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Friday, July 22, 2011

Chapter 5

I returned in May with a plan to stay for three months, and this time Chuck was there to meet me. There was someone else there, too. He introduced me to his life-long friend, Bernie, who lived in Northview and spent the summers hanging out in the woods in his camper, fishing, drinking, and enjoying nature. Bernie had been around for a few days, staying on the property and helping out. I was a bit stunned, to say the least, since Chuck never bothered to mention this to me, but Bernie seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. He helped me carry everything in while Chuck went off to take care of something in town. I was delighted to find that Chuck had put a small bunch of wild flowers in a vase on my table.

Then I became very enamored of Bernie when he showed me the cutting board he had installed for me under the counter. He later showed me a photo album he always had with him that had pictures of a house he had built himself some years prior, with Chuck's help. It was quite spectacular.

Chuck came back with some beer and we fired up the barbecue to make burgers. Then we were all pretty tired so we turned in early. Bernie went to his camper and Chuck and I upstairs to his room where we shared the double bed he had set up. There was no bed in my room yet, just a feather mattress and sleeping bag on the floor. 

The next morning Bernie insisted on leaving. He didn't want to be in the way and there was a lot of business that needed taking care of right away. He was off to a lake to go fishing.

The morning went well. Chuck was helpful and full of ideas about what I needed to do now. There were no appliances in the house so right away we had to drive to Northview. I bought a mini fridge, a microwave and a small freezer. He convinced me I should buy a chain saw, too, because I needed to put in a wood stove later and use the acres of wood that I own, with which I could heat my house forever.

While we were shopping we passed the restaurant where we had shared our first breakfast. It was closed down. I was surprised as the food had been good, and cheap. Another sign of the times, I guess. I said, “Oh, look. That first restaurant we had breakfast in together has closed. That was so good that morning.”

I don't remember ever eating there.”

You don't remember us eating there?”

Nope.”

I thought, “That's odd, I am able to remember many of the good restaurants I've eaten in over the years, probably because it's such a rare occurrence. But I am able to remember if the food was good, and I do recall the breakfast we had there. Nice memories, I keep them.” I wondered why he didn't. The whole Man/Mars Woman/Venus thing? We are different, after all. I decided that must be the answer. We remember different things. No big deal.

After we returned to Whispering Springs and put everything away, Chuck wanted us to go up the road to meet some of my neighbors. The Clines, Dan and Marie, were retired school teachers who had built this gorgeous wood home on their 100 acres and were living totally off-grid. What a fantastic place! I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do, and with the right partner, it seemed completely doable.

So we were sitting there, talking with the Clines, and I just mentioned that I had been sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor because I didn't have a real bed. A couple of days later they came to my house with small box spring on legs, saying they hoped this would be helpful to me. My eyes teared up as I realized how wonderful this place was with such generous people around. They told me to call if I ever needed help with anything.

I spent those three months in a veritable state of bliss. I could not believe how well everything was going for me. My life had been filled with letdowns and heartbreaks, and now it appeared that everything was finally going my way. The people I had met were all so incredibly nice, and life here was so peaceful. I totally loved hiking around my property and exploring. 
  
Plus, Chuck set up a solar heated water system for me so I could have hot water again. He and Bernie had pulled an old 40 gallon electric water heater out of the basement, as I had no plans to use such an expensive appliance. I planned buy a smaller model sometime later. Chuck painted it black and I helped set it up on a tower he built at the back corner of the house. There is a hose going into it from the outside tap that fills it. Then a hundred feet of black hose come out which the sun heats up quite nicely. Since no one can see me there, taking a hot shower outside quickly became one of my most favorite things to do.

During this time Chuck finally found work at one of the local mills. That meant he now didn't have much time to spend with me or to help out. Faced with having several acres of yard to mow, I bought a used John Deere yard tractor. Yee haw! Do I ever love driving that around.

Chuck also convinced me to buy a farm truck he had found for sale. It was a 30-year-old Ford with 4-wheel drive and it still ran, sort of. Since Chuck had had the same kind of truck for 25 years, he assured me he would be able to keep it running forever. This was something I was definitely going to need when he started cutting wood for me. He would cut the wood up on the hill, then I could drive around and load it up to move it to the yard.

I spent a whole lot of time then tearing all the ratty carpeting out of the house. Underneath that was old, stained linoleum, which I also removed. Under that I found layers of newspaper from the '50s. I sometimes lost hours reading through them. They were in pretty good shape and Chuck told me I should save them. Later I could go through them and cut out pictures and ads while he made frames for them. Then we could sell them.

Finally I was at the original wood floor. This was a series of what looked to be hand-cut boards, 10 inches wide and in various lengths. They didn't always fit snugly together so some cool air could be felt coming from the basement. I was definitely going to have to buy more rugs. I didn't want carpeting because I don't have a vacuum cleaner. I just use a broom.

All too soon it was time for me to leave again. Back at my cousin's I was so miserable. I missed my birds and the quiet. I missed the star-filled night skies. I missed my funny little house. But most of all, I missed my friend.