Gramps

The Wisdom of Abner Day Series - VI

Abner went into a deep and profound brood after the letters. It wasn't like his normal moods. This had a clarity about it … and formed powerful affectations … in his passions. He felt peaceful and undisturbed … and that helped to hone … his emotions to its natural inclinations. It flowed like a river from the mountaintop … down the slopes … the valleys … and then the mouth of the river. It seemed to have a mind of its own.

 

He felt epicurean … but fought the desire for food or drink. It wasn't too hard … his will was guided by his deep dissatisfaction … with the way folks in his town … didn't take him seriously on issues. A town creates a relation to its founders … and preserves their memory … perhaps in a society or museum. Thereafter … they create an understanding of the founder … as the personality … that is embodied in the town's people.

 

Paradise valley … was founded in 1855 … based on the availability of gravel. It supplied the railroad and the highway contractors … in the county. The town grew up around the area … and soon the population had grown to about 4,000 people. Abner's great grandfather … Ebenezer Day … was the first Marshall of Paradise Valley … and had a famous reputation as a lawman. Abner's grandfather ran the town newspaper.

 

His father was the school teacher. Abner used to hear stories of his great grandfather … and was consumed by the life of adventure … quick draw … and maintaining the peace. He used to read about him in his grandfather's newspaper office … and knew every detail of his life. He grew restless thereafter … quit the newspaper business …and eventually set up an outfitter and gun shop in town. He worked hard to draw hobbyists for fish and game.

 

When the gravel ran out … folks had left  … and the population dwindled to less than 2,000. Abner's business did better than most … and he was elected into town council for two terms. They did their best to keep the town going … but funding was tight … and soon the interest to do so also diminished. When he met Sri … Sri ... Vice-Consul " Investment at the Malaysian Consulate … had proposed a cottage industry for gift items … produced in the household.

 

He had suggested … a central place as commercial outlet … to collect the gifts from the homes for sale. The internet had just begun … and he had forecast that a website to promote the products would do good. Possibilities for supply to the giant outlets might also be looked into. Abner was fired up with the suggestions … but was blocked at every turn. Too many nays … and ' won't work prophets ' shot it down. Eventually he had withdrawn and basically kept to himself.

 

He poked at the logs in the fireplace … and sat down on the chair … facing it. Before leaving the US … Sri had commented that innovators … for ideas and ideals … seldom get to live the life-cycle of the experience. That takes sometime to take root … before sprouting into a full scale commercial undertaking. He persuaded Abner … to focus on the individual development and quit his interest in the town and social upbringing. That's for the next generation.

 

Perhaps Abner had thought Sri underestimated his will. He didn't stop … not until his marriage broke down … and he took off … to cool in Alaska. But before that … he had perked up a little … and was gratified to see the business development on the web coming on so strongly. By then … his interest had strayed … and he was looking for the next best thing.

 

At the store in Delta Junction … Abner was drawn to the small dolls … the Inuit create in their cottage industry. He picked up a doll of the woman … gaily decorated with earrings … necklace … bracelets … and a dress that was colorfully embroided with patterns. It captured his sense of the female … and of the elaborate nature of her personality. He placed it at the window … as a reminder of the way … women steal a man's attention almost completely.

 

He hoped that he was rehabilitating from the search for the individuality … and was returning to a volitional sense of the social. It wasn't as difficult as he thought it might be. ' A matter of letting her wear the tights … in the house ' he remarked. His thoughts went to his great grandfather … the legendary lawman. He lifted his hand in a salute … ' It's been great Gramps ' … he said … in a voice thick with farewell.

 

' There's a second wind in life … but we have to wait for it ' … he said thoughtfully. He imagined Popeye chuckling … in that goof off manner … and it made him laugh. Outside the weather had changed radically … and a blizzard descended with an intense ferocity … on the cabin. Abner rolled his tobacco … and helped himself to another coffee. The light from the fire played on the milky softness of his creased face. ' Who would have figured?' he asked.