Miz Barbara, how did I let you talk me into putting my two cents worth in here? Whatever will I share with the folks here in Harts Corner that they don't know already? Oh, right, if they haven't decided to read the book yet, maybe something we all share here will tweak their interest.
Well, all the townspeople know I'm married to Leonard Skaggs. He's always been a fiddle player, even when a teenager, and even back then he had a small musical group. Don't know if he even called it a band then but they did get some paying jobs for house parties and weddings. When he retired, he began to take on more gigs, some in county honky tonks. I was a little unsettled about that as Baptists, even in these more modern days of the 1960's, frown on not only dancing but going to those kind of places. Drinking is a huge No-No for us and the pastors remind us that "birds of a feather flock together." Even though Leonard is not a drinking man, he was looked down on. Which meant that he stopped going to church.
That fact doesn't make him a bad man, only one who doesn't take religion as serious as some of us. I had a hard time of it for a bit but then the ladies of the church gave me a pass. I heard more "You poor thing" than I ever want to hear again. Next to me and his grandchildren, Leonard loves his music and I feel that God understands his feelings. After all, all talents are God given aren't they?
We raised two children to adulthood without many problems and now they have showered us with a great daughter- and son-in-law and three grandchildren. I babysit them from time to time and that's where Bethy Rose comes into the picture. Those grandkids can run me ragged when they're here all weekend or even longer in the summer. Bethy Rose has this great imagination and she can come up with more things to entertain all of them. That keeps them all happy and me sane. So I have always had Bethy Rose as part of my extended family, right along with MM and now Miguel.
I worry about MM when she gets involved in this crime solving stuff. She's a wonderful cook and baker, runs the Blue Moon even better than her aunt, and she has made the right kind of life for an orphan child. But she scares me when she gets some puzzle in her head that involves what she declares is an "injustice." She has a good heart and takes in all kinds of strays too--just wait until you read about Jewel Tate and Weird Harold Coburn--but it was others that she befriended...well, at least had more than a handshaking acquaintance with...those were the ones that worried me. And she's never going to stop extending that helping hand out to anyone she thinks needs it either.
Life is pretty easy for me now. I still love to cook and bake and Leonard loves to eat. My family life is pretty secure. My favorite hobby is quilting. If you go down to Laurel's Home Decor, two doors down from the Blue Moon, you can see some of my work. Laurel Baxter, she's been in town for about a year now, has been employed by some people to decorate their homes, a room here and there. She's set up a lovely shop so I'm sure her work is quite good. Anyway, she has sold some of my quilts as part of her redecorating--and has others for sale to the public around the shop.
I don't know what else to tell you about Harts Corner or myself. I've lived here all of my married life. It's had good days and bad. Now, with the freeway causing traffic to pass us by for the most part, we aren't as prosperous as we were when travelers passed through--and when the logging mills were running full steam. But we get by. We're neighborly and try to follow the rules of life--and God is an important part of our lives--well, to most of us. We have a good town here--and I hope you'll read the book when it comes out to find out just how special we are.
Come to think of it, special might not be the right word. Read it and decide how you want to describe our little town.
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