Only One Day

[Driftless]

As a young pup I was left to explore and

to make my way on my own a lot. My

sisters were quite a handful for my

mother to keep track of. They ranged

from age 3 to age 17. They were

toddlers and young women. All

of the problems of youth wrapped

up in one single parent family. My

mother had been recently been left

a widow at age 39 with 6 children.

At times I almost felt like a

leaf in the wind. I was making

lots of decisions alone without

any adult supervision. Many

of my choices were quite poor

looking back in retrospect. I am

actually quite lucky to still be on

this earth with some of

the foolish choices I made.

Not all of my choices were foolish.

It was late fall and trout season

was closed so I was limited in the

things I could do.

When I got bored I thought of

things that could make me money.

I decided to search the path from

the high school to the downtown

area and look in the ditch along

the path and pick up pop bottles.

In those days you could get .02 cents

a bottle and usually

one trip on this path gave me

at least 50 pop bottles. It doesn't

seem much now but a DOLLAR was

a big deal to me back then.

I started on main street and worked

towards the high school. The pop

bottle spelunking was going quite

well and I had to go

home quickly and get a bag

because there were just too

many to carry. The ditch was

a veritable gold mine this day

and I was weighed down heavily

with at least 60 pop bottles on the

end of my journey.

I was already

thinking about what I was going

to spend my HUGE pay day on.

I had the bag hung over my

shoulder and was walking back

to the grocery store to cash in

my treasure and I saw

two high school students

dressed really oddly walking

towards the High School.

Me being the curious type I asked

what was up with the

costumes. The two girls said

they were going to be in a play

called "Brigadoon" at the

High School later that night and

they were heading

there to do their final dress

rehearsal. They asked me if

I wanted to come watch them practice

their lines. I immediately said "NO";

I thought it wasn't manly enough

for me to be interested in. I was also

in hurry to cash in my bottles and

get some candy or a new fishing lure. I met

four other more of the cast on the way

to to the store. They were also walking

to the High School decked out in costume.

These were guys and it really looked like

they were getting into their parts. They

were practicing their lines as they walked.

I was on a mission so I went onward to

the grocery store.

I cashed in my grand

total of 70 pop bottles and asked the

clerk at the store what the play was

about. She gave me the short version

of the play. It was about a magical place.

It was about going back in time to

a simpler way of life. The place only

appeared once every 100 years.

The name of the play was "Brigadoon."

I checked out at the store. I bought

no candy today; I bought a spinner to trout

fish with in Spring. It was getting dark

so I decided to go home for supper.

The house was full with activity and the

table was already set. My sisters were

helping my mom with supper and I was

really dirty from all the ditch diving.

My mom sent me to the bathroom to

shower and put clean clothing on. I

protested but I always listened to my mom.

The rest of the family was already seated

when I returned. I sat down and ate supper.

The topic of the play at the High School

came up and my mother gave me a few

more details about the play. It sounded

really interesting and I thought what

the heck. My mom made me take a

shower and put on clean clothes.

Why waste it, I thought. I had a quarter

left from ditch diving and that is what it

would cost to get in the play. Off I went to the play.

The opening of the play had a couple

hunters wandering in the mist and

they seemed quite lost. The special effects

in 1968 were amazing. They must have

used some dry ice or something similar.

The stage was engulfed in mist. At 11 years

old I internalized much of what I saw

and heard. These hunters became people

in my life. One of them was my Dad and

he was lost and couldn't find his way

home from hunting in northern Wisconsin.

Though my Dad had died about a year

ago while deer hunting, I still had this

weird fantasy that he didn't really die

and that he would appear at home one day.

I was swept away by the story of play from

the moment I saw the lost hunters. I

watched the play on the edge of my seat

the entire time. I was glad that it was

dark in the gym because I was

fighting back tears quite often. I

loved that play and is my all time favorite.

However, I didn't like the ending

of the story, because you would have

to wait another hundred years for

Brigadoon to reappear.

The play touched me because it

talked about simpler times and

going back in to your past. I

remember all of the things my Dad

taught me about the outdoors.

I had my own little Brigadoon every

time I went to the trout stream. I was

where my Dad seemed the happiest

and I could imagine him being with

me on every outing. Every wildflower

he had identified for me and had

shown me the magic of the outdoors.

All of the smells and sounds of the

outdoors take me back.

I can still see him smile when he

showed me the Impatiens balsamina wildflower.

My face must have showed astonishment

and awe when he had me touch that orange

odd looking flower . I can remember him

making sure that I was really close so I

could see the flower and the pod

area exploded and shot seeds raining

down on me. I can not go by a Touch Me Not

flower in the fall without getting close to

it and to see my father's smile each time

I touch those magical flowers.

Many children are bitter and lose

their path when their father or

mother die when they are young.

I chose to embrace and remember

all of the wonders of the outdoors

and see my father in each outing

in the wildflowers and every aspect

of the outdoors in my own and

very private Brigadoon.

I see my father's smile in every

wildflower.

[1DIRTBALL]

Your story, like they often do, touched a soft spot in my heart Len. We must be kindred soul's Len because I so often feel exactly as you do about so many thing's. I lost my Dad also at about age 15. I can never forget those empty day's or how thankful I was for what my Dad had taught me. Most notably, how to fish! 1DIRTBALL