By Loretta Humble/Around the Town
Do you have any trees you’d like to get rid of? Particularly any dead ones that aren’t rotten yet. However, Jimmy Carter might be interested in talking to you about whatever you have. If you have one that just recently fell down because of the wind and rain, he would probably like to look at it. Now these trees have to be big enough to make some boards out of, and they need to be fairly easy to get to. And for all I know there may be some kinds of trees don’t make good boards. I guess I could ask him that.
What we have here on the farm is a sawmill and a man who knows how to use it. Jimmy went into our woods, found a dead sycamore tree, drug it to the sawmill and sawed half of it into enough boards for him to floor his porch. We have a lot of plans for new things to happen here, maybe a tiny house all of her own for Kelly—remember Kelly, who crochets rag rugs, and quit smoking and gave her cigarette rolling machine away? Or maybe I haven’t told you she quit smoking. I know I haven’t told you she finally got well enough to go to work. Kelly, a top notch hairdresser, was mostly known in Athens by her maiden name, Kelly Baker. If you need a great haircut, or want to hear more about that Mayberry Jail, you can find her at Pro Cuts in Athens.
But back to Jimmy and the sawmill, if you think you have a tree for us, let us know. Now Jimmy is just one guy who sometimes has a little help, and he does have other things to do, so if I am more widely read and dozens of you reply with groves of trees you want to give us, it may take him a little while to get to you, but I know he would love to talk to you. It is great fun to see him go out in the woods and get a tree and make boards out of it then make something good out of the boards.
This weekend Lisa Anding volunteered husband Wesley and her twin sons to take down a tree at the Flagg House. They left the trunk for Jimmy who is picking it up today. Lisa took a break from watching her guys to see they didn’t hurt themselves. She came over to the big metal building where I was going through the stuff we still have to sell for the Ireland girl’s trip and bought a few interesting things she can use in her business. I do have some interesting things.
I had to take a break from selling stuff for a while, but I’m about to start again. The girls are getting kind of close to the bare minimum they need for their trip, but we aren’t there yet, and we hope to get them some spending money. So I’ll be back hawking my wares again. Just yesterday Virginia Reed bought that tall doll in the red crocheted dress, named Sam. Today I took her with me when I went to the opening of The Family Peace Project’s new offices on Cayuga Drive. What a beautiful place! Virginia and I missed connections, but Jessica Crye, beloved ex-shop owner from Malakoff, who now does something important with FPP promised to take care of her until Sam and Virginia can make connections.
I was nearly 20 when Sonny was born. Last Sunday he turned 60. Seems like it was just last year I turned 60, and the girls I worked with wrote “Loretta is 60” in big letters on the side window of the Cedar Lake’s office downtown. Then just to aggravate me they told me it wouldn’t come off, and left if for weeks. Believe me, if anybody wanted to think I was 60 now They could leave that up permanently.