10/15/12 Monday
I got up and over to Mary’s by nine
this morning. This will make the seventh trip I have made over to her place
since the strange change in personality and subsequent anger directed towards
me. At 24 miles per trip that means I have traveled 168 miles hauling sticks
off her property. She had guests over as I saw the vehicle in the driveway. Anymore
I don’t go to the door as she seldom, and lately, never, answers, plus there
was company over.
So I went straight to work, picking up
and breaking into smaller pieces the many small branches and sticks that she
had asked me to clean up. I was almost at the limit of what I can fit on the
truck when I heard a voice saying “What are you doing?”. Turning I saw a man,
maybe in his late 50’s, looking at me sternly. “I’m picking up sticks” I responded.
“Why” he asked, so I explained “Mary asked me to”. “NO SHE DIDN’T” he said,
with an obvious disbelief. I explained that she indeed requested that I do this
and in fact she had written a letter detailing what to do and how. “Really? Do
you have that letter” the conversation continued as it became clear this man’s
opinion of me was not very high. Fortunately I had a strong impression this morning
to make sure I carried that letter with me so I got it out as this man
expounded on how Mary never wanted me there and wanted me to leave.
I handed the letter to this man as I
explained I had been coming here and helping Mary for a year. He quickly read
through the two pages of the letter with no discernible change in attitude and
said “Well, Mary has changed her mind. You need to leave now”. It is sad to
understand that Mary’s mind is slipping. Now that I think about it I realize
she went through this drastic change in personality after the fall that broke
her wrist. We suddenly went from friends she enjoyed visiting with to someone
she did not trust, like, and was very angry with. This is classic symptoms of
and evidence for a traumatic brain injury. She has endured several serious
falls recently and they included hard knocks on the head so I suspect this has
happened. Add to that depression, medication, and age there is a strong likelihood
that we are seeing the early stages of dementia and perhaps Alzheimer’s
disease.
It is sad to watch but something that
is happening all over this country and the world. I don’t know who the people
were who talked to me as he never identified himself, but I assume they were
relatives or somehow involved with her well-being. I asked him for an email
address so we could continue conversing and his response was “I’m really not
interested”. I had debated emailing Mary’s daughter and decided not to as it
might be perceived as a violation of trust or something, and did not want to
rock the boat. Now I believe it would be in Mary’s best interest that her daughter
be apprised of the situation so will send her an email.
So I left. Brought the truck load of
sticks home, where it will be piled on top of the other loads I brought. Mary
had the impression that all this wood would be ideal for me to burn for heat
over the winter but it really is not. I will burn the pile just to get rid of
it.
When
it comes to firewood the Lord has provided already. I had noticed a dead tree
with some limbs cut down as I was towing the diesel to have the flywheel
replaced. Curious and hopeful that it could be a source of firewood I drove
back over there and knocked on the door. The lady gave me her landlords number
so I called and asked him if he would like it cut down. “How much would you
charge?” he asked. I explained that normally I would charge $600 to cut down
and remove a tree of that size but because I needed firewood would do it for
$200. He was quick to accept the offer and thus we are blessed. The two hundred
dollars will just about cover my expense of cutting the tree down and hauling
it away. God is always good and our needs always supplied. Of course I must go
out and do the work but I find that preferable anyway.
The
farmer next door sprayed his cotton with defoliant, as they do every year.
Unfortunately it once again drifted over and has impacted our trees and plants
again. Here is a picture of the corn. I had a picture taken just days before
and it was all nice and green but a day after the farmer sprayed I found my
corn severely impacted, with all these yellow spots suddenly there. This is not
good and I need to talk with the guy to see if they could be more careful. I am
growing food for sale and to eat, plus the defoliant is deadly and can cause
cancer along with other problems. We had a dog, Midnight, who died when his
liver and kidneys failed. The vet suggested he may have been poisoned running through
the cotton fields after they were sprayed. Now we watch the dogs carefully to
prevent them from playing in the cotton.
That
is it for now. I must go unload the truck and then get to work on the
irrigation stuff.
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