Building

The days are long this time of year, and that is a good thing. I've found myself falling into a comfortable routine, farming what is, to-date, a modest crop of olives and ta-grapes. The picking and washing, brining and marinating, is satisfying work under the mellow, Vennan sun. I realize, of course, it cannot last. I have a limited amount of time here with responsibilities in The City calling me home. Still, I would like to be here when construction is completed.

It has taken three productions at the Pentilicus Tallux Theater and one on the world stage at the most recent En'Kara Fair to gather the money needed to start. That does not include the work done by Vesutto to keep The Fall of Agamedes running for better than a year in Venna with a variety of actors, including luminaries such as Locutius and Nikos of Tyros. Nor the efforts of a sleek stable of women over the last two years plus in the Anbar District of Ar. I finally acquired enough to start construction. I am not, of course, in the Northwestern Hills of Venna, where the wealthy Tellurians reside. I am nearer the Voltai and my plot is modest. A small field of dina and a gentle slope of healthy soil for growing.

When it is completed, it will be a stucco-sided home roofed with red clay tiles. The veranda will wrap the structure on three sides. It is little more than a foundation at the moment. Vesutto's Builders have only just finished the plans, but in the coming months will complete the project under his supervision. I will be here long enough to harvest the ready crops before returning south. I will regret leaving, but the lure of home is too strong to deny.