The Founding of the Homeplace - Story 1, The Trek, Part 4

The Founding of the Homeplace

Story 1, The Trek, Part 4

"The Founding of the Homeplace" saga will continue here on the first and third Friday of each month, going forward. See Part 1 and Part 2 earlier. This is a serial presentation of the story, beginning in 1833, when four families decided to settle the land, the valley, that would become the setting of the first two books in the The Homeplace Series: "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" as well as the forthcoming third book in the series, "The Homeplace Forever." These three books are set in the years 1987, 1996, and 2006, respectively. The underlying premise of this trilogy is the desire of the family matriarch to retain the family farm in the southern Missouri Ozarks in whole and in the family. 

[Source: Currier & Ives, “Home in the wilderness,” c1870; Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov : accessed 31 Dec 2012)]

Characters in the trilogy become actively involved in the study of their family history and snippets of that research appear, from time to time through the trilogy (one example). This serial presentation begins to share that ‘research’ in Story Form, and, some of the Stories represent 'writings of the family' that were ‘discovered’ in the process of that research. Each Story is an essay or report of the activities of the initial four families and their descendants that settled the Homeplace – the farm and the surrounding valley.

Story 1, The Trek to the Homeplace

In this episode, we share "Part 4 of 4"

The weather continued to hold, cool and breezy, on day two so they got another early start. A few dark clouds could be seen in the west, but they were not threatening as the little caravan moved up, down and around the hills through day two. They all followed their same routine through the evening of day two, except they were careful where they made their campfire and got out the canvas tents to sleep under because it appeared they would have rain before morning. And they did. The storm arrived around four am and was filled with thunder, lightning, wind and heavy rain that lasted into mid-morning. They did not attempt to break camp but stayed hunkered down with regular inspections of all their equipment, and the animals, to be sure nothing was being damaged by the storm. 

As they were familiar with Ozarks storms, they were not surprised when the sun came out as soon as the storm had passed. Henry walked ahead on the path a ways to be sure it appeared passable as the others broke camp and prepared to move out, shortly before noontime. This would be a short travel day, but that was expected as they had planned the trip. They were pleased they only had to make one stop during the afternoon to repair a washout of their path. They stopped early at the next spring location and spent some additional time checking their loads and being sure the storm had not caused any damage they had not discovered in the morning.

Day three followed the same routine and as they made camp for the evening, they felt comfortable that they would arrive at their destination in the afternoon of the fourth day, if all went well. With that prospect in mind, everyone was anxious to get their chores done and get to bed so that day four could begin early.

When they stopped for noontime on day four, Robert was pleased to announce that this was the spring that fed the middle of the three streams in ‘their valley’ and they should arrive there in two to three more hours. Perhaps in an hour and a half or so, they would be on the ridge where they could look down into ‘their valley.’ Each person was diligent in their noontime activities, but the tension in the air could be felt by each person as the minutes ticked away.

Most of the following hour was driven through a forest of oak and hickory trees, followed by a half hour or so of mostly white oak trees. As they passed by one especially impressive giant white oak, the valley opened up before them. Henry, still on the lead cart, shouted out: “This is the place. There is our new Homeplace. Welcome home.”

The caravan descended the ridge and moved toward the larger spring fed stream on the eastern end of the valley. This stream came off the ridge in about a fifteen-foot waterfall into a pond that then extended east and south. Hugh Truesdale walked toward them from the edge of the forest where he was working, as they approached. “Welcome to Oak Springs!” he said as he greeted them. “This spot is everything we were looking for, and more. Let me show you a good place to make camp for the night, and I can share what I have learned since you left me a while back.”

They proceeded perhaps three quarters of a mile southeast where they came upon a bend in the river with oak and hickory trees abundant. “We can make our camp here in this protected area a bit upstream from the bend and put the animals downstream from us, still in protection of the trees.” As he spoke, two bright red cardinals flew by and took up residence on a nearby hickory limb to watch as the camp was being set up. “Cardinal corner,” young Sarah exclaimed.

As soon as he could, without looking too obvious, young Hugh Truesdale found his way over to Miss Victoria and, taking her hand said, “I sure have missed seeing you, Miss Victoria. I hope you had a good trip to our new home.”

She looked him straight in the eye, squeezed his hand just a bit, and said, ”I missed you, too. Let’s get to work on our new home.” And they did. 

[...to be continued... on February 1, 2013, with Part 1 of Story 2]

Note: Story 1, by William Leverne Smith, was originally published as a Short Story, "The Trek to the Homeplace" in the anthology: Echoes of the Ozarks, Volume VII, 2011, published by the Ozarks Writers League (pp. 55-64).

The Founding of the Homeplace - Story 1, The Trek, Part 3

The Founding of the Homeplace

Story 1, The Trek, Part 3

"The Founding of the Homeplace" saga will continue here on the first and third Friday of each month, going forward. See Part 1 and Part 2 earlier. This is a serial presentation of the story, beginning in 1833, when four families decided to settle the land, the valley, that would become the setting of the first two books in the The Homeplace Series: "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" as well as the forthcoming third book in the series, "The Homeplace Forever." These three books are set in the years 1987, 1996, and 2006, respectively. The underlying premise of this trilogy is the desire of the family matriarch to retain the family farm in the southern Missouri Ozarks in whole and in the family. 

[Source: Currier & Ives, “Home in the wilderness,” c1870; Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov : accessed 31 Dec 2012)]

Characters in the trilogy become actively involved in the study of their family history and snippets of that research appear, from time to time through the trilogy (one example). This serial presentation begins to share that ‘research’ in Story Form, and, some of the Stories represent 'writings of the family' that were ‘discovered’ in the process of that research. Each Story is an essay or report of the activities of the initial four families and their descendants that settled the Homeplace – the farm and the surrounding valley.

Story 1, The Trek to the Homeplace

In this episode, we share "Part 3 of 4"

For the trek to the new ‘Homeplace,’ there were six adults, all in their early thirties in age and each experienced with the animals and able to backup each other as needed. There were four youngsters: the fifteen-year-old Victoria, eleven-year-old Harry and Sarah, and eight-year-old David. Each took on designated daily responsibilities and each was expected to carry them out each and every day. 

The caravan started up the path early on the morning of travel day one. Henry, walking along with the lead cart, shouted, “Get up!” to the ox named Blue pulling the first cart with the two bulls tethered to the back corners following along. Laura was actually in the lead, carrying a rifle, and walking about 20 years ahead of the first ox and cart. Harry followed with the second cart pulled by the ox named Buddie trailing two of the milk cows. Susannah, also carrying a rifle, trailed the second cart, and was available to assist in any way needed, including driving a cart, if necessary. 

Miss Victoria drove the third cart, pulled by the ox named Laddie, trailing the other two milk cows. Jake drove the fourth and last cart, pulled by the ox named Topper, loaded down with the blacksmithing gear and topped off by the chicken coops, strapped over the top and carefully braced to remain relatively level. Razorback pigs didn’t like leashes, but they were on two leather strings of five each, with Sarah and David each in charge of one string. Kate followed along behind, wielding a mean bullwhip that ‘encouraged’ the pigs to follow along appropriately. Kate also kept an eye on the trail behind and to the sides for unexpected ‘wildlife,’ whether two-legged or four legged.

The normal din of the pigs and the chickens was broken occasionally by a shouted “Gee” or “Haw” to move an ox to the right or to the left. They all kept a steady pace for perhaps a mile and a half when Jake shouted “Whoa!” to stop his ox and cart. Three more “Whoa!” signals could be heard coming from up the line, as the whole procession came to a halt. “I want to check the straps on the chicken coops,” Jake yelled out, as he moved around the cart to check on the several fastening points. Seeing they were all taut and balanced, he yelled to Henry in the lead cart, “Move out.” That was followed by “Get up” from Henry, then Harry, then Victoria and finally Jake… and the caravan continued forward.

They followed the marked and cleared path up to and along the first ridge, following the ridge until it gave away to a curved path down off the ridge, across a saddle and up to the top of the next ridge for a ways. This pattern repeated as three or four miles was covered. Around noontime, they approached the edge of a ‘bald’ area, an open field, with a spring on one end, among the trees, with a stream running from the spring. This was a good place to stop and rest the animals, as well as the people. They let the animals have some water and graze while the people ate their lunch, as well.

By the time an hour had passed, they were on the move, again, following the marked and cleared path. During the afternoon, they had to stop twice to do some additional clearing to allow the carts to pass cleanly. Not bad for the first day. The evening stop was at another spring and stream they had identified. This stream still ran to the north. By noontime on day two, they would be stopping at a spring and stream running to the south.

Jake and Robert got the animals around, watered and hobbled for the night near their camp where they could graze. The pigs were left leashed, but the leashes were tied to trees branches to allow them to wander a bit, in their own area, but unable to chew on the leases. The chickens were fed and watered in their coops.

Henry and Harry were assigned to hunt some squirrels, pigeon, rabbit or other small game for the evening meal. The women and other young ones each had camp responsibilities to complete. As the hunting was successful, the evening meal was complete and everyone, except the first watch person, got to bed in good time after a long day on the road. The campfire was kept going well, all night, and one of the adults stayed on watch, in shifts, throughout the night.

[...to be continued... on Januray 18, 2013, with Part 4 of Story 1]

Note: Story 1, by William Leverne Smith, was originally published as a Short Story, "The Trek to the Homeplace" in the anthology: Echoes of the Ozarks, Volume VII, 2011, published by the Ozarks Writers League (pp. 55-64).

Writing Plans for 2013

Writing Plans for 2013

1. I now describe 'what I do' in retirement as "Reading and Writing" - I read to write; I write for personal satisfaction. My writing takes many forms, it changes from time to time in order to maintain satisfaction levels.

2. During 2012 I added the commitment to be a monthly columnist for the digi-mag "The In-Depth Genealogist," as The Heritage Tourist. I will continue this in 2013 with one monthly column and one monthly blog post there.

3. I became an active 'lensmaster' on Squidoo.com during 2012 by creating/writing 126 new lenses (webpages) on a variety of topics, with Heritage Tourism and Family History leading the way. I will continue this activity in 2013 at a measured pace. My lenses about books I read have been popular; I will continue to write them. I also write reviews, have guest posts and interviews, and participate in Virtual Book Tours on my blogs, listed below.

4. It seems I need to have each of my five blogs to have the necessary outlets for what I want to write. Each has its own content and focus, and I've noticed the priority among them shifts a bit, month by month. That is fine as it seems to keep me from getting bored.
Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories
Dr. Bill on Retirement
Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar
The Homeplace Series Blog
The KINNICK Project

4. I will continue to write articles each month for Examiner.com on my three topic areas: Springfield Genealogy Examiner, Ozarks Cultural Heritage Examiner, and (added in 2012) Springfield Heritage Tourism Examiner; two or three articles in each topic, each month.

5. 2012 was a year of research (reading), writing and shifting priorities in my fiction priorities. My only publication was another short story in the OWL Anthology (second in two years). It was the next 'episode' in the 1833 background research for "The Homeplace Series." These two short stories are now being shared on the blog "serialized" over a few months. This will continue as I move toward the publication of a "background" book on the family history of the characters in my "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" novels (working title: "American Centennial at the Homeplace"). This book is anchored by an Extended Short Story about  the Homeplace during the Civil War. In 2013 I also hope to publish my first Mystery: "Murder by the Homeplace" set immediately following the end of "Back to the Homeplace" with characters from that novel having secondary roles in the Mystery novel. Finally, looking the future, I will continue to develop content for "The Homeplace Series" as it moves to a transmedia platform, starting with the existing wiki which will continue to be developed in association with my daughter, Dr. Annette Lamb, and her eduscapes.com and Lamb Learning Group activities. We are also considering an affiliation with an app developer (in the future) to provide multiple transmedia entry points to "The Homeplace Series" content that will continue to be expanded and developed on multiple platforms. ["The Homeplace Forever" - the third in the original trilogy - set in 2006, continues in development, along with stories across all the years from 1833 to the present, and into the future.]

6. Work will continue, off and on, on the non-fiction family history on our Revolutionary War ancestor, Sergeant Major William KINNICK. He is my 5th great-grandfather as well as the 3rd great-grandfather of 1939 Heisman Trophy winner Nile KINNICK, for whom KINNICK Stadium at the University of Iowa is named. There is surely some promotion value there to exploit. I will also continue to research and write on issues related to a non-fiction family history book on my great-grandfather Michael Smith. I am still developing alternative approaches to making this project most effective. These two are unlikely to be finished 2013; but they are still active projects.

7. My actual genealogy work, other that writing for my blogs and elsewhere, largely revolves around projects that come up from time to time from 1) contacts from and with cousins, 2) cooperatively assisting my wife on her several projects, and 3) providing support to our youngest daughter, Arrion, on her family history projects - primarily related to her annual trips to Europe. Arrion visited our Smith family ancestral ground of Alsace (Colmer, France - my paternal line) and Black Forest area in 2012 and a possible visit to Denmark (my maternal grandmother was born in Denmark) in 2013.


Note: This will be posted to each of the five blogs linked above, this year, on January 1.

"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill ;-)

The Founding of the Homeplace - Story 1, The Trek, Part 2

The Founding of the Homeplace

Story 1, The Trek, Part 2

"The Founding of the Homeplace" saga continues here on the first Friday of each new Month. See Part 1 in November 2012. This is a serial presentation of the story, beginning in 1833, when four families decided to settle the land, the valley, that would become the setting of the first two books in the The Homeplace Series: "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" as well as the forthcoming third book in the series, "The Homeplace Forever." These three books are set in the years 1987, 1996, and 2006, respectively. The underlying premise of this trilogy is the desire of the family matriarch to retain the family farm in the southern Missouri Ozarks in whole and in the family. 

[Source: Currier & Ives, “Home in the wilderness,” c1870; Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov : accessed 31 Dec 2012)]

Characters in the trilogy become actively involved in the study of their family history and snippets of that research appear, from time to time through the trilogy (one example). This serial presentation begins to share that ‘research’ in Story Form, and, some of the Stories represent 'writings of the family' that were ‘discovered’ in the process of that research. Each Story is an essay or report of the activities of the initial four families and their descendants that settled the Homeplace – the farm and the surrounding valley.

Story 1, The Trek to the Homeplace

In this episode, we share "Part 2 of 4"

Preparations for the trip had been underway since the previous fall in anticipation that this would be the spring when the move would be made. The distance they would travel was probably no more than twenty-five miles, as the crow flies, but they would not be crows flying. Following the animal and Indian paths they had marked off on the way over, and especially on the way back, would be closer to thirty-five miles. On the way back, they had cleared a path about four feet wide to accommodate their oxen pulling one-ox carts with the provisions they wanted to initially have in their new Homeplace. They would not try to take all of their furniture on this first trip; they would make at least two more trips before winter arrived. The group would be taking four oxen pulling four carts of provisions along with two bulls for backup and future breeding of the four milk cows making the trip. They had worked together to construct the carts over the winter and believed they were all ready to go. The move to the new Homeplace would likely take as much as four or five days, even with good weather, and how likely was that?

The ground they would be traveling consisted of rugged hills, springs, creeks and caves. There were still Indians, Delawares and Shawnees, who came through from time to time, mostly in the fall and winter, but they had not encountered any on this most recent trip nor had they seen any signs of recent visits. There was much wild game, of course, and signs of many more than they saw. Hunting, trapping and selling furs to traveling buyers and back here at the lumber camps would be a critical part of their new lives.

Some people described these folks and their neighbors as two-thirds hunter and one-third trader and lumberman. Young Truesdale and the McDonalds were determined to tame some of the land in their new ‘Homeplace’ valley for farming along with hunting and trapping. The Baldridges and Pattons would also have farming plots to provide for their families. They were also confident that other families would follow, as the Barksdales eventually needed to justify building their mill. Being the first to stake out their claims on the best fields was an important part of the planning for this group, the recent trip, and their expectations for the future. They would also take along some razorback hogs and two coops of chickens for a good start at their new lives.

Corn and bean seeds for immediate planting, along with garden seeds and several kinds of plantings would be priorities on this initial trip, as well. Jake would be taking his basic blacksmithing tools and materials, of course. Some of their needs could be met on occasional return trips, so those considerations were very important in keeping this first trip to basic essentials only.

[...to be continued... on January 4, 2013, with Part 3 of Story 1]

Note: Story 1, by William Leverne Smith, was originally published as a Short Story, "The Trek to the Homeplace" in the anthology: Echoes of the Ozarks, Volume VII, 2011, published by the Ozarks Writers League (pp. 55-64).

The Founding of the Homeplace - Story 1, The Trek, Part 1

The Founding of the Homeplace

Story 1, The Trek, Part 1

Beginning today, "The Founding of the Homeplace" saga will be shared here on the first Friday of each new Month. This will be a serial presentation of the story, beginning in 1833, when four families decided to settle the land, the valley, that would become the setting of the first two books in the The Homeplace Series: "Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited" as well as the forthcoming third book in the series, "The Homeplace Forever." These three books are set in the years 1987, 1996, and 2006, respectively. The underlying premise of this trilogy is the desire of the family matriarch to retain the family farm in the southern Missouri Ozarks in whole and in the family.

[Source: Currier & Ives, “Home in the wilderness,” c1870; Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov : accessed 31 Dec 2012)]

Characters in the trilogy become actively involved in the study of their family history and snippets of that research appear, from time to time through the trilogy (one example). This serial presentation begins to share that ‘research’ in Story Form, and, some of the Stories represent 'writings of the family' that were ‘discovered’ in the process of that research. Each Story is an essay or report of the activities of the initial four families and their descendants that settled the Homeplace – the farm and the surrounding valley.

Story 1, The Trek to the Homeplace

In this episode, we share "Part 1 of 4"

            “They’re back. The men-folks have returned from t’other side of the mountain.”

            Eleven year-old Sarah ran thither and yon looking for kinfolk and friends to tell that her pa and the other men were coming down the mountain path.

This was the spring on 1833, and four men had gone over the mountains to the southeast in search of a location for a mill on a spring fed creek along with abundant farming land in the adjacent valley for their families.

            Sarah’s father, Robert Baldridge, wanted a mill of his own after working for his father for nearly ten years here on the Big Piney River in south central Missouri. Robert and Susannah, his wife, along with Sarah, and their son, David, three years younger than his sister, had been preparing to make this move for a couple of years now. A young farmer, a farm family, and a blacksmith family planned to join them on the move, when the time was right. That time was drawing very near.

            Hugh Truesdale was a mature twenty-one year-old young man who wanted a fresh start in new territory as well. He was big and strong, intelligent, and hard working. His father wanted him to be a mill operator here, but Hugh was headstrong and determined to make his living working the land in a new, pristine location.

            Henry McDonald, with his wife, Laura, and their son, Harry, eleven years old, also wanted a new start in a new place. Laura had lost three babies, here, and yearned for a less congested life, away from the active logging environment here in the heavy pine forests. Henry wanted to farm his own land like his father had done before they came to the Missouri logging camps from Kentucky.

            Jake Patton was one of five blacksmiths in the area. Jake was also an accomplished gunsmith. However, he was most often found working at shoeing the many teams of oxen used to pull the cut pine timber to the river for transport, down the Big Piney River, then down the Gasconade and the Missouri River to St. Louis. He and his wife, Kate, and their fifteen years old daughter, Victoria, had made the commitment to join this group in finding a new life over the mountain, where the streams flowed south, not north like they did here.

            The three men dressed in buckskins, axes hanging from their belts, and carrying their Kentucky long rifles, powder horns and pouches, strode down the path and now approached the Baldridge home. Susannah had come out to greet Robert, along with Sarah and David. She saw Henry and Jake behind Robert, but asked, “Where is young Truesdale? Is he alright?”

            “He volunteered to stay behind, to guard our properties and to begin cutting timber for housing for when we all get there! We found the place we were looking for. It is a virgin valley fed by three springs – one large one back up on the ridge to the north, and two smaller ones to the west across a great valley of excellent soil and healthy air. The larger stream is ideal for our mill. The middle stream will accommodate Jake’s needs as a blacksmith, and there is plenty of land for farming. Fish are abundant in the streams. We need to make the move now, before others discover it and compete for the best locations. They’ll be following, soon enough, I’m sure.”

             Laura and young Harry McDonald arrived to greet Henry. Kate and Victoria were not far behind to meet Jake. It was a happy reunion all around. As it was still late afternoon, the families soon were back at their own homes beginning final preparations for the move. The men had agreed as they walked the return path that they would try to get packed and start moving in five days. There was no time to lose.

[...to be continued... on December 7, 2012, with Part 2 of Story 1]

Note: Story 1, by William Leverne Smith, was originally published as a Short Story, "The Trek to the Homeplace" in the anthology: Echoes of the Ozarks, Volume VII, 2011, published by the Ozarks Writers League (pp. 55-64).

"The Homeplace Series" continues...

"The Homeplace Series" continues...

Following the publication of "Back to the Homeplace" in 2010 and "The Homeplace Revisited" in 2011, I have taken what may appear to be a 'hiatus' from The Homeplace Series in 2012. This is partially true, and partially untrue. This post, November 1, 2012, is intended to share with you a bit of what has been going on as well as to introduce the beginning of a more active blog posting period leading to things to come in the series.

First, let me say an additional THANK YOU to the hundreds of people who have bought and read the first book, "Back to the Homeplace." For no more than I was able to do in the way of publicity, this was a remarkable achievement. It is still available in both trade paperback and ebook format - see the sidebars of this post. "The Homeplace Revisited" was marketed even less, and sold less - no surprise - but is also still available, and I hope interest in it will build with the renewed activity here and elsewhere.

I made substantial progress on the First Draft of the third in the trilogy, "The Homeplace Forever," set in 2006, put frequently was pulled away from it be a number of distractions - that I will not bore you with here. Let me just say that I will finish this book, but not in 2013, as I had hoped.

What were some of the distractions? Well, one thing was... being a family history buff, I kept writing in little stories about the history of this family starting back in 1833 when the Homeplace was first settled. I did a lot of research on the history of the region, for example. My characters were doing this research on their family, as well, of course, and I found myself getting more interested in the founding story, and perhaps in what happened during the Civil War on the Homeplace, for example, than I was in the story I was supposed to be telling in the recent past...

Next, several instances got me 'reinterested' in writing mystery stories... I had created a character, Penny Nixon, ... many of you have read the four blog posts about her writings (one, two, three, four). Well, I now have made substantial progress on First Draft of a mystery novel, "Murder by the Homeplace," with Penny as the central character in a story taking place in the Oak Springs valley just at the time the "Back to the Homeplace" book is ending, in the fall of 1987. Many main characters of the first book become supporting characters in the mystery story. More on this as we move forward... ;-)

Finally, starting tomorrow, Friday, November 2, 2012, I am beginning a series of Friday posts. I am committed to the first Friday of each month, for up to twelve months, likely longer. I hope to also have posts on some of the other Fridays, as well, as time goes by, and the 'muse moves me.' We will see how that goes. So, there you have it. The update and the look ahead. I look forward to your participation and to your comments - I so value them, here on the blog, on Facebook, or on Google+... perhaps even Squidoo - my most recent new writing platform (see this example).

*****

"May each of us have a Homeplace to hold onto, if only in our minds."

Bill ;-)

Penny Nixon's My Hometown - Bart Bevins Interview

Penny Nixon's My Hometown - Bart Bevins Interview

[Hi! I'm Penny Nixon. I am a reporter for the Oak Springs Enterprise. My dad, the editor, Dick Nixon, has encouraged me to write stories for the paper about my hometown, Oak Springs, MO, beginning in early 1987. This is the first of several interviews with local residents and visitors. These articles will appear in the weekly edition of the Oak Springs Enterprise. I hope you enjoy my stories.]

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing Bart Bevins, the third of the four Bevins siblings involved in the estate settlement of their parents regarding their beloved "Homeplace" farm, located just east of the town of Oak Springs (recall that we talked to his older sisters, Karen and Beverly, earlier):

Penny: I recently talked to your two older sisters about coming back to Oak Springs because of the will of your mother. How do you feel about that?

Bart: I'm always glad to see my sisters and their families, of course. With regard to the will, I really don't know what to think, honestly. I really don't know why we've all been asked to 'commit to the farm for two years.' I've already committed myself for a lot longer than that. I don't know how much more I can do. We'll have to see what Phase 2 of the will says.

Penny: You don't sound very happy about it. 

Bart: The uncertainty is what I am unhappy about. I assumed I'd at least be able to keep farming this land for the family. Now, that is all up in the air. Not knowing what comes next - that is the hard part. I'm certainly not happy about that.

Penny: You really don't know what comes next, then?

Bart: Not a clue. I thought I had my Mom's confidence in the way I ran the farm. Now, even that is in question. Sorry, I can't say any more than that. Probably shouldn't be talking at all.

Penny: Thank you very much for talking to me, Bart. Perhaps we can talk, again, after you know more about the will.

Bart: Perhaps. We'll see.

Well, that was the interview. I hope you found it useful. Letters to the Editor are always welcome. Please be kind. Penny, out.

*********

These interviews lead up to the beginning chapter of "Back to the Homeplace." Have you read it yet? Available in sidebar links both in Kindle and Print Editions.