This and That

Uncle Carl was a slight man of build, but could work harder and steadier than any man I have known. As I have noted, he ate sparingly and never to my knowledge did he smoke or drink alcohol. The only alcoholic beverage that passed his lips was the communion wine served in celebration of the Eucharist in church. By the time I knew him well, he was quite bald, and as the years progressed, he needed glasses, a hearing aid, and dentures. All of these aids to human frailties were obtained with a great deal of confrontation with the doctors. The local dentist gave up on supplying him with dentures, and calmly broke apart those he had made.

Later in life, he was picked up by a patrolman for not wearing glasses. Up until this point, he never wore glasses except for reading or close mechanical work. His glasses were kept in a case in the upper pocket of his bib overalls. His driver’s license was suspended for this laxness for a period of six months. Since he was not farming at that time, he decided to help me on the farm. He borrowed the Lutheran pastor’s son’s bike and pedaled the four miles down to the farm where we lived to help me pick corn. He was in his late 70s or early 80s at that time, but was undaunted by the trip. The offer to go into town to get him and bring him home went unheeded. At this time of life, it was hard for me to tell him what to do, even though I had received instructions from him so often in the past.

At sometime earlier in his life, Uncle Carl had purchased a 120-acre farm in Texas. The details of this business transaction I do not know, except that I recall some mention that he had attended a church convention in Texas. Also, on Grandfather Peterson’s side of the family, there were relatives who lived in Texas. I don’t think it was a very lucrative enterprise from the rental income standpoint. However, there was the possibility of an oil strike on the land, and there was great speculation among the family about a possible rich “oil baron” uncle in the family. But nothing ever came of that, and the farm was sold.