Today we went to an attorney’s office. The attorney had drawn up a trust. The land here is now in that trust and protected from being sold out from under me to pay for a nursing home or medical bills. Instead it will go to this man, Loyal Hunter. Who is he? Well, he came here and lived with us and learned from us almost a decade ago (photo from that time). He left to …
In sorting through old photos, I have been discovering who I was before I met Ken, who I was before I moved to Turtle Lake, who I was before most of the people who know me now as Mrs Keppers or the Widow Keppers had ever met me. I liked to dress up. I loved to tell stories and “hold court” as a current younger friend calls it And I loved to flirt. And dance. …
Oscar is the third farm dog here. He is now ten years old, and moving toward retirement. In the past we got a pup when the working dog turned ten; the older dog helped train the younger one. But with Loyal’s older dog here, and my desire to travel, it doesn’t seem right to get a pup Oscar has seen many changes: he lost Ken, his main person, adapted to Loyal and his dog, Pilgrim’s …
When I got my stimulus check, I recalled something Ken said often. “Each cent you spend is a vote for the future.” So I thought about what I could do after paying off a couple bills. First a local artist who does wood cuts: Emily Gray Koehler Then another wood cut artist in Vermont: Mary Azarian I bought some socks from Maggie’s and some underwear from Decent Exposures. These are all women owned businesses. Next …
Meet Chainsaw Betty. She is not too excited about learning her craft, and therefore is none too polite. This morning as she headed out the front door with her Stihl, a small expensive car came up the drive – past the closed sign. A passenger window slid down and a woman called out., “Are you closed?” Betty replied, “Can you read?” Then Judith resurfaced and said, “Look, my husband died and I am no longer …
Since Ken died I have reigned in my near rabid reaction to “So sorry for your loss.” A friend asked why it bothers me so much. Here is a portion from that near rant. “So sorry for your loss” is a trite phrase: so often repeated that it is now as meaningless to me as the yellow smiley face with “Have a nice Day ” emblazoned under it. I hesitated to post Ken’s death on …
