Chapter 19

The rest of that week and the next were pretty much the same, except that the bears decided to abandon the mountain, at least the part that I worked over, for the upper and lower orchards and vineyards. Mom was taking a rifle with her every day as they worked the two sets of vineyards and orchards on the other side. The new road made it easy to take Millie's truck up and down the mountain and around the side. The ladies had been left alone enough that they picked nearly twenty gallons of blackberries. Some were made into jam, some were canned for the winter, some went into a delicious pie, and several gallons were sold at the market.

After killing the two male bears, our black furry critter problem disappeared. We had not seen a bear since. Fred Jones suspected that the females all went back toward Bear Hollow. They knew that was a protected area and some supplemental food was available for them and their cubs. Hopefully, the mother bears wouldn't come back to hibernate in our caves and have more cubs during the late fall and early winter.

The house was rapidly coming along, and some carpenters were enlarging the machine shed. We had modified those plans to accommodate at least four vehicles, but the end result housed five vehicles and an extra slot to work on things. We put up an extra stout beam in that area and hung a chain hoist from it, just in case. That was where the tools were going to be kept. When men couldn't work inside the house, they worked on the machine shed.

The concrete blocks for the smoke house were delivered and that was started. I would soon have a smokehouse that was twenty feet deep and thirty feet wide. There were to be six ten by ten rooms where we could smoke for individual tastes or items. I would be able to light fires in each of the fireboxes in one, or any number of rooms, in order to fulfill any orders I may have. The old smoke house was ten by twelve feet and everything was jammed together. I wanted to be able to have enough room to smoke enough meat for us, the butcher, and to trade. Mom has even been experimenting with making some special spicy jerky. We had oak and hickory smoked jerky so far, and we will now have a spicy hickory variety for the market. The butcher has been good about getting us huge chunks of meat to slice up in strips and place on a wire rack. I had raided the landfill where old gas barbeque grills were lined up on one side. Any square grill racks that had been there were now in my little smoke house, and I would soon be hunting for more for the new one, especially since the butcher told me that there was an outfit in Colorado that was buying jerky made from game meat, including venison and bear, and paying a premium price for it.

The garden was producing enough vegetables for us, the Latinos, and a very large amount for the market. The way the garden was planted, we would have fresh vegetables all the way through the first frost. We were impatient for the tomatoes to be ready, since we all enjoyed various tomato dishes.

The house was finished in the middle of June. It was amazing when you walked through the place, as you went from the rustic big room that was now expanded to be even larger, and was in an "L" shape, to the new modern area that appeared surprisingly rustic, but wasn't. The big bedroom had a fireplace at one end that had the same fan mechanism to push heat out. This one had an electric fan to help the natural heat fan. The one thing that would be necessary was to leave the bedroom door open so the heat could flow from the room. The bedroom had one additional feature. It had a door that led out to a new porch on the back of the house. A door from the "L" shaped big room also led out to this porch. This would be a great place to peacefully sit and read, or to just look at the beauty of nature.

The machine shed was now expanded and the new smoke house was nearly finished. Raul and Jose were already busy working on making the barn longer. I had to relocate the few pigs we had, as their pen was behind the barn. I used the small bulldozer from the road yard to clean up and fill in the area where the hog pen had been. The new area for the hogs was a little farther away from the barn, and the new hog houses were built sturdier so that the animals would be a little warmer during the winter. We also paved the hog pen with concrete, since, contrary to public opinion, pigs don't really enjoy wallowing in mud. Fortunately, we didn't keep enough hogs to cause a serious sanitation problem with the runoff. I was able to capture it and spread it on the fields instead.

A man from Kroger had been in our corn fields daily, checking the ripeness of the corn. George Dirk, the buyer, and the inspector came to me on a Monday, and said, "It's time to pick the big field up here. The one across the road isn't ready yet, and the one around the side of mountain is nearly ready. We'll bring the crew in to pick the big field tomorrow, and we'll probably go straight to the upper field on the other side of the mountain. By the time we're done with that, the field across the road should be ready."

I asked, "Do you need any special help or water? We can help if you do."

"Nope, we'll use our labor force and bring our equipment to haul the produce. Your crop looks really good, and since it is organically grown without chemicals, you're going to get top dollar for it."

I was happy and the man made me even happier, "If you want to grow corn like that again next year, we will furnish the seed to you. We will still pay you market price for the crop, but there are varieties of sweet corn we prefer. Is that something you might be interested in?"

"Hell yes, seed is expensive. What else can I sell you?"

The man waved toward the garden area where four Latino women were working. "We would be interested in your organic fresh vegetables. Will you have much to spare? There are more and more farmers trying to raise organic crops, but the folks in the lowlands have to fight bugs more than you do up here. We have horticulturists that can show you how to keep bugs off your plants, but it's a lot of work. If you're interested in talking to them, I'll advise them that you would like to meet them."

My goodness, this was becoming bigger and bigger. I told the man, "I'll ask the women to see what they think, and I'll let you know while you're picking corn tomorrow."

I immediately talked to Mom and Millie. "How many extra vegetables do you think you'll have? I'm asking because the man from Kroger is interested in our produce because it's organic. We don't use any chemicals on them."

Mom said, "Our trading slowed way down last week, so other than what the Latinos and we need, we could just about sell the rest of the crop. We have one more group of beans, peas, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes to go yet. By the time that is ready to sell, we might sell some at the market, but if Kroger wants what we have now, we'll pick it for them. I was almost going to suggest plowing some under. This is better and we'll still have enough for all of us."

The Kroger man was still out by his pickup, so I went to him and brought him over to Mom and Millie. "They said they have beans, peas, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes now, and will have more coming in the next couple of weeks. How do you want us to get it to you?"

The man was all smiles. "I'll have plastic crates and containers out here in the morning. Just fill them up and keep a record of what you deliver. If you keep a record and we do the same, the quantities shouldn't get mixed up."

The man was looking out at the garden, "I see a lot of melons out there. We'll take all you can sell. I see watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydews. I'm sure you have far more than you can use and that you can sell at your market, so let us help you make a buck."

That's when I suggested, "How about potatoes and onions? We'll have white, red, and sweet potatoes this fall, along with onions that are probably getting ready to be dug now. We sell a lot of potatoes at the market, but we will have about ten times as much this year as last. I went a little overboard, but maybe not."

The man said, "I'll take all you can spare. Use the same containers and fill them up. You don't have to worry about washing them. We have machinery to quickly do that before we distribute them to the stores. I'm really impressed with your operation. When it's time to pick your apples and pears, I'm a buyer. I know the town people might depend on you for some of your produce, but I want you to know that we will buy all we can get."

The man looked a little sheepish. "You wouldn't know it, but my wife buys her eggs and butter from you. She says she has to be at your truck when you pull in or you run out. I love your bacon, and we just had a ham that came from you. It was delicious. I wish you could produce in quantity."

I bragged a little, "I know my hams are good and I will be smoking more now, but not enough to supply your stores. That would take a huge building for that job."

The path crew was about halfway to Sterling and moving at a steady pace. There was no way to work faster and do a good job, so we moved at our own pace. The path to Sterling was producing a hell of lot of good wood. I was going to make as much from the special wood logs as I was making on clearing the path. That was a good thing, as Jet said the big bulldozer was due for some expensive maintenance. He suggested I get another one just like it so we wouldn't have any down time. He said that having an extra one for the road work could also come in handy.

I made the trip to Lexington, with Jimmy standing by to come up with the big truck and haul home what I bought. I danced with the salesman, who I think was the company owner, once again. We dickered and bargained for a couple of hours, and I almost left before we made a deal on the bulldozer I wanted. By the way he cried, you would have thought I rustled every cow on his ranch. I figured he made a buck and I felt like I got a good deal. Jimmy was there with the big truck within an hour, and we hauled our new piece of equipment back home.

Summer and Millie had worked with Bradley's mom, Gracie, on plans for the coming wedding. This began as a small wedding, but became bigger by the week. It was soon decided to have an outdoor wedding under a big tent and hope for no rain. While doing all the planning, Millie and Summer made the dress, but bought the head piece and some extra lace for the gown. They diligently worked on the dress with help from Mom and Martha.

The wedding was planned for the Saturday after July 4^th, as it would be a good time for a community party. Stanley Conner and I got together to make sure all of the expenses were being taken care of, and that some adult beverages would be available. Although the big tent was going to be on church property, Harold said he would look the other way as long as we controlled quantities and the crowd.

The rental company that supplied the tent was going to supply a large wooden platform for people to dance. We contracted a top forty country band from Mount Sterling to provide music and entertainment. The food was being coordinated by Mom and Martha, along with a bunch of other ladies from the community.

Stanley put the arm on me to help buy the couple a new pickup with a crew cab. He said the kids would need it to carry their future babies. Good old Stanley had some high hopes for multiple grandsons to help with the farm in the future.

Jimmy was handling the road crew better than I could have ever expected. All of the men had spread out, making a tour of every mile of road in the county and charting it with what had been done, what needed to be done, and any unusual types of repair required. They were working through everything in the entire county and were almost prepared for winter.

The project of getting the big salt trucks in shape to use was nearing completion. The Latino body men Jimmy had used sandblasted and replaced all of the rusted panels, then painted the entire trucks. Jimmy even had the trucks lettered. On bright international orange truck bodies were the words 'Road Commissioner' over the top of 'Powell County'. Jimmy chose the bright color so the trucks would be more visible, even though there was an amber strobe light on the top of each truck.

About that same time, Maude told me, "Mike, did you know that you are actually coming out ahead as a road commissioner for the county? You, personally, are going to realize very little money, but considering that you began this project thinking it was going to be a cost-cost situation, you're doing great. The cost of your men and your expenses for equipment and repair are taken care of. I'm shocked that you were able to buy all that you did, hire good men, and get the roads in shape within the allowances the county and state have given you. It should be even better next year, as Ralph and Benson are planning to make sure the county distributes all of the state road money. You'll be able to replace or add equipment if you need to. I suppose I'll need to charge you more for doing your bookkeeping now."

When I began laughing, she said, "Jimmy is doing such a good job of record keeping, you might have to give him a little more. If the fuel prices go down, you could be rolling in dough."

The projections I had made about the logging matching the path build-out revenue were close to being real. The logging was paying all of the current expenses, including fuel, and still leaving some extra. We should reach the Mount Sterling distribution center by the first of August, then spend the fall and early winter doing the last two paths around Stanton. Hopefully, I could squeeze in getting broadband up to my house during that time.

As soon as the enclosed summer kitchen was built, we acquired a huge gas stove and oven. I loved the way you could turn a burner on and quickly perk coffee. The coffeemaker was faster, but fresh perked is always the best. The oven was producing baked goods, such as bread, cakes, and muffins, along with a controlled and timed oven for roasts and oven baked chicken and turkey.

Mom, Millie, Summer, and their help made short work of decorating the new living area. We installed a new larger table around to the side of the big room where the "L" extension was made, as that part had lots of glass to look out at the big covered porch and down the back of the mountain. The main part of the living room now had a couch, along with the four rockers, in front of the fireplace. The little bedroom where Mom had been staying was now an office. There even was a phone on the new desk, but no phone line. The computer I had bought was often busy keeping records and writing estimates, so it didn't go to waste. Mom was a solitaire addict, so she would go into the little room in the evening for marathon sessions with the mouse.

Mom's bedroom and adjoining bath had a new bedroom set with a double bed and a nice reading chair next to a table and lamp. There was another bedroom like that with a similar bedroom set and double bed, chair, table, and lamp. Our new bedroom was almost too big. Millie elected to only have a double bed, which gave us even more room. Instead of a single reading chair, there were two with a table and lamp in between. The master bathroom and closet area was Raul's idea, as he said that was how it was in some of the fancy homes. I'm not sure how much extra we paid, but the closets in our room and the other two new rooms were cedar lined.

Our old bedroom had been expanded and was next to the big bedroom, and it was intended to be the baby's room. The room had a door to enter the now expanded old bathroom, so as the boy or girl grew, he or she would have easy bathroom access.

The big day arrived with the women's nerves totally on edge. Mom, ever the voice of reason, made Millie and Summer settle down and do chores as usual, before Mom and I made a run into the market to trade out what we couldn't sell to the Kitchen and the butcher. We were even able to quickly get rid of the goat milk this week. An Amish family had been recently coming to market and enjoyed trading with us. One man was interested in goats, so I tentatively made an offer to trade him the two goats I had for whatever he might have that I could use. We would settle on the details next week.

Mom and I stopped in at the motel to briefly visit with my sister and brother as the kids played in the pool. It was nice that the family showed up for Summer's wedding. They felt as if Summer was like a sister to them and a daughter to me instead of my stepchild.

Back home, Millie and Summer were in underwear, waiting for the time to dress and leave for the wedding. Mom and I cleaned up, and I wore my "Class A's" once again. I was going to have to buy a civilian suit one of these days, but right now, this is what Summer wanted me to wear to give her away. The Army had started phasing out the green Class A uniform shortly before I retired in favor of a uniform that was basically identical to the old "Dress Blues". Since I was a senior enlisted man, I already had a set, and they would look sharp as horseradish at the wedding.

I sat with Summer in our new living room area and asked, "Are you ready for this? From this point on, you'll be making your own home and sharing your life and bed with Bradley."