The Besel-And Other Stories Relating to the Unpredictability of the Human Mind

By Lowell Howard

These stories shed a glimpse into the unpredictability of human nature and the desires that delve deeply into the human psyche. Most are fun, but some are laced with hillbilly language and situations. The Besel is about an imaginary creature, while The Poke Bath tells the humorous story of the itch and an attempted remedy, and other stories of mountain life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers USA
• Release date: Nov 30, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463417621

Lowell Howard

Lowell Howard is a third-generation underground coal miner, who worked for thirty years before retiring. In those thirty years, he worked in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Some of the mines he worked in were less than a thousand feet, while others were six to eight miles underground.He was raised by his grandparents, who were both born in the 1890s. He always felt that it was a blessing to not only be brought up by his grandparents, but also being around other people who had lived at that point in time, which for the most part had come to an end.Even though the people he once knew and loved have long since passed away, like the times and places they lived in, he’s very grateful for the influence they had on his writings, whether they were his stories or poetry. He hopes the people who read them get a good laugh from them.

Book preview

Lowell Howard is a third-generation underground coal miner, who worked for thirty years before retiring. In those thirty years, he worked in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Some of the mines he worked in were less than a thousand feet, while others were six to eight miles underground.

He was raised by his grandparents, who were both born in the 1890s. He always felt that it was a blessing to not only be brought up by his grandparents, but also being around other people who had lived at that point in time, which for the most part had come to an end.

Even though the people he once knew and loved have long since passed away, like the times and places they lived in, he’s very grateful for the influence they had on his writings, whether they were his stories or poetry. He hopes the people who read them get a good laugh from them.

For all those who share in the rich Appalachian culture.

Lowell Howard

The Besel

And Other Stories Relating to the Unpredictability of the Human Mind

Copyright © Lowell Howard (2018)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

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Publishers cataloging in publishing data

Howard, Lowell

The Besel: And Other Stories Relating to the Unpredictability of the Human Mind

ISBN 9781641821728 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781641821711 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781641821704 (E-Book)

The main category of the book — FICTION / Short Stories

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published (2018)

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 28th Floor

New York, NY 10005

USA

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I would like to thank all those who helped me with this process, especially my good friends, Barry Partin and Sherry Haskios.

I would like to say something to those who are going to read the stories I’ve written about the Besel and the Poke Bath.

They share the basic premise with almost all of the stories I’ve written and relate to and that is the unpredictability of the choices we make and the consequences that result.

The Poke Bath

More often than not, we humans all wish the road of our lives to be a gorgeous path from the cradle to the grave. But guess what? It ain’t, and that’s for sure. As an old man once told me, there’s always a dog on the road of life that thinks we’re a tree. Take, for instance, the simple act of taking a bath. How in the world could taking a bath lead to complications that would seriously affect one’s life? I know one of the first things you may have thought of, is that a person could fall and break their neck. That’s a good way! But it’s not the one I’ll tell you about. Just read the following story, and see how one thing can lead to another.

In the coal camps that once dotted the landscape of Appalachia, the bathing facilities were quite different than the ones we are blessed to have in our day and age. At the point in time when this story takes place, it was very common for the men to go home and bathe in a galvanized tub after a long day’s work. The tubs were usually filled with water from a spring, the creek, or (for the more lucky ones) an indoor pump. In order to warm the water, one or two buckets of water would be heated on the coal stove, then poured into the tub water to warm it enough to bathe in. Another way the miners liked to bathe, was in the creek when the weather was hot. There were also public bathhouses in some of the mining camps, and sometimes the men themselves would build them. Now you have it, the three ways most miners would take a bath, as this story takes place.

As this story begins, it’s evening in the early fall of 1915. Clarence and his two sons, Ralph (age 17) and Lloyd (age 18), were walking toward home after work at the Cary mine. They were walking down the dirt road, by the railroad track that went up the long hollow. Clarence and his young sons had worked long and hard, in a lot of coal dust that day. Matter of fact, all three were so blackened from the coal dust that their faces looked like a black mask, with only their eyes and white teeth showing. They were about to pass one of the two bathhouses, that the coal miners themselves had built next to the creek that ran down the hollow, when Clarence asked if they would like to take a bath there today. Preferably, they all liked to bathe in the creek when they were so black with the oily coal dust, but by early fall, the creek water was getting too cold (especially in the evening), for this was an unusually cold fall.

They had two big galvanized tubs at home, which meant that Ralph and Lloyd would take their baths first, while their father would sit on the back porch, smoke his pipe, and take a dram or two of moonshine. The young men were receptive to taking a bath at the shower house (as they called it) this day. Just like the boys’ father, they were not only very dirty, but they were also exhausted, and really hated the thoughts of taking a bath in the tub this day. It would be much better to take a bath at the shower house. Therefore, they agreed it was a good idea. Clarence told his sons to go on in and make sure the water was ok, and if need be, to get the water ready; while he would take their dinner buckets on home, get some clean clothes and whatever else they needed, and hurry back. As Ralph