Looking down the Lane

The first time I saw the house on the farm was from the end of the lane.  The fields were newly planted, I didn't know what seedlings were sprouting beneath the springtime soil.  I could barely see the house, it was about a quarter mile from the main road.  There were large cedar trees on the north side of the house, a good windbreak to be sure.  The lane was dusty grey with ruts and holes from the tractors and farm wagons that used it to get to the back acres.  After driving down the lane we turned into a gravel driveway.  The house was originally a single-story building (some say an old barracks) with a two-story addition.  The addition was an attached garage with three bedrooms and a makeshift carport.  There was a large overgrown area directly beside the carport and a feedlot beside that where young beef cattle were sometimes held.  It looked pretty rough anywhere you looked.  Lots of cats, lots of cat food cans and a lot of uncared for property.  The lady that lived there was a housebound mother of two and she wanted to get back into the city something terrible.  Her husband left for work everyday and she was there with two pre-schoolers and had cabin fever.  She wanted out and as we looked around, knowing that it would be a lot of work, we wanted in.  We told the owner we wanted to rent the farmhouse and we planned to move in on Memorial Day weekend.  Sure there was a lot to do.  The house was really a mess, the kids even let the birds fly in the upstairs windows.  My husband was a real trooper, he did a lot while I worked at school, then he went to his night job.  As we left the farm on that first visit, I turned and looked out over the fields.  The sun was golden red and just slipping down toward the horizon.  Beautiful--the farm got its name--"Sunset Acres."