["Where is Charles Eric?" my mother asked. Everyone else called him Charlie, but my mother often used his full name. Namesake middles were there to be spoken, especially that of her beloved grandfather. Eric Hindorff was a first-generation US citizen. His parents, aunts, and uncles (biological and by marriage) had emigrated from Sweden. They made their way across the American continent from East to West taking the Emigrant Train from Council Bluffs, Iowa to Temecula, CA in 1883. Eric later moved to Fallbrook in the northern part of San Diego County.]

Working on a CNF piece. My GGP led an interesting life. He met Pancho Villa in 1912, just after he separated from his general and the other Mexican revolutionaries. He was a rattlesnake milker and wildlife wrangler for the San Diego Wildlife Commission. He was a proficient fiddler and a bee keeper.

The following poem was written by Annie Hindorff (my GGM):

The Old Honeyhouse

I wandered today to the honey house

And climbed the old wooden stair.

I drew on my imagination

And wished that you could be there.

A festoon of spider webs hung from the eaves

And webs were draped, ceiling to floor.

Gave an eerie feeling swaying there in the breeze

Undisturbed since we closed the door.

I recalled the days last summer

When we worked the whole day long

Running off golden honey

Hearing the motor's song.

Hearing the hum of the motor,

Humming bees and hissing steam,

The clip-clap of belt on the wheel

Golden honey flows out in a stream.

Balmy days of autumn,

The trees so red and gold,

Reminds us of our younger days.

What'll we be when we are old?

Will we be so blithe and breezy

And dance the whole night through,

Or will we be cross and crabby,

And there's nothing we can do?

Though long the day, tired and weary,

We made plans for the years to come,

Happy to be working together,

Sharing our trials and fun.

We thought not too far in the future

Of the time when no day's work is done,

When we have to sit back an dream

Of the years that were filled and gone.

Now it is cold and quiet,

The droning motor is still.

There is no golden honey,

No yawning tanks to fill.

It is cold and quiet now,

The mice run over the floor;

No golden honey dripping,

No bees humming 'round the door.

I thought far into the future

Wondered when our life's work is done,

Will our spirits return to this honeyhouse

Where we worked together so long?

Will someone take up our work here,

And faithfully carry the load,

Or will our dreams and promises

Be laid by the side of the road?

Who knows what the future may bring us.

Is our work here really worth while?

When we're gone, will we be forgotten,

Or be thought of and give them a smile?

Many years have passed since I wrote this,

The bees have been sold far away.

The barn is a haven for cast-offs,

That are going to be used some day.

(1)https://sandiegohistory.org/archives/biographysubject/timeline/1900-1929/

(2)https://tchester.org/znet/fallbrook/history/memories/annie_hindorff.html

Missouri Police Precinct, Gladstone.

Recorded.

Unsub Interview.

Name: Emile Frau.

Age: 40's

Crime: Unlawful seizure of minors. Unlawful imprisonment of minors. Resisting Arrest. Lying to law enforcement(multiple counts). Forgery of adoption papers. Two counts child endangerment and abuse.

********************

Questioning Officer: Marlena Crawford

Through her career she'd seen it all. She always thought this unsub, this brutalized person, this was the worst it could get.

But never, never could she have been prepared for Emile Frau.

By all accounts he didn't grasp it.

Even now, within formalities of interviews that were more to iron out the details of sentencing than anything else.

Emile Frau didn't seem to comprehend kidnapping two children.

"Well yes and no. Abel, Abel was my first so maybe I gave him more leeway than someone in place would have. There was always a special place in my heart just for him." And without fanfare, without middle ground... Frau changed. Expression now cold and words an acidic spit, "besides, he wasn't being cared for properly. Not in the least."

_____________________

Okay, it's stuck on italics. Well, not the exact draw of the book but it does the job. A preview. And books do that.

https://www.theprose.com/book/3610/the-winterset-conspiracy

This is actually based on a true idea I had after my grandfather was diagnosed with dementia. My grandfather, maybe because of Vietnam or losing my uncle when he was young, had already planned the way he wanted his funeral and had left all sorts of notes and clues around their (extremely cluttered) house for things about his life and stuff he wanted us to know. Because I struggle with suicidal thoughts and self-harm, I came up with the idea of creating my own death book essentially that details not only what I would want to happen but also allows whoever finds it to contact all my friends whom I've met online or who live far away to connect with them.

The book I've started writing follows Marigold Harrison, a grieving mother who has just lost her young daughter, Courtney, in a car accident. While cleaning her daughter's room, she finds a notebook that details how her daughter wants her final services to be. Then, she later realizes that the journal lays out a journey that her daughter lays out for her to become connected to the family that Courtney built for herself. Through this journey, she finds healing and peace with her daughter's untimely passing.

https://www.theprose.com/book/3922/the-depth-of-death