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Staying Grounded

Chapter 6

Real Farm

There are eras of disruption when the currents of history are scattered like dandelion seeds in the wind. The seeds sprouting in chaotic patterns cause renewal and destruction. In 1974 Tom Parker holds on to what is real. It becomes the landing where his daughter Carol takes root. A man of obligation and duty creates a space for innovation and renewal.

All across the nation

Such a strange vibration

People in motion

There's a whole generation

With a new explanation -

San Francisco John Phillips -

Apple Playlist -- Null Stillness – Scott McKenzie

Staying Grounded

“Tom, I didn’t think you had any interest in going back home or owning the old farm.”

“I didn’t feel I would until the last couple of years. After Mom was gone and he began having his own health issues I came back more often. I was the one of us who could. I would help organize the legal and business things with Dad. I’d leave after work and get in late. I’d have Saturday to do what seemed important. I could take him to church before heading home in time to be ready for Monday. Of course, my being here meant something to Dad. I was taken back by the welcome of the people in the community; it seemed important to them as well. Eventually, I decided why not keep a trust with those who came here in 1841.”

“Crop prices not too hot and land has been in a slump. With the war coming to an end and this stagflation I’ve heard the boys out West can’t afford the fuel to pump the irrigation water. Might be easier to take your third and get a nice big boat for that lake of yours.”

“You know boats give a man the two happiest days of his life. Farms aren’t quick turn deals, but if I keep it together my kids can buy that fancy boat. “

“You get Kenny worked out on his part?”

“Oh, you mean Lance, yes he liked my offer. He knows it will keep him in a warm Mediterranean climate. He also likes that it will still be the Parker place, at least that’s what he said.”

“Suppose he would have come back for the funeral if we promised to call him Lance?”

"No, he came to see Mom when she was sick, but left before her funeral. He has stayed at our house a few times when our airport was his connection, maybe ten or twelve days over the past twenty years. He fits in with his artist crowd, not back home. Don’t think the name matters, he should be glad they didn’t name him Eldon. “

“I drove into Denver one time when he had stopped there. I picked him up. We had lunch then walked around. He pointed out the sculptures I had been ignoring, then I took him back to the airport. He came home after Korea and we all got together on the farm. That day in Denver is the only other time I’ve seen him since then. Three boys and not one wanted to farm. I suppose we were all a disappointment to the folks.”

“No, they were very proud of us, even kept that abstract sculpture Kenny made for them. Had placed it very prominently, where it always drew comments and questions. Many of the questions were a little awkward and insensitive as folks can be. I started military training in college then after the war government paid for finishing and law school. I couldn’t come back to the farm. The worst day in traffic or with the worst client can’t match an hour on that damnable poke and tie baler.”

“Yes, that was one dirty bitch. These kids today have it easy, automatic ties keep them out of the dust. You took Dad to church? He didn’t go when we were kids that was Ma’s thing.”

“He began to go with her and then after she died, he continued. He fit in with the no drinking crowd. He viewed many of the fellow churchgoers around Franklin with a serious attitude of contempt. I would not want to categorize his school of theology. Work hard, mind your own business, and don’t drink. All without a lot of love for your fellow man that was Eldon Parker.”

“I hope things don’t go bust like they did for Grandpa Hayes after the Great War.”

“I’m not too leveraged and you should remember Grandpa Hayes missed out after our War because he was so burnt in the 20’s. You know what the old Irishman said after winning the Irish Sweepstakes, guessed he’d keep on farming until it was gone. Everything is approved and the estate is done, you should get your check next month”

“Are you going to live in the house?’

“The house, as nice as it is, is worth practically nothing out there. I can’t see when I would actually live in it. I’ve been thinking about all the finances, not given the house much thought.”

“Both kids ok now? Carol looked good at the funeral; I know you had been worried for a while.”

“Yes, she was lost chasing the cosmic boyfriend, drugs, and that damnable noise. Carol got in a big fight with her mother, told me I was part of the problem. She wanted me to attend one of those Yippie Hippie radical protests said as WWII vet I could make a difference. She lost it when she heard me say most of those mouthy punks downtown deserved getting their heads beat in. We never heard from her for almost two years. Carol is good now. She is still super smart and has her degree. She never used needles and didn’t come home with a chocolate baby in tow. I guess we’re lucky. She was sure Mr. Psychedelic was some kind of prophet, he was a bum. The flower children were just a bunch of dirty hippies, and she seems to know that now. Could have learned that without causing so much heartache and worry.”

“Carol certainly is beautiful and seems very well spoken. Acted very professional at the funeral she should do well now. Is Carol going to law school next?”

“Carol is home got back on her feet, but she’s not ready to live a life like mine. Before she ran away, she told us we lived plastic lives, whatever that meant. Just like Vietnam we have a pacification agreement we keep a DMZ on some topics. Going to law school might require sending her to one of those communist re-orientation camps, the capitalist version.”

“A generation as independent as hogs on ice. That’s what Dad would say. The drugs nearly ruined the whole generation, maybe Carol is over it. All the big bands are gone. Squalling screeching louder than a jet or that plinky-plank monotone on an old guitar is all that’s left. At least, those old cowboys could yodel”

“Yeah, it’s the Vietnam thing, the government lying, military with their heads up their ass, and that fucking Nixon. He turned us all against one another to win the presidency and now what’s he going do? He’s lost all credibility; he will surely resign. Never found time to pull his secret plan to end the war out of his ass, maybe he hid it in those tapes.”

“Sounds like you’re still a Democrat.”

“I’m an American this country has gone to shit; you’re a Democrat, too.”

“I don’t do official party stuff. Out West there are many who wanted Reagan over Nixon. You know, Goldwater wasn’t as crazy as they made him sound.”

“I’m not sure who would ever trust a politician or a general again. The farm seemed more lasting, something I can still believe in. Carol said she thought it was good to stay connected to the land. One way of me not being as plastic, I guess.”

“Come out to the mountains sometime, they are beautiful. Maybe, your skyscrapers are Midwestern mountains. “

“We will, we would like to go to Durango. My wife wants to ride that train. I would like to see those cliff houses. Maybe next summer; our wives could work out a time. Carol is our only child at home, and she is making plans to move on.”