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My thoughts released; a mind set free |
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These pages contain my thoughts, from meandering ideas and persuasions to deep cerebrations and serious mentations. Why, for what purpose? To release my mind and set creativity free. Somewhere inside the constraints of my mind dwells a writer, a poet, an artist who paints with words. In here I release those constraints and set the artist free. Perhaps, lost somewhere in the depths of thought, is a story or a poem, waiting to be written. |
| A post in the Newsfeed stirred up a buried memory that I decided to use for today's blog entry. In the early years of the century I met a person who had a lasting impression. I was visiting my Mom and younger brother at the time, and it was my brothers idea to go visit Thelmer. Thelmer lived just on the edge of a small town and had about a dozen beef cattle. He lived in his parents house, alone. The house appeared to be in good shape, but needed roof work, paint, and some general repairs. All the other farm structures were either in the process of collapsing or already on the ground. As we drew nearer the house, I could see all the windows were blocked from the inside. Not boarded up, blocked by various things stacked against them. Thelmer saw us about the same time the stench reached my olfactory. I didn't know what, or where the offensive odor was coming from, but it was enough to turn my stomach. Thelmer met us in the unkempt yard and, knowing my brother, started talking. My brother introduced me with a smirk; Thelmer wasted no time in shaking my hand as he introduced himself, "Good to meet ya; Thelmer E. Wielęburk's the name." I shook his hand, but my first instinct was to pull away. Hell, my olfactory senses told me to flee, quickly. Thelmer had the dirtiest hands I had ever seen. Not like hands doing work and getting dirty, this was dirt upon dirt, weeks, maybe months worth. His clothing was shiny and I could not tell the original color, and as hard as it was for me to accept, Thelmer stunk so bad his odor had masked the previous stench that had assaulted me. Thelmer was nice person, just not a clean person. He held fast to the beliefs of times past, bathing too often wasn't healthy. I learned from some of the old-timers in the small town (I later lived there for a while) that Thelmer's parents were much the same in some regards, but Thelmer took it to a whole new level after they passed away. Thelmer was cheap. He managed to pay property taxes and hold the family farm, but in doing he eventually sold most of the farm's assets. He didn't have electricity, plumbing, or even a phone. He couldn't afford to have garbage hauled, instead he stacked it wherever he could find room (the blocked windows). I also learned, after he passed and the house was condemned, that he also used pails, buckets, or anything else he could scrounge for a toilet. When filled, it joined the rest of the garbage that eventually filled the house except for the kitchen, where Thelmer resided. Thelmer did bathe, he had a galvanized washtub he would pump water into from an old hand-drawn pump, let it sit for a day to warm, and then take his bath. He did this in late spring and early fall. He would also change his cloths after his bath. He would purchase a new set of clothes, bathe, change and then live in those clothes until his next bi-annual bath. People in the small town did help Thelmer, but he didn't want handouts and generally refused them. He was thought to be dirt poor, selling anything left to him to survive. But, after he passed, it was discovered that his house was still furnished with antique furniture, pictures, everything. Unfortunately, the years of garbage and waste had destroyed most of it and the rest was burned by order of the health department. In the end, everyone was fooled. Thelmer was laid to rest and along with his simple obituary in the local paper was a small article stating that Thelmer's parents had invested in the Bell Telephone Company and had amassed quite a large amount of money when they cashed in their shares. They had set up an escrow account for their only son to provide for him. They also had save a couple of hundred dollars over the years they farmed, mostly in coin. This also had been determined to be worth a fair amount of money, so it was kept in a safe deposit box. They had worked with an attorney out of Sioux Falls who arranged everything, set up the banking accounts, the safe deposit box, and even helped them invest some money in some other stocks that did well. I remembered back to my first meeting with him. He had insisted we go over to the gas station and get coffee. We did, he let me pay for his, and with a wink said, "I'll let you pay for the coffee, I'm a bit short right now. But, if ya ever need anything, let me know, I'm worth my weight in gold ya know." He often told people he was rich, but we all thought he was just a bit crazy. Long story short, Thelmer was worth a small fortune! |
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