We had to run to town yesterday to do errands. Usually that turns into an all day ordeal, but I managed to schedule things to make them go smoother. I dropped off Mr. FixIt at his buddy’s house to work on the tomatoes while I went to get my blood drawn, then we stopped at the post office box and the pool supply store. A quick stop at the gas station and we were home by 3:00…a record, I think!

I was antsy. I wanted to go camping. The low temperature is going to be perfect the next two nights, but the days are going to get pretty sticky. Mr. FixIt really didn’t want to go and honestly, I wasn’t in the mood to pull the camper by myself this time. Still, I had itchy feet. It’s been quite a while since I’ve had a sleepover at the farm, so I asked my sweetheart if he minded me going over for a couple of days. He’s so sweet…he never, ever objects to me doing whatever I need to do to maintain balance in our life. For that, I am grateful and it encourages me to make our time together epic. He’s a smart man!

I threw some things together and headed to the home of my heart. I always do a walk about to make sure things are all looking good. Everything was in ship shape. I sat on the front porch and knitted on Big’s sweater. I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye and there was a little Carolina Wren hopping toward me, moving her head this way and that. She stayed for quite a while. There was a little, tiny bunny in the front yard nibbling on the white clover. Every once in a while, something scared it and it darted off into the underbrush only to return when the coast was clear. It finally started getting cool and I headed indoors. 

I heard a bird out the back door so I took my phone to investigate. It wasn’t dark yet. I looked up and scanned the hillside and noticed something amiss. There were several branches with lots of dead leaves on them and that only means one of two things…a tree has died from disease, or it’s come down. And that’s just what happened…it came down right on top of the old cellar house. There are limbs resting on the electric line going to the building, but there is still power up there. I did pull my truck back from under the lines, though. You can see the trunk of the tree where it broke off about twenty feet up. Judging by the way the leaves have turned brown already, I’d say this happened during the storm that knocked out our power for two days a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know how we missed it the other times we’ve been out here. I guess we just don’t look up enough.

There have been more things like this happening in the last year since the farm was sold. I think houses know. I think they die. How many times have you seen an old house look perfectly fine then just fall apart quickly after its people leave? I told Mr. FixIt, we need to come out more often and talk to the old girl….make sure she still knows how desperately she is loved. Maybe plant some flowers. I am so happy her new owners love her like we do…but I just think this old house misses her people.

It’s so incredibly quiet here. At night, the birds have gone to roost. The only sound is the dehumidifier humming quietly in the basement. Occasionally the hot water heater kicks on. As I write this, I have the window open feeling the cool evening breeze and listening to a Barred Owl just across the creek.

Life is good!

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“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””

John 3:8 ESV