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The Times, They Have Changed
More than 10 years ago a young couple appeared on our doorstep and asked my wife whether the cabin next door to us was for rent. It didn’t belong to us, and my wife pointed out that it wasn’t winterized but she referred them to the owner, and soon we had new neighbors.
He was called “Posey,” and he had long hair which he wore in a ponytail. Linda had long, straight hair, wore long, straight dresses, had wonderful skills in quilting and the like, and grew organic vegetables in her garden.
Posey made a living of sorts as a carpenter, but he had plans for a house of his own on a piece of property he’d bought, and even bigger plans for a ranch in Montana. The first winter they had a little girl, named Serena, who was born in the cabin.
Linda and Posey stayed a few years and then moved on. We knew they were somewhere on the Western Slope, but that was about all.
A few days ago, however, a car pulled up and a man got out who looked as though he knew me. Posey looked fit enough, but there was a change about him that looked more fundamental than just the shorter hair, now turning gray. We sat on the porch and had a nice talk about the intervening years. He lives in Cedar Edge, in a house with a two-car garage and three bathrooms to accommodate his three young children. Now 37, he still works as a carpenter and he restores and sells old cars. I asked him about the ranch in Montana.
“I still think about that,” he said, but he didn’t seem to have the same enthusiasm in his voice I’d heard ten years ago.
I asked him about his short hair, and he said he thought his ponytail was still lying around in a drawer somewhere.
As he was leaving I held out my hand and said, “Well, Posey, it was nice to see you, and I hope you and Linda will drop by and see us when you’re in the area. “ He said they would, and then hesitated. “Nobody calls me ‘Posey’ anymore,” he said. “It’s just ‘Bob’ now.” [Bob now lives in Estes Park. He and Linda have been divorced for many years.]
Columns
© 1985 – 2003, David E. Steiner
Allenspark Wind Columns:
Back to the Hilltop Guild Bazaar
The Estes Park Hardware Store [1988]
On the Death of Otto Walter, Postmaster
A Whine About Telephone Service [1991]
On the Death of Charles Eagle Plume
Rumors About a Visit by the Pope
The Visit of Pope John Paul II
Devolutionizing Big Government
The Estes Park Trail-Gazette Columns:
How Old is Charles Eagle Plume?