A Giveaway and This N That...

After one thousand-one hundred four posts and twenty-seven months of posting, I have two hundred twenty-five followers.  Not so good, although I am tickled pink to have that many wonderful people following.  Many have become friends rather than just followers. I want to thank each and every one of you who follow and special thanks for the comments. 

I have noticed many giveaways, I have decided to join that group.  The Art of George Stubbs by Venetia Morrison will be my first prize.  Please ignore the flash reflection on the cover.  This is a magnificent "coffee table" book full of Mr. Stubbs amazing art.  The names will be placed in a hat, and one will be drawn out by a completely unbiased grandson that has no idea what is going on.  I would use random chooser or whatever they call that thing but I am not computer literate enough...yet.  This giveaway deadline will be Friday.  I will announce the winner Saturday.

I am not beyond bribing you to follow, so that is your only requirement to enter..be a.follower...and comment on this post.

On to other random, strange thoughts...I am gonna being working on changing the look and layout so don't panic if I disappear, it will only be temporary.  I asked my daughter what words I could add to the title so more search engines would catch my blog.  She advised, anything with the word sex, my sister said 2012 but 2012 Sex At The Farm did not appeal to me.  Any suggestions will be considered.

We are cool here, not freezing, except at night. The valley shows enough frost in the mornings to look like snow but we haven't any yet.  I hope this winter is kinder than the last.

Marcy is still keeping Zander two days a week while youngest daughter is working on her nursing degree.  She is also still photographing some amazing cold weather pictures which I will be sharing.

Melissa is working and Grandma Anna is helping out with Jake.  What would we do without an extended family??  Grandma Anna is our angel.

I am so proud of both my daughers, I don't think I tell them often enough but I hope they do know.

Hubby is donning the cloak of umeployment and does not think it fits.  At fifty-nine this is the first time, he hasn't had a job. It is not comfortable for him and a little scary. The fences are getting built and things are getting done, so his lack of a paying job has paid off for the farm.

Beverly continues to help us thin and empty our houses.   My sisters and I are hoping that in the spring the shop will be open.  There are many things we cannot do, like erecting the hugh shelves my nephew bought, but maybe the help will show up when we need it most.

Christmas is coming. I dread the coming. It seems that I have lost the spirit of Christmas along with a few other things I have misplaced.

I am still working six days a week or rather five and part of a day.  I am tired.  Fourteen months without a Saturday off is getting old but I am blessed I have a job.

A little insider information on the post office about Saturday delivery.  The post offices will still maintain their Saturday hours, mail will be placed in Post Office Boxes, the only service that will not be continuing on Saturday, if they decide on this course of action, will be street delivery.  This one move would eliminate many positions and would save much money but according to our statistics, payroll is but a small percentage of the expense. We all wait to see what our fate may be.

The Legend And The Sink Hole...Ends

In total shock, I watched as the flash light floated swiftly away, spinning in the current, trailing a faint glow. It took a split second for me to know the light was my only hope.  Running, slipping, falling and rising to run again, I could not lose the light!

The dogs thought it was a glorious game, splashing, jumping, and sometimes, even swimming, they followed me.

I could see the faint glow from the flash light but something else,too.  There was a lessening of the darkness.  Little by little, even though I still had the flash light in view, there was other light joining it, growing.

The water began to slow as the light increased.  If there was light, there was a way out. 

The water pooled below the opening several feet above me.  I could see daylight.  Leaves from the trees above had collected in the water below.  The sun's light also revealed a crevice where the water retreated underground.

The fear left me as I looked around.  A recent cave-in had opened the under ground cavern, with edges sloping down to the pool, laced with tree roots still holding the sides in place.  I circled, grateful for the sky's light, checking possibilities of escape.

My loyal terriers stayed close, exploring. 

A straight unnatural edge drew my attention, half buried, it appeared to be some sort of box.  Working gently, using my shovel and my hands, I slowly uncovered the box.  It appeared, at one time, to have been covered with canvas,  remnants of leather straps and iron works were still clinging to the box as was a rusted lock and hasp.

The box lay before me. I slowly lifted the fragile lid.  Gold and silver coins, gold nuggets and what remained of a man's pocket watch lay within.  Time had removed the sacks that once held the treasures. It lay loosely, piled in the box, catching the light and sending it back to the sun.

Although exhausted, soaking wet, and cold, I fashioned a harness for the box. While holding one end of the rope, I grabbed tree roots and slowly worked my way up.  I reached the top and lifted the box after me.  The terriers scrambled up the slope with more ease than I.

I had reentered the world of light, scraped, bruised, but still excited from my dangerous adventure.

I had discovered the treasure, we had searched for endlessly and collectively for over a hundred years.

Returning home, my family asked, where you been?  I smiled as I simply answered, Diggin'.

The Legend And The Sink Hole...Still Continues

The floor of the cave began to slope as the water sounds increased.  I was headed downward, not steeply, but  definitely down.  The floor was quite moist and had changed to solid, slick rock, coated with mineral deposits and something that looked like algae.  After a few slips, I slowed.  I don't know how far I had descended but all was without rope. The going was tricky but still safe. 

I had passed through narrow passages, to wide areas and some places I had to go to my knees again.  The allure of the cave had me in its grip...and the sound of the water beckoned me.  I had a sense of false security with my dogs and my flashlights.  I was invincible! I was an explorer is what appeared to be a virgin cave.

The water came into view around the next turn.  Wonderfully clear, rushing, fresh, cave spring water!  I knelt, cupping my hand to taste the water, ah, sweet and clean.  I refilled my water bottle, taking in the beauty around me and sat for a moment to rest.  The dogs lapped the water and, following my lead, they rested.

As far the light could reach, there was water,  a wide stream, crystal clear and moving swiftly into the darkness of the cave. Maybe this was the source of our valley of springs!  Maybe this cavern ran under the entire farm, bubbling up when it was close to the surface.  The stalagmites weren't as plentiful here because of moving water. 

Testing the darkness, I turned off my light.  The sounds enveloped me.  The running water, the panting of the dogs, the creaking of the floor boards (just testing you!) seemed to echo.  I can say, I truly did not know the dark until that moment.

The dogs moved close to me and we just sat, I scratched and rubbed them and when I spoke, good boys, they whined their thank yous. 

Okay, time to go, boys, as I turned on my light...damn!  I shook it, I tested the button, I shook it again but it was dead as a door nail.  No problem, I reached in my bag and pulled my second light out, pushed the button...and light filled the area.

I stood, looked left, looked right, which way to go?  Upstream, downstream or back the way I came?  I had no idea of the time, my watch lay in my drop spot at the house, even my camera had no time set on it.  Weighing all possibilities, probabilities, gauging my distance and time as best I could, I then made a brilliant decision...to follow the dogs!

Okay, boys, lead on.

They headed down stream.  Slanted, rocky, slick, narrow edges bordered the stream.  As the water narrowed and turned, it deepened, the narrow banks disappeared and we walked in the cold cave water.  I am still taking photos every few feet and my camera starts flashing, low battery!!!  So much for that light, it joined my worthless flashlight in my canvas bag.

Oh, the wonders I saw!  The ceiling dripped with rock icicles and the walls reflected and multiplied the light. There was no time, just me and the dogs, the water, and the light.

I should have been watching my feet instead of over head, I stumbled, fell, and dropped my light.  The light bobbed as it floated down the stream, still lighting its way...

The Legend And The Sink Hole..Continues

I sent the boys, the terriers, in to check out the hole, as I lay in the opening shining the light.  No one knew I was  here or what my mysterious project was.  They would just ask, where ya goin' and I would answer, diggin'. Since the whole family was explorers, that was the only answer needed, they knew I would tell...when I was ready.

The boys snuffled and checked each nook and cranny, they even did some digging in soil that had washed through during the last rain.  They looked at me as if to say, so where's the varmints, Mom.  Knowing it was safe and not a hidden snake den, I pushed the light ahead of me.  A spare was in my canvas shoulder pack I always carried, along with a camera, a folded GI shovel, my water and twenty feet of good rope.

For just a minute, I considered going to the house and telling them where I was but I didn't.  I had left a jacket at the edge of the dig and knew if something happened, they could find me.

I was excited, not thinking of treasure, but only of the limestone cave.  I had sworn for years there was a cave on this place and, by golly, I had finally found it. 

It was a tight squeeze for me to enter but after that it opened up, oh, not enough to stand in but enough that I didn't feel the earth was smothering me...I really don't like close places but this was too good to pass up!!!  The area was small but I tasted the triumph that past cave explorers had experienced. 

I reached for my camera and began to take photos, fanning out from my point of entry.  The flash revealed more than my flashlight had and it was unbelievable.  Stalactites and stalagmites of  magnificent beauty showed in the camera's light. 

I moved forward slowly, being able to crawl onto my knees now, I knew the cavern size was increasing.  The boys were up ahead, I could hear them snuffling and knew there was no danger.

The walls of the cave reflected light like cut diamonds, smooth, slick with moisture and still growing.  Man, oh, man, was this ever good!!!

I had no idea how far I had crawled but the ceiling had risen above me.  I looked back to see my entrance and it was only a pin prick of daylight, just a dot in the distance.  I was so involved in my exploration, the measurment of both time and distance eluded me.

I heard water running.  Since the whole valley is spring fed, it did not surprise me.   I was still headed East, there had been no major turns, forks or drops big enough to mention.  I was in my element!  I kept looking for signs of human visits but saw none.

I could not believe my luck, this cave had been under the farm all this time.  Then I began thinking, how big is it?? 

The sound of water was louder.  I was still taking pictures with each step...I was on an explorer's high and I think, maybe about this time, my good sense left me..

The Legend And The Sink Hole...

The legend of the treasure has forever been a part of my memory, as the sink hole has always been a part of my existence.

The treasure tale came from the late 1800's but I never knew if it was truth or only legend.  It began with a bank robbery. The posse followed the trail across our cedar glade, loosing track of the robbers as they split up. The posse pursued relentlessly and finally ended the chase by shooting the robbers.  The money and the treasure that was stolen was never recovered.   The amount of treasure grew as the legend did.

I think the search began with my grandfather. For me,  it began with Dad.  A wonderful adventure as children with a loving father who was more than willing to encourage our imagination.  The tradition continued with the grandchildren.  The tale never grew old and we never tired of treasure hunting..

We have the fifth generation At The Farm and the tale is retold with each adventure added.  "Remember when Grandpa helped us dig..."

The sink hole had been on my mind lately.  A natural hollow that generations have filled with brush and rock to protect the stock, but the sink hole remained.  No one had ever checked there, so, why not?

Armed with shovel, tall boots, and gloves I was determined to explore the sink hole.  Always on my mind, it quickly became an obsession.  Years of trying to fill it made no difference, it not only remained but appeared to be growing.

The sun was barely greeting the new day, when I began removing the branches and brush that partially filled the hole.  By noon, drenched with sweat, weak with exhaustion, and filled with exasperation, I finally reached the loose rocks, thrown in by hands that shared my DNA.  I began removing the rocks. 

Twilight skies sent me home.  I did not sleep well and when I did, I dreamed of digging.

The new sunrise found me, by the edge of the sink hole, with a pick, a bucket, dogs to find any hidden snakes and enough water to make this day less thirsty than the last.

I was slowly deepening the hole, mounds of loose stone surrounded the hole.  Waist deep in, I dropped to my knees to examine the lower edges.  An opening, small yet visible...an opening through solid stone brought hope of a cave and my determination tripled. 

Removing the moist, dark soil from the opening, deposited there by the years' decay of organic matter, was easy to remove with my hand tools.  Working, removing the rich soil, bucketful by bucketful,  the opening widened.  Once again the light of the sun left me too early to continue.

Exhaustion that night made sleep easier but it did not halt my dreams.

The third day, I knew, my curiosity of years would soon be satisfied, whether it was only a small crevice in limestone or a cave, either way, I would know today.

This time my tools were, optimistically, flash lights, a camera and ropes.  I had widened the hole enough to crawl into the opening.  My light reflected on calcite and lime deposits that had taken years to create.  The beauty took my breath. The flashlight could not measure the depth.  I moved backwards to rejoin the sunlight. 

I sat, outside the opening, filled with awe and wonder.  Why had the cave revealed itself to me?  What had drawn me here?

I drank cool spring water, resting, planning my next step...