Greetings From Red Roof
Farm
We can't believe another year has passed at our new home in
Indiana. We are STILL going through boxes, and there are a few loose ends to tie up
regarding the construction work we did last year, but all in all, we are fairly
well settled.
Harold still loves his tractor, and finds every excuse to use it
for something, if nothing else than a jaunt down the driveway and the pond road to
collect the mail. On Thanksgiving we bundled up our gang of college kid dinner
guests and took them on a hay ride through the woods and around the farm in a wagon
attached to Old Blue. Tractor-drawn hay rides are just as much fun as horse-pulled
ones, judging by the hilarity and hijinks amongst the passengers. (Please visit our
web site for pics at: www.his.com/~hevans/)
Another favorite
toy Harold has is his new chain saw. We supplement our geo-thermal heat with wood,
and since we have acres of woods, we have a never ending supply of fallen and dead
trees that need to be cleared away from the trails. Our wood pile is tall, wide,
and thick, and ready for anything a Hoosier winter can throw at us. When he's not
making like a modern day Paul Bunyan, Harold is busy with his new chamber orchestra
and the new violin shop. Business is great, and we haven't done any advertising at
all! So much for Harold's retiring down on the farm!
Michael is a Junior at
Indiana University and is busily preparing for his Junior recital. He is principal
second of his orchestra this year, a spot he earned last summer leading the section
for the IU summer opera production of Barber of Seville. Seeing him perform and
hearing him practice is wonderful, something we missed terribly when we were still
living in Virginia. Michael plays in a chamber music trio, and in his dad's
orchestra too, so his violin muscles are really getting a workout.
Jewel is
preparing for her brown belt test in Taekwon-do and is a lethal adversary in a new
martial art she took up last year called Modern Arnis. It is a Filipino form of
Kung Fu that uses 30 inch long, solid bamboo canes as weapons. She is quick and
agile in the art, and we see black belt status coming up in the not-too-distant
future. She is devoted to her cello and piano, and since it is December, you can be
assured that she is up to her neck in lessons, master classes, rehearsals and
performances. She is continuing to home school and is becoming quite the expert in
French and Algebra. She takes a music theory class at IU every Saturday, plays in
her dad's orchestra, and takes good care of our furred, feathered, and finned
menagerie. She is one busy young lady, about to turn 13, and will soon be taller
than her mom.
Grandma Jewel, who turned 83 last month, had a setback last
February. She fell and broke her hip and femur. She had to have surgery and spent
some time in a rehab facility, but she came back home after a couple of months.
She's in a wheelchair now, but enjoys doing some art work and watching the deer in
our woods. Beth set up a bird feeder just outside her window, and the nuthatches
and chickadees provide pleasant entertainment with their gymnastics at the
feeder.
Beth still loves studying Taekwon-do, and she has begun Modern Arnis as
well. She was supposed to take her TKD black belt test in Virginia, just before
the big move to Indiana, but broke another bone in her left foot, and couldn't take
the test. She has had to start all over again at the new school. That is a
daunting task, but she loves the program there, and it is enough different to be
challenging and not repetitive. She especially loves Modern Arnis. It is so much
fun to learn a new martial art that involves weapons like canes, swords, and
knives. The uniforms are really cool too - no baggy white "pajamas."
Although
Beth was planning on working in wildlife rehabilitation this past spring and
summer, her home responsibilities prevented her from finishing the training
program. She plans to get back to that eventually, but in the meantime she
satisfied her need to work with wild animals by playing landlord/midwife to Eastern
bluebirds. We set up some nesting boxes on the farm, and Beth's responsibility was
to monitor the progress of the babies. The boxes are designed for observation, and
the bluebirds don't seem to mind humans opening up their homes and peeking at the
nestlings. Beth actually got to see one little chick breaking its way out of the
shell. The Eastern bluebird population is recovering in Indiana because of efforts
like this, and if you are interested in helping in such a project, look up
bluebirds on the Internet. Many states have nesting box programs just like this
one.
Well, Red Roof Farm has passed through another cycle of seasons. This
spring three new fawns were added to our little herd of deer. In fact, one was
born just yards from our house. We saw the tiny little baby, all wet and wobbly,
following its mother into the woods, the umbilicus still attached to its tummy.
This summer, our resident great blue heron ate Beth's favorite bull frog, and the
turtles in the pond actually learned to come when Harold or Beth called them.
(Bribery in the form of game fish pellets helped a lot.) The blackberry crop was
ample, and Beth managed to fill her freezer with berries without getting bitten by
a snake this year. She narrowly escaped a confrontation with a swarm of angry
wasps, but that's just part of the adventure of combing the bushes for these
wonderful purple delights. Fall arrived with a blaze of color, and our favorite
sharp shinned hawk, Annie, has returned to her fall/winter hunting grounds around
our farm. Now the pond is frozen over, and we are teased almost daily by
tantalizing snatches of snow flurries telling us that the Winter Solstice is upon
us once again. Mother Earth's yearly cycle is ever so evident here at Red Roof
Farm, and we are truly grateful to be here and to be part of it.
We all hope
you and yours are well and happy during this festive time of year, and that 2001
will be safe and prosperous for you as well.
With very best wishes,
The Evans Family