almost every day, especially during summer monsoons. His plan is to capture rainwater flowing off the hacienda roof and store it in an underground tank. He’s gotten as far as buying a thousand-gallon holding-tank and having Victor’s cousin Manny bury beside the house but winter set in before he could complete the water capture part on the roof, which is unfortunate given all the snow that accumulates up there.

This past winter Darwin designed a solar water purification system that, if successful, he can install on his non-potable water line to render Kismet Creek water safe for drinking. The system would eliminate his need to fetch water from town, which means he won’t have to leave home as often. He considers multiple ways to remove harmful bacteria and impurities and settles on a method deployed in the wine industry to stabilize organic wines since chemical treatment is not an option. The method uses energy generated by his solar system to power ultraviolet lights that the water passes through. The UV rays kill harmful bacteria in the water while the filtration system he earlier installed removes impurities. He’s anxiously waiting to build and test his design and has made arrangements with the state to have the water tested to validate it’s safe for human consumption once everything’s up and running.

Addison drops by when she can. She accepts Darwin’s emotionally unavailable for a serious relationship but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy each other’s company on occasion. Skyler comes by more often although it’s not to hang out with Darwin anymore because he was foolish enough to introduce her to Victor’s nephew Mateo. Darwin hasn’t seen much of Constance lately but during spring and summer she’s often around. As an employee of the County Extension Bureau in their agricultural division, she helps Darwin decide what crops to grow and how to grow them in his arid high elevation environment with a minimal growing season. This year she’s committed to helping Darwin build a solar greenhouse so he can cultivate crops year-round. While her visits are always official, she usually stays for happy-hour and sunset in the courtyard. Occasionally she’ll stay for dinner if Darwin’s being exceptionally charming.

Lately, Darwin’s been making excuses to buy groceries in Red River because it provides an opportunity to visit Anna. He met Anna last spring when he needed help figuring out how to pay for groceries using the store’s new self-serve checkout system. They met more formally last fall while he was eating ice cream in the park. Red River is a former gold mining town that’s become a popular tourist destination for West Texans escaping heat in summer and to hunt in fall. It’s a tourist town dominated by bars, restaurants, knickknack shops, and the occasional specialty store; including one that makes the best damn ice cream Darwin’s ever tasted. On a mild mid-afternoon in early October, Darwin’s in town for a scoop of pistachio praline in a waffle cone with an additional scoop of butternut pecan on top. He’s sitting on a park bench in the center of town enjoying his ice cream, occasionally letting Murphy sample when suddenly, three Texas hunters burst out of the Gold Rush Saloon and onto the sidewalk just up the street. It’s clear from their camouflage clothes and mud-caked boots they’ve decided that in between their morning and afternoon elk hunts they’ll drink and they are drunk. As they’re stumbling toward their pickup they pass Anna Valdez on her way to the grocery store. Anna lives in Questa and commutes to Red River because since the molybdenum mine closed there are no jobs in Questa. As the Texans pass Anna, one grabs her and starts hooting and hollering as he tries to dance her about. Anna is of course startled and pushes him off but quickly another Texan tries the same maneuver. Before long the three Texans have Anna trapped and are taking way too many liberties with the startled grocery store clerk.

If you ask Darwin why he did what he does, he couldn’t tell you, other than it just needed to be done. He rushes up the sidewalk and yanks the Texan currently grabbing Anna away from her. To free up his hand, he jams what’s left of his pistachio praline waffle cone into the Texan’s face then shoves him as hard as he can against their parked pickup. Darwin waits with clenched fists for the stunned Texan to regain his footing so they can finish their dance. The Texan’s two buddies decide to jump Darwin from behind but Murphy steps in between them snarling aggressively. His exposed fangs and defiant stand remove all doubt that like the pact between Darwin and Vincent, Murphy will always have Darwin’s back at any cost.

It’s then that sheriff Tyler Hernandez rolls up unsure what to make of the situation. There’s the unsteady Texas hunter wiping melted ice cream from his face. His two buddies who are backed against a wall by the dog everyone in town knows belongs to the eccentric hermit from Marquez Mountain who’s standing wildly between Anna and the Texans with his fists drawn. Then there’s Anna, looking like she did back in grade school when the mean boys would tease her. Sheriff Hernandez slowly walks up to Anna asking if everything’s okay. He’s unsure who he has to be weary of so keeps his hand over his holstered pistol. Not wanting trouble for herself or Darwin, Anna tells Tyler that the Texans just need a little help remembering where their hunt’s at. Tyler’s been sheriff long enough to know two things; Anna’s lying and busting Texans is bad for tourism. His solution is to escort the hooligans to their pickup and oversee their exit from town making clear his preference they relocate over Bobcat Pass to Taos.

Anna knows who Darwin is even though they’ve never been formally introduced because everyone in the valley knows about the engineer/hermit living on Marquez Mountain eking out his off-grid self-sustaining life. She mostly believes the stories that get told and retold up and down the Rio Grande valley by Victor’s relatives who have been to Darwin’s hacienda and have helped him over the years with various projects; stories that blend his mountain man eccentricities with his engineering genius. She’s deeply grateful for Darwin’s chivalry and makes a point of talking to him now whenever he comes to the grocery store. One afternoon Darwin’s picking up items the manager special ordered for him and Anna asks what they’re for while Darwin’s checking out. One thing leads to another and before she knows it, she agrees to join Darwin for a traditional Polish dinner involving cuisine with names she’s not only has never heard before but can’t properly pronounce.

From there, things take off and now Darwin doesn’t spend time with Addison anymore. Victor, who’s never one to miss an opportunity to screw with Darwin, enjoys pointing out which of Anna’s past boyfriends going all the way back to middle school have worked on Darwin’s various projects. He revels in talking about how Hispanic men are not to be trifled with when it comes to romance and the women they love. He warns Darwin that each of Anna’s past boyfriends, going all the way back to middle school, have never fallen out of love with her and if Darwin’s going to persist in spending time with Anna, he better invest in a security system and as it just so happens, Victor has a cousin who can help with such things.

While Victor won’t say anything to Darwin, he greatly admires him for his bravado. A west coast intellectual taking on three Texans at once is the stuff of legends worthy of the man who owns Marquez Mountain. It’s the kind of cojones every man up and down the Rio Grande valley has to respect. That singular act embeds Darwin deeper into the local community faster than multiple lifetimes of an East Coast transplant from Taos could ever come close to achieving.

The reason Anna works in Red River’s only grocery store is because she had a falling out with her father, Roberto Valdez, the famous valley artist who’s amassed considerable wealth selling southwest paintings to tourists in his Taos gallery. For years Anna’s done such a good job managing the gallery, curating Roberto’s paintings, and building an active client list, Roberto insists she move to New York to manage the gallery he’s opening there. Anna refuses, she’s been to New York and has no interest in living in that shit hole. Her life is here in Northern New Mexico, a place she can’t imagine ever leaving. As it becomes increasingly clear both sides are entrenched in their positions, things get said and emotions escalate until Anna quits her job at the gallery, moves out of Roberto’s hacienda, and hasn’t spoken to her father since.

The penance part of Darwin’s life, the reason he came to the Northern New Mexico wilderness, is pretty much hit and miss these days. As part of his penance he goes to Chicago to not only hang out with Vincent but to be a positive part of young Issac’s life. Every four to six weeks Darwin flies to Chicago, unless it’s summer, then he rides the Harley. Skyler usually agrees to house sit so someone’s looking after Murphy. If she’s unavailable, Darwin leaves Murphy outside and either Victor or Mateo check on him daily. Vincent and Ilene fly down a couple times a year in their Mooney M20M Bravo. It has sufficient range to get from Chicago to Taos with just one refueling. Victor has a cousin who has a landing strip on his place because he guides elk hunts for rich Texans. His cousin lets Vincent use his runway when the Taos airport gets crowded. Of course, the quid pro quo expectation is that Vincent will purchase aviation fuel that comes with a Texas-sized surcharge.

Darwin and Gwen are in an odd place. Since that Thanksgiving visit his first year in New Mexico, she’s been distant, even seeming somewhat afraid. Darwin notices she never allows herself to be alone with him. He doesn’t really care; he just thinks it’s weird and it creates an awkwardness when everyone’s together. He asks Ilene about it once and she gives him a vaguely strange response. He’s also noticed a slight distance in Ilene’s attitude toward him as well but writes it off as being due to the way his long hair and bushy beard present an intimidating mountain man persona girls of refinement find difficult relating to.

Little Issac loves his Uncle Darwin and gets uber excited every time he visits. Issac came to Marquez Mountain once, but he was too young to understand or appreciate the wonders of Northern New Mexico and Darwin’s self-sustaining ranch. The other times Vincent and Ilene visit, Issac stays with his Aunt Gwen. Vincent’s doing an admirable job raising his son, having learned from his father’s mistakes. He makes a point of being present and engaged while also teaching Issac the value of discipline and the always optimistic belief that this is the year the Cubbies make the playoffs. It was the funniest damn thing the time Darwin visited after the all-star break the summer Issac was three; Issac rushes to the door when he sees Darwin shouting “Uncle Darwin! Uncle Darwin! Guess what?”

“What?” Darwin asks as he scoops Issac into his arms and twirls him around.

When the twirling stops, Issac enthusiastically sandwiches Darwin’s face between both his hands and looks into his uncle’s eyes with an exuberance reserved for innocence that’s yet to be tested and with huge grin says, “This year the exciting Chicago Cubs are gonna make the playgrounds!”

“Well,” Darwin laughs “that is exciting little man, did your dad teach you that?”

“Un huh.”

“Does he take you to Wriggly?”

“Un huh.”

“Do you want me to take you to Wriggly?”

“Can I have a hot dog?”

“It wouldn’t be exciting Chicago Cubs baseball without a hot dog.” Little Issac smiles and gives his beloved uncle a giant bear hug.

While time with Vincent is good and with Issac not only precious but essential, it doesn’t address what he’s been doing for the past five years to deal with his penance. Baby steps, that’s really all that can be said about that. He journals regularly now. In fact, he’s already completed four of the fourteen books he purchased from that clerk on Telegraph Avenue the day his life went to shit. His writing still predominately involves detailing the ‘this’ and ‘that’s’ of his self-sustaining life, but lately, he’s also been allowing himself to be more expressive, even dabbling in poetry and philosophy.

He still carries enormous burden for what he broke and an overwhelming obligation to fix it. He’s decided living in New Mexico partly accomplishes that because being here means he’s not in California, which means he’s at least no longer part of the problem. At the same time, he recognizes that does not absolve him or means he’s part of the solution. As far as atoning for his sins, he’s not sure. He did reach out to his previous team to see if anyone embedded any kind of back door in their technology that could be used to sabotage it. They’ve all come to realize that creators of innovative technology should always embed a self-destruct mechanism but that does them little good now. He considers taking his technology to the US defense department in violation of the terms of his startup sale but wavers on whether that fixes the mess he’s made or makes it worse? It’s a philosophical quandary he spends a lot of time journaling about.

One aspect of his penance he’s deeply disciplined about is spending time each day scouring available on-line sources to stay abreast of technology. This includes understanding what tech companies are announcing, how the masses are consuming technology, and technology’s impact on society. He’s convinced that no one is stepping up to own the stewardship he and his fellow Shadow Dancers once demanded and is coming to the reluctant realization it might have to be him. He still believes virtual reality is sexy in its promise and potential but after years of languishing development it’s failed to make a splash in any society alternating way. The only practical applications early innovators have found are in the gaming industry and who cares about that. He recently stumbled on some government requests for information (RFIs), from the defense department around tactical ways VR can be used to provide live battlefield imagery for war planners but so far that’s all speculative.

Artificial Intelligence, though less sexy is potentiality more impactful but so far, it remains in the realm of rule-based programing and academic hype, so there is no need for concern. It seems social media, and mainstream media to a lesser extent, have decided to sensationalize the state of AI’s technology by claiming it’s capable of things Darwin knows are not yet possible. At the same time, Darwin’s concluded that a post-AI world is fraught with dangers.

He’s been chatting with a chess grandmaster on-line about whether there’s a successful strategy around sacrificing all of a player’s pawns to clear the field so other pathways to victory can be pursued. If autonomous nonhuman soldiers render traditional boots on the ground warfare obsolescent, does it not just lead to other pathways to pursue conflict and does that elevate or decimate the cost of war? The grandmaster is unaware of how the deliberate decimation of a player’s pawns can lead to a successful outcome, which leans Darwin toward providing the defense department covert access to his technology.

Then again, he always counters, the practical lessons learned from his war on rats indicate that forcing an adversary onto different pathways does escalate the cost of war. Darwin starts his war on rats using live traps because they’re the most humane. It doesn’t take the rat bastards long though, to figure out to avoid them. Besides, capturing a rat and transporting it miles from the colony where they likely die on their own in the wild is not humane, it just provides the illusion of empathy, which really is the art of war.

When live traps no longer work, Darwin escalates his weaponry to snap traps that instantly kill whatever it ensnares. While that does decimate the colony at a faster and more efficient rate, Darwin’s convinced he’s operating below the colony’s replenishment rate, and it doesn’t take long before the rats figure out to also avoid snap traps. With the rat’s replenishment rate continuing to rise as the decimation rate falls to zero it prompts an escalation to poison. Poison is not only easy to apply, but also fast and effective until the rat bastards figure out not to eat it. Darwin’s response is to switch to a slower-killing better-tasting poison. He assumes the rats won’t connect the causal relationship between eating poison and painful death. At first, they take all the poison pellets he sets out back to their nests for later consumption but eventually they stop, which can only mean they’re on to him.

It’s not until Darwin recruits a squad of assassin cats he acquires from one of Victor’s cousins that the conflict escalates to its conclusion. It leaves Darwin with little doubt that his namesake was right, in the battle between opposing forces, it truly is survival of the fittest. While this outcome is well and good for him and his war on rats, the lessons remain elusive for his penance problem and what can be done to fix what he broke. One thing is clear thus far though, if Charles Darwin’s assertions can’t be altered, it foreshadows future conflicts between man versus man that are not only inevitable but not ending well for man.