I never really looked at staying on the farm as giving of myself, but I feel the gratitude of my family for caring for the place with the same love my grandparents had. Even though I wasn’t able to stay here and care for my aunt the way I intended, I can care for the farm with all my heart and soul.

I came to town to get a flea bomb. It seems my aunt let the farm cat stay in the basement all winter and now it’s infested with fleas down there. Thank goodness it’s confined to the basement. So, I stopped in to the family cemetery as I came over the hill since my phone started beeping and buzzing as soon as I hit a service area. I thought I’d take a moment and tell you a funny story.

While my aunt was in the hospital, we had to report to the doctor something she told us earlier. It seems she’s been hearing voices. They talk to her in the middle of the night and tell her the same thing over and over. “Your house is on fire!!! You must leave your house immediately!!!” We thought “Poor thing…she’s gone ’round the bend.” As I was driving out to the farm yesterday, I was mulling that over in my mind. When someone is delusional and hears voices, they don’t hear the very same things over and over. I remember her telling me something in the spring about a voice telling her to get out of her house because it was on fire. But she brushed it off as a weird dream and I didn’t give it much thought…till now. I kept thinking, “Why does this sound SO familiar?” Well, suddenly it hit me!!!

Two years ago, when I lived on the farm in my attempt to care for her, my uncle asked me to install fire and carbon monoxide detectors. My aunt insisted I only buy what was on sale and the only ones on sale that were combo units, get this….TALK TO YOU!!! Yep, that’s right. When they go off, they say “Your house is on fire!!! You must leave your house immediately!!!!” I’m not sure what set them off…low batteries, high carbon monoxide from the gas stove she burns constantly, a full moon? Who knows? But that has to be what it was because it’s the same message over and over. I bought new batteries but haven’t put them in yet. I’m waiting till I hear voices in the night!!!

(Face palm)

❤️

“It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.”

Deuteronomy 11:12 NIV