It seems to me that nothing is happening around the Farm this past few months. We are waiting on money to continue the project and our other business is slow for the time being. But we have been doing some planning as we wait, trying to fill in the details of the very broad stroke plan I put here in the Spring. I won't bore you with the details since, like most of my careful plans, not many of them come to fruition just as I wrote them. It is better that we all wait and see what happens.
The only part of the plan we have going today is the new roof on our home, getting the house ready to sell so that we have the money to build the next. I have been slowly painting the interior of our home and doing little fixes as well. The place ought to be ready to sell in the Spring, but are we ready to move to the next phase in April so that we can be built in June or July?
We have decided to buy a derelict park model trailer as a project and to put it in our driveway to work on during the coming winter so that we have a place to move in March. We have to move prior to selling so that we have the dogs out of our home and carpets can be replaced. The money for the roof is there, the trailer will come sometime in October. The rest of it is as it comes.
On the Farm we have a burn ban, so we have things to burn which will sit in a pile for a while longer. This ban includes chainsaw stuff so we're not cutting down trees until the fall. To tell the truth, there is a lot more to do than there is money, time, and energy, to get done. Much of this must wait until we are on the property.
We have spent a few Sundays driving around to look at other guest farm and nursery operations. Each has its own merits, most are either too narrowly focused, but occasionally we find someone doing much of what we plan to do. Anyway, we are having fun looking around and getting a feel for the sorts of plants and services we wish to build into the Farm.
To fill time I have been working on two of my books. Both are old ideas for which I got new ideas recently. There are at least fourteen books in process today sitting on my hard drive. One is a stage play which is to be written from a short story I began in 2008 and which I felt completely unworthy to write until just last week. "Muddy Waters Turned to Wine" is a story of a flooding event in the South. I had always had the story, but couldn't find any means of doing the monologue near the end. Dialogue is tough because you have to see things through the voices of characters. Monologue is tougher because they can get very boring, very quickly. Think of Hamlet and you'll get the idea. Now try to think of another dramatic monologue. You probably can't do it. Today I have the thing pretty well fleshed out and it has a completed outline and about 9000 words written, including four songs for the stage version. Who knows? I might finish it this week and become a famous play write who has all of the money to build his farm. But my process (not really the right word) is to write until I run out of words, then wait until I have more. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the curtain to go up.
On that note: I came to the realization that I am a dramatist a few weeks ago while painting a bathroom. For a guy who has always written long fiction (30 years now), this was a startling thing to discover about myself. I had never really put anything of a definition on what I was doing. Now I am a dramatist. So this has changed how I approach writing in general and so now I am making good progress and the work seems to have much more power. My philosophy degree has added a great deal to my work, most of it very bad. But the education has also added an ability to see the deeper meanings too. And all of those writing classes have been a big help. Worth the time and money? You betcha.
Truth is that I would rather be building on the Farm.
Carmen and Cinnamon have made complete recoveries following this year's litters. The dogs are very happy. Henri Hudson is feeling his age, as am I, and needs medicated dog treats we make for him, as does Ann for me. Both of us feel much better eating cookies instead of taking pills for our arthritis.
Clark Bar Griswald is a bouncy young boy who keeps his bitches in line. All is well in the dog world.
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