Introduction
Greetings, dear reader, and welcome to the 116th entry in the Life (such as it is) topic section. On this cloudy and warm Friday afternoon, this article reflects on my trip to the homeplace last Tuesday, the 24th, when morning clouds gave way to a crisp and sunny afternoon.
My Tuesday trip was to follow up on the yard work from Friday, March 6, which led to the blazing surprise the next evening. The article from 3/16/2026 was about the yard work and the unexpected fire.
Concluding thoughts reflect on my recently deceased father-in-law, whose 88th birthday would have been last Tuesday. Further final thoughts mention the eye infection that the “long-suffering” contracted on Tuesday.
All Was Well, But More Work Awaits.
Last Tuesday's morning clouds and a household chore almost forestalled my drive up to the homeplace in Hawkins County, Tennessee. Thankfully, with the job done and the clouds dissipated, I left home at 12:18 PM in my 2006 Frontier. After an hour and 12-minute drive, I arrived at the homeplace at 1:30 PM.
Outside, I picked up and moved several handfuls of larger branches to the brush pile. Further, I used my trimming tools (brought with me) to trim and cut low branches from trees. Those also went to the brush pile. I saw a next-door neighbor driving out to go somewhere. Unfortunately, he didn't see me walking toward him and waving my arms.
An across-the-road neighbor, however, returned home while I was trimming trees. He rode over on his 4-wheeler to visit for a spell. His wife and he were doing well. He plans to repair his tractor and use it to move the brush pile a few feet closer to the still-standing trunk of the burned tree.
At 3:18 PM, I took the following photograph from the field behind the house:
The view looks north. That's my 20-year-young truck parked near the house. In the foreground are the much smaller brush pile and the dead tree trunk, which caught on fire on March 6 and reignited on the evening of March 7.
The main work awaiting to be done involves moving the brush pile closer to the dead tree trunk and starting a controlled fire to completely burn everything. Once our neighbor repairs his tractor, the plan is to move the brush pile and set fire to it all. Of course, the weather will have to be cloudy and damp with no wind. Further, I plan to obtain the burn permit and have plenty of extra water hose handy. As an aside, I offered to drive up and help our neighbor repair his tractor if he needed my assistance.
Dad's Winesap Apple Trees Were in Bloom!
Most importantly, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the two Winesap apple trees, which my father planted years before he passed on, were putting out leaves and blooming! They were not dead, despite not putting out leaves or producing apples last year!
Last year, on Sunday afternoon, 10/12/2025, my wife and I visited the homeplace after meeting my youngest brother and his family for a late lunch during Heritage Days. Then, the apple trees looked dead, as if an apple tree blight had killed them.
Those two Winesap apple trees are a lesson in resilience! If life blights you with tragedy, by God's grace and your strong will, adapt, improvise, recover, and continue to bloom and produce fruit for the kingdom of God!
Conclusion
Leaving the homeplace at 3:55 PM, my old truck and I were back home at 5:05 PM. My wife, arriving a few minutes later, saw me sitting on the front porch and digging out sap from the soles of my warm-weather hiking shoes. I must have stepped in tree sap while trimming tree branches.
The article from 2/13/2026 was a tribute to my father-in-law, Jimmie Gordon, who had recently transitioned from temporal to everlasting life. His 88th birthday would have been last Tuesday. My wife's strong faith comforted her that day, since she knows that she will see her father again.
Ironically, my “long-suffering” wife will also remember last Tuesday as the day a sty formed inside her lower-left eyelid. Undaunted, she started treating it with over-the-counter medications and saw her primary care provider yesterday. The prescription, which she picked up, should stop that pesky little sty.
Well, that's all for now, folks. Tune in later for another episode of this Appalachian Irishman's life, such as it is, experiences.
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