Attribution: Celticeternity1, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, supports the keeper in these court/crime filled days as he—the keeper, confesses to his role in what might be seen as insurance fraud.
It was some 70 years ago, the keeper was still living on the farm with his parents when a vicious summer storm struck, blowing an old wood-stave silo halfway down at an obvious unusable angle.
The keeper’s father was of the opinion that in order to collect the insurance, the silo had to be all the way down and he recruited the keeper’s help to make that happen. Using a long, heavy rope and the tractor the silo was shortly flat on the ground.
Dad then went into town and collected the $75 insurance, reporting that the insurance agent commented that he was surprised to hear that the wind had blown that hard.
Over the decades, the keeper has lived with the guilt of his “aiding and abetting” his dear old, straight-arrow father in the “silo insurance caper.”
After talking it over with Phyllis, the keeper has decided to throw himself at the mercy of the court, hoping maybe the statue of limitations kicks in. If it does not, he hopes for tolerable incarceration conditions with liberal visitation terms so Phyllis can bring him some of her delicious home-made soup and some writing material as he drafts out his next novel—”Gone With The Wind After A Little Help.”
Photo by Bill Stokes