Monday, February 4, 2013

Barefoot Ben Wilson on Main Street

Ben Wilson
February 3, 1964

 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Main Street, Hollyhill. Snow fell yesterday. At least three inches. Plenty to make the county roads slick and so no school. Yaaayy! It's always especially cool when snow happens on a Monday. 


Everybody hates getting up on Monday morning even if they have their homework done already. And I did. I had that science report all written with a carefully drawn illustration of pistils. But why in the world are we studying plant pistils in the middle of winter? We should be studying snowflakes. Do you really believe that no two snowflakes look alike? There are millions of snowflakes. Nobody has looked at them all. Somewhere in the hundreds of years that those millions of flakes have fallen, two could be alike. Don't you think?

Okay, back to Main Street reporting. It turns out that strange does happen in Hollyhill. But sometimes you're so used to that strange you don't pay it much attention. That's how Ben Wilson is. Definitely strange. Or maybe it would be nicer to say different. Dad says Mr. Wilson marches to a different drummer than the ordinary Hollyhiller. But most of us average Hollyhillers are so used to seeing Ben that we just think of him as - well, as Ben.

But I've been trying to do what Wes said and be on the lookout for strange. So when I spotted Ben walking up the street barefoot in the snow, it hit me as to how that might be a little strange. I don't know how old he is. He's not much of a talker at least to kids like me. They say he has a way with horses. And Dad says he went off and had an important job once. I guess he didn't like it because he came home to Holly County and put on his bib overalls and took off his shoes. I've seen him wear rubber boots in the summertime, but never in the snow or cold. His feet bleed sometimes and you can hear him grumbling at them when that happens. "Bleed, darn you, bleed." Well, he doesn't say darn, but Dad would take my pen and notebook away if I wrote what he really said. 

Old Ben carries a walking stick almost as tall as he is and lets his beard and hair grow however they want to. He walks everywhere and takes off to Louisville every year when it's State Fair time. He's made some friends down there among the newspaper folks. Guess you have to get away from home for people to properly appreciate your oddness. Around Hollyhill, we just say there's goes Ben and think he ought to put on boots and a coat when it's snowy and cold like today. 

When I showed this to Wes, he laughed and said he didn't know what planet Mr. Wilson might be from, but that it's one he wouldn't mind visiting. But he doesn't plan to go barefoot in the snow to get there.

So I guess I've found something strange for my Hollyhill Book of the Strange afer all. If I get started on the people here in Hollyhill, then I might have to write two books of the strange. 

Thanks for stopping by, and remember if you leave a comment, you might win Scent of Lilacs. Then you'll know all our secrets, the ordinary ones and strange ones too. 

22 comments:

  1. Just this little "blurb" has me captivated already!

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    1. Great, but if you want to be in the drawing you'll have to leave a name or a way to connect with you. If not, just come back every Monday to see what's going on Hollyhill's Main Street in 1964,

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  2. Ben walking up the street barefoot in the snow does sound a little strange . But it does sound good. Please enter me in the giveaway .Thanks
    lizd225(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. It always seemed a little strange to me too, Liz, when I used to see him when I was a kid. Jocie will be digging up more interesting or maybe ordinary things about Hollyhill in the weeks to come. Got you entered in the drawing.

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  3. I THINK ITS STRANGE TOO. ENTER ME IN THE GIVEAWAY. THANKS.

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    1. Got you entered, Shelley. Thanks for reading about Jocie and friends.

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  4. Hi Ann, Strange, yes, but I'm thinking scary and downright spooky! But as they say it takes all kinds. What an imagination you have Ann! You are inspiring...Have a great week...Linda

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    1. But I didn't imagine Ben Wilson, Linda. He lived in my county and walked our roads. It was a different world, and while he might have been a little strange, I don't think anybody was ever afraid of him. Well, I wasn't any more than I was any person I didn't know well then. I was very shy as a child.

      I always enjoy your comments, Linda.

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  5. I was told that Ben Wilson was a very good horse trainer when he was younger. I was also told that he walked to the State Fair in Louisville. WOW

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    1. I'd heard the same thing about the horse training and I saw newspaper articles about him at the State Fair. And of course, I saw him walking all around Anderson County.

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  6. Well, he does sound strange, But, I've seen a lot of strange people in my time. LOL But, I don't see how his toes didn"t get bad frost-bite. My brother in law used to wear shirts cut off at the shoulder seams in the coldest days! I told him I did not believe he wasn't cold. But, I have seen some really strange looking people in now times. Everything you can see completely in tattoos, and piercings in eyebrows, lips, nose, tongues, and as many as they can get in their ears. and some even on their bald heads. Now, that's strange in my opinion! Would love to win Jocie's book.
    Maxie mac262(at)me(dot)com

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    1. Maxie, I don't know how he kept from getting frost bite either. He must have had tough feet. And you know, you're right about some of the strange people you see these days. In the sixties in Jocie's little town, tattoos all up and down arms and rings in eyebrows or pierced tongues would have been considered way stranger than Ben Wilson going barefoot in the snow.

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  7. Hi Jocie, I have just come over to meet you. I do think snowflakes are different ~ inside, before they melt or join others on trees and fences and covering up the grass. Even twins are different even if some people say they are "identical." Especially if one is your special best friend. I bet you can tell!
    I have not read about your family and where you live. I sure hope I win a copy of The Scent of Lilacs and hope you will add my name for the drawing. Thank you. Kathleen ~*~ Lane Hill House
    lanehillhouse[at]centurylink[dot]net

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    1. Jocie here. Thanks, Miss Kathleen. So glad you read my Hollyhill Book of the Strange. We have Wes to thank for it. Did you read about how he ended up in Hollyhill? I don't really believe he fell out of a spaceship anymore - I don't think. But he has some great Jupiter stories. So you do think every snowflake is different. Interesting. I still have to think nobody has looked at every snowflake and that's a few gazillion snowflakes, but I'll have to give your idea some thought. I hope you win "the rest of my story" too, but that you'll come back here next week. I might find more strange to talk about or who knows? I might let strange old Zella take a turn.

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  8. I grew up in Anderson county and remember Ben Wilson well. When I was little I thought he was Santa Claus. He always stopped and talked to me and gave me a shiny dime. As I grew older I was still fascinated by him. I too heard the comments about the horses, I think he was a true life horse whisperer from Lawrenceburg.

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    1. I used to think he looked like Santa Claus too, but I never had the chance to talk to him. I was always a little scared of him anyway, but then when I was a kid, I was super shy of everybody. I didn't know about him working with horses until recently. As kids, there's so much we don't notice.

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  9. Ann, I remember Ben from when I lived in Lexington. Then when we moved to Simpsonville, in Shelby county, he would come through there too, heading through Shelbyville to Lexington. I wrote a fiction story in writing group one time about a fellow like him, but didn't mention any names. However, the group all knew who I had referenced.

    About your dog question: I am 61 years old and I believe that I have had at least one dog (usually more than one)all my life except for about five years if you add the time together. My daddy loved dogs and we had as many as 15 at a time when we were young. Daddy hunted, so we had lots of hunting dogs as well as house and outside dogs.

    Charles and I have three now and I would have more if I could afford them.

    I am anxious to read Scent of Lilacs, but I will wait to see if I win a copy before I check it out from the library or buy it from Amazon.

    I truly enjoy your writing.

    Paula Pinkston

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    1. Thanks for sharing your memories of Ben Wilson. I didn't use him in my book Scent of Lilacs or my Rosey Corner books either although he might have appeared in either of them. Glad you wrote a story about him.

      You sound like me in wanting to have a dog around. I've had one dog or another since I was about ten. Love my four legged friends. You had a number to pick from when you were a kid didn't you? Good luck in the drawing.

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  10. Thanks for using Mr. Wilson in your book....Saw the old movie the other day with him in it and L-burg...Harvey would be a good one to use also...

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    1. Garnett, I did use Harvey except I changed him a little and called him Old Sally. Well, I guess I changed him a lot. But my character still played the guitar and made up songs.

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  11. What movie was he in? Maxie

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    1. Maxie, I think he was in the Flim Flam Man that was filmed here in my hometown. Maybe I should let Jocie enjoy some movie making on Main Street.

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Jocie loves to know what you're thinking about your visits to Hollyhill.