Welcome to A View of the Town, the adventures of Dr. Willis Fletcher in a small coastal town in Maine. Offering tidbits of local color and the lay of the land, we now return to Dr. Fletcher as he recollects about Louisville Sam.
This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by pins. They stick and prick you, but they're still you're friends when they hold up that hem. Pins.
And now on with A View of the Town...
I know I told you the last time you all read that I would tell you about Otis Major and his trip into the Witch's Woods north of town, but if you've noticed I sometimes stray away on some other story first. In this case, Louisville Sam plays a part in Otis Major's visit in the Witch's Woods. So, I have to fill you in on him.
Tall, slender, and fit the name, Louisville Sam told us of his travels in his younger days on the riverboats along the Ohio River. Being an Ohioan myself, I knew some of the river ports he spoke of between Wheeling and over to where it flowed into the Mississippi. His stories were so fascinating we never quite knew what to believe, but could only sit back and revel in the tales he would spin.
I remember the first time I met Louisville Sam at the barber shop. The boys all sat back while I simply asked Louisville Sam "You been here all your life?" I soon learned that the true history of Louisville Sam would always remain a mystery even down to the basics like when or where he was born. If you asked, he would answer "Two days short of a million and between two rivers rolling south like piss into a stream." So, with snipping of barber clippers in my ear, I heard the longest answer to my simple question.
Louisville Sam fiddled with the silver buttons on his worn denim vest. He kicked the leg of his chair with his right boot as if he was trying to shake a memory loose from his big toe and get it to travel up to his brain, then he said -- "I've been here long enough to remember the original cabin that founded this town. I was a little younger then. But I remember meeting old Jedediah Cork East. That must of been about 50 years ago or more. I honestly don't remember. I helped him hew those logs for that cabin." He stopped for just a moment and then proceeded to tell me about the time he caught a glimpse of the whale that Moby Dick had been based on.
The others in the barber shop just grinned as I sat there wondering why this guy hadn't been locked up in an asylum somewhere and I probably had the facial expression to go along with that thought. But, Louisville Sam never blinked an eye as he spun out his tall tale about meeting the long dead founder of Misty Cove. I did know that I had learned my lesson. At least until that day the Otis Major walked into the Witch's Woods at the edge of town. If I hadn't been there to see it, I would never have believed it. And on top of it, I'll have to tell you about the time he met the Queen of England herself. Now that's another story.
Join us again next time, when Dr. Fletcher tells us about Otis Major in the Witch's Woods.
This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by pins. Both sharp and pointy, but never witty. Pins.
CSM
This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by pins. They stick and prick you, but they're still you're friends when they hold up that hem. Pins.
And now on with A View of the Town...
I know I told you the last time you all read that I would tell you about Otis Major and his trip into the Witch's Woods north of town, but if you've noticed I sometimes stray away on some other story first. In this case, Louisville Sam plays a part in Otis Major's visit in the Witch's Woods. So, I have to fill you in on him.
Tall, slender, and fit the name, Louisville Sam told us of his travels in his younger days on the riverboats along the Ohio River. Being an Ohioan myself, I knew some of the river ports he spoke of between Wheeling and over to where it flowed into the Mississippi. His stories were so fascinating we never quite knew what to believe, but could only sit back and revel in the tales he would spin.
I remember the first time I met Louisville Sam at the barber shop. The boys all sat back while I simply asked Louisville Sam "You been here all your life?" I soon learned that the true history of Louisville Sam would always remain a mystery even down to the basics like when or where he was born. If you asked, he would answer "Two days short of a million and between two rivers rolling south like piss into a stream." So, with snipping of barber clippers in my ear, I heard the longest answer to my simple question.
Louisville Sam fiddled with the silver buttons on his worn denim vest. He kicked the leg of his chair with his right boot as if he was trying to shake a memory loose from his big toe and get it to travel up to his brain, then he said -- "I've been here long enough to remember the original cabin that founded this town. I was a little younger then. But I remember meeting old Jedediah Cork East. That must of been about 50 years ago or more. I honestly don't remember. I helped him hew those logs for that cabin." He stopped for just a moment and then proceeded to tell me about the time he caught a glimpse of the whale that Moby Dick had been based on.
The others in the barber shop just grinned as I sat there wondering why this guy hadn't been locked up in an asylum somewhere and I probably had the facial expression to go along with that thought. But, Louisville Sam never blinked an eye as he spun out his tall tale about meeting the long dead founder of Misty Cove. I did know that I had learned my lesson. At least until that day the Otis Major walked into the Witch's Woods at the edge of town. If I hadn't been there to see it, I would never have believed it. And on top of it, I'll have to tell you about the time he met the Queen of England herself. Now that's another story.
Join us again next time, when Dr. Fletcher tells us about Otis Major in the Witch's Woods.
This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by pins. Both sharp and pointy, but never witty. Pins.
CSM
