Meet Micah Davenport
In this article, Homer introduces us to one of his best friends at Faded Glory Farm.
Micah Davenport works for Isabel Whitlow at Faded Glory Farm and he is instrumental in its daily operation. Micah is a native of Fannin County and is a widower. He has worked at the Inn for several years and had become a good friend of Isabel's husband Ray before Ray died. Tall, tanned and lanky with salt and pepper hair, he could easily pass for a bank president if he wore a suit and tie, and he looks easily ten years younger than his sixty-six years. He is a decent Christian man of the Baptist faith, a bright, positive person who speaks slowly and chooses his words carefully. Micah works full-time for Isabel now, doing odd jobs, greeting guests and, I guess, anything else that needs to be done. If Ray were alive he would be very happy that Micah has stayed on to help Isabel with the Inn.
When Ray was alive, Micah worked at the farm part-time, but as plans for the new B&B came closer to reality, everyone knew he would eventually become an invaluable resource to the Faded Glory Farm. When Ray died, the transition was almost seamless. Isabel even offered Micah free room and board at the Farm, but Micah declined, saying that he treasured his old family home place, as well as his privacy. He has commuted ten miles each way to Faded Glory ever since.
In his younger days, Micah might have been described as a "hellion" who chased his share of women, drank copious quantities of 'the local recipe' and subsequently ran afoul of the law in a fatal DUI accident out on Route 5 back in the late 1960's. Having voluntarily relinquished his license, he no longer drives, except on the farm. During the Christmas season, Micah works part-time at the post office; and because things are generally slow around the Inn at Christmas, Isabel usually closes down and invites her immediate family to visit for the holidays.
Micah says he likes to walk, but he always seems to catch a ride. Everybody in the area seems to know him, and when he steps out onto Route 60, folks almost collide with each other trying to pick him up. When he can't hitch a ride, he uses the same old J.C. Higgins bicycle he rode as a kid.
Micah and I have an unspoken gentleman's agreement; he pretends not to notice when I follow the small children and old people around the Inn (to relieve them of their food), as long as I abstain from sniffing him every time he exits the restroom. 'Sniffing' is one of a dog's ways of getting even, but that's another story for another time. See, Micah is getting on 'up there' in age, with a cranky prostate, and unfortunately, he tends to dribble on his trousers from time to time. In addition, he likes to urinate on the side lawn when it's dark; makes no difference to me, that's my favorite place as well.
Although she won't admit it, Isabel seems to have kind of a fondness for Micah in her heart. It's not something obvious, but she always visits the mirror just inside the front door before he arrives in order to "check her makeup." She doesn't do that for our guests, so why Micah? She also likes to sit and fawn over Micah when he sits down to enjoy a piece of Louella's Mile High Apple Pie, and she always saves him some to go with is coffee every Monday morning. Strange lady, that Isabel.
As far as I am concerned, Micah is an okay guy, the real deal; but I don't think I could ever come to love him like I loved Ray. I really do miss Ray.
