I call Zinnia The Queen Of Sweet; she is all heart and love. She is always waiting for me, wherever I go, the bathroom, my study, outside to the car. At night she goes upstairs and gets into our bed, waiting patiently for me to come up.
She anticipates me and is happy to be near me; she follows me from room to room or waits where she thinks I will be going.
Last night, I came upstairs and was struck by the beauty of the scene, this white dog sitting in the light of Maria’s reading lamp, almost holy in the light. Waiting for me.
She is calm, patient, full of love. The Queen Of Sweet. This is the right dog for me now.
She looks like a spirit dog!!
Good Morning Jon,
I will not bore you with how much I enjoy your blog and books. Your current writings about your Amish neighbors brings an unconscious smile to my mind. My wife (another Willa Cather woman!) had a cousin and her husband who farmed for many decades in northeast Nebraska. Wonderful, hard working people with a deep sense of community and positive humanistic values. For two summers in the early 90’s, our youngest son lived with them and “experienced” farm life. Around that time, several Amish families moved into the area from Ohio. Our cousin and her husband became immediate friends with their neighbors; she supplied them with eggs for their baking and he helped establish their farm. They were also part of the telephone tree and would often drive them into distant towns for supplies and needed items.
On one visit to Nebraska, we went with them to spend an evening with these Amish neighbors and have a “little fellowship with ice cream” as her husband would like to say. We had the most pleasant visit, sitting in their great room (a dining room, living room off of a large kitchen) illuminated by one propane lamp with the Amish couple’s sons and daughters all present. Several younger daughters read in small alcoves around the room and the older sons and daughters would entertain the baby of the family. There was an intense discussion about organgic farming that this family was learning more and more about and hoped to put into practice as they were preparing to grow more crops. Our cousin’s husband was a large industrial farmer that relied on the latest genetically modified, high yield seeds to grow on their farm. Needless to reiterate, the discussion was quite lively particularly since our cousin’s husband loved to play the devil’s advocate! The Amish father let his older sons and daughters control the argument for organic farming and they did quite well.
Lastly, one time the entire Amish family had to go back to Ohio for a celebration. Our cousin’s husband and a friend got hold of a old TV antenna and installed it on a tall pole next to their house,visible from the main road. The Amish family had a good laugh when they returned and actually left it standing for quite some time.
Thanks Jon. You and Maria stay well and enjoy the summer months on the farm.
Respectfully,
George Krasilovsky
Gorgeous photo.