“I will always love you, Jeremy. I feel you here watching over me.” She hugged the frame close, clinging to her memories.
She returned the picture to its place on the mantel. She wasn’t due to pick up the car for hours, so she got her colored pencils and sat down in front of the window to work on some new drawings.
Flipping the pages back on her sketch pad, she delighted over the series of cheerful, chubby birds that she’d started sketching over the last few days. In the short time she’d been here, she’d seen so many different types of birds. Some were so colorful that they looked like they belonged in the tropics.
While in town today, she hoped she could get a good enough signal to place an order online for a few things. ABirds of Virginiabook was going to be helpful to identify and learn more about the local species.
She’d planned to call this note card series “Birds of Chestnut Ridge.”
Thank goodness she could work on her note cards from anywhere. When she was a kid she was always doing something artsy, but she’d never considered it something she could do for a living. Not until Sheila had talked her into setting up a shop online after making Christmas cards a few years back. A happy accident for sure.
Already this first drawing was coming together. She used several shades of green in the sprigs of the pine. She’d never realized just how colorful pine trees were. Light, dark, and even shades of yellow-green and rusty brown among the pine coneswere complex and full of texture. She had a feeling taking note of the subtle changes through each season was going to be really special.
But a girl couldn’t live on work alone, and with no internet and iffy television channels on a clear day, she yearned for something that would get her out and about.
This job was going to be perfect for her. And she hoped it would partner her with a few special seniors. She did miss that about her old job.
Mentally stronger these days, she could cope with the emotional part of that job again.
She sat back, looking at the drawing of the beautiful dark bird with bright orange bands on his wings. She set that one aside and started another, a bluebird.
The difference in the body structure of the two birds was noticeable even at a quick glance. If Natalie was lucky, maybe she’d catch a glimpse of an eagle someday. That would be something to see.
Satisfied with her morning production, she put her things away, and picked up the copy ofThe Enterpriseshe’d bought the day before. She took it outside and sat in one of the chairs on the deck.
The view drew her attention from the paper.
Will I ever get used to this? I hope I never take all of this beauty for granted.
The awe she experienced over the simplest details: the variety of greens in the landscape, different pitches of each birdcall, and even the cicadas with their mind-numbing stutter were pleasing and filled her heart with a joy her life had been missing.
She unfolded the newspaper and started to read the articles.It was a good paper. Stories about the locals and celebrations scheduled for the next month. Even every arrest was posted in pretty good detail. There weren’t too many. She could imagine the extra punishment of public humiliation kept the number of arrests under control.
That old adage about everyone knowing your business is alive and well in this town.
She would’ve known about the driver shortage if she’d picked up a copy of this last week. There was a whole article about how the good news of Agnew J. Fuller being accepted into the veterinarian program at Virginia Tech had left a gaping hole. There were dozens of notes from people who’d benefited from his service while working on his acceptance into the program at Tech.
Each note had a picture of the person next to it. Mrs. Martin looked cheerful, with her toothy grin and glasses so big they made her look a bit owl-like.
Reading the article in detail, she realized if she decided to go that route, FriendsGiving did have openings for people with her geriatric nursing skills too.
This part-time job would be a perfect test drive with the company and maybe lead to something bigger down the line if she wanted that.
I’ve got options, and I don’t have to decide anything today.
Not one to be late, especially for a first impression, she put her things away and packed her new cooler of goodies to take to the truck. At least with just a few things on ice, the hike was more manageable this morning.
She climbed into the truck and drove back out to the main road.
When she pulled up to the address on Main Street, an older gentleman stood between a shiny black Cadillac CTS and a red Toyota Camry with a brightly colored FriendsGiving logo on the door.
“Hi. You must be Jesse.” Natalie walked over to the man whose weathered skin told of years of hard work in the sun.
“That’s me. You must be Natalie. Orene is always making connections where they need to be made. I hear a welcome to Chestnut Ridge is in order.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
He opened the trunk of the Cadillac and gave her the once-over. “You a small or a medium?”
