Fernnook is more than just this 40 acres that has our home on it.  It is a
community that has been here for generations.  And, if we expand it
just a bit, it can take in a large swath of Hwy K.

There is a family that lives in a hollow a few miles from us.  They
have 3 brothers (grown men) who used to be called, "The Rattlesnake
Boys."  Their nickname explains it all.  You don't want to mess (even
yet) with them.  They have always been plenty friendly with us, but
cross them, and you will live to regret it.  That hollow, at the base
of Spencer Mountain, is filled with all 3 of their families, plus some
of their other relatives.

Heartbreakingly, on Thanksgiving night, three of the kids (all cousins) of
the Rattlesnake Boys were in a car wreck.  Two of the young men were
killed.

Kent has always done the funerals for this family.  Traditionally they
have been done in the family hollow, and the bodies have either been
cremated or buried on their property.  This time though, the 2 funerals
were at the funeral home, with just the graveside service for one of the
boys at their homeplace.

Funerals are one of the places where the interconnectedness of small towns
and their surrounding communities are made obvious.

The Rattlesnake Boys mother's brother's wife is one of the grand-daughters
of John and Lucy Emmons and it is the old Emmon's property that we now
call Fernnook Farm.  She, The Rattlesnake Boys mother's brother's wife
still owns part of the property across the road from us.

It is that kind of connection that makes this feel so much like home.