from © Paean to the Eastern Cowboys ~ Dad
He was not much of a talker but oh how he could talk.
At the local fish and game club the men could rile themselves up pretty much over trout stocking, doe permits, changes in seasons to meet departmental targets, and so they did just that. these arguments could go on from 7:00 p.m. when the meeting started until past 11:00 p.m., two hours after it was supposed to have ended. When he was not the club President, which he was for a couple of terms...against his better judgment, Dad sat in the back of the crowd and just watched.
To put this all into perspective you need to know that at the time of his death he had been the outdoor columnist for the Whitehall Times for something like 38 years -- since he had been first married and before I, the eldest of three, came along -- so you could fairly well lay hard money that he was both familiar with what was happening, and had a point of view he had arrived at deliberately through reading and his own brand of research (he personally knew most of the state officials who might have been involved or who were being threshed but good at the front of the gathering). If he hadn't formed a point of view yet, he was listening well to find out all he could.
The curious thing for me ~ and I suppose for the other observers who knew him at all well, and almost every man in the place did or easily could have ~ no one asked him what he thought until the gnarly-jawed wrestling match that was going on had threatened the visiting warden sitting up front or was otherwise coming close to implied blows, predicated on bluster. That was when would break in, turning around to say, "Let's ask Bill what he thinks." The room would go silent, except maybe for someone genetically allergic to dad's conservationist themes.
If he didn't yet have a point a view, he'd say so ~ and maybe to go on to point out that the state guy sitting there was our guest and owed our thanks, upon which everyone in the room would mumble their begrudging or glad thanks and the President would direct the Secretary to make it official by entering it in the Minutes ~ and then would say, reaching out to tousle my already mopped hair, "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us, it's just about time to take this youngster home so that he'll be able to get up in time for school tomorrow!" and they'd all mumble "Goodnight, Bill...and thanks."
About the time we'd be heading out the door, the President would say "Well, men, it looks like we won't be settling this or any other great world events here tonight, so I want to again say thanks to..." and about that time the door would be kicking me in the butt as I scrambled to keep up with dad.
If he did have a point of view, he'd state it...pause and then say "It's about time I took this lad home to bed for school tomorrow," and when I heard the minutes of the next meeting they would read that "Bill Williams stated that..." and note that the vote was carried accordingly. In out absence.
This was an important thing to learn -- all of it -- and I only wish more of us had enjoyed the pleasure.
2006 © Russ Williams
At the local fish and game club the men could rile themselves up pretty much over trout stocking, doe permits, changes in seasons to meet departmental targets, and so they did just that. these arguments could go on from 7:00 p.m. when the meeting started until past 11:00 p.m., two hours after it was supposed to have ended. When he was not the club President, which he was for a couple of terms...against his better judgment, Dad sat in the back of the crowd and just watched.
To put this all into perspective you need to know that at the time of his death he had been the outdoor columnist for the Whitehall Times for something like 38 years -- since he had been first married and before I, the eldest of three, came along -- so you could fairly well lay hard money that he was both familiar with what was happening, and had a point of view he had arrived at deliberately through reading and his own brand of research (he personally knew most of the state officials who might have been involved or who were being threshed but good at the front of the gathering). If he hadn't formed a point of view yet, he was listening well to find out all he could.
The curious thing for me ~ and I suppose for the other observers who knew him at all well, and almost every man in the place did or easily could have ~ no one asked him what he thought until the gnarly-jawed wrestling match that was going on had threatened the visiting warden sitting up front or was otherwise coming close to implied blows, predicated on bluster. That was when would break in, turning around to say, "Let's ask Bill what he thinks." The room would go silent, except maybe for someone genetically allergic to dad's conservationist themes.
If he didn't yet have a point a view, he'd say so ~ and maybe to go on to point out that the state guy sitting there was our guest and owed our thanks, upon which everyone in the room would mumble their begrudging or glad thanks and the President would direct the Secretary to make it official by entering it in the Minutes ~ and then would say, reaching out to tousle my already mopped hair, "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us, it's just about time to take this youngster home so that he'll be able to get up in time for school tomorrow!" and they'd all mumble "Goodnight, Bill...and thanks."
About the time we'd be heading out the door, the President would say "Well, men, it looks like we won't be settling this or any other great world events here tonight, so I want to again say thanks to..." and about that time the door would be kicking me in the butt as I scrambled to keep up with dad.
If he did have a point of view, he'd state it...pause and then say "It's about time I took this lad home to bed for school tomorrow," and when I heard the minutes of the next meeting they would read that "Bill Williams stated that..." and note that the vote was carried accordingly. In out absence.
This was an important thing to learn -- all of it -- and I only wish more of us had enjoyed the pleasure.
2006 © Russ Williams
posted by Duct Tape at 4:22 PM
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