10/1/2019
It’s another new month, the mornings are cool and beautiful, but the afternoons are still hot here on the mountain. “They” say in 3 more days the 90degree weather will be gone. Next week will be cool, they say. We’ll see, we’ll see. Good news is next week our son from NY and his wife are coming to visit! We and the other 2/3s of our offspring always enjoy that time we can all be together. We have great fun, never argue (because they all know I win all arguments! not.) Truly, it is most enjoyable and never lasts long enough.
The SIMH today is a doozie! Anybody remember “I Gotta Brand New Pair of Roller Skates, You Got a Brand New Key!” Actual name was “Brand New Key.” If you haven’t heard it, I’m pretty sure I can’t explain it to you. If you remember it, you’re probably pretty old. Why it showed up this morning is a complete mystery. Written and performed by a folk singer named Melanie. That’s all, just Melanie. I don’t think she had another hit, but this one went around the English-speaking world in 1971-72 as a #1 for quite some time. I guess maybe Melanie didn’t need another hit, she just retired.
Sometimes the rush of memories of my home town, Trafalgar, IN, come to mind so fast I cannot keep them separated. I will attempt to tell 4 short stories here about 4 “characteristics” of my town, and why it was such a character-building hometown.
In the middle of the business section of our town was a couple of pretty unique things. Heading East on Pearl Street, and approaching what we called “uptown,” you would first pass one of the 3 churches, the beautiful brick Christian Church (still there), followed by the school where I spent 12 of the finest years of my life (not still there.) Next was the drugstore (Patent drugs only) with a soda fountain, low bar stools and a juke box. But, then came two houses, right in the middle of the businesses. Across the street were three full blocks of business buildings, but on the Northside, two houses. It always seemed odd to me. Considering the real oddities of Trafalgar, that now seems silly.
A merchant: Next after the two odd houses, was an auto garage (it had a neon sign the outline of a car!), run by a man named Ilaf. He suffered us kids a lot. We always had a basketball which was low on air. It just seemed like we always had lost the air and needed it pumped up. How come that would have been? I don’t know. But, what I remember is that we didn’t need a needle if Ilaf was open. He had an attachment for his air hose that was a tiny orifice and we could get him to pump up our basketball free without a needle. I bet no other little town had that! And Ilaf was a very patient, peaceful man who never seemed to mind doing it. Oh. one more thing about this merchant: he sold gasoline and the pump was actually on the town main street—it was sitting on the right of way, and nobody cared.
A Banker: The next business after Ilaf’s garage was a small bank (when I was growing up it had become Union Trust Co., I don’t know the original name.) We had two managers while I lived there, the second being Mr. Pilcher, I can’t remember the first. My father would call the bank and tell them how much money he would need for his next contracting job and Mr. Pilcher would tell him to go ahead and write checks, stop by and sign the note, then pay the bank when the job was done. (I could still do that with my banker in Danville, IL as late as 1970.) I don’t think any bank operates that way today.
A teller once gave a farmer too much money when he cashed a check. He stopped at the door and said are you sure you gave me the right cash? She assured him she had counted it twice and knew she was right. When she closed her window for the day, she was $200 short and realized what she had done. She called the farmer and told him and asked him, could he please bring in the $200. He replied, You assured me vehemently that you were right, I took you at your word, seems to me you lost $200! She was heartsick, she would have to make up the loss. Before Mr. Pilcher left the bank that evening, the farmer brought back the money, saying he hoped the teller had learned enough of a lesson. I remember that teller: she was much friendlier to everyone after Mr. Pilcher told her what the farmer said. Oh, neither she nor Mr. Pilcher told that story. I remember that farmer, he did.
A Pool Hall: Oh, the shame of it all! The Smyser brothers bought the old pool hall and kept it going! I was warned by my parents, “Don’t you go in that place! It is a devil’s den!” Naturally, as all the town gang did, I figured out how to go in there without being detected. Learned to play pool there. Also learned to play Euchre, a 24 card 4 hand quick-play version of Bridge. It was fast, it was intense, it was judgmental, it was loudly competitive, and generally, the beholder of grudges. But, it taught some truly valuable life lessons. It taught instant decision-making because it was fast-paced. It taught the consequences of decisions because you cannot take a card back once you lay it down. It taught self-control, and most of all, it taught how to rid yourself of grudge-holding (There is no value in it, the next game was already in progress.) It also taught me that for the most part, very few things are worth getting angry over.
Playing pool trained my eye to see small things, it trained my hands to be gentle, and taught me how to be a good loser….and my folks thought I shouldn’t go there, hm.
Thanks for reading, the Elder
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