Memories of a Gemini: A Simple Man's Reflections

By Malcolm K. Drumheller

It is my hope that you will find something enjoyable in my many
lines, something that will speak to you, as it spoke to me when it was first
conceived. Its not always easy being a poet, feeling drawn, or compelled, to
express the fullness you feel within. The great poet Robert Frost expressed it
best when he said, Being a poet is a condition, not a profession. Enjoy!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 4, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456861926

Malcolm K. Drumheller

Malcolm K. Drumheller, "Mac", was born the second of twin boys on June 9, 1940 in the small soapstone mining town of Schuyler, Nelson County, Virginia. The twins, plus a younger brother, made the woods, fields, hills, valleys, quarries, and streams their second home. Many of our collective experiences are reflected in the poems, and stories lines presented in this book. We were privileged to have grown up in a time when boys were free to roam without the fear of bad people doing us harm. Our parents, however, insisted on knowing where we were going and with whom we’d be playing and most of the time we'd be playing at a cousin's home. In the summer in particularly, if dark caught us at a cousin's home, that's where we'd spend the night. Even without telephones, no one worried about our safety. How times have changed. Mac has been happily married to his childhood sweetheart, Phyllis, for almost a half century. We have three children: two girls and a boy; plus, five grandchildren. The old saying, "If we'd known that grandchildren would be so much fun, we'd had them first", really does ring true. As a coach, teacher and an elementary school principal, Mac spent forty one years working with children in his home county of Nelson. This has been a wonderful experience. It is my hope that you'll enjoy these lines and that that you will find something that speaks directly to your heart. So, read and enjoy!

Book preview

Copyright © 2011 by Malcolm K. Drumheller.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2011901603

ISBN:      Hardcover         978-1-4568-6191-9

             Softcover           978-1-4568-6190-2

             Ebook                978-1-4568-6192-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

91443

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Why So Late

Memories Of A Gemini

Schuyler Is Calling

Dad Was

Coming Home

The Dare

Future

Me

Balance

Inside, Outside

Random Thoughts

Leaving

I’m

Commonsense Wood Splitting

The Wild

I Am Time

I’m BC

Ever-Changing, Shifting Winds

Autumn’s Tears

Cycles

Aces High

Coming In On The Wind

A Work Of Art

Singing To

Squares Of Life

Plowing Old Satan

Lad, It’s Up To You

Opposites

Summer Trade Winds

This Pathway Of Mine

Bonding

Dusk To Night

Joe-Pye Time

Gray Division

Battle Won

Fire Ahead Is Burning Bright

Hard To Be Alone

Splendid New Toys

Hope, Dreams, Reality

Friend Or Foe

It

I’ve Learned To Read, You Know

Eternal Light

Long Before

My Daddy’s Song

Transition

The Dory That Bears My Name

Our Pond

Weary Refugees

Locket For Rachel

The Approaching Storm

The End

Quite A Couple

On Teaching

Sailing Life’s Seas

The Deepest Sadness

The Harvest

Yes, We Know

As You Sojourn

Feel The Joy

I’ll Not Curse The Winter Winds

The Trip

With Sweat-Lined Brow

Happy To Be With You

Squaring Up Eternity

Philly

Harry And Mary Faye

Evening Joy

Our Place

You For Me, Me For You

Day’s End

Dedication

To my family and to the loving memory of my mom, dad and younger brother: Clara Lee

Sprouse Drumheller, Theodore Manley Drumheller, and Marvin Galen Drumheller.

Also, to the loving memory of my mother-in-law, Charlotte Kidd Mawyer, who loved poetry, and me.

Acknowledgments

To my family I owe a special debt of gratitude for their loyal support, encouragement and constructive criticism. They have been my sounding board through the years. So thank you, Phyllis, for being there with the right word, or words, to help fix a line or the ending of a poem; and also for great photography.

Thank you for listening, and for your moral support: Manley, Leslie, Heather, Emma, Mary Charlotte, and Ada.

Doris, for your loyal support, suggestions, and invaluable technical assistance, I thank you.

Thank you, Paul and Mawyer, for excellent photography. Paul, thank you for the time we spent revisiting the places that were the inspiration for many of my poems.

Tim, thank you for producing the CD of my poems. Your talent with the keyboard did much to enhance the album. Also, I appreciate your letting me use one of your pictures in my illustrations.

And, finally, Ella Grace, welcome to the family. As you grow, I hope you will enjoy some of these lines.

Pictures by:

Nathan Paul Drumheller – front cover, Philly, Harry and Mary Faye

Timothy Wayne Drumheller – Inside-Outside

Phyllis M. Drumheller – back cover, Quite a Couple, Our Place

Joseph Mawyer Garvis –Why So Late, Leaving, Singing To

Public Domain – Singing To ( robin)

Introduction

From Then To Now

On June 9, 1940, fifteen minutes after my brother, Manley Lee, was born on Gold Mine Lane, I, Malcolm Kent Drumheller, made my entrance into the small soapstone-mining town of Schuyler, Nelson County, Virginia, which is tucked into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Of course, my twin has never let me forget that I am his younger brother. On March 25, about a year and a half later, our brother, Marvin Galen, was born.

As we grew up, we became a very active and adventurous trio: climbing trees, scaling quarry walls, hunting, fishing, and swimming in the streams, ponds, and quarries in the area. Our activities prompted our neighbor, Paul Hamilton, to label us the Three M Boys—Monk, Monk, and Wee Monk. The brothers three explored and became thoroughly familiar with the countryside for miles around.

I attended Schuyler School from first grade through my first year in high school. All four high schools in the county were consolidated into one school in 1955: Nelson County High School. I received my diploma from Nelson County High School in 1958. I should have finished in 1957, but as I tell everyone, I failed the sixth grade to allow Phyllis, who became my wife, to catch up with me. She did, and one way or another, we’ve been together ever since. Of course, that explanation of failure may not stand up to close scrutiny, as my older brother Manley also failed sixth grade. But, on the other hand, it would be hard to prove otherwise, considering how our lives unfolded since that event. You be the judge.

Phyllis and I have had a good life together. We’ve been blessed with three children: Leslie, Nathan Paul, and Heather. They in turn have helped to produce five grandchildren for our enjoyment: Emma and Mary Charlotte Savage, Ada and Joseph Mawyer Garvis, and Ella Grace Drumheller. They have enriched our lives beyond measure.

Other degrees I hold in addition to a high school diploma are the following: a diploma from Ferrum Junior College, a BS degree from Lynchburg College, and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia.

I spent forty-one years working with the children of Nelson County as a coach, as a teacher, and as an elementary school principal. Phyllis was also an educator in the same school system. Between the two of us, we have eighty-three years of school experience. I might add that I was the principal of Schuyler Elementary School, the school I first attended, for two years. Ms. Dorothy Moore, my first grade teacher, was on the staff. We had a wonderful relationship.

There are many influences in a person’s life. My mother and my father, Clara and Theodore Bo, by far were the greatest influences, but I can also fondly recall several teachers who have helped me along the way: Mrs. Strickland, Mrs. Reed, Ms. Moore, Mr. Alexander, Mr. Kirby, Mr. League, and Mr. Harville. However, one teacher, Ms. Emma Frances Baber, my high school English teacher, made literature—and poetry in particular—come alive. This was the beginning of my writing experience.

It is my hope that you will find something enjoyable in my many lines, something that will speak to you, as it spoke to me when it was first conceived. It’s not always easy being a poet, feeling drawn, or compelled, to express the fullness you feel within. The great poet Robert Frost expressed it best when he said, Being a poet is a condition, not a profession. Enjoy!

Why%20So%20Late%20photo%20by%20Joseph%20Mawyer%20Garvis%20(1).jpg

This is my very first poem, written sometime in the late ‘50s

Why So Late

8042.png

Gusty gales sweep the land,

Snow is threatening to blow.

What will happen to the thrush

If she doesn’t go?

Why so late? She had the season

To prepare and raise her young,

Now she’s laboring to rear her brood

Beneath a dying sun.

Season shortened, daylight shortened,

Nights are longer, colder now.

Dew is freezing into frost

Closer, closer to the ground.

Now dawn is breaking, mist is rising

From the meadow, brown and green.

What undertones of grief and sorrow

Lie in this peaceful scene.

8046.png

Memories Of A Gemini

Stumped toes going after bread

Hot, oozing tar

Catching tadpoles in the quarry

And keeping them in a jar

Brambles mixed with broom sage

The smell of Virginia pine

These and many, many more

Are the memories left behind

Fox chases in the Gold Mine Woods

Walking a July rail

Listening to Pop telling

Some tall coon-hunting tale

Cool nights and the smell of wood smoke

Dreary, rainy days

The taste of fatback fried up real crisp

Oh, the memories from the haze

The sound of a roaring Saturday night

In the downtown Schuyler square

The eerie sound of the crane

And the smell of soapstone in the air

The railroad tracks and the culverts

Catching the flying squirrel

Oh, the things a memory brings

Happy in our world

Milking a cow at midnight

The taste of Tessie’s bread

Sunday visits to Granny’s

The playmates that we had

The pounding of the powerhouse

The deep hole below the bridge

I’m sitting here looking back

Along my memory’s edge

Reality is reality

But memories form the dreams

And I guess that’s how a Gemini

Fits into the scheme of things

8116.png

This poem, Schuyler Is Calling, speaks to a feeling that is probably shared by many, many people; that being, returning to, or recalling a simpler time and a slower pace, whether it be