Blue Shadows Farm: A Novel

Epilogue—Present Day

373 Present Day Back in 2000 when Emma Starkweather discovered the metal box with her grandfather’s things, she not only learned why he had been digging holes, but she discovered that he had found something else. As his journals revealed, at first he hated farming and had no ambition to continue beyond obtaining clear title to his land. Yet, over the years he found that he loved the place. A final entry in Silas’s journal, written in June 1905, only a short time before he died, added another dimension to the story. June 15, 1905 I’m not feeling well these days. Old age is creeping up on me, and I fear my days are numbered. The grim reaper is waiting in the shadows. I have had a good life, much better than I thought it would be. Sophia has been a wonderful wife. Unfortunately, almost every day I think about my little Elsa who died so many years ago. My son, Abe, has been a great disappointment. He is lazy, drinks too much, and hates farming. I had planned to tell him earlier that my main reason for coming to Link Lake was to search 1 Epilogue for diamonds. Now I must tell him soon, or it will be too late. Abe is not to be trusted. I have told no one that I found a diamond, not even Sophia. Though I will tell Abe about my quest for these valuable gems, I will not tell him that I found one. Let him look for himself, if he wishes. If I told him about the diamond I found, he’d sell it and leave Blue Shadows Farm in an instant. I want Blue Shadows to stay in the family. Not telling Abe about the diamond will ensure that this happens, at least for as long as he lives. Of course, with the information about the diamonds, Abe continued digging postholes and inspecting loads of road gravel; he even insisted on digging the graves of his parents. He was distracted from his search when he discovered the great demand for purified corn water during Prohibition. Modern Nature Educators couldn’t believe that Emma Starkweather would turn down their lucrative offer. She never told them the real reason. When Mayor Jessup heard she wasn’t selling, he blamed the newspaper article for changing her mind. He started a campaign to discredit the Link Lake Gazette and dry up its advertising revenue. His vindictive effort backfired, and he lost the next election. Jessup and his wife moved back to Milwaukee. No one seems to know what he’s doing these days. Modern Nature Educators bought land near Omro, on the Fox River. They built a much smaller version of the project they had planned for Blue Shadows Farm. Joe Crawford and Kate Dugan married in 2003. They currently live in the big house at Blue Shadows Farm, which is now known as the Blue Shadows Nature Center. Kate continues to run the newspaper , which has its challenges but is surviving. Joe quit teaching and started the Blue Shadows Farm Foundation in 2002. The foundation receives money from environmentally 374 Epilogue—Present Day 375 Epilogue—Present Day conscious businesses from across the country. Within two years, it raised enough money to buy Blue Shadows Farm from Emma, with the proviso that she could spend summers living in the old log cabin that her grandfather built. During the winter months, Emma lived in a little house on Link Lake, overlooking the water. Joe Crawford remodeled the big Sears dairy barn into a nature and training center. Teachers from throughout the Midwest spend up to two weeks at Blue Shadows Farm all seasons of the year, hiking the trails, studying the pond, and learning about the plants and wildlife there. In early spring and fall, schoolchildren visit the property by the busload. Emma, through her attorney, quietly sold her big diamond and gave most of the money anonymously to the Blue Shadows Farm Foundation, to be used for grants to schools to pay the transportation costs for bringing children to the nature center and to fund the cost of liability insurance for nature hikes. The Link Lake School District overturned its decision preventing children from going on nature hikes when it heard of the fund to pay for liability insurance. The diamond money also provides scholarships for teachers who...