Family Business

I guess I didn't get a great photo of the flowers I put on Dad's grave. Dad chose to live most of his life in a small/medium town, but to me he is buried in a good place: out on the Indiana prairie. Really, he was a country boy at heart.

 

I mentioned in a previous post that I spent most of my formative years in rural Indiana, but I haven't been back in a while.

I finally went back to Indiana for the first time since 2018. I had no intention of it being so long between visits. Without question that's the longest I've ever gone without setting foot inside the state. I put it off in 2019 because Dad had died the previous year and I wasn't ready to go back again soon. Visiting his grave was upsetting and I never really liked living in Indiana anyway.

I was going to go in 2020 but then COVID happened and it seemed risky, or at least irresponsible. Finally I received the vaccine earlier this year and decided to resume normal travel. I still put it off until August due to some other commitments.

My sister and I inherited my Dad's house and it definitely needed to be inspected for repairs. I found several things that need done, and only got a couple of them done, so I engaged a semi-retired contractor to act as a handyman. I hope that works out, because I do not want to go back to Indiana all the time to work on a house that I don't want to own in the first place.

For reasons I won't go into here, we can't sell the house, at least not in the immediate future, and it is inhabited. It's a frustrating situation.

If I'd had more time, I might have tried to roll in an outdoor adventure, but I usually keep trips to four nights due to my cats. This time, I decided to get a pet sitter at the last minute, so I kind of wish I had taken a longer trip.

I went to Dad's grave again, paced back and forth and talked to him as if he were literally there, then finally left, feeling guilty that I hadn't spent more time, even though I spent more time this time than the last time I visited.

I saw some aunts and cousins, some of whom I haven't seen in a good five years, so that was nice. But otherwise it was a working trip. I can imagine taking a trip to Indiana on a more relaxed pace to visit places I enjoy and visit more friends and family, but I doubt I will really do that. I'm in that phase of my life where you realize the clock is ticking and you will only get so many things done before it ticks to a stop. Regarding the passage of time . . .

“All the time you spend tryin to get back what's been took from you there's more goin out the door. After a while you just try and get a tourniquet on it.”

― Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men

I hope to get back to adventure travel in October or November, if I can arrange it, and if I can get a pet sitter lined up again.