I started spending more time with my friends and just getting on with life. But I still had this ache in me for all that was lost, so I got deeper into my spiritual readings and videos. I started meditating and doing yoga again. I found a treasure trove of information on the internet that I used to have to seek out in books. Be cheerful and optimistic, that is now my plan for each day. Find joy wherever possible, and humor. Laughing is so good for you.
Phil found someone to install the wood stove for me. I bought some firewood and put it in my newly-built shed. Wow, life is about to get so much easier. Now I can have hot water in the winter, which I will heat on my stove.
I decided to put a latch on the inside of the entry door to my porch. That door opens to my enclosed, wrap-around porch which covers two sides of the house. I had asked Chuck to return my keys, including the keys to the van and truck, but he refused. Well, at least now I didn't have to be concerned about him walking in on me.
Aug 8
When I leave,
so do you.
That message was repeated several times. He even talked to Ellen on the phone once and told her he would turn me in to immigration if I tried to do anything to get rid of him. “If I go, she goes.”
Then, all too soon, snow season was upon us again. Only this is "global warming" snow, so instead of the soft, fluffy stuff, now it's mixed with ice. The snow plow comes down the road and pushes the ice to the side, under my mailbox. I work like crazy to try to keep it cleared out, but it's just too much. Then I get a note from the mailman telling me that the mailbox is inaccessible, so now I will have to pick up my mail at the post office until I get the ice removed.
I see Chuck out shoveling and I go over to tell him about it. Since he gets his mail from the same box, would he be so kind as to help shovel that out. He says, “No. I have too much other shoveling to do. I don't care if I have to get my mail from the post office.”
The next morning I'm getting ready to go out and shovel and I hear truck sounds, engine sounds I don't recognize. I look out the window and see an ATV with a plow on it coming up my driveway. It's Phil! He cleared out all the snow and ice. When he was finished he came in and had a coffee. He told me how he just had the plow put on and from now on he would always come over after a big snow. I asked him to please be careful of the live electrical wires going to the trailer, which were now under several inches of snow/ice. I showed him exactly where they were. Over the next few months there were a couple more big dumps of snow and Phil was always there the next day, clearing it all away for me.
Chuck had actually started paying me for electricity again, once it started getting cold. I got $150 in October and November, on the first of the month. December 5th came and I hadn't heard from him. So I called. “Hi. Can I come over and get your payment for the month? Want to meet me in the middle of the yard?”
“No, I'm not paying you anymore. I have to save my money so I can go to a motel when Phil runs over that power line and cuts it off. I really hope he doesn't get electrocuted when that happens.”
“I have showed Phil exactly where the power lines are; he always lifts the blade when he goes over those spots.”
“Phil is stupid. He doesn't know what he's doing. You're a fool to trust him.”
“Okay, if the cord gets run over, I'll pay for your motel room.”
He hung up on me.
A couple of weeks later we had a power outage that lasted for two days. I called Chuck to assure him that this was a genuine blackout, everyone was affected. I did just fine those few days without electricity. I had the wood stove and batteries to keep myself alive. My computer was on dial-up back then so it still worked. I survived. So did Chuck. He has a generator and two propane tanks. Life went on as usual.
