Doug and I refer to the place down the street as the Baxter’s. That’s because several years ago the Baxters lived there. Then the Baxters divorced. Apparently Mrs. Baxter found out that Mr. Baxter was having an affair with a much younger woman who worked at the VFW. So Mrs. Baxter moved out and Mr. Baxter moved somewhere with his new friend.
Their place is a total of 15 acres with a manufactured home on it. It went into foreclosure. Doug and I looked into buying, mainly because it butts up to the far end of our property. But the bank wanted way too much money for it. In our opinion any ways.
Then a little family bought the property and lived there for a very short time. APPARENTLY, the bank only had title to the acre that the house sat on. The other 14 acres were owned by Mr. Baxter. The little family found out that they did not own the entire 15 acres when a crew showed up with a bull dozer to do some clearing. So to make along story short, the little family got out of the deal, took their down payment and went else where.
Eventually an elderly couple moved into the house on the one acre and they were happy. The 14 acres was surveyed and sold. We would occasionally see a funny little man walking around. He would carry his little tiny dog and wave as we drove past.
Then a few years ago the man built some kind of shelter back in the woods. We thought he was some kind of reclusive weirdo. If you looked up his drive as you drive past (yes I know that we are nosey) you can see a travel trailer and some kind of building/shack built out of what looks like plywood, with a stove pipe coming out the side. Odd, we thought. But to each their own.
Then last year three little children started catching the school bus. A little girl, maybe 10, a little boy maybe 9, and a little girl maybe 6 or 7. So we assumed that the little weird man had found him a wife who had 3 little children. Doug and I would discuss how odd it was that they lived like that. We in fact, looked own our noses at this odd little family.
Well, Saturday Doug was doing some tractor work. Clearing some brush and trees along the fence line. He came back to the house came in and announced “I’ve got some scuttlebutt news!!”
He said while he was on the tractor he saw the little man standing along the fence line with a rifle. The man just stared. Never waved, nodded or anything. Just stared. Doug being Doug, gave him his own long stare back. As he went past him on the tractor the man said something, but Doug couldn’t hear him over the tractor. So eventually Doug got off the tractor and went to see what the man was doing. Lo and behold, Doug has made himself a new friend.
The little man, may be a little weird, but he’s up to nothing bad. He is 58, retired from the City of Fort Worth and moved out here with his wife. They have 5 children who are all grown and live in Fort Worth. After living here for awhile he said their life felt empty. So they adopted 3 children.
Now they are still a little odd in my book. But you can’t look down your nose at a couple that adopts 3 children and gives them a home. However odd that it might be. They are always well dressed, happy, and smiling when they are waiting on the bus.
The family has a garden and goats. The little man hunts turkeys, deer, and what ever else that he can find. They don’t have much, but they apparently have a very full and loving heart.
Doug says “I like the man. I judged him wrong.”