The News from Whispering Pines

On Sunday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Brewer motored out to the farm of Mrs. Lucille Loftesnes, childhood home of Mrs. Brewer, to partake in Sunday dinner. As there has been much rain in these parts of late, the landscape was verdant green.

Also present for dinner were Darrel and Teresa Loftesnes, and Mrs. Ardy Stevens. Lucille served up quite a feast as she is known to do. One can always expect to taste a new recipe when dining at her home. The main dish was pork loin, and side dishes were varied and many. For dessert was rhubarb pie with her famous crisp, flaky crust served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Dinnertime conversation turned to humor as Darrel and Teresa told the tale of their missing cat. Seems as though someone took their cat home thinking it was a friendly stray. After several days they were able to track her down through contacts on Facebook. After she got home she went missing again. They contacted the "cat-nappers" and were told that they renamed the cat and they should call out "Charley" with a British accent and she may respond! While that strategy failed, "Rascal" did finally show up in their garage a few days later and provided a happy ending. Darrel and Teresa are again enjoying the companionship of their beloved pet.

The afternoon ended early as all present had a busy evening planned. Mrs. Brewer snapped a few photos of her childhood home to show her dear readers.

As Mrs. Brewer drove down the gravel road away from the farm she remembered with fondness how at Easter 1998 she and her father had sat in his pick-up and listened to the noises in the meadow. There were cranes and crickets and birds of every sort singing their songs. Her father, the farmer, said what a thrill it was to hear and watch North Dakota come alive in the spring and how a person has to look and listen carefully because it's not majestic beauty, but still, small almost unnoticeable beauty. Then he said, "Maybe around here we're starved for beauty." Her father knew beauty. He'd stood before the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris, watched Les Miserable on Broadway and traveled the Rockies. But true beauty to him was the kind you had to look deep for, to wait for, the kind that surprised when a person least expected it--like springtime in North Dakota.