Chapter Six

 

Elaine does a great job with teaching the children their skills and helping Betty with her homework. I wish I had more time to spend with the kids, but the garden is a huge time sink.

Still, I find time where I can. I try to instill the importance of being independent and living off the land to my eldest son, but I'm not sure he gets it.

"Our garden allows us to live independently," I tell him one day while he is doing his homework. "With the garden I grow our food and then your mother cooks it."

"My friends' families just go to the store, Dad," James rolls his eyes. "It's way easier."

Love Day ended up being very rainy, but that didn't stop us from visiting the festival. Betty spent her time hunting down eggs. We all got a bit wet, but we didn't care.

James got his face painted, and it was strangely disturbing to me. Perhaps I have a fear of clowns.

Betty took a spin on the rollerskating rink, reminding me of the time I took her mother there long before she was even born.

Betty grew up into a pretty teenage girl. Her eyesight is a bit poor though so she needed to get glasses. There's another expense on top of everything else, but it's necessary of course.

Some damn deer have been getting into the garden and munching on my plants that I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into! If I weren't a peaceful man...well, let's just say we'd be having venison for dinner. It made me realize though that I need to use some of our meager funds to install a fence around the garden.

Betty has come a long way from getting angry at her younger brothers for always waking her up. She is such a great big sister to little Tommy. 

James enjoys spending time with his brother playing blocks and showing him how to assemble different houses and things, but Tommy would rather just put the blocks in his mouth.

You'll never guess who turned out to be a huge fan of fishing! That's right, Betty is an angler like myself. I couldn't be more proud, and now I have a fishing partner so my time spent out on the river isn't so lonely anymore.

Of course we still visit the Hatchery too. It's very convenient having the stocked ponds all in one place. You wouldn't believe the types of fish they have there.

They even have jellyfish! Sometimes they sting you if you're not careful, as I learned the hard way.

You'll never believe what else I saw at the Hatchery one night. A real live unicorn! And yes I'm sure it wasn't just a horse with a horn stuck to its head. It did spend time with an actual horse though.

Of course I had to try and pet it. It didn't like that though, but it did sniff my hand for a while. I wonder if I'll ever see it again. 

With all the time spent gardening and taking care of the children, there hasn't been much time for Elaine and I to have to ourselves. We try to make time when we can, like in the garden. Time seems to be going by so fast. Before we know it we'll be elders, and it will be time for James to take over the household and the garden. I just hope he will understand how important it is.