"Ah, yes, Winter." Jonah nodded, then added, "This will be my first here, so I'm not familiar with the signs." He laughed. "I know in St. Lou they say that if you notice the squirrels gathering acorns early in Fall, there will be a late Winter and it will be mild. Never did pay much attention to squirrels myself, though!"
There were all manner of 'wive's tales' and myths on such things, although Jonah could allow that they must have some basis in observation or they wouldn't be a thing. "I've seen some harsh winters, but I think I might be in for an education this far north. I'll have to invest in snowshoes!"
“Winter should be interesting then.” She with a knowing smile. “Yes winters here can be quite brutal, seldom do we gain a reprieve from the weather. You can count on it snowing, and snowing quite a lot.”
“There are all manner of ‘old wives tales’, if that’s w\hat you want to call them. Actually it’s all about not getting caught out of doors, well, way far away fro out of doors. But you’ll be alright, plenty of wood to burn and you’ll be just fine.” Then she laughed. “Yes the snow gets deep, there is a lot of it, the wind never seems to quit, and it is always cold. But, we will have our hospital, if not our orphanage, and the best part, no on is going to be following us.”
"I'll have to be sure I have a good supply of wood." He certainly didn't want to have to worry about that in the middle of a blizzard, and he most assuredly wasn't going to chop wood himself...no, he'd have to hire out for that, or barter for services. "That house is fairly large, it will take a lot to heat." Which made him think about heating a building large enough to be a hospital or orphanage, which made him realize that there were, indeed, a great number of things that he had no idea that he needed to know, and suddenly things were daunting again.
But there was time, there had to be resources that would lead him through all this, and there was nothing to lose, so he had no excuse to get cold feet just yet. "I'm glad that I have the Winter to figure this out, but I suppose we'll learn as we go, too. Do they have any sort of celebrations or whatnot?" He grinned. "I remember as a boy, there were snow forts and snowmen, and a Winter dance, a break from the hum-drum of cold." He'd actually enjoyed the festivities quite a bit, but it had been some time since he had even really celebrated Christmas, because life just hadn't followed that path.
“Well the getting of wood is most important. If you’ve noticed you have an ample supply on hand already, you just need to get some more laid in before the snows.” She informed him. “And that will be easy to do. Now about celebrations, theer’s always Christmas time, that’s always popular with folks. The have, well had a Parade Of Lights at one time, but I haven’t been here for it for a couple of years.”
She took a moment to reflect on the possibilities and smiled. “Well there’s snow ball fights, of course. And if memory serves something they were calling Winterfest, which was supposed to be some sort of festival, actually, I’m nor really sure about all it entailed. But yes, to answer your question, there are some things to do.”
"A Festival of Lights sounds...charming." And quaint, but that was to be expected in a quaint town, and that was why he was here and not some fancy, big city with luxuries, so you didn't have to worry about fire wood.
"I might have to consider some sort of decorations for the house," Jonah commented, grinning, "although I'm not exactly sure what that might be. But there is time, and perhaps I can gather ideas and trinkets from my patients in the mean time." He chuckled. "I suppose I might get some peppermint sticks for the children, too."
Was he really contemplating such...mundane things? Or becoming an integrated member of a community? Well, there was no harm in it, so long as it didn't really cost anything, and if it helped settle him into the town, that could only help with support for the hospital and orphanage.
"It's been a long time since I cared about Christmas, but we'll have to think about holidays once there are children..." Orphans, especially, deserved holidays that were memorable for something more than not being memorable.
“I would rather enjoy your foray into the Holiday Season, unfortunately for me, I will be at the State House on matters of great importance to us moving forward.” Leah admitted. “There are a couple of things I’d like to see through before I leave if possible, your lady friend, Harriet Mercer? Have you heard hide nor hair of here.
“I apologies, Jonah. Why I think you might know more than you did yesterday is just rude. We can move on without her if she’s not back as yet, or whatever the case may be. I would rather not, but we can if we must, and include her later. Though I much prefer everyone being in on the ground floor.” She sank back in her chair a bit. “Perhaps it is my mother being here that has me perplexed.”
"No need to apologize, please." Jonah smiled. "I'll hunt down Miss Mercer, I've heard she was on a cattle drive, but she should be back by now. I'll send word to you tomorrow, one way or the other."
Harriet hadn't been around much lately, she seemed to be spending more and more time at the Thorton place, but she was still part-owner in the house, so she needed be be consulted, not that he didn't think she'd be full-in on the plans.
"She'd be a good ally, too, an asset that will be helpful in the community." And they needed all the help they could get!
“A good ally,” She perked up, “That would be excellent. “I want to get this moving, and as time moves forward it is possible that we will fall behind.” She looked dismayed but added, “Possible, mind you, I am not sure how probable.”
It was highly unlike her to have forgotten whether or not she had mentioned the railroad, although she was certain she had. Neither the hospital nor the proposed orphanage would be as important as privileged information regarding the railroad’s westward route. “With your friend onboard in so far as our immediate plans, we can begin to rally the town council and the citizens of Kalispell to the idea and, provided we’re correct, it will move forward.”
However, she had to get moving in order to gather the information that would be needed if they were to shot cut her father or anyone else for gaining the upper hand so far as the railroad was concerned.
"Both causes are honorable and needed, I can't imagine how there could be any major protests." Hell, it would make a good scam, in all honesty, pull at people's heart-strings, then grab the profits and run. But he wouldn't even think of doing that to Leah, and besides, he really was getting to like the idea and wanted to see it through...when did he become altruistic?
"And with your charm and innovation, I have no doubt this will be an amazing success." He chuckled and shook his head. "I never would have thought when I came here that I'd be more than just a simple doctor. Honestly, I'm a man of little ambition, but you have inspired me."
“If I were not a Steelgrave I could not see any protests for a hospital at all. Perhaps the orphanage might draw the ire of some, but hardly a hospital.” She said, she was already beginning to compose herself, unsure of why she became so concerned about Harriet Mercer’s inclusion in their plans.
“Well, I don’t know about charm and innovation, as you put it, but I am determined to see this project to fruition, no matter the cost. And, as we move forward, there will be others we’ll need to enlist in support of our plans. Those who would be above reproach."
"Believe me Jonah, I am well aware of the idea of a scam, painfully aware.” And she went on to say, “We must keep those thoughts and words out of the conversation. This must be seen as honest and above board at all costs!”