Sherry Chandler » Different Drummer
Different Drummer
My old buddy, Sam L. Martin, lets the wind out of Henry David Thoreau in this non-fiction piece in Appalachian Heritage for Winter 2005:
Lewis wanted to find out more. “Miss Gray, when did he chop down the trees, and when did he build the cabin?”
Miss Gray seemed to relax. “He began felling the trees at the end of March, 1845, and he moved into his cabin on July 4, so he completed the job in a little over three months.”
Bless her heart. She was young and from the city, so she didn’t know any better. She thought we’d be impressed, so she was shocked when every kid in class laughed.
When the laughter finally quieted down a bit, Birdie Parsons, who’d been knitting a blanket for the baby she’d planned on having in three or four years, chirped, “Sap’s up! Sap’s up! Sap’s up!”
Miss Gray nodded a little slower than usual, then said, “You mean Mr. Thoreau should have felled the timber at a different time. Is that correct?”
Birdie put her knitting needles down. “Yes, Ma’am. I’ll bet working that sappy pine was a mess.”
Miss Gray thought real hard. “As a matter of fact, Birdie, he did mention something about getting pitch on his hands.”
Of this piece, which won an honorable mention for the 2005 Plattner Awards, Sam says, “Since this is my first online exposure, I feel as though I’m standing on a beach in boxer shorts, sporting a farmer’s tan.” Thought I’d help that feeling along a bit, Sam. Hope you don’t mind me quoting you.
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6 Comments
1. Jeff Hess replies at 18th March 2006, 11:23 am :
Shalom Sherry,
Thoreau was always a personal literary hero of mine. But I still remember the day I found out that he walked back to town once a week to have his laundry done.
B’shalom,
Jeff
2. Georgia Green Stamper replies at 18th March 2006, 6:51 pm :
Congratulatons, Sam, on the publication of this essay. I can’t wait to read the entire piece. Georgia
3. Rebecca Clayton replies at 19th March 2006, 11:26 am :
Thanks for showing us this! Oddly enough, I had just run across a quote from Walden concerning Thoreau’s interest in eating a groundhog. I’d love to have heard these kids give him pointers, although I fear the number of kids who could give such useful instruction has declined.
4. Have Coffee Will Write &r&hellip replies at 20th March 2006, 2:23 pm :
[...] ea still appeals to me; so much so that I’ve considered buying a Tiny House. Reading Sherry Chandler this morning I discovered another Appalachian writer with a, albeit slightly twisted, [...]
5. Darlene replies at 21st March 2006, 8:25 am :
Sam,
This is marvelous writing.
6. Jack Cook replies at 28th March 2006, 2:13 am :
I recall a warm summer night when two boys discussed “The Road Not Taken” on a concrete driveway, not far from the Kanawha River. My friend said that if he found two such paths in a yellow wood, he would consider both, but would probably take an axe and cut a path all his own. That was probably fifty years ago and Sam Martin is still cutting his own path. I guess I ought to know. I made my own drum. We’re still friends.
Jack Cook (AKA: JOHN ALLAN Cook, Jr.)
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