My battery went dead on January 8. I had no interest. Nothing to say. Views from the Edge was dead as a doornail. I wondered if the juices would ever flow again, but didn’t much care whether they did.
Then a funny thing happened. A stranger dropped by with the comment that jump-started the battery:
The Man Who Loved Graves Howdy. Seems the whippersnapper is selling you family’s mill. Thought you might be interested in seeing the current pix of it posted in the listing at the weblog linked below. Cheers! J https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2020/01/14/1864-mill-in-bryant-pond-me/
Click HERE to view the current photographs of the real estate listing ($85,000) for the Mill and 2.7 acres on Mill Pond in my ancestral home of Andrews Hollow, the same property described in “The Man Who Loved Graves” (Views from the Edge, 2012) back when the battery was fresh. The photographs did more than take me back to childhood. They took where I’ve never been: inside the Mill, which I’d assumed had gone to rot — and living quarters that come as a complete surprise.
By January 13 the number of Views from the Edge daily visits had fallen to an all-time low of 20. The battery was dead. But life is a funny thing. The next day the number jumped to 495. All because a stranger dropped by with jumper cables that jump-started a dead battery down by the old Mill stream.
Thank you, J, whoever and wherever you are,
Gordon C. Stewart, author, Be Still! Departure from Collective Madness, Chaska, MN, January 20, 2020.
Views from the Edge 
It was VERY slow all through December, with a couple of bumps. it has popped up to more or less normal again, but regardless, when you’ve been doing this a long time, we all go flat from time to time. I also haven’t been doing much reading because it takes me so long to write!
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Marilyn, As you well know, stress does terrible things to our physical, spiritual, and emotional wellbeing. I wonder whether being able to hear again has left him wondering the Cochlear Implant. Hearing lie after lie and seeing smirk after smirk take their tolls. Thanks for the reminder about all of us going flat from time to time.
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OMG! That’s a beautiful WoW!
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Mona, I’m glad you and others are able to see this lovely spot. My grandmother (mother’s side) grew up in the larger white house across the road from the mill, as did my second cousin Hilda.
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Glad you’re back. You still have lots to say.
What a beautiful place and location. I may just have to go into the casket business!
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Jo, not so sure about having much to say, but I’ll keep plugging away in this Dark Age of glitter and gold.
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On my way back to Connecticut to teach for the month of March. May just have to take a field trip!
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It’s a fur piece from Connecticut to heaven!
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I’m back there for six weeks this summer – will probably drive out in order to have a car. That might be a great field trip time. Maybe even to Kennebunkport!
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My first parish was the only church in a little town of 2000 folk in Connecticut. There was a pond, a lake, and a little river … beautiful w.oods and rolling hills and winding lanes … along with assorted townsfolk who brought joy, dismay, challenge, comfort and so much more to our lives. After 40 years I still miss New England. Thanks for reminding me of good times and a good place.
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David, I, too, still miss New England. My mother grew up not far from that lovely site. My dad was a Bostonian. Thanks for sharing. Your description of that little Connecticut town leaves me feeling I’ve walked those paths. Beautiful.
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Gordon,
So glad for your jump start, a great real estate listing and story, hope the Old Mill finds a new owner and is restored keeping its history intact.
Peace and love to you brother,
Don
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Hey, Don, thanks for your encouragement, as always. That land and the Mill is a treasure. So much so that, in a moment of temporary insanity, I proposed to my brothers that we bid on it. They said “Nah” and laughed. “What would we do with it at our age so far away?” Good point. But I would block out a month each summer just to be in that sacred place. Instead, I’ll go to NH!
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What a lovely place, Gordon! Can certainly see why it brings back many happy memories…
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Lori, it IS a beautiful piece of land. This is the spot in ME of which I wrote about my mother and her first cousin Pete playing hid-and-seek among the caskets in “Be Still!”
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Gordon, I really understand a dead battery syndrome. On October 15th a stent was placed in my right Coronary Artery. I could think in complete sentences for the first time in several years. Bradycardia has been with me for 10 years. Apparently 30 BPM are not enough to keep clear thoughts alive. Wednesday afternoon on the eve of my 80th birthday I am getting a brand new Medtronic MRI resistant Pacemaker. From that moment on I will have a pulse of 62 BPM living or not. Yesterday Susan and I attended Episcopal Church of the Redeemer MLK service. Redeemer is Baltimore’s 4th Presbyterian Church. Privileged Blessed and a vision of the future that engages the members with Jesus’s people. There is a Vestry, Stewardship committee. No Outreach, evangelism, peace making. Engagement. An Associate Rector for Community Engagement. Etc. We are blessed and comforted to be apart of a congregation that is alive well led and useful.
Keep the battery charger on stun.
Best,
Jim
James B Haugh
On Mon, Jan 20, 2020, 8:50 AM Views from the Edge wrote:
> Gordon C. Stewart posted: ” My battery went dead on January 8. I had no > interest. Nothing to say. Views from the Edge was dead as a doornail. I > wondered if the juices would ever flow again, but didn’t much care whether > they did. Then a funny thing happened. A stranger dropped by” >
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Jim, good to hear from you on this MLK Day and and to catch on news from the coast. But, WOW! I had no idea of your heart-related struggles. Glad Medtronic’s Pony Express is on the way to keep your heart beating for eternity. Will it stay at 62 bpm after cremation? I know, that’s NOT funny! But we’re odd enough to understand the humor. On the MLK matter, I envy you and Susan your inspiring worship experience. Gotta run to dinner. Happy Birthday, clear thoughts, and joy. G
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