For The Love of Aunt Rose 6

For The Love  of Aunt Rose 6

 Weeks later the house next door had been gone over with a fine tooth comb. Everything was sanitized and relatives of the deceased notified. Leanne did not have an ex husband . There were only two living relatives. They were second cousins on her Mother's side. They had met her once.

Any money she had in the bank went to them plus the sale of the house.

Clarke and Leanne were not legally married as he “forgot” to divorce his first and second wives. This information was unknown to his brother. Clarke had very little money of his own and only owned his beat up truck and the two little mutt dogs. His brother said of course he would keep the dogs as he had grown quite fond of them.

The neighborhood had almost gotten back to it's normal. Gordon and Kitty concentrated on their businesses. Aunt Rose stayed home most of the time crocheting scarves and caps to donate when Christmas time rolled around. She also concentrated on reconstructing the silk dresses she had been given. Two were being developed nicely. One was for Kitty.

It was quiet back in the neighborhood with no drama. That was how everyone liked it.

Aunt Rose did go on a five day trip with Margaret and Peter to see her sister Maxine.

Idyllwild nestled in the San Jacinto Mountains was a beautiful place. Margaret reminded Aunt Rose to bring a sweater as the nights would be cool. The elevation was 5,413 so they would all be cool. Maxine had air conditioning and central heating. She lived in a big four bedroom house so there was plenty of room. Aunt Rose had been to Maxine's home before and was happy to go on her little adventure.

Aunt Rose was packed the night before and had on her sturdy walking shoes plus her little camera and other essentials in her small backpack along with her blank notebooks and pens and pencils. She always had her notebooks to write no matter where she went.

Some of her most serious stories, poems or thoughts were written from the writings  in those notebooks.

Aunt Rose also had three small jars of her Kumquat Jam for Maxine. Maxine loved Aunt Roses homemade jams. Maxine always stopped for tea around four every day. There would be other people there for tea and talks. Aunt Rose did not know if Maxine ever had Kumquat Jam before but since it was made by herself she knew it would be lovely.

Aunt Rose did get a chance to write that evening.

Nature Walk

Traipsing off into the woods, camera in hand,

 I was awed at the quietness of my surroundings. 

It feels very peculiar now that my ears have adjusted to any new sound.

 Eerie at first I actually thought I could hear my own heart beating. 

Thumping loudly: Rata tat tat, rata tat tat. 

Amazingly it was a woodpecker off in a tall tree. I heard. I did not see.

I felt a slight breeze on my cheeks. I saw the gray green weeping willow

 leaves stir slightly. I heard my own shoes crack twigs under my feet.

 I had tried to walk as quietly as possible so no creature could detect 

I was on their turf. They would alert the others that a human was

 invading their home surroundings.

No chance that would happen as I heard the rustle of a critter 

quickly scrambling up the tree. My eye caught a large bushy tail 

quickly fading into the canopy of leaves. A nut or dry berry dropped.

 I saw it and left it lying where it had fallen. “Bushie-Tail” would be back

 to pick it up when I was out of range.

I was in deep woods with a little sky overhead. A person with a 

colorful imagination might have become confused and disoriented

 with the feeling of isolation. Not me as I was used to being alone 

wandering in unfamiliar territory. My siblings and I would follow our parents

 for days in the deep woods like gypsies. We hunted for mushrooms then.

Further on still walking quietly as possible I continued snapping photos: leaves,

wildflowers, down trees from years ago. These logs were now homes to the 

small woodland creatures. Seeing a small movement towards the end 

of a moss covered log I finally saw a rabbit then another hopping bunny. 

Snap. Snap. Went to my camera. Rabbits scattered for cover.

 Squirrels ran up the trees and birds all flew upwards towards the canopy.

 I heard other woodland critters scurry here and there. I did not realize 

there was such a large audience watching me. I felt peaceful in my new surroundings.

 I stopped walking and thanked God for this beautiful serene place.

©Julia A Knaake