The Quiet Man

Tom decided to place his beehive in the edge of the woods in the back corner of the old yard. It would be out of the way there, yet easy to get to when he wanted to work the bees. It would be close to his garden and some other flowering plants so they could begin harvesting nectar for their honey easily. He went into his house and mixed a jar of sugar water to feed the bees until they harvested enough honey to live on. He knew it wouldn't take long, but he wanted to be safe and make sure they would stay in the hive. The store clerk told him he should keep the exit to the hive closed off for a couple of days to make sure the bees would stay. He would need to feed them during that time, at the least.

Tom was waiting for evening to move his bees. Finally, it was almost dark and he decided it was time to bite the bullet. Tom suited up, started his smoker, got his tools together to take the siding off the well house and moved everything near the opening the bees were using. He let the smoker puff smoke into the hole for a short time, then began working boards loose to get to the bees.

After he had a larger hole, he smoked the bees once again, then tore off more boards. Crap, what a mess. The bees had already began storing honey and, of course, the comb was a jumbled up mess. He would have to tear a lot of the wall out, remove the insulation that had honeycomb in it and rework the small building when he got the bees out.

He scooped up large handfuls of bees carefully and put them into the new hive. He searched diligently until he was sure he found the queen. After the queen was moved, he moved as much of the stored honey and comb as he could, then closed the new hive. He carefully drove to its new location and placed it on the blocks he had prepositioned. Now all he had to do was put the feed jar on top and wait for the bees to accept their new home.

After moving the majority of the bees, Tom returned his tools to their proper storage places and went into his house. He spent the evening reading about bees and beekeeping. He was getting excited with the prospect. The next morning Tom repaired the well house, then, instead of working in his garden as he usually did, he built another beehive and the frames for the honey. He wanted to be prepared if he found another swarm or a bee tree. If nothing else, he could either purchase a new queen or raid his hive for one when they grew another.

The spring progressed and Tom grew his garden produce and watched his bees. He also purchased two weaning pigs and three Holstein-cross calves to raise. He was tired of wild game and really didn't want to spend the money buying his meat. He wanted to get some chickens, also, but decided to wait until he retired to do that. It would be easier to sell the pigs and calves if he had to return to active duty.

He really missed Elijah and Carolyn. Patricia had returned to Chattanooga to find a job, so he only saw her occasionally when she came out to spend a weekend in the country. He found himself going to Hooterville more often, and even sat on Sam's porch a time or two just to visit. Amazing. That wasn't like him at all.

One day in late September Tom was working outside harvesting some of his honey when he heard feminine voices coming down the driveway. He put the new frames in the hives and closed them up then moved away from the hives. He took off his protective clothes as he watched up the driveway until he saw Patricia and a younger version of her walking toward him. He smiled widely and waved as he said, "Hello, Pat. It's been a while. Sure is good to see ya. Are you going to be here long?"

"Hi Tom. You're looking good. Hey, when did you get the bees? Man, what I wouldn't give for some fresh honey."

"Well, you came at the right time. I just finished raiding the hives. Come on down to the house and I'll put a little in a jar for ya."

"No, you don't have to do that. I have been telling my daughter about all you've done to the old house and she wanted to see it so we decided to come down and look. You don't mind do you?"

"Not at all. Come on."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Tom, this is my daughter Chrystal. Chrystal, this is Tom Porter."

Tom smiled and said, "Nice to meet you Chrystal. Why don't you ladies just follow me and we'll see the place. Please ignore the mess. I'm afraid I'm not much of a housekeeper and I don't have much furniture. One person doesn't need much and I've never gotten around to filling the place up."

When they got in sight of the old rock house Pat and Chrystal stopped and stared. Pat said, "Oh, my. You've done a lot of work on the yard since I was here last. This is gorgeous."

Chrystal said, "Wow, it sure is. And your garden still looks great, too. I just love this huge porch and the swing and chairs. I could spend all day here looking down at the river and stream."

When they entered the building both women stopped again. The inside just seemed to glow. The golden oak paneling and woodwork was catching the sunlight coming in the windows just right to show perfectly. Since the insurance company paid off for replacement furniture, Tom had purchased better quality than had burned. He had a nice oak dining table and chairs in the dining area and two recliners with a nice oak table between them. He had even purchased a quality sleeper couch for the living area.

Pat said, "This looks a lot different than it did the last time I was here. You even have furniture!" She laughed when she said that.

Tom laughed with her and said, "Well, yeah, but if I remember correctly, you weren't inside after I got the work done. You had already packed up and gone back to town to work."

"Yeah, but Tom, this is perfect. I can't believe you have done this to the old place. Wasn't it cold in here last winter though? All that rock must have drawn in the cold."

"Not really. I have good insulation in most of the building. I sealed the stone and insulated behind the paneling and I have R33 in the attic. The only part of the walls not insulated is the south kitchen wall behind the counter tops and the wall the fireplace is on. I wanted the old stone to show through there, so I left it uncovered. Surprisingly, after the stone gets warm it holds the heat very well. I mostly heat with wood, but I did install a propane auxiliary heating system. I only burned about 350 gallons of propane last winter. I do burn some along since I have a gas cook stove and water heater."

Chrystal said, "That is great. I hope I can get through the winter that cheaply."

Pat said, "Well, you won't, but Dad's place is still easy to heat. He insulated it pretty good when he built it." She turned to Tom and said, "Chrystal is going to be your neighbor for a while, Tom. She was working back east as an editor for a publishing company when she caught her husband cheating on her. She got her divorce and decided she wanted to get away for a while. Her employer agreed to let her do her work at home, so she decided to come back here and get her head on straight again. With her small salary and the maintenance the asshole has to pay her she will do very well here, I think. I would appreciate it if you would sort of keep your eye on her, though."

"MOTHER! I'm a 34-year-old woman. I don't need a man to keep his eye on me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!"

"I know honey but sometimes you might need help with something and Tom's right here. He was a great neighbor to your grandparents, and to me, and I am sure he will be to you, too. That's all I meant."

Tom felt a little worried by the discord between the women. He looked toward them and said, "I would be honored to help if you ever need it. Your grandparents and mother have been very good to me and I like to think I can be as good a neighbor to you as they were to me. If you just want someone to visit with or need help with anything, just let me know. It'll be nice to have someone close again. I never thought I would say this, but I really missed having someone living over there. I moved out here to get away from people, but with your grandparent's gone, when your mother moved back to town I found I missed visiting with her. I never realized before but when I felt the need to see someone, I always wandered over to see Elijah and Carolyn, and later, your mother. After your mom left, I went into Hooterville two or three times a month to sit on Sam's porch with the old fellas. How pathetic is that?"

Pat laughed and said, "Boy, you were hard up weren't you? I like Sam and those guys, but I can't see sitting on the porch with them and watching the dust settle and the grass dry up. Do they still say two or three sentences a day?"

"Yeah, if they even talk that much. Now, Sheriff Haney, on the other hand. Whooooeeeee. That man can talk. He ought to be some kind of snake oil salesman. I do everything I can to keep out of his sight."

"You think he's bad. You should have been here when his brother was around, before he moved away from Hooterville. He had an old truck and drove around constantly trying to sell something. Now HE was the original snake oil salesman. If he could find a way to do it, I think he would try to sell you something you already own."

"Well, ladies. Why don't we adjourn to the front porch and have some nice iced tea? I doubt if it's as good as Carolyn's and it sure isn't sweetened in the pitcher, but I have some made up and I do have a nice full sugar bowl for those of you who want sweet tea."

"Why thank you, kind sir," Chrystal said. She then turned and headed for the door and a seat on the porch.

When Tom came out with the tea he brought a pint jar containing honey with the comb still in it. He handed it to Pat and said, "Here's the honey I promised you. I think I'll have a lot more than I can eat this winter, so if you want more, just let me know."

The women stayed visiting until the sun dropped behind the trees. Finally, Pat said, "Tom, we really have to go. We've interfered with your day more than we should have, I know, and I'm sorry. Thank you for showing Chrystal your house. You've made it into a beautiful home. I think Dad and Mom would have liked it."

"Hey, no problem. I didn't have that much going on and I really enjoyed the visit. I've missed having someone close to talk to since you went back to town. You're both welcome to pop in any time you want to."

The next morning Tom had his coffee on the porch as he normally did, then made a quick breakfast before he returned to his interrupted work on the honey he harvested. He only had three working hives, but the work harvesting the honey was becoming tedious. He knew he could purchase an extractor to remove the honey from the comb, but the good ones were expensive. He was putting the honeycomb in a colander and using a knife to break each little section up so the honey could drain out with gravity. Not only was this inefficient but it was time consuming and he didn't get nearly all the honey.

The upside to draining the honey as he did was it was inexpensive and he could take the comb and what little honey it still contained out to his bees for them to salvage and reuse the remains. He placed the wax and honey left over after he drained what he could out of it beside the hives and the bees quickly moved it back inside once again. He knew he could sell the wax but chose not to, since he had so little and it was still partly saturated with honey. Heck, he had more honey than he could use anyway, so why worry about the little he didn't get out of the wax combs.

A couple of days after Pat and Chrystal were at his place Tom was still working on the honey. He ran out of jars in which to put the honey and didn't want to go to Chattanooga just for them, so jumped into his truck and drove to Drucker's Store in Hooterville. When he stopped beside the small store he saw Sam and a couple of the guys on the porch, as usual. They all looked at him in surprise when he drove up.

As Tom climbed the steps onto the porch Sam smiled at him and said, "Morning Tom. You must be in some kind of a hurry to be driving today. You usually walk into town."

"Good morning, Sam, Gentlemen. No, Sam. I can't say I'm in any hurry. I just need some jars to put some honey in and didn't want to carry something that large back home on foot. I saw some jelly jars and pint jars here earlier this summer and was hoping you still had them."

"Yep, sure do. I always keep jars and lids and such. Most all the ladies around do a lot of canning and preserving and seems like they're always running out of supplies. How many are ya needing?"

"Well, I don't really know. I guess a box of each for now. I have some beehives and I need jars to put the honey in. I got carried away and don't know what I'm going to do with it all. I have three hives going and I can't even eat the honey I get from one. Guess I'll have to sell it if I can find someone that wants it."

All three of the men on the porch perked up at that. Silas managed to speak first though. He said, "How much're ya wantin' fer tha honey Tom? My woman and I sure like good honey on our biscuits of a mornin'. Ya know local honey's better than what ya get in the store. Ya eat a teaspoon a day and it helps if ya got them there allergies."

"I really hadn't thought too much about it Silas." He turned to Sam and said, "Sam, what do you think I ought to get for the honey?"

"Well now, Tom, I don't rightly know. I sort of hate to see ya sellin' honey here. I don't sell much but I do sell some and that'll cut into my business."

Tom thought a moment and then said, "Well, I can sort of see your point there Sam. I'm here in your business and selling something to someone else that you sell. That isn't quite right. Tell me Sam, what do you pay your suppliers for the honey you sell?"

"Well now, I don't rightly know off the top of my head. I guess I could look and see but why do ya wantta know?"

"Well, I was thinking you might want to buy the honey from me and sell it in your store here instead of what you buy from your supplier. That way I could get rid of my extra honey and local folks could get local honey and I wouldn't be cutting into your business."

Sam smiled and said, "Ya know Tom, that just might work. I think I can do that, but I really don't sell much. I don't know as if I would want a lot at one time."

Sam finally decided he would take 6 pints and 6 smaller jelly jars of honey. Three of each were to still have the comb in them. That helped Tom, but he still had way more honey than he could eat alone. He told Sam that and asked what he thought he could do with the rest. He was beginning to think he made a mistake setting more than one beehive, but hell, they were free and he couldn't resist expanding when he found a queen cell in one of his hives. Besides, he got a kick out of watching the bees and harvesting the honey.

"Well Tom, I hear they's a farmers market over ta Chattanooga on Saturdays. Why don't ya go over there and see if ya can sell what ya got left. If ya had some extra garden truck ya could maybe sell that there, too. I know some of the folks hereabouts take stuff over there from time to time."

"You know, I just might do that. I had to get a couple of hogs and some calves to feed my extra garden truck to. I suppose I should try to sell the good stuff instead of just feeding it to the animals. Of course, I didn't get them just for that. I wanted some fresh pork and beef this fall, too. I'm going to have more meat than I can use also. Wonder where I can get rid of that? I used to give a lot of my extra garden vegetables to Elijah and Carolyn. I wonder if that girl of Pat's could use some? I'll stop by and ask her on the way home."

"You do that. Haven't seen much of her, but I heard she was living in Elijah's old place. Sure is sad that man of hers treated her that way. You tell her howdy for us when ya see her."

True to his word, Tom stopped and saw Chrystal on his way home. He made sure to relay Sam's greeting and Chrystal smiled when she heard it. She said, "Sam's an old sweetie. I remember when I was little and Grandpa took me to the store. Sam always gave me a piece of candy out of the bulk jar and wouldn't let me pay. Grandpa always gave me a piece of small change before we went in and I always wanted to buy candy, but he wouldn't take money from me. When we got home gramps made me put my change in an old piggy bank so I could have it later, he said. I was, oh, I don't know, eleven or twelve before Sam started making me pay for my treats.

"Now, what can I do for you, Tom?"

"Nothing, really. I was just talking with Sam and the guys about my extra garden truck and honey. They were telling me about the farmers market in Chattanooga and suggested I take my extras there on Saturday. I remembered how Elijah and Carolyn used to appreciate getting some of my extra, and I wondered if you might want some fresh veggies along?"

"Oh, well, sure, I guess. I don't eat much, being alone, but some fresh garden vegetables would be nice. How much are you charging for it?"

"Nothing for just a little to eat along. We're neighbors and I wouldn't feel right charging for something I wasn't going to use anyway."

"Now Tom, you just told me you were going to take your extra to the farmer's market to sell. I couldn't take something you were going to sell for free."

"Well, I won't charge you for it. I was offering as a neighbor."

"Well, I don't suppose I want anything then. I know you are trying to live on what you make on that little place and it wouldn't be right not to pay."

"Well now Chrystal, that's not completely true. I have a little saved and I am living on that and my pay from the Guard. I am going to have to find something to generate some income in a year or so, though, because I plan to retire as soon as I get my twenty good years in."

"I thought you got a pension from the military if you retired at twenty years or more. Why would you need to find another source of income when you retire? Won't your pension be enough to live on then?"

"I won't be able to collect the pension until I'm 60 since I'm retiring from the Guard. Well, that's not entirely true. I can start a few months before I am 60 based on the time I spent on active duty during the Global War on Terrorism. I don't know exactly how much earlier I can retire yet, though. Only people who retire from active duty get a pension immediately upon retirement. I won't need to make as much to live after I retire as I am now, but I will need something. I don't know what I can do to make the money, though, because I don't want to leave here for a job."

"Well, depending on how much you need to make, I'm sure there are several things you can do to make a little along."

"Now, about the veggies. Since you won't take it free, how about taking some of the slightly damaged ones for free. That is what I plan on eating if I take something to the farmer's market. I have been giving the ruined veggies to the hogs and calves and I still will give them the really bad ones. Would you like that?"

"I suppose that would be fair. I really would like some fresh garden stuff. I didn't think about planting anything or I might have had my own. If I'm still here next year I might do that. Do you know anyone that could plow my garden for me?"

"Yeah, I have a small tractor and would be happy to do yours when I do mine."

On Saturday Tom got up early, loaded his extra vegetables and excess honey, and took off for the farmer's market. He was completely sold out of honey by ten AM. He wasn't having as much luck with his vegetables because everyone else there was selling the same things he was. He finally managed to sell everything he brought by letting a couple purchase everything he had left for a token amount. To his surprise, he made over $300 that morning. He only brought twenty-four pints of honey and sold them for $10.00 each for $240, total. He got another $74.00 for his vegetables.