CITIZEN SPOTLIGHT

Reilly Molitor is away on assignment, so this month's interview is a little different. Awhile back Dru (Dru's Book Musings) invited Abby to stop by her site to talk about a typical day in her new life in Snowberry Creek. Here's what Abby had to say:

A DAY IN MY LIFE

Hi, everyone! I'm Abby McCree, and I recently moved to a small town in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains here in Washington State. Because of two recent major changes in my life, I guess you could say that in a lot of ways my life started over the day I moved to Snowberry Creek.

After our divorce, my ex-husband bought out my half in the business the two of us had built together. At least that left me enough money to live off of while I considered new job possibilities.

Before I could decide what to do next, my favorite aunt passed away, naming me as her principle heir. Along with her Victorian home in Snowberry Creek, I inherited Zeke, a ninety pound mastiff mix. He keeps me company and is a great roommate—well, as long as you don't mind a little dog hair and a whole lot of drool!

Oh, and did I mention that I also inherited Aunt Sybil's tenant? There's a small mother-in-law house in the back corner of the yard that she always rented to a student at the local university. The current occupant, though, isn't your typical college student. Instead, Tripp Blackston enrolled at the school after spending twenty years in the army. That man values his privacy, but he's handy to have around for a lot of reasons, but especially when things go wrong.

So, how does a typical day in my life go? Well, I'd like to say that I can sleep as late as I'd like, but that never seems to happen. Even if I didn't need to get up to let Zeke out, I have new friends who think nothing of calling when the sun has barely crested the mountains to the east of where we live. The ladies all started out as Aunt Sybil's friends, so they tend to be of the "early to bed, early to rise" generation.

After breakfast, I start on my to-do list for the day. That often means spending hours going through the stuff that Aunt Sybil and her late husband accumulated in the many decades that the house has been in the family. It's amazing what people will hang onto just because they have room in the attic. Why keep an old set of canisters decorated with mushrooms from the 1970s? Seriously, what are the chances of those ever coming back into style? The bottom line is that it will take me a lot of time to sort through everything and decide what to do with it all.

However, I will definitely keep all the quilts that Aunt Sybil made. I'm even trying to get up the courage to finish the ones that were in progress when she died. Not sure I'll ever be able to match her neat stitching, but I will do my best.

When I've finished my daily allotment of boxes from the attic, I spend time outside working in the yard. That's where I often run into Tripp. The deal he made with my aunt was a reduction in his rent in return for doing yardwork and minor repairs around the house. Between the two of us, we're slowly whipping the landscaping back into shape. Until her health began to decline, my aunt always took pride in her house being part of the local garden tours. I'm not sure if I'll ever maintain the place to her high standards, but I know she'd be glad to see the yard regaining some of its old style.

I also like to bake, especially whenever something is bothering me. Luckily, Tripp has a sweet tooth. I've also learned that cookies warm from the oven come in handy when I need to bribe the local police chief. Zeke loves the organic treats I make for him, too. I know Tripp and I both spoil the fur ball a bit, but that's okay. From what little I know of Zeke's past, he could use the constant reminder that not all humans are like his previous owner.

Finally, as it turns out, I not only inherited my aunt's home and her friends, I somehow ended up taking on her obligations to various groups here in Snowberry Creek. The downside is how much of my time gets taken up by committee meetings and other related activities. On the positive side, I'm making new friends.

I came here not sure if I was going to keep the house or sell it. However, Snowberry Creek is slowly starting to feel like home, and now I can't imagine living anywhere else.