It's getting hotter

7/13/06 Thursday
That’s as far as I got yesterday. We both ended up taking a nap and woke up at 2:45. Then it was a rush to get to Stanton. We went first to Jim McGillivray’s office. He is a soft spoken man who was cordial. His secretary, Vicki, had the Deed to the farm and also the mineral rights already out for us to pick up. During our conversation they commented on Larry’s behavior. One of the things said was that these times bring out the worst in some as greed takes over. They were aware of Larry’s behavior regarding our mother’s estate and that the $3000 I required from Larry was something we had previously agreed on in writing. Here he is receiving nearly $100,000 and trying to hang on to the three grand he had promised to pay for what he basically stole. We also discussed how he had taken advantage of Lee many times. The lawn mower he had talked Lee into buying is long gone though the grass catcher is still in the garage. Troy had told me a year or so ago that Larry had tried to get her to buy a $2000 mower. We have lots of receipts and checks she wrote including one where she bailed him out of jail. I am curious about that one. I love my brother but stealing from family is about as low as someone can get. Patrick had expressed sadness when we talked to him that morning and said he hoped we could repair our rift. I do to but still expect him to do basic things like keep his word.

We went to the USDA Farm Services Administration to give them a copy of the deed they need. Nester was on vacation but the receptionist made copies of the deed and also made note that we wished to pull five acres out of the CRP program. Done with that we drove around looking at properties for rent. When we move down here we will have to get a place while we make the house habitable. That may take several months.

Cherie was having a menopause moment yesterday. This emotional roller coaster caused by the hormonal imbalance is tough on her. She was homesick and depressed. She is much better this morning.

It is going to got up to 105 degrees today. We will knock off early
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10:06 – It has been a long hot day. Chuck came over at ten this morning with his trailer. It is a small trailer made from the rear of a 60’s pick up truck. I was going to take the stuff to the landfill but Chuck said he could use some of it so we took the first load to his place. That was two of the refrigerators and one of the gas stoves. Going over there let me know how blessed we are. This was his grandfathers place where he had spent much of his childhood. As we drove up the winding dirt path I first saw a mobile home that appeared to be abandoned. There was another mobile home about fifty yards away that also was in rough shape with some windows out. Going around a corner there appeared some buildings that were in rough shape. The Texas wind had long ago ripped of siding and sections of the metal roof off. When you see steel panels bent like paper you had crumpled up in your hand you get an idea of how powerful the wind can be out here. There were trees that had long since died from the heat, several uprooted by the wind.

Chuck told me of the bobcat he sees out there. When he unlocked the door of the barn I could see feathers and other evidence of the barn owl that lived in it. Only about 60% of the roof still remained with the rest just gaping holes. There were three buildings here and one of them is the house they are being given by his mother. The house is in about the same shape as the other buildings with the ceiling caving in. They have more work than we do to get it habitable.

Chuck and his wife, Lillian, just had a baby a few months ago. They named it Miracle because she wasn’t supposed to be able to have a baby. They moved down here about three months ago from Missouri. They too are starting life over again from scratch. It is a hard thing for them of course, partly because there is little income. Chuck does odd jobs and works at a cemetery when they have jobs for him.

We gave them the china cabinet and matching hutch or whatever you call it. In fact I told them they can have anything we were getting rid of. It got hot quick. Chuck and I made five trips with his trailer and still have a couple more to do tomorrow. Instead of taking stuff down to the landfill Chuck had us take it to his place. It is already got tons of whatnot that has gathered there over the decades. Lots of farm stuff and old cars. Cherie was working hard while we were hauling stuff. About 2:00 I called it a day as Cherie was definitely wearing out.

We went to the hotel and cleaned up. There was so much dust we had to brush our teeth. Not pleasant but part of the picture. I took her out to dinner at a place called the Roadhouse. It was great and I think we will go back when we move down here. Then we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean. Fun movie. I can see why it has been getting such good reviews.

We will try to get out to the farm by 8:00 tomorrow so we can get stuff done before it is too hot. Cherie is asleep now and I think I should join her so good night.