The Journal: Cracked Earth Read Free

or
mushroom growing alongside the road, or it might be the deer that
stared at me before they sauntered off into the underbrush, knowing
they were completely safe.
    One of the most memorable sights I had was
watching a young coyote jumping playfully in a field, catching
grasshoppers to eat. I watched for five minutes before it realized
I was there, then like a wisp of smoke it was gone. The most
incredible experience was when I rounded a curve and came face to
face with a moose calf once, one of the adolescents that
occasionally hung around the entrance gate. I knew the moose were
here but had never seen them. I stopped the car less than twenty
feet from her, and watched the huge animal in the middle of the
road. When I first saw her I thought she was a horse, however, when
she looked at me with that unmistakable large head and the long,
wide snout, those long, gangly, powerful legs, there was no denying
what she was. My first moose sighting was up close and personal. It
only lasted a few minutes, then she turned, giving me a full,
breathtaking side view, and deftly leaped the berm and walked off
into the dappled shadows of the woods. My cellphone was dead so I
don’t have any pictures except for the ones in my memory.
    Then there were the owner/members of the
Resort. Being their massage therapist for the past sixteen years
had given me an insight into a world of the elite and wealth that I
never would have seen on my own. The members are wealthy—some very,
some extremely. I often heard about their month long vacations to
Italy in the spring, the weeks in the Bahamas during the winter,
plus the trips to Europe with jaunts to Paris and London then on to
Rome. What I admired most though, was that they were all really
very down to earth people. I’d seen them shopping at the local big
box stores or pumping their own gas.
    One time I asked an older client for some
advice on the British hierarchy, prepping for a costume party that
I was hosting. After she explained the pecking order of a Duke to
an Earl, a Duchess to a Lady, she laughed and said, “I must tell
you the most amusing story about when Prince Philip came to visit!”
I was amazed, though not surprised that she actually knew the
British royal family. I have mourned the ones who have passed right
along with their peers, not embarrassed to sob at the Resort held
memorials. Yes, I would miss the people the most. Many of them had
become dear friends, and I would see them next spring.
     
    * * *
     
    I did a cursory inventory of the freezer room
pantry, the first of three separate storage areas. There wasn’t as
much beef or chicken broth as I would like, but it was something I
could make. I also had some fruits, canned beans for quick use, one
hundred pounds of flour, light bulbs, all kinds of miscellaneous
stuff, plus all my herbs and seasonings. The wine rack my son Jason
built isn’t really full, yet I’d say there were four cases of wine,
though some was my cooking stock: Marsala, Sherry, and Port. I
wasn’t worried about how much wine was (or wasn’t) there. The
freezer itself, even though it’s only twelve cubic feet, was
packed. I had lots of beef and chicken, some pork, some fish, ten
pounds of butter, and a few bags of wild mushrooms. I could
probably live off the freezer alone for many months. I have
difficulty passing up a good sale.
    The entry pantry was stocked with “stuff”:
paper goods mostly, and water filters. I have a year’s worth of
toilet paper, six months of paper towels, and if I run out, I could
use towels and wash them, like Granny did. Installing shelves in
there has helped organize that area. I also put in small tubs and
labeled them (dental, deodorant, band aids, wipes, misc.), which
helped keep track of what was where. There’s also plenty of
toothpaste, deodorant, and OTC pain meds.
    My medical bag is good. My friend Shine
helped me with that last year—sutures, scalpels, iodine, tissues,
blood pressure cuff and stethoscope,