Chapter 29: Ginny goes home

When Ginny went home, Maria was hesitant to let her go alone. Maria had her sister, as a roommate, and her mother was not far down the street. Her grandmother, on the other hand, lived by herself in some godforsaken little town in the middle of nowhere.

Ginny had grown up in Nemaha River Bend; a town of about 100 people. The name of the town had more letters than there were people in the town. The main "drag" was a concrete strip of pavement about a hundred feet wide and a couple of blocks long. It had a post office, grain elevator and a few other vacant buildings. It was common to see the young boys, from about nine to about thirteen driving through town on their ATV's or riding mowers with the blades removed. They usually had their John Deere caps on backwards, a plug of gum in their mouth to imitate tobacco, and a fearless disregard for the grain trucks they shared the road with.

By the time the kids were about eleven, they commonly drove the tractors while the men loaded hay or feed grain to the cattle. Kids grew up quick in Nemaha River Bend, and didn't stay around long if their parents didn't have more than a section of land for each child.

Ginny ran the grain elevator by herself. It was owned by a co-op that owned most of the grain elevators in the county, but she was the only employee there. During harvest season, she had to climb up into the huge trucks, stick that great big tube down into the grain used to calculate the moisture content, and give them a corresponding price for the whole load. She weighed the truck full and empty and gave them a receipt, run out and sweep up the spilled grain into the grating in the floor. There were other times when there wasn't too much work.

Over the years, Ginny was able to buy the big stone barn across the street; convert it into a restaurant, kitchen and gas station. If somebody needed gas, she gave them the key to turn on the pump, and use a credit card.

Ginny's grandfather had taught her how to tie fishing flies. During slow periods at the elevator, or in the evening when she had her restaurant, she had time to make new fishing flies. Through the years, many people from neighboring towns came by to buy them. Some of the young boys who played for the University of Nebraska would come by during the summer. They let their friends know, and her business grew. Several of them went on to play for the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay and some of the other professional teams. Ginny soon had a bulletin board full of photos and notes signed by famous players.

One of the players hired a web designer for her, and set up a website, Craigslist and EBay business for her. The hardest part was to set up the credit card payment part. Once that was done, Ginny was now able to sell them on the internet with photos and testimonials from recognizable names. During the summer, Ginny would get some of the local teenagers to help out. Life in the small city wasn't so bad.

Ginny had also been mayor several times. The way you became mayor, was if you forgot to come to the town meeting. If you weren't there to object, you were voted in because nobody else wanted to do it. The mayor had to mow the city park and turn out the lights at midnight. Mowing was a bitch, because you had to sharpen the blades once a month, and put Stabil in the gas to store it during the winter.