Page 4 of Burn With Me

While I love working with the community and local restaurants and stores, days like today are mentally exhausting. I might be fantastic at customer service—figuring out what people might need and problem-solving with them—but I’m an introvert at heart, and nights in, spent decompressing, are perfect for me. That’s why when I hear my phone ring, I almost don’t answer, but looking at my watch, I see it’s Pam.

“Sup, hoe,” I say as I unlock the door.

Penny, my chocolate lab mix, comes toward me with a toy in her mouth. After dropping my stuff on the table, I head down the hall to the back door and let Penny out.

“Oh, you know, same shit, different day,” she replies. “Are we still on for girls’ night tonight?”

Shit, I forgot about that.

“Ugh, I kind of forgot, but yeah, we’re still on. What’re we thinking? Because I could go for some chips and guac,” I say with a smirk.

I can practically hear her gagging.

“Guac looks like baby shit, but I’ll pick it up on my way. Same order as always?”

“Yup. I have to hop in the shower. Just come on in when you get here,” I say and let Penny back in. Then I head to the bathroom to put rosemary oil in my hair.

“Okey dokey. Be there in less than an hour,” she says before hanging up.

While my hair oil works its ten-minute magic, I walk back to the kitchen to grab Penny’s food out of the fridge and set it down. She sits not so patiently for me to give her the command to eat.

“Okay,” I say, and without hesitation, she walks to her food and starts eating.

I was lucky to find this house before COVID made the world crazy. It’s a three-bedroom, two-bathroom adobe-style home that sits on just over an acre, and it was exactly what I was looking for.

I did some minor upgrading while the world was stuck in a weird cycle of shutting down and opening back up, and between that and figuring out how not to waste food that I was growing for my aquaponics business, I kept myself busy.

Penny finishes her food and comes to sit in front of me like the perfect princess she is. She was my foster fail during COVID and the second-best decision I made, moving here being the first. I bend down to give her a couple of pats, grab a nearby toy, and throw it down the hall for her.

Walking back to the bathroom, I reflect on how far I’ve come over the last five years. I’m forever grateful that Pam decided to join me on my adventure.

I strip down and turn on the shower.

While I know I could have made my way down here without her, I’m glad I didn’t have to. She’s my sister from another mister, the peanut butter to my jelly, and my forever alibi. I can never repay her for the day she dropped everything to help me leave fuck face without blinking an eye. She not only supported my decision but saw my vision for what it could be and didn’t think twice as we started to plan.

As anticipated, it took almost a year to hear back about the grant, and good golly, it was a stressful year. Thankfully, my job allowed me to work remotely, so the move was, for the most part, a seamless transition. It also made planning everything a little easier.

I step into the shower, and the hot water helps relax my shoulders, which feel permanently tense lately.

I loved my old job, but working while getting the farm off the ground was exhausting. Putting together a business plan and greenhouse layouts and beginning to build relationships with local restaurants and grocery stores was a second full-time job. There were times I wasn’t sure it was going to happen. Could I get funding if the grant didn’t go through? How long was I going to have to work both jobs without burning myself out?

Thankfully, the grant approval came through, and while it wasn’t enough to build everything I wanted, it was enough for a fantastic kickstart and some bomb tax breaks. I was able to find a local construction company that saw my vision, and Wayne, the owner of the company, helped me break it down into sections so I could grow into my plans.

It was a process, but that’s how Griffin’s Den Aqua Orchard was born.

While I’m extremely proud of what I’ve been able to do so far, I’m so proud of the community section of the greenhouses I have, making sure the community has access to fresh food and the opportunity to learn about the self-sustaining process of aquaponics. Both are so important to me, and I’m glad I was able to incorporate it into the farm.

I’m washing my body when Pam comes into the bathroom.

“Bitch, are you almost done? I’m starving, and you’re taking your sweet-ass time,” she says with a huff.

“I’m just finishing up. Keep your panties on,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Listen, Linda, I have news, and it’s best shared over Mexican food and not with you in the shower,” she shoots back.

“Ohhh, did Barbra finally get canned?”

Pam works as a nurse at the local clinic, and while I like to think I’m a nice person who doesn’t wish ill will on anyone, Barbra, the office manager, is one person I wouldn’t mind losing her job since she causes my bestie more headaches than she’s worth.

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