continued
Resigned, sabrina 1 got into the neighbor’s wife’s car with her, and they went two miles down a country road to her suggested accommodations.
“Really, he’s a nice guy, one of a kind,†the neighbor’s wife assured her.
They came to the crest of a hill, and down below them lay vast meadow-like acreage that spread to the river. There was an alpinic
Jungfrau-like mound, obviously not a natural one, quite a ways away from the house, infested with waist-high catnip, wild tomato plants, and only God knew what other sorts of foliage.
“It’s quite famous around here,†the neighbor’s wife illuminated her; “the William Rivers Pitt.â€
The house itself looked as if a child had created it, a combination of gingerbread and baroque and whimsy.
“Actually, it’s quite old and falling apart,†the neighbor’s wife said; “it’s all modern and that on the inside, but still, it was jerry-built over several decades, added on to as the owners needed room.
“The original owners came here in 1875, and for years and years and years, they lived, first, in a dug-out, and then later in a sod-house. They finally put up a wood house in 1902, although some say it was as early as 1890. I dunno; sometimes a wooden shed was built attached to a sod-house, and then as time went on, the shed got larger and larger, while both parts were still lived in.
“In the meantime, they’d built a veritable palace for pigs—in fact, their very first year here—one of the biggest barns in the county, naturally-air-cooled during the summer and naturally-heated during the winter because of its peculiar architectural features; every comfort and luxury a pig could possibly want.
“And kept immaculately clean.
“The pigs were to be the source of their wealth, and needed taken care of. The people could take care of themselves.
“When they figured they finally had enough money, they built a small frame house of wood, and then, as already mentioned, added on as needed.
“The place changed hands two years ago—he actually works for the cattleman who has land across this road, and just lives here—and as soon as hope springs anew, and change comes, January 20, 2013, probably the house’ll be torn down and some riverside cabins put up here, as it’s an excellent place.â€
sabrina 1 commented upon the lush proliferation of flowers and other vegetation; it seemed so well-ordered, so well-kept.
“It’s wholly natural,†the neighbor’s wife told her; “the owners had been enthusiastic gardeners, but the last one died in 1985, and it was let alone until he came out here the autumn of 2005, twenty years later.
“He’s not a gardener—he despise that sort of thing, as he grew up with too much of it—and he’s surely no fan of nature, but this being Nebraska, he has to put up with it.
“He figures that if he lets nature alone to do its own thing, nature’ll leave him alone to do his own thing; the old ‘live and let live’ sort of attitude. What you’re seeing is nature having done its own thing.â€
The host’s car was parked in the yard, but he himself was nowhere to be seen.
“No matter,†the neighbor’s wife said; “come along, the place is unlocked,†as she went up the steps of the front porch; “and besides, I have to call my husband, to bring in your car.â€
Upon entering the front door, sabrina 1 first saw the vast dining room, so large that in its sparseness, it looked as if it could accommodate a square-dance. And then she saw the adjoining living room, even larger yet. She’d seen three-bedroom apartments in blue cities with less space than the living room.
She however wondered why the spartan austerity of the rooms; there was hardly anything in either. This guy was obviously no pack-rat, no compulsive hoarder, and liked his spaces open and fresh and clean.
The only thing that was “crowded†were the walls. There seemed hundreds of custom-framed copies of portraits by Holbein and Durer, and peasant scenes by Brueghal, covering the walls, but actually there were probably only some several scores of them.
The neighbor’s wife went to the telephone, on a table in the dining room. The telephone looked odd to sabrina 1; it actually looked more like the control-panel of a jet airliner. There was a blinking red light near the top, which the neighbor’s wife pressed, shutting it off.
“Switching to normal use,†the neighbor’s wife said, after which she called her husband, giving him directions and instructions for sabrina’s stranded automobile on the highway.
When she hung up, she mentioned she’d have to leave now, given that there were so many young children at her home who needed her attention, assuring sabrina 1 that her host would show up sooner or later, although she had no idea if he’d show up before her husband and her car, or after.
“Just look around and make yourself at home,†sabrina 1 was told.
“I still don’t know,†sabrina 1 confessed; “I’m still nervous, and besides, maybe he won’t like having me here.
“I snore when I sleep.â€
“Oh, that won’t bother him the least,†the neighbor’s wife said, as she left.
to be continued