The Farmhouse

From November until last week, Gary lived in the farmhouse in Illinois, visiting his Aunt Shirley daily in the nursing home, doing repairs on the farmhouse, and taking care of the day to day needs of the farm.  I visited him from time to time down there, but had to stay here with my own concerns, one of which was Rascal as he came to the end of his life.  

Gary only came north a couple of times.  When he did plan a drive here, it was often canceled because of winter weather or events in Illinois. He finally said he was leaving Illinois and the farmhouse and packed his van.  He was to leave on a Sunday but his aunt died the night before.  He was there for another week.  

I told him the farmhouse was holding on to him and it felt that way to me when I was there.  Generation of Gary's family lived there and perhaps their ghosts hung on. With Shirley's death, there will be no one living there.  

Today, I posted a short story at the Black Coffee Fiction blog http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com

I took those feelings I had in the farmhouse and put them into "The Farmhouse".  The story was too long for one posting, so it will conclude next week.  

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Tomorrow I will be signing my new book Decades of Love and Other Disasters at Sissy's on North Main Street here in Seymour.  With all the interruptions this spring, we didn't publicize it very well but I still hope to sell a few books.  

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Finally a real spring day.  I cleared three more flower beds.  I have to get busy because by May 15 we could be camping.  All those beds have to be done before then.  

I walked three miles around town to exercise my weight down. By mid-summer I should average five miles a day. I need to lose about 25 pounds and I can best do that by walking.  

I helped Gary clean out his camper which he intends to trade in on something bigger. We will be driving to Door County on Sunday to examine a candidate.  The new camper will have a better heater and air conditioning, neither of which we would need all that often. Northern Wisconsin is delightfully cool in the middle of summer which makes it a destination for the people of Illinois. The temperatures never really drop low enough to worry much about heating until October when the campgrounds close. The campgrounds never open until mid-May and by then we won't need much heat.   

In the new camper I will have my own office so that I can continue to write each day, but I will be the one coming back to Seymour every other week to check on the house and collect the mail. Because I will be traveling so much, Gary thinks I need a better car.  He is currently considering a Volvo. I don't want a new car that depreciates the moment I drive it off the lot. A couple of dents would be nice because then I can enjoy my car without worrying about the least scratch.  I do want a decent stereo and air conditioning, two things that have been lacking in the Mercury Sable.