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29 Tamale Ridge by: Chuck Cusimano

I laughed but, inside I wondered if Rosemarie would think it was a pretty cabin. I hadn’t been

inside her house but I figured she might be used to things being nice. Although her mother and

stepmother were gone, I know a couple other women lived there and were taking care of a lot of

things. I recalled seeing a woman washing clothes and I could smell meat cooking.

“Yeah you can’t let some female come around and change your lifestyle”! Big Jim loved to

joke.

I could only imagine what this place would be like if Rosemarie could come live here. Thinking

of her, I felt ready for a change in my lifestyle.

CHAPTER FOUR

The weather gradually became cooler and I stayed out working till dark every night.

With Big Jim helping me for a while, there were good changes and improvements being made.

After Big Jim left, I still saw a lot of things that needed to be done so, I kept at it. I like working

when the weather is cool however, I get going and never know when to quit.

I cut some pine and spruce poles, to use as corral bars. I’d cut only the straightest and longest

ones I could find. I’d let them dry for two or three months and when the sap dried a little, the

pole would start to shrink. That would cause the bark to loosen up around the pole. I’d get a

piece of chain about eight feet long and wrap it around the pole and knock as much bark off as I

could. I’d been cutting them for the last couple of winters and keeping them in the barn and out

of the weather.

I worked hard seeking out and cutting down some good straight cedars also and doing the

same thing. I'd’set the cedars in the ground at least three feet deep. If you cut them in the

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