Till the Earth

She was thin and gray as a winter twig. She was building a fire in the wood stove. Rain clouds were scuttling in over the mountains. "I want a deck." She pointed to a sliding patio door that looked out over a steep hill and the forested valley below. "I couldn't afford one last year and I can't afford one this year, but I'm buying it anyway."

She had a fierce handshake and a determined spark in her eye."I want something twelve by sixteen. They'll only give me a permit for a something ten by twelve so I'm going to do this on the sly."

I looked around her mobile home. Cat toys on the floor. Seed catalogs scattered across a coffee table. No fancy car or TV. Just her, her cat, and her garden.

I considered the fact that it would take an hour for my crew to drive south of town, back in the woods, miles from anything. One day to pour concrete and set posts. A trip to drop material. Another trip for a short day of construction. There would be no profit in it.

There was an IV bag hanging from a corner of the book case. Her black and white cat was curled up on a pillow. There were stakes in the yard for new flowerbeds.

"We could probably start next week," I said.