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“No, we’re pretty much smack in the middle of it.I thought I’d start over here because you haven’t seen much of it.”
“You’re the guide,” she says with a smile as she slides her sunglasses on.“Show meeverything.”
When Brady’s cabin comes into view, I point at it.“That’s the oldest cabin on the property.Brady lives in it now.Before that, it was empty for a while.My mom and dad lived in it when they were first married.”
“It looks tiny,” she says.
“It is.But it works for one or two people.”I follow the bend in the road.“And you’ve seen Mom and Dad’s place.”
“It’s adorable.”Erin smiles.“It’s really perfect for them.”
“I agree.It was a good move on Dad’s part.Most of the property over here is wooded.We thought about clearing some of it out for more pasture, and that could happen in the future if we keep adding to our herd, but for now, we like the woods.They insulate the property during bad storms in the winter, and all the critters can live in there.”
“Don’t bulldoze Bambi’s house,” Erin says.
“No, ma’am.If local hunters ask for permission, we allow them to hunt in here, away from the cattle.”
“Oh, good idea.Are you asked often?”
“Every year.They’re regulars, been hunting here for a long time.But they always ask first, which we appreciate.There’s a nice little lake back here.”
Her eyes widen as I drive us over a little hill, and then there’s a lake with the mountains in the background.
“Holy shit,” she whispers.“Every time I think your land can’t get any prettier, I see something new.”
“The water is high right now because of the spring snow runoff.It’s not big enough for motorized boats, but we like to take paddle boards and canoes out here in the summer.Sometimes, we fish.”
“I wouldloveto learn to paddle board,” she says with excitement.“Is it deep?”
“In the middle, it’s about fifty feet deep, so yeah.But the shorelines are shallow.The kids love swimming over here in the summer.”
“We’ll be out here every day.”
I drive on, looping back around to the farmhouse and then past the barn and further out.
“I pointed out those old buildings that we don’t use anymore, but I thought you might like to go explore them a bit.”
“Uh,yeah.”She bounces in her seat.“Iloveabandoned buildings.”
“You do?”
“Hell yes.I like to think about who lived there before and what it looked like when it was new.”
“Well, that was the first barn built on the farm.”
“Why so far away from the first house?”she wonders.
“We don’t know for sure.Anyway, my three times great-grandfather bought this land almost a hundred and fifty years ago.So, that structure would date back that far.”
“Crazy,” she says.“The walls are caved in.”
“Yeah, we don’t ever go inside.It’s long past the days of being stable.But it’s fun to walk around and look at.There are a couple of other smaller buildings, too.One was a feed shack, and we’re not sure what the other was used for.”
I pull to a stop and cut the engine.
“Wait here for a second.I need to make sure we’re not disturbing any wildlife.”
“Bears?”
