the end is near

Here I sit with earbuds in to listen while I type. When working with an ten year old Dell, one must be clever. I would totally lose the desktop if it weren't for being able to SEE to write. My vision is fading like my mother's but by golly Big Ernie gave me some good news today in the form of a negative Pap smear. First time that's happened in five years, ya'll. Now if we can just get this shoulder done I'll be feeling a whole lot better healthwise. It's raining like a mofo right now nourishing the beans that got planted today and the corn that's already out there. And also filling up the potholes in my driveway. Maybe corporate will spring for a load of gravel if they drive all the way around. I have a confession to make and this is as good a place as any. One night I got all pissy and decided there were some things in the cabin across the road that I'd like. There were two old school crystal lamps that didn't work and this seriously cute Mary Engelbreitish chair in the bathroom with no tub. There were monogrammed dishes that belong to their family and I've managed to save all of them but the chair got destroyed when Ryder was a puppy. She chewed off the entire arm, upholstery and all. That was about the time she ate Michelle's Nook. Talk about having to face the music~

The current generation of heirs has been mostly absent and the business of it is managed by one of three brothers who is several years older than me. His girls are cute as pie as is his wife and there's a son that I've never met. I think he lives in New York where all the financial action is. The elder Harry was a money man who made his fortune in Michigan but always returned to "the farm" once or twice a year to ride horses and hang out on the hill. His lovely wife Nan was here on occasion and all of their kids at one time or another. The history is almost a hundred years old, and so my house will be in 2018. The house at the end of the road was the showplace, nestled in the woods just above where the clubhouse was planned. It never happened, but the drawing remains intact, hanging in the bathroom that lacks one seriously cute chair. If I ever get the arm patched up I promise I'll take it back will move it to my room.

Like my father, one of my brothers has taken on the duties of managing the farm that I call home. Every wooden door and all original windows are vintage and in terrible shape. There is a transom over the front and back doors which is cute but really? The storm doors won't even shut. The basement is clear and 9/10 of the garbage either burned or hauled. There are boxes on the front porch one of which is draped with a state of TN flag headed for the burn pile. At one time, I was proud to be a volunteer. Now? Not so much.

I sense an Oregon theme going on with my new friend Frankie posting a picture from Eugene and Nita and Dave moving to that state. One of my oldest work friends Ronnie lived and worked there back in the day and I remember watching the winter weather and thinking that I'd have to call in. Also my angel buddy Hoss lived in the state and I have always admired their progressive political climate. I met these couple of bar hopping guys from OR either before or shortly after Hoss came for a visit and was struck by the..uh. Whatever you call it when you get a hint early on.

When my youngest brother left for VA there was a parade about a mile long with both vehicles hauling trailers through West Virginia to their current home. The UPS guy who had serviced their home based business stopped by for his last pickup and we all stood in the driveway waving. He's the one who warned me that it was "the beginning of the end." And you know what? He was right.

^j^