Hi,

This is Steve Rimbauer. It’s a bit strange writing Ally’s blog, even though she published a letter for me once. This is a lot more direct. But she’s been caught up in some family issues and asked me to send you an update so you wouldn’t worry. Only Ally could do something this thorough, but she wrote out a whole page of notes about what I should say to you, like I’m incapable of writing things myself.

I’m not offended though because she’s right. I wouldn’t know the first thing to say about what’s going on with this site.

So here goes.

• Emery’s paranormal investigation: She wants me to remind you to check it out. Although the investigation is over we’re both concerned about some of the things we’ve been reading on his blog. However, with what’s going on with Ally’s family she hasn’t been able to get online much to keep up. I keep trying to make her get an iPhone, or at least Blackberry, but she’d rather stay in the Stone Age. So visit his blog and keep up for her! I can tell you, however, that something serious is going on with Emery’s fiancée Mary and her life is in grave danger. It’s almost more than Ally can bear at the moment so I’m sparing her the details. Let’s just keep Mary in our good thoughts.
• Coming soon: Ally’s working on a pretty huge piece about some mysterious disappearances that are linked to Rose Red, decades before Rose Red even existed. Keep your eyes out for that as soon as she can get herself together.
• Also coming soon: Pictures and info have been pouring in already in response to my letter to businesses who might have bought things at my family’s estate auction. Ally knows you love galleries, so she’ll put one together soon.
• My first visit to my family homestead since the tragic Memorial Day weekend is still pending, and yes I’m still nervous, but I’m determined. It’s sort of like that movie What About Bob?, remember it? Classic. “Baby steps to the elevator…” I’m taking baby steps. First the letter, now I’ve got access to Ally’s blog, though I won’t be posting here unless she asks me to. Ally wanted you to know, though, that we haven’t ditched plans for me to jump into the deep end. Plus, there’s that champagne and chocolate.

Ally’s situation is this: her mother was taken into surgery on Wednesday to remove a potentially cancerous tumor that was suddenly discovered. Ally spent the whole day in the hospital while her mom had massively invasive surgery. This is up in Oregon remember, where her folks live. So Ally’s still up there; I drove her up on Tuesday and spent part of the day with Ally in the waiting room on Wednesday, but had to drive back to Seattle to get myself ready for a job on Thursday.

Ally did want me to relay that her mom is doing fine, though, and early tests say it’s not cancer after all. Ally’s caring for her mom for a while (her mom is home now) and then she’ll fly back to Seattle to carry on life here.

Take care, everybody.

-Steve

Unraveling Rose Red: Piecing together the puzzle of history and “coincidence” in Rose Red.

The winter of 1814 was particularly harsh in Dutchtown, Tennessee. The small, young community of modest farms - at the center of which was a tiny village hub consisting of nothing more than a general store and a church - was in danger of dissolution. Starvation was a very real possibility and by late February one third of the town’s population had moved away, primarily relocating to family elsewhere or wandering further afield to seek a new, more forgiving life.

Normally the people of Dutchtown would survive a winter with their stores filled with grains and other staples. Most farm owners had at least one cow and several chickens. The majority also owned pigs for pork. But a terrible harvest in the fall of 1813 left many with their pantries bare of all but what goods they’d preserved in jars, and smoked meats. Any oats and wheat they did have they sacrificed to their animals. It was often in vain; more livestock perished that winter than any other, frequently due to slaughter for food, even if they weren’t fattened. Elsewhere in Tennessee a drinking song containing the lyric “Lock your barns boys, gather round / no horse is safe near wee Dutchtown”* (referencing the fact that the most desperate people in Dutchtown killed and ate their horses) became cruelly popular.

The devastating winter of 1814 set into motion two extremely important events in the history of Dutchtown, events that would make it legendary, and eventually lead to its demise. (Continue reading…)