The Start of Whispering Pines

      Since we had built a large addition to our house Daddy was working on getting a woodworking shop started in the basement of the new addition, in hopes that he could work at home with his growing family, instead of doing carpentry. It took quite a while to get everything ready. The electric motors had to be removed from the machinery and replaced with either a hydraulic or air motor.
     Once everything was ready to go he started working  in the shop in the evenings. We enjoyed watching him whenever we could. There was something about watching plain boring lumber being turned into something much nicer that sent a thrill through me.
     Besides starting a woodworking shop. Daddy and Mom also bought a fabric store from someone who was going out of business. We moved all of our furniture out of our living-room and sewing-room, and put it into our kitchen. And turned those two rooms into our store. Daddy built shelves along the walls to hold the bolts of fabric and the many other things Amish stores have. They also set up a queen size bed on which to display the many quilts to sell.
     After everything was set up and ready for customers Daddy fastened a small bell to the door so we would be alerted to any customers that came. And Mom painted a sign "Whispering Pines" Quilts, Fabrics and Gifts. After the paint was dry Daddy put it in the front yard, and there was nothing left to do but wait for customers to start coming.
     It wasn't long before people started coming. We children would have loved to be in the store with Mom to watch. But we were told to stay in the kitchen and try to be quiet. We stayed in the kitchen, but pressed our ears to the door to hear what was going on in our store. It wasn't very satisfying not being able to see too. And then a great idea popped into my head. I could climb up on Mom's china cupboard and peep through the vent hole above the door.
     I climbed up. And was delighted to not only be able to hear everything but now I had a birds eye view of the store. I stayed there until the customers were paying for their purchases and then jumped off and went to do something else before Mom came and discovered me there.
     From that day on whenever Mom went into the store I would climb up on my perch to watch, until one day several years later just as I popped my head in front of the vent, the lady Mom was helping look at quilts looked up at me and waved, which made Mom turn around and she saw me before I had time to disappear. After the customer had left Mom had a talk with me about how impolite it is to peep in on people, and that it would be better to sit in the chair behind the desk if I wanted so badly to see everything.
     That was the last time I watched from the cupboard. It was so much better to actually be in the store, even if I wasn't allowed to every-time.