Chapter 20

It’s coming on the Fourth of July. The celebrations will be more somber. We had just heard that Dave died in Canada frozen to death trying to move the RV east.

On the third, my daughter and Jim joined Misty and me to pray for the numbers of people who died in the last twelve months. Cody had been wiped out and we lifted a special prayer for those good people who had so happily celebrated the Fourth last year and graciously allowed us to participate with them.

We were working and enjoying life now. It appeared that the land had adjusted to a new normal. Weather forecasters were spread over the spectrum about the coming winter. Our summer was proving to be cooler than normal and prudence dictated that Misty and I should prepare for a tougher winter. We started immediately after the Fourth to stock some supplies looking toward the coming winter. Sharon and Jim contributed to our preparations planning to join us if the weather turned bad again. Except for our forays into our hot tub, they would be welcome. Our times in it had become highly erotic. We usually didn’t wear suits to the tub and Misty’s body had lost no allure over the year I had known her.