Fay Risner's Blog, page 4

Leona’s Christmas Bucket List by Fay Risner

I have one more Christmas book to share. This one is on Amazon, kindle, Barnes and Noble and nook and smashwords.

We’re always hearing the phrase bucket list, but I hadn’t thought about making one until I was in Walmart one day. The store had just changed the soap dispensers to hand activation in the bathroom. I was looking for a button or lever, not paying any attention to the lady next to me until I noticed her hands were soapy. I asked how she got the soap. She said just wave my hand under the dispenser. It worked. She laughed and told me I could erase that off my bucket list. She left and I found myself with bigger worries. I’m studying myself in the mirror wondering what made her think I needed a bucket list. Ideas began to turn into a story which was helped along by a newspaper article about a woman and her doll.

Shane Herman, nephew,  wrote the poem for Christmas cards and it went along with my story so with his permission I used it. Following that is the synopsis and first chapter. The book is in large or regular print as are all my books now.

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synopsis

When Leona Krebsbach found out just before Thanksgiving she didn’t have long to live, she took charge of her life like she had always done since the doctor thought she might die in a month. She bought a small spiral notepad and titled it Christmas Bucket List. On each page of the notepad, Leona listed something she needed to get done while she still had time. Details like her funeral headed the list. She didn’t want to leave anything for her daughters to have to worry about after she was gone. She kept

her illness a secret until after Thanksgiving when she had all but one thing completed on her bucket list. Finally, she was as ready to die as she was ever going to get. She called her daughters and invited them to a tea party. Now was the time to tell them. At her age with a long life behind her, Leona Krebsbach wished she felt better prepared mentally for the end. She should have been ready to go, because she would be with her beloved Clarence. If only she had managed to atone for that one regretful time that happened so many years ago. If that didn’t weigh on her, she knew her mind set would be different, but she couldn’t change the past. Even if she wanted to, she didn’t have enough time. She reasoned her bucket list wasn’t designed to take care of that one regret unless a miracle happened to change Leona’s Christmas Bucket List.

A Winter’s Pace

By Shane D. Herman

The summer air and springtime flowers have quickly been replaced

By that time of year more cold and frigid

A kind of arctic place

The ice nips at your fingers and bites at your toes

As falling snowflakes kiss at your face

So light up the tree and hang all the stockings

And drape all the holiday lace

As Christmas approaches with unbridled cheer

And the people shopping make haste

It is when friends and family come together as one

That makes this a season to embrace

So from me and mine to you and yours

And everyone else in the holiday race

I invite you all to take in the moment

As we all move at a Winter’s Pace.

Chapter 1

Goose feather size snowflakes glittered in the street lamp’s golden glow, floating lazily like crystalline down. The ground outside the basement window of Limestone City, Minnesota’s United Methodist Church turned white in a hurry. The scene made Leona Krebsbach imagine angels in Heaven with a wing shedding problem.

Suddenly, the elderly woman felt light headed. She leaned her thin frame against the window sill for support and frowned. Please not now. The sinking feeling brought annoyance with it. Here in church of all places. Why couldn’t this wait to happen until she was home? Why did she have to be bothered while she wanted to enjoy the winter view?

Leona knew full well the weak spell made her face head on, that after years of watching similar scenes, this would be the last time she’d see a first snowfall. She wouldn’t stand at this basement window ever again, gazing out at the dead grass between the church and the parsonage as the ground turned white.

Out of all the snowfalls in a winter, she aways favored this first quiet, slow snowfall of the season. Quiet except for the banging of the lanyard against the flagpole in the post office yard across the street.

Heavy nostalgia built as agonizingly as any pain might in her chest. At least, she hoped that was the cause of the unwanted pressure. With all the twinges she’d had lately, she couldn’t be sure these days if she needed to brace herself for the end right away or not. So far the twinges had been false alarms.

When the feeling passed, Leona sighed deeply and straightened back up. She took a deep breath and tried to bolster herself to face the fact she had to get ready for far worse moments yet to come.

She had already decided she didn’t have any intention of immediately taking to her sick bed and going quietly from this world. Not as long as she had the energy left to keep up her winter’s pace.

No telling how long she would have stood at the window, mesmerized by the gently falling snow, if Pastor Jim Lockwood hadn’t cleared his throat softly.

Slowly, Leona turned to face him. The minister gave her a warm smile. He probably wondered why she hadn’t left yet so he could lock the church basement exit door and go back home. The rest of the bible study group had cleared out some time ago.

Leona admired the dark haired, dark eyed young minister. He was just like the son she’d wanted to give her husband, Clarence, and couldn’t.

She wished Jim Lockwood could grow old as pastor of this church while her grandchildren needed guidance, but she knew that didn’t usually happen. After a few years, ministers always got the call to go far away to another church. They moved out of the lives of the parishioners that had grown fond of them, leaving the congregation to have to get used to another minister.

At her age, Leona knew she was a fine one to talk about getting used to changes. She figured out a long time ago she shouldn’t mind changes in everyone else’s life if the changes were for the better.

In fact, she always looked forward with excitement to the new changes she made in her own life over the years. Like the time when she went back to school at the community college to learn to use a computer so she’d be able to carry a conversation with her grandchildren. She had to learn about the digital age after her grandchildren said her typewriter was as extinct as dinosaurs.

These days when she made herself think about the changes ahead of her she wished time could stand still. She knew that was an impossible thing to ask the Lord to do for her, but she still wished just for a short time she didn’t have to face the inevitable.

Putting off telling everyone that needed to know wasn’t going to make a difference. She was pretty sure if she kept her illness a secret that wouldn’t stop her death from happening. That would be a cruel thing to do to her family. She had to suck in how she felt and get up the courage to tell everyone that mattered in her life her days on earth were numbered. The twinges she’d felt lately were just a warning signal to prepare her. Her disclosure better be soon.

At her age with a long life behind her, she admonished herself that she should feel better prepared for the end than she did. If only she had managed to atone for that one time she regretted so many years ago. If not for that moment in time, she knew her mind set would be different, but she couldn’t change the past no matter how much she would like to do it. No bucket list was designed to take care of a tall order like that one, especially on such short notice like the one she’d been given.

Leona gave the minister a wan smile. “You been standing there long?”

“Didn’t want to sneak up on you and startle you while you were deep in thought,” he said as he crossed the room to look out the window with her. “You looked very pensive. Are you thinking about anything in particular?”

“Several things. Life for one,” Leona said. “I was thinking how the seasons are like my life. I remember with fondness the spring time of my youth with loving parents and siblings. In the summer of my life, I married a wonderful man and raised two great daughters. Sharing the years of fall with a loving husband, that left me too soon, gave me many memories to keep me warm in the winter of my life. I’ve lived a long time and have been truly blessed thanks to God.”

Pastor Jim put a hand on Leona’s back as he stared at the snow. “You always manage to have a parable or story to fit the moment. Beautiful outside, isn’t it? God designed nature to paint everything white in time for the holidays. If only the snow covered landscape could stay pristine all winter instead of turning a dirty brown.”

Leona chuckled. “I know exactly what you mean, but no way can we criticize the dust that blows in from the fields. That dirty farm land is what makes the income for farmers and businesses around here. Not unless you’re willing to make due with smaller collection plates.”

“Smaller collections are a given this time of year anyway. Especially with the way the economy is now. The whole community has had to learn to make do, but we must keep praying that times will get better soon.” Pastor Jim gave Leona a sincere look. “I’m sure you know how to make do better than my generation. You had experiences in your life with tougher times then the rest of us will ever know. Times when you had to make do.”

Leona sighed. “I expect that’s right. Make do and do without sometimes, too. That’s something younger people today have no idea how it was. If the same thing happened to them, I fear they wouldn’t know how to cope with the struggle.

During the depression in the thirties, I saved everything, even broken items just in case I had a use for them or needed parts off the junk for later on. Clarence and I were savers just like the Krebsbachs before him and my family before me, the Palmers. My daughters would tell you I still save too many useless things even now when I shouldn’t worry about finances. That’s why my house has so many cluttered closets, and the outbuildings still hold things that Clarence couldn’t bear to throw away.

When I was first married, Clarence and I didn’t have money to buy writing paper so I could keep in touch with my parents. They were just two counties over, but we didn’t have time to go see them as much as I would have liked. Sometimes, it was a matter of not having enough money in the budget to buy gas for the car.

I wrote my mother as often as I could. I made do by tearing pages out of old Sears and Roebuck catalogs. I’d write my letters on the margin. Even then, I still had to sell enough eggs to pay for the envelopes and stamps.”

“I’m sure your parents were happy to hear how Clarence and you were getting along no matter what your message was written on,” Pastor Jim assured her.

“In those days, faith in the Lord, a good husband, loving family and friends put our struggles into perspective. I always felt rich in ways that counted. That rosy outlook is what kept Clarence and me going and looking forward hopefully to a promising future. That outlook paid off as you can see,” Leona told him.

“Well put. I’m working on a Thanksgiving sermon to emphasize that very thing, wise lady. We should all learn to count our blessings just like you had to do in hard times, and I’m sure you still do now. When days are difficult, we have to learn to look forward to better days.

Once a lesson is learned, we don’t soon forget it, do we? My parents saved many things just like you did. No one knows how to save these days, and we do need to learn to recycle more than we do. I hear all the time that this nation is a country of wasteful people.”

“Clarence always said you can look in the review mirror and lament the past. Or, learn from hardships faced by others, meaning our parents, and do a better job in your life time,” Leona said sagely.

Pastor Jim nodded agreement. “A wise man, your Clarence. If you don’t mind, I’d like to quote you.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Have a good attendance at bible study today?” He asked.

“Yes.” Leona fiddled with the straps on her black purse.

Assuming she was nervous about the drive home, Pastor Jim cautioned, “Drive carefully going back to the farm. Doesn’t take long for a wet snow like this one to make the roads slick. With night coming on, black ice is hard to see when it forms on the salt brined pavements.”

Leona glanced out the window. The snow hadn’t let up. If anything the flakes were coming down faster. “I’m a safe driver. I’ve had long years of winter driving practice to prove it.” She clutched her purse to her waist and turned to face the minister. “Pastor, I’m not ready to leave yet. I’ve been waiting for you to show up, because I have something I need to talk to you about.”

“You sound serious. Now we must be going to get to the real reason you were so pensive when I came in. Let’s sit down.” Pastor Jim took her elbow and led her over to the black folding chairs lined up around one of the long white tables. He pulled out two chairs and held onto one until Leona eased into it.

Leona plopped her purse and bible onto the table. As Pastor Jim sat down, she shifted the chair to face him. She had to look him in the eyes so she could use his strength to get her words out. “I need to tell you this will be my last time leading bible studies.”

“What? Th — this is so sudden. I hate to hear you want to stop. What will we do without you?” He blurted out, flustered.

“Don’t worry.” Leona patted his hand reassuringly. “I’m not leaving you in the lurch. I took the liberty of asking Becky Smallwood to take my place. I thought I would make my leaving easier on you if I help you find someone else.”

“Thank you for thinking about me. Becky’s okay, but just the same no one can take your place. You’ve been the best teacher for the job for so many years,” Pastor Jim said adamantly. “Besides, I’ll miss talking to you on Wednesday nights.”

“I appreciate that. I know I’ve been as predictable as this snow, showing up here for years. Don’t worry. Becky will be a fine teacher. She is very knowledgeable about the bible and a fast learner.” Leona licked her lips, mustering up the courage to continue. “Things have to change from time to time. That’s just the way life is. Sometimes, we aren’t given a choice so we have to make the best of it.”

“Did someone say you can’t lead bible study anymore? Tell me who it is. I’ll have a talk with that person right away. I don’t want you to stop teaching,” demanded Pastor Jim.

“Actually, I was talking about you in regard to your accepting this change. You’re right though. Someone did let me know I had to stop teaching bible study classes.” Leona paused, giving the minister an amused look. “I wager you talk to that someone every day, Pastor. Just the same, no amount of your pleading or praying will change the fact that I have to quit. What I need to tell you now is the hardest part, the reason why I’m quitting.”

Looking into her sad, brown eyes, Pastor Jim’s brow furled. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Probably not. Don’t feel bad though. I’ve had trouble facing this myself so I know how you will feel when you hear my news. It’s time to start talking about this problem out loud so I picked you to be the first. I want to practice on you. I hope you don’t mind.

I need to face this dilemma I have head on, but it has been hard taking the first steps. So in order to help me stay motivated, I’ve made a bucket list.”

“A bucket list,” Pastor Jim echoed.

“Yes, I have many details I have to take care of right away. Actually, I don’t have much time to do get them done you see. One of the first details on the list is now taken care of, finding my replacement for bible studies.”

“Making a list to remind you to get things done for the holidays is fine, but calling this list a bucket list might be a poor choice of words,” Pastor Jim reproached.

Leona gave him a doleful look. “No, I used the right words.”

“What’s wrong?” Pastor Jim croaked.

“I’m going to die soon. I have liver cancer,” Leone said bluntly.

The young man combed his hand through his hair and fixated on the floor. “I’ve felt something was wrong for a while now. You’ve lost weight, and your complexion is pale. I hated to bring it up. Knowing how efficient you are, I prayed you were on top of the situation and going to the doctor.”

“Your prayers must have worked. I did get checked out. The doctor said there wasn’t anything that could be done for me. You see I didn’t have much warning. Apparently, I’d had the cancer for some time and didn’t know it. The doctor said I have only a short time left to live.” Leona rifled through her purse and brought out a small spiral notepad with Christmas decorations scrawled over the cover. “So just to show you I’m not joking, this is my bucket list, and I have to get the list completed as quickly as I can. Actually, I’m calling this a Christmas Bucket List, because that might be my deadline,” she said with dry humor.

Pastor Jim combed his shaky fingers through his dark hair again. “I want to do anything I can to help you. Is there some of that list I can take care of to help you complete it?”

Leona flipped through the notepad pages. “On page two of my bucket list is get details out of the way for my funeral to take the burden of details off my two daughters. Of course, I want to ask you if you will conduct the funeral service here.”

The minister took her hand. “That’s a given, dear friend.”

“Good. Now for scriptures, since I’ve lived in the country my whole life I’ve always been partial to the twenty-third psalm. You can pick the rest of the scriptures you want to fit into the service. The two songs I want the choir to sing are Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. If my girls have a hymn they like, they can add their favorites to make them feel better if they want to do that.”

“All right. Done,” Pastor Jim said briskly as if they were planning details for a soup supper.

While she read the items aloud, Leona was busy checking off the details in her notepad. “I was going to ask Becky Smallwood to sing a solo, but I didn’t have the heart to heap bible study duties on her and burden her with my demise and performing at my funeral all at the same time. So maybe she could lead the choir.”

“What did you have in mind for her to sing just in case?”

“Becky nails any song she sings. How about The Wind Beneath My Wings?” Leona asked. “I think everyone likes that one.”

“That would be a super choice and fitting for you. Please allow me to work on these details in this bucket list of yours,” Pastor Jim insisted.

“All right. I still have to contact the pallbearers I decided on to make sure they are prepared when Arlene calls them. I’ve already been to the funeral home, made arrangements there for the visitation and settled the bill. The casket I picked out is very pretty. It’s dark pink with roses on both sides the handles.” Leona stopped to catch her breath.

“You have been very thorough, I see. Not that I’m surprised. This is just the way you tackle everything you have always set out to do. Head on,” Pastor Jim said softly.

“Yes, I’ve managed my life the way I wanted until now. I don’t see any reason to leave the details of my funeral for my family to have to do,” Leona assured him. “Besides, there’s some comfort in knowing how my life will end, and what will happen at my funeral.”

“Not many people have your courage to face the end, planning like this, dear lady,” Pastor Jim said admiringly.

“Well, it took some doing to get to this point. I’ve reasoned with myself about dying. You see, I’ve done my best to live a decent life. At least for the most part, I think my family will be proud of the way I lived. I think I know where I’m headed, and that’s a comfort,” Leona said, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. “Carrying out my final details for my daughters so they won’t have to gives me peace of mind.”

“I can vouch for the honorable way you have lived your life. I’m as sure as you are that you will go to Heaven.

I’ve always admired your self control that allows you to take charge of any task. Even at such a difficult time in your life as this one. You have the presence of mind to make your final plans by yourself, and do whatever else needs to be done. You always handle adversity head on, because you’re a very strong woman,” Pastor Jim complimented.

She cocked her head to the side. “I think the modern term the grandchildren and my daughters use for me is control freak. I’ve always put myself in charge, and I figure on doing that until the end so I know everything is done right to my satisfaction and goes smoothly.”

“When it concerns the end of your life, no matter what anyone would say I will stand with you on this. I think you’re entitled to run the show the way you want it,” he joked with a weak smile.

“Thank you,” Leona said as she reached over and patted his arm. “Somehow I just knew you would be on my side.”

Pastor Jim looked worried. “Always, dear lady. This is upsetting to me to say the least. How is your family taking the news?”

With averted eyes, Leona said, “They don’t know yet.”

“What! Your daughters need to be told. You should do that soon, before they hear the news from someone else,” Pastor Jim cautioned.

“I will. So far the people that know, I told to keep this to themselves until I’ve had time to tell my family. I’m dreading that so much, but I plan to tell them right after Thanksgiving is over.

Arlene will want to smother me with kindness or boss me around. Diane will be a basket case that we’ll all have to take care of. So why spoil the last holiday we’ll have together for the rest of the family,” Leona explained.

Pastor Jim nodded. “I understand that, but you’ve been their rock for all these years. This will seem like a sudden blow to your daughters and hard for the whole family to absorb for a while. I guess you will not be able to come to church soon. Where will I find you for visits? The farm?”

“No, my health will decline fast. I’ll need medical care very soon, and I don’t want to burden my daughters and their families. Right after Thanksgiving, I’m moving into The Willows, a hospice house on the outskirts of town. Come there to see me whenever you have time.”

Pastor Jim took a deep breath before he spoke. “Can I borrow your bible? I didn’t realize there would be a need to bring mine with me from the parsonage just to lock the church door.”

Leona handed her worn thin bible to him.

“Let’s pray,” he said, already bowing his head.

She glanced out the window. The wind moaned a wailing cry as it whipped around the building, churning the snow into a furious haze. She needed to head for home right away. All she left home with was her handbag, and a prayer that this winter day would go well. She wasn’t sure that would be enough to guarantee her a safe return home the way the storm had intensified. Other winters, she had always put an emergency supply kit in the car, but she hadn’t gone to the bother this time.

“I appreciate the prayer, but you know you don’t have to pray for me right this minute. I’ve accepted what is coming, and I certainly do expect you to be by my side to bolster me later on when I weaken,” Leona insisted.

Gripping her bible in his hands, Pastor Jim said, “And I will be very glad to be there anytime you need me, dear lady. Just bear with me this once. I’m not only praying for you. I have to pray for strength for me so that I will be able to help you. I’m not going to be able to take your news too well until I get used to it,” he said, his eyes a misty blur.

Leona laid a frail, blue veined hand on the pastor’s strong one. She said with a touch of humor, “Can you make it a short one, Pastor? I need to head for home soon. Like you said the roads will be slick. You see I can’t die in a car wreck today. I haven’t finished all the arrangements for my funeral yet, and I still have to complete the rest of my bucket list.”

A few minutes later, Leona turned off the tree lined street and drove down Main Street. She noticed the last minute shopper hustle that always went on the day before Thanksgiving. Almost every parking place had a vehicle in it. That wouldn’t change now until after Christmas shopping was over.

Loretta Abbas hustled along the sidewalk, her arms loaded with bags. She stopped by her car and looked up as Leona drove by. Loretta fumbled with her car door, got it opened, set the bags on the back seat and managed to wave at Leona all in a heartbeat.

Loretta was probably in a hurry to get home before dark, too. Seeing the woman was a reminder that Leona needed to call her. She wanted Loretta to head up a coat and clothes drive from one year to the next for the Indian Settlement. If Loretta turned her down, maybe the woman would be kind enough to find someone that did have time to volunteer.

Suddenly, Leona felt maudlin about not being able enjoy the Christmas holiday. She had always looked forward to Arlene and Diane’s yearly visit right after Thanksgiving. They spent a day with her, putting up the tree and decorating the house just like they did when they were children.

Leona relished buying just the right gift for each member of the family and baking Christmas cut out cookies with the grandchildren. She made a large amount of fudge and divinity so the girls could take a box home. After a few failed attempts over the years, Arlene and Diane gave up trying to make candy. They told her they would rather enjoy the candy she made.

The effort Leona put forth to make the holiday special for her girls and their families when they came home had always been a labor of love.

After this, the girls and their families would have to make due with special memories from this Thanksgiving. She wouldn’t be doing anything about Christmas except taking care of her bucket list if it wasn’t done by then.

Suddenly, Leona realized she was coming up to the grocery store parking lot. If she was going to make pumpkin pies, she needed more milk and eggs. Leona stepped on the brakes and fishtailed. She negotiated the turn into the parking lot and realized the lot was full of cars. Near the entry door, Leona spotted an empty handicap parking spot. She shouldn’t park there. She wasn’t legally able to, but she considered this an exception. She had to be careful. Falling on the slick concrete and breaking a hip wouldn’t enhance her Thanksgiving plans.

Luckily, Leona found one shopping cart left in the corral. She grabbed it and took off for the milk and egg section. By staying in the middle of the aisles, she dodged past the other shoppers, lingering along the sides.

There weren’t too many jugs of milk left. Leona put one in her cart. She thought better of that and picked up another. Her grandchildren drank milk. She was reaching for an egg carton when someone tapped her shoulder.

Leona turned and found her son-in-law, Steve, grinning at her. “Fancy meeting you here, Leona.”

“I guess. Looks like most of the town is in here right now. I was lucky to find one shopping cart not in use.”

Steve nodded agreement. “Me, too. So about ready for the big day tomorrow?”

“You bet and looking forward to every minute of it,” Leona assured him.

“I thought you might be.” Steve turned serious. “Leona, how you feeling these days?”

Leona questioned sharply, “Where did that come from?”

“My secretary said she saw you coming out of Dr. Crane’s office last week.” Steve shrugged. “Arlene hasn’t mention you not feeling well so I thought I should ask.”

Leona fumbled around with the egg carton, trying to find just the right place for it in the cart.

“Leona, are you stalling?”

“I might be,” Leona said stiffly.

Steve came along side her cart so he could see her face. “There is something wrong, isn’t there?”

“Steve, you’re a dear to worry about me. I plan on talking to Arlene and Diane right after Thanksgiving about my doctor visit. Can you keep what your gossiping secretary saw to yourself until then?”

Steve grinned. “Sure.”

“Promise me. I know how hard it is to keep from telling Arlene something like this, but this is important to me,” Leona implored.

“All right, I promise, but only until after Thanksgiving. I might break my promise if Arlene doesn’t get an explanation from you soon,” Steve said earnestly.

“Now aren’t you the hard taskmaster,” Leona teased.

Steve shrugged. “I’m just concerned about you. Is there anything I can do for you until you talk to Arlene?”

“Just enjoy tomorrow with me,” Leona said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll handle the rest in my own good time.”

“Fine, but like I said make it soon. You’re right. I don’t like keeping secrets from Arlene. You know, driving isn’t great tonight. Out in the country it has to be hard to see where you’re going. You want me to take you home? We could leave your car in the parking lot, and Jason could drive it out tomorrow as we come,” Steve suggested.

“Certainly not. If it’s hard driving now, then you would have to come back to town by yourself. It will probably be even worse after dark. I don’t want to have to worry about you making it home.

I’ll be careful. This isn’t my first experience at driving on slick roads you know,” Leona chided. “Now I best get to the checkout lines. Might be a long wait for my turn. See you in the morning.”

Mrs. Pestkey’s Cat Knew-Renee Brown Mystery-book 5

via Mrs. Pestkey’s Cat Knew-Renee Brown Mystery-book 5

Christmas Traditions- An Amish Christmas story

via Christmas Traditions- An Amish Christmas story

Christmas With Hover Hill

November is here, and holiday books are in the stores. I have one I thought might interests readers. The title is Christmas With Hover Hill. Set in a fictional small town in southern Iowa, this book is humorous, romantic and even a little weird with the presences of an obnoxious house servant named Hover Hill.

Look in Amazon and Barnes and Noble for the paperback in regular and large print, and kindle, nook and smashwords for the ebook.

Here is the synopsis for the book

Elizabeth Winston grew up not caring about Christmas. This Christmas is going to be much worse than the holidays she and her brother, Scott, shared with her divorced parents. Her former boyfriend, Steven Mitchell, showed up to pester her about renewing their relationship now that his marriage has ended and Elizabeth vows that is not going to happen. Elizabeth always looks forward to sharing Christmas with her brother, Scott, but he says he won’t be able to spend Christmas with her this year. He has a business trip. His present for her is an expensive and obnoxious robot house man by the name of Hover Hill that he says will make life easier for his sister. Just her luck to be stuck with a mechanical man to share the holidays with. To make matters worse, Elizabeth is fit to be tied when she figures out the robot was planted by ex-boyfriend Steven Mitchell to brainwash her into taking him back. Her brother, Scott, betrayed her when he helped Steven by saying the robot was his gift. She’s so mad at both men she slips out of town, taking Steven’s expensive robot with her and leaving her old life behind only to walk into a new set of problems. She just wanted to hide out for six months, but that isn’t easy in small Wickenburg, Iowa. Gossip about her flies faster than the rumors that come out of the Silver Dollar Tavern. Susie, at the Maidrite Diner, bragged to her customers she got a good look at the handsome man that Elizabeth is shacking up with. The minster’s wife complained local farmer, Bud Carter, hasn’t been to church for a month of Sundays. She wondered what his problem was. Holly, from the Antique Store, said the reason why is Bud’s spending more time at the pretty newcomer’s house than he is his place. The grocery store checker said Elizabeth acts nervous like she’s hiding out from someone. If Steven Mitchell or her brother comes to town looking for her, with all the attention Elizabeth is getting now, she fears all they have to do is ask, and they can get directions from anyone in town to the old Carter house before she makes it through Christmas With Hover Hill.

My husband and I were at the Kalona, Iowa salebarn one time during a carriage auction, and I spotted the Cinderella coach I used on the cover of this book. I would never have believed that such a thing existed, but there it was. I never knew the story behind that carriage but have always been on the lookout for book cover pictures. Most of the time, I don’t know what book I will use the picture on until much later. When I was writing Christmas with Hover Hill and cynical Elizabeth Winston tells handsome farmer, Bud Carter, she doesn’t believe in fairy tale romances, it made perfect sense to me that the Cinderella coach was the perfect cover for the story. Of course, I added the bows to make the coach festive for the holiday when it plays a part in the story.

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Sideways Cat

This is just one of the animal stories I put in one of my Nurse Hal Among The Amish books.

If I had paraskevidekatriaphobia, a word I can’t pronounce, which happens on Friday the 13th during a full moon, I’d have sent Harold to shut the chickens up Friday night. Weather man says it will be 30 years before Friday the 13th and a full moon happen on the same night. So it is a circumstance so rare we rarely hear of anyone who had bad luck.

I’m just glad I didn’t miss the pleasant, late summer evening which reminds me how much I love living where we do. Sideways cat was waiting on the back door step as usual to escort me to the chicken house. I didn’t bother to tell her I found my way there and back all last week without her when she took off on vacation. I’d wondered what she was up to and supposed she was looking for better living conditions than a barn and plenty of cat food handy. Since she’s back, I suspect she found we are the only ones in the neighborhood that doesn’t have dogs. Besides, the cat food buffet is open all the time in our barn.

It was a cool 65 degrees and no wind at seven forty five. In the middle of June, I had to wait until nine twenty. I imagine the farmers started the saying going to bed with the chickens back in the day when they worked from dawn to dusk without the aid of headlights. At dusk, it’s bedtime for chickens no matter what a clock says, and at daylight, the roosters are crowing let us out. For some reason, that night Odd Man roosted under the bench on the front porch. He may have had a narrow escape from a raccoon or possum, or he has paraskevidekatriaphobia and was just playing it safe by hiding.

The peaceful quiet clued me in that I no longer heard the deafening buzz o f locusts. I’m not missing the demise of those fortune tellers of cold weather. What I did notice was the peeper frogs, that sing in a high pitch choir each spring to tell us warm weather is coming, have now moved from the pine tree grove into the hayfield. I don’t know what they are trying to tell us about fall. I understand these inch and a half frogs can be heard from a mile away. I believe it, and the song is not nearly as pretty when the tiny frog is giving a distress call by our upstairs bedroom door in the middle of the night, but that’s another story.

Sideways cat stopped to get a drink out of the chicken trough while I shut the hen house door. Being an escort for me must be thirsty work. She watched me come toward her and went through the gate hole ahead of me, headed for the house. To the west, the sun had disappeared over the fiery horizon, and to the east, peeking over the corn field was the amber full moon that kept the night lit for all the chicken predators.

We passed under the butternut tree just as a sparrow let out a loud cheep and rustled leaves as it settled down to roost. I’m thinking it was a sparrow anyway. All the pretty song birds have migrated already. Sideways cat twisted her neck, turned her head over as only she can do and stared into the tree with her tail twitching, but she kept going. Once we reached the back door, her job was done. She turned and headed back to the tree, thinking she might get a snack on her night hunt now that the sparrow was in his roosting stupor. She has learned her lesson. This is a safer hunt than the ones in the ditches or on the road.

Why do I call her Sideways Cat. It’s because her head, cocked sideways, is always in front of my left foot and her back end is in front of my right foot. Harold thought maybe on one of her night hunts a couple of years ago she was hit by a car. I’m never sure which direction to go around her so she doesn’t trip me. It’s safer to let her she lead and I follow.

The Book Promotion I Didn’t Plan

via The Book Promotion I Didn’t Plan

Latest Amish Book in the Nurse Hal series out soon

[image error]Working hard on the editing now and will be ready to publish very soon. Thought you might like to see another chapter in the book. A few months ago I posted Chapter One. Here is Chapter Three.

Chapter Three

Lawyer Walter Lundene parked at the Lapp hitch rack in front of the house. He hopped out of his open carriage and walked to the house with Biscuit yapping at his heels. The man’s straw hat was tilted to the side of his head, and he wore his Sunndaag for-gute clothes. The ends of his brown bowl-cut hair waved in the breeze as he hurried.

Hal opened the door. “Biscuit, stop that barking recht now.”

The dog tucked his tail between his legs and slinked around to the end of the porch to curl up for a nap.

“Come in, Lawyer. It’s always nice to see you. Been a while since you’ve visited.”

The round-faced man in his forties nodded. “Jah, that it has been, sure enough.”

Hal led the way to the kitchen and waved toward a chair at the table. “Care for a cup of coffee, Lawyer.”

“Nah, I’m on my way to Wickenburg on business. I just stopped to pass a message on from Adalheida Wasser. She stopped by my place this morning and asked me to tell you she has not felt gute lately. She would like you to make a house call.”

“I have planned to go see her one day this week. The poor woman has felt bad for some time I’ll bet and just got tired of trying to tough it out. She’s missed three Sunday worship services. Bishop Bontrager brought it to my attention. He’s worried about her. I will go this afternoon.”

After Lawyer Lundene left, Hal hurried to fix the noon meal. As soon as the family prayed, Hal passed a bowl of fried potatoes to John while she spoke to the children. “You know what, girls and Johnnie? This afternoon we’re going to your grossdawdi and mammi’s house. I have to make a house call on Adalheida Wasser. I need Mammi to watch baby Marvin for me. You can visit with Dawdi, Mammi and Aendi Tootie if she isn’t napping.”

“Joy, too?” Redbird said excitedly in her high-pitched voice.

“Nah, I plan to take Joy with me on this house call,” explained Hal.

“Ach!” Redbird and Beth said together, disappointed.

“You will have plenty of time to visit with Joy when we get back from the house call. Besides, you always have Dawdi to play with. He’s fun, ain’t so?” Hal encouraged.

Johnnie piped up loudly, “Jah, that is for certain and sure.”

The girls slowly shook their heads as though they weren’t too sure how much fun they would have without Joy.

That afternoon, the bleat of sheep penned in Jim Lindstrom’s barn was deafening. As Hal drove her enclosed buggy to the hitch rack, the noise gave her the idea where she might find Joy.

Her short brown hair feathered with gray scattered in the breeze about her face as Nora Lindstrom, stepped outside onto the back porch stoop. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, “Get out and come in.”

Hal stepped down and waited for Redbird, Beth and Johnnie to disembark. She reached behind the seat and pulled the carrier out that held her chubby baby. His eyes widened in fright as he listened to the loud noises coming from the barn.

“Don’t worry, baby. We’re going into Mammi’s house. It will be quiet in there,” Hal cooed. “Come on, kinner. Let’s go visit with Mammi.”

They were almost to the porch when Hal noticed Tootie stalking across the yard from her house. The short, stocky woman had her hands fisted by her sides and a grim look on her face. Her latest perm made her silver hair a mass of short, white curls.

“Hi, Aunt Tootie,” Hal greeted cheerily.

“Good afternoon,” Tootie grunted.

“Come on in, everyone.” Nora held the door and followed them into the kitchen. “It’s always nice to have company. Any special reason, Hal?”

“As a matter of fact, I have to make a house call on Adalheida Wasser. Her neighbor, Walter Lundene, stopped by early this morning. He told me Adalheida made it as far as his farm to ask him to send for me because she isn’t feeling well. Can the kids stay here with you?”

“Of course they can. I’m always happy to have a visit with my grandchildren,” Nora declared. “Can you at least have a cup of coffee with Tootie and me before you go?”

Hal sat down at the table, and Tootie took a chair beside her. “Jah, I will take long enough to do that. I wanted to take Joy with me to visit with Adalheida if she finishes soon with whatever she’s doing in the barn. I think Joy will get a kick out of Adalheida.” She said to her red-headed girl. “Redbird, go back to the buggy, please, and bring in the baby’s cradle.” The little girl headed for the back door as Hal took the baby out of the carrier. She sat down and propped the baby up on her lap which made him happy. He batted his hands at the air and coo.

Johnnie and Beth rushed to follow Redbird.

“Stop right there. You two stay here. I don’t want you going near that barn,” Hal said sternly. She focused on her mother. “There are two bottles and diapers in the cradle. That should be enough for Marvin until I get back. If not, Mom, warm him some of your cow’s milk.”

“I can handle that.” Nora nodded as she poured each of them a cup of coffee. “I have lemonade in the refrigerator. You kids want a glass?”

“Jah,” they said in unison as they climbed into chairs on the back side of the table.

“What’s going on in the barn?” Hal asked, taking hold of her cup.

Nora handed Tootie the other one and went back for the other drinks. “Jim and Joy are worming her sheep. The ewes don’t like being crowded into a corner. They have a fit every time they have to be wormed.” She sat the lemonades in place and went back to the counter.

“I figured as much. I go through the same thing at my house. John holds them while I dispense the wormer into their mouths. Anyway, I wanted to see if Joy would like to visit Adalheida with me. I think Joy would enjoy getting to know her better.”

Nora returned with a cup of coffee for herself and a glass of lemonade she set in front of an empty chair for Redbird. “When she came after her peacock last fall, Adalheida Wasser wasn’t here long enough for Joy to get to know her. Seems to me, Adalheida and Joy have a lot of interests in common since they are both animal lovers.”

The porch door slammed behind Redbird as she struggled with the wooden cradle. She set it on the floor near Hal and took the empty seat at the table with the lemonade waiting for her.

“Denki, Redbird,” Hal said.

Nora patted her granddaughter’s hand. “You are such a good helper, Redbird.” She licked her lips and said to Hal, “It would be good for Joy to do something different to perk her up, let me tell you. That girl hasn’t been anywhere except to church in Wickenburg with us for months.”

“It has been that bad?”

“Yes, she quit going to the singings late last fall when Jimmie Miller showed up at one of them. She said she couldn’t stand seeing him act so standoffish like it was her fault they weren’t dating. He acted as if he doesn’t know his stepfather, Samuel Nisely, was the one who intervened,” Nora declared.

“I see. Well, Adalheida is no substitute for Jimmie, but maybe Joy will like her. Might do Adalheida some good, too, since she isn’t feeling well to have our bubbly Joy around. Though I doubt the Plain community Wise Woman ever lacks for company.” Hal peered at Nora and Tootie before she took a sip of coffee. “Either of you farm women have a surefire way to get a rat out of the basement?”

“Never gave that much thought since it hasn’t happened to me,” Nora said.

Hal glanced back at Tootie. The elderly woman shuddered and shook her head.

Nora said flatly, “I take it you have a rat in your basement.”

“Ach, jah! A big one.” Hal proceeded to tell them her story about the rat’s Houdini escapes from John’s live traps.

Nora chuckled. “I know this isn’t funny to you, dear, but the thought of you hoping rock-hard cornbread hit the rat and killed him is funny.”

“Every time I think about that rat flying through mid-air my heart palpitates, I can tell you. I had a frantic rat going wild in the basement with me, and it was too dark to see where he was. I raced up those last three steps as fast as I could.” Hal patted her chest. “John has given me four different traps to try and still no luck. I’m using the last trap John has. Right now I have a pan of pop near the trap, because that’s supposed to kill the rat if he drinks it. I’ve baited the trap with sweet potato chunks and marshmallows. Threw five marshmallows in the last time, thinking that would give me five chances for the rat to throw the trap. He hasn’t been in the trap since as far as I can tell, but my two toads are missing. If he ate them, he probably isn’t hungry right now.”

Tootie harrumphed. “That rat will be too smart to go in another trap after what he went through to escape the first one. He may have a good stomach ache about now. Remember how sick that toad Old Man ate made my poor dog.”

“I thought of that, and I know the rat is going to be harder to catch. That’s why I need other ideas about how to get rid of him,” Hal declared.

“I’ll tell you one thing. I wouldn’t have gone near the first trap the rat was in. You should have sent John down after him. He couldn’t have gotten me to walk up the basement steps carrying that trap. Not in a million years. Once that rat escaped, John would have heard a lot of screaming from me if I didn’t pass out and fall down the steps,” Tootie declared.

“Ach, I did scream. Loud enough that John and the kids could hear me from outside. They came running to see what happened to me,” Hal declared.

“You should refuse to go to the basement until John catches the rat. That’s what I would do,” Nora declared.

“I had the feeling if I waited for John to do something, the rat might gnaw his way through somewhere and be upstairs with us. I just have to catch him. I’m tired of trying to outsmart a rat,” Hal said desperately.

“You go get him. Show that rat who is boss,” declared her broad-shouldered father, standing in the doorway with Joy right behind him.

The women twisted that direction as Jim put his John Deere cap on a peg and combed his fingers through his thick gray hair.

Nora said, “How long have you two been standing there?”

Joy grinned. “We thought it sounded like an interesting conversation going on in here so we slipped in so as not to interrupt Hallie.”

“I don’t suppose either of you have any other ideas on catching a rat?” Hal asked.

“Nope, but we wish you luck in catching him. Sounds like you could teach that rat some Houdini escape tricks and go on the road with him,” Jim suggested, winking at the kids.

“Good idea, Uncle Jim,” Joy exclaimed. “I can see the poster now. Houdini The Rat Escapes Cages.”

“Can I have the rat if you catch him?” Johnnie’s eyes lit up as he focused on his grandfather and Joy.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Joy declared. “I’d help you train the rat, Johnnie.”

“Dad and Joy, this is not the gute sort of ideas for the rat that should be put before these suggestive ears. Nah, Johnnie, you aren’t going to keep a rat for a pet. See what you have started, Dad. You and your bright ideas,” Hal retorted.

Nora frowned. “I might add I don’t want Joy training a rat anywhere around us, either. Next thing I know it would be taking up space on a chair at this table like the skunk, Sweet Pea, did. Jim, coffee pot is on the stove, and Joy, a cup of chocolate is ready in the microwave. All you have to do is push the on spot.”

Hal scanned Tootie a second as her aunt stared into her cup. “Say, you’ve been really quiet, Aunt Tootie. Is something wrong?”

Tootie’s head shot up. “I have a big problem, too.”

Nora sighed as she set her cup down. “Here it comes. I just knew it. You never have coffee with me in the afternoon. This is your nap time. What is it this time?”

Tootie licked her lips. “Bernice Wittstone.”

“I didn’t know you still keep in touch with her. What about her?” Nora asked wearily.

“She’s coming from Algona for a visit, and I’m trying to think where I can hide out until she leaves.” Tootie eyed Hal. “Could I stay at your house?”

Nora’s eyes narrowed as she ordered, “You cannot. Bernice is your friend, after all. If you didn’t have the nerve to tell her not to come, you have to entertain her.”

Hal turned to her mother. “Do I know this woman?”

Nora nodded. “Bernice Wittstone is tall and rawboned with a pearl white hairdo which is always without a hair out of place. She used to go to church with us in Titonka. Bernice was always the head of every church committee. She gave the orders. She let everyone else do the work, then she took the credit.”

“Jah, I think this woman is coming back to me now.” Hal nodded.

“Bernice’s daughter was the one who kept Joy until Nora sent for her,” Tootie added.

“So if she’s a friend, why are you wanting to disappear?” Hal asked.

“I didn’t say she was my friend. I just tried to be nice to her so we would all get along in the women’s church group,” Tootie corrected.

“Why is Bernice coming here of all places out of the blue like this?” Nora quizzed.

“She called this morning supposedly to see how Joy is doing. We talked a while. Finally, she said she missed me. I guessed she would since I was one of the committee doing all the work,” grumbled Tootie. “So to be polite, I said that was too bad. Just to be nice I said I missed her, too, but not much I could do about it. I wasn’t coming to Titonka any time soon. The next words out of her mouth were she’d get on a bus and be here in a couple of days. I was speechless. By the time I got my wits about me, she had hung up.”

“I’m sure Bernice won’t stay too long. Suck it up and be nice to her while she’s here,” Nora said.

“What am I going to do with her in my small house? I certainly don’t want to share my small bed with her,” Tootie wailed.

Jim chuckled as he sat down. “Doubt Bernice would be too keen anyway on sleeping with Old Man in your bed.”

Tootie brightened up. “How about Bernice sleeps over here with you and Nora?”

Nora let go with an exasperated sigh. “We don’t have any extra beds. You know very well we didn’t get furniture for the two empty rooms upstairs since we don’t use them.”

“Go buy a bed and stick it in one of the rooms,” ordered Tootie.

“No, why would I do that for just a one-time use for someone who is your company,” Nora said shortly.

Tootie put a hand on Hal’s shoulder. “Hallie, can she stay at your house?”

“Ach! Aunt Tootie that wouldn’t work. She is your friend, and she came to visit with you. Besides, all my beds are full of children.”

Jim spoke up. “I have an idea. Why don’t you buy a small couch that makes into a bed? I can always move the two rockers to the porch while she’s here, or you can squeeze them in some place in your house.”

Nora smiled at Jim and Hal, thinking her lazy sister was just trying to get out of taking care of company. “I think that is a great idea, Tootie. Tomorrow Jim can take us to the furniture store in Wickenburg. You pick out a couch bed for the store to deliver tomorrow afternoon. They will do the heavy lifting. That way Bernice will have a place to sleep at your house when she gets here the next day.”

Tootie was backed into a corner, and she knew it. In a few minutes, she finished her coffee. Grumpily, she said she was going home to take her nap.

After Hal and Joy left to go to the Wasser farm, Jim asked the children if they wanted a tour of the animals. Of course, they did. It was always fun to go see what was new at their grandfather’s farm.

Jim showed the children a litter of new kittens in the barn hay manger. Over in a dark corner was Joy’s hen, Carole Lombard. She bristled up and growled when the group of strange humans came near.

“What’s wrong with the hen?” Redbird asked, stepping behind her grandfather.

“She just hatched a dozen chicks a week ago. She’s afraid someone or some animal is going to hurt them,” Dawdi Jim explained. “Let’s go see the lambs and leave her alone.”

After the tour, Jim took the three children back to the house. Nora was sitting at the table, talking to baby Marvin on her lap and listening to him coo back to her.

“The kids had the tour, and now I have to go check the pasture fence. They will have to stay with you,” Jim told her.

“Could I go help you?” Johnnie asked.

“No, denki anyway. I better handle this alone,” Jim said, ruffling up the boy’s brown, bowl-cut hair.

After Jim left, the kids sat down at the table, looking bored. “Mammi, do you have anything for us to do?” Beth asked.

“I was thinking about that while you were outside. It is close to Easter, and we have plenty of eggs. Want to color a bunch to hide? I already have them boiled.”

“Jah,” came three collective assents.

“You three be all right doing this alone while I go change and feed baby Marvin in the bedroom?” asked Nora, placing Marvin in his cradle.

“Jah,” Redbird said.

Nora set three bowls of colored liquid made from different vegetables on the table, a bowl of boiled eggs and three empty bowls. She put paper towels in front of them and laid the roll on the table to clean up messes.

“What pretty colors,” Redbird declared.

“How did you make the blue, pink and green colors?” Beth asked.

“I used natural dye from vegetables,” Nora explained. She picked up the baby’s cradle. She planned to leave him in it for a nap after she finished taking care of him. Maybe in the quiet bedroom he’d take a nap.“ Have fun.”

Once the eggs were all colored and drying on paper towels, Johnnie said, “We have some color left in our bowls. What do we do with it?”

“We should throw it outside,” Beth said.

“That’s not a gute idea. You know Mama says we should never throw away anything usable,” Redbird scolded.

“Recht, but what do we use the dye for?” Beth asked.

Redbird’s face brightened up. “You remember Mama told us the stores used to sell baby chicks colored with dye? Why can’t we dye Joy’s chicks and surprise her for Easter?”

“That sounds like fun. Let’s go do it while Mammi is taking care of Marvin,” Johnnie said.

The sounds coming from the hen weren’t any friendlier when she spotted the kids at the barn door. The kids set their bowls in the grass outside the door so they wouldn’t spill the dye while they caught the chicks.

As Johnnie walked slowly toward the hen, she growled and fluffed her feathers out. Johnnie kept getting closer. The hen stood up and screeched a warning for him to leave. When the boy didn’t stop, the hen came at him with her head lowered and wings spread out. Johnnie raced back toward the girls. Carole was right behind him, growling loudly. Redbird spotted a 5 gallon bucket nearby. She reached for it. The hen jumped up at Johnnie, trying to spur him. He cried out and fell backward. Redbird came from behind him and turned the bucket upside down over the hen.

The bucket rocked as the hen tried to turn it over. Quickly, Beth sat on the bucket to keep it in place.

Johnnie breathed a sigh of relief. “That hinkel is angry for sure and certain.”

“We should catch the chicks and get them dyed recht quick so we can let her loose,” Redbird said.

Beth agreed. “Jah, the hinkel might hurt herself the way she is beating her wings against the bucket.”

So the chase was on to find all twelve of the chicks. They had scattered like baby quail and burrowed into the loose hay on the barn floor. Redbird hunted up a 4 gallon pail in the feed room to set the chicks in. Once they had all twelve chicks, Redbird and Johnnie brought the bowls in and set them by Beth’s feet. For a few minutes, they were busy dunking scared, peeping chicks in the bowls of dye.

The angry sounds Carole Lombard made when she heard her chicks cheeping were muffled by the bucket.

After all the soppy chicks scurried back to hide under loose hay on the floor again, Beth stacked the empty bowls and stood up.

The bucket vibrated as the mad hen flogged the sides.

Redbird said, “Head for the door and run when I turn over the bucket. Hopefully, the hinkel goes back to her chicks instead of chasing us.”

Without looking back, Hal’s children ran for the house. They stopped on the steps and looked back. In the barn, they could hear the hen clucking to gather up her chicks. Their plan had worked.

A Western I like – The Last Way Station

The Last Way Station by Kent Conwell has all the elements of a good western and written more like the older western stories. Three men, one half white-half Apache, an Apache brother and a rough elderly man they consider their father figure looking for a place to build a way station for stagecoaches. The Mormon settlement looks good, but the old man is arrested for murder. Thinking the real killer is in a gang of cattle thieves that stole the Mormon cattle, the two brothers set off on a wild wilderness journey to bring back the cattle and the real killer before their friend is hung.

Odd Man Out Rooster

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We hatch our chickens each year, plus we never weed out any older hens so we have grandmothers and great grandmothers. Not real productive, but fun to watch when they fly out of the hen house and spread out to look for bugs. Since we never know when we’ll lose a chicken to a predator, our practice is to save two roosters with the pullets and put the rest in the freezer. By having two roosters when the wild critters roam, we have a fifty-fifty chance one survives the summer to produce chicks. Last spring, we caught the pullets and two roosters in the chicken room in our hay loft and put them in the hen house. Every two years we change roosters to ensure good hatches. A few weeks later, I’m doing chores and enjoying a nearby rooster crow Good Morning. After a closer look, I spotted the crower, a small chicken which I thought was a pullet. I’m thinking I never heard of a pullet that crows. Oh, no, it’s a rooster. We didn’t need an extra rooster. Two usually battle out their territories, select their girlfriends and go their separate ways. I debated catching Odd Man Out, but the other two roosters didn’t mind him so why should I. What a difference a year makes. By this spring the cocky little bird filled out some. The other roosters must have just realized he wasn’t a pullet. He had the nerve to woe some of the hens away from the larger roosters. It didn’t go over well for him when the roosters ganged up on him. After some rough cock fights which Odd Man didn’t win, he still refused to give up his rights to procreate. The other two roosters punished him by banning him from the chicken house at roost time. So Odd Man has learned his place around here. Even though his life is in danger at night, he sleeps in the barn. He even convinced one hen to feel sorry for him and join him. Each morning, he crows loudly while it’s safe to boast to his competitors that he’s still here. It’s easy to be brave when the other roosters are shut in the hen house while this place is his domain. His hen follows behind him on a bug hunt, waiting for his Come Here cluck. All that bravado fades the minute the chicken door opens. Odd Man hides in the barn. As soon as he thinks it’s safe he sneaks into the hen house to eat corn. The roosters usually are on watch for him and chase Odd Man from the chicken yard. Like the chicken house, it’s evidently off limits. The rest of the day he and his hen hides out in the front yard like in a game of hide and seek, he repeatedly crows, “Find me if you can.”

The story you just read is true. Some day, I might need a story to add to my farm scenes in my Amish books. This one will be filed away for future use.

Listen To Me Honey by Fay Risner

Back in 1989, my husband and I drove from Iowa down to Thayer, Missouri on the Arkansas line to visit his parents, Minnie and Henry Risner. They had been raise in area. It was home, but in 1958, the family moved to Iowa where jobs were easy to find. After the four children grew up, my husband’s parents were home sick for Arkansas so they moved to Thayer for four years. The old country church wasn’t being used much although at the time it was supposed to be the voting place and community center. Wanting to turn back the clock, Minnie and Henry started church at Pleasant Valley again. They didn’t have a big congregation so Minnie acted as a lay preacher. Minnie’s mother led the singing. Henry kept the fire going during the service. Those that came took turns providing a lunch at their homes.

I wrote a short story for a contest about that church service in the country church. Later I added the short story to a novella I wrote called Listen To Me Honey. This story brought back memories for people who lived in the area years ago when the congregation was a large one. One such reader asked me to send her another book. She is donating it to the local library in Salam because the church is on the cover, and because the theme is an Arkansas one. How neat is that, having my book in the library. So here is the cover and the synopsis for the book. It is sold on Amazon and Barnes and Noble if you want to read the story.

 

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Synopsis for Listen To Me Honey

Eighth grader, Amanda Craftton bent to peer pressure. She slipped away from school at lunch time with her friends. They went to the mall to get tattoos. Afterward, one of the friends invites the girls to go home with her to sample a beer. The time got away from them, making them late for math class. The teacher sent them to the principal’s office for a tardy slip. The principal smelled beer on the girls’ breath and suspended the girls from school for the last six weeks of the term. Amanda’s parents don’t seem to be able to make Amanda understand what she did was wrong. Her mother, Iris, decides to send Amanda south to Arkansas. She has to live with her grandparents on their farm for the summer in Pleasant Valley without many modern conveniences. Amanda’s parents hope the elderly couple’s no nonsense ways will teach Amanda a better path to follow. Living with her grandparents, Amanda certainly knows when she goofs, because Grandma Tansy is quick with a lecture that starts “Listen to me, Honey.”

So if you are interested pick up a copy and enjoy,

Fay Risner