He milked several dozen goats out of a herd of more than a hundred, ran their milk through a cream separator, and once a week loaded the cream cans in...o a battered Model A truck to deliver it to the creamery in Winthrop. His pal Purdy usually rode with him to town. The spectacle of the two bachelors, one short and slight, dressed all in black; one tall and gangling, in grimy blue, was a "normal" eccentricity of Methow Valley life.Patch was leaning against the cracked fender of his Model A. It started with a few beers in the bars, then a few more at home. It quickly wasn't enough and I changed over to the more potent stuff. Within a week I was more drunk than sober all day long.My parents watched it with disgust and pity. But although they tried to keep me from drinking too much, they were far from successful. Gordon tried to keep me from drinking but even he gave up after I swore at him and tried to hit him. He knew I didn't mean to hurt him or his feelings, but he could do. We had now been dating for almost five months and the holidays were right around the corner. My 17 year old daughter Beth was going to be spending a week with her friend, Sara, out of town, so I had the whole house to myself. Amy and I had talked about it and had decided that on the last day of classes, after Beth had left for her vaction, Amy was going to come over and spend a couple of days at my house, this would be the first time she would actually be able to spend an extended amount of. Kinda nice to see someone . Been really quiet around here. k**s are at yearly camp, work sent him to Denver. My parents are on vacation. Basically since sunday it's been me and the dog." I told her sorry to hear that. And "didn't mean to barge in. tried door, knocked, you know it was 109 inside plant today. And of course humid as hell. So knowing i'd done this before I stopped ". She says " no,no perfectly ok. Infact without k**s here this water needed some stirring up." She goes in house. For.