PADUTCH-LIFE-L Archives

From: "Vee L. Housman" <>
Subject: 110-Homesick
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1998 14:51:11 -0500

HOMESICK

Have you ever bought a dog from anyone living at the
Mountain in poverty without enough to feed himself and even less
for his dog? After being fed full and round by its new owner, can
you tell me why that dog will leave his new master every chance it
gets and run back home to live amid poverty and starvation? Isn't it
the case that the dog would rather starve in its old home than leave
the threshold that it's been so long accustomed to?

If you were the dog with the new home, and you knew you
had to return to your old master you'd walk off hanging your tail,
looking so humble, and you'd say as naturally as a dog can, “There
is no place like home.”

I've just described my situation. Here at my new home I have
anything that I could ask for. There's plenty to eat, I can sleep in a
good warm bed, and still I am not satisfied. When I had to earn my
meals by going from house to house, my mind was always occupied
with finding work. Since I don't have problems of that sort anymore
the only thing I can think of is home and Polly. I don't know if it's
homesickness or not, but I can tell you I didn't know I wanted it so
much until I realized that I couldn't have it.

Since I'd been staying here people are finding out that I am the
genuine Boonastiel, and I'm a big man again. They are again
coming to see me for advice in politics. If I can't offer them
political
advice--which is nearly always the case--I keep my hat on, my
mouth shut, and this makes them think that I am such an important
politician that I won't commit myself. One thing I do know. The
Moses of the scriptures was a Democrat. Why else would he have
led his party for forty years through the darkness and still not found
what he was looking for? Yet, he even got to know that a promised
land existed and still wouldn't take his people there.

The biggest trouble I have is staying sober. I promised not to
drink as long as I am staying here, but I still find it difficult to
turn
down a drink when a political candidate offers something. There
was a time when I could say no without any trouble, but I can tell
you it's hard going now. People make a big thing of drunkenness,
but they never say much about “the big thirst.”

A younger man can take a drink thinking that it's the adult
thing to do when he staggers under its influence. He takes one drink
after another, laughing at anyone who refuses to join him. He'll
carry on this way until he develops an appetite for liquor, and by the
time he's really grown attached to his schnapps he's already taken
the biggest steps into the grave of an alcoholic. He may still be able
to stay on the wagon for periods of time, but when any troubles
befall him he'll always reach for the bottle in which to drown them.

To me one drink is like a single thread which binds you to an
evil curse. One can easily break free from a single thread, but when
thousands of them are binding their victim, escape may no longer be
possible. The devil is a big spider, and he spins his web tighter
every time his victim takes another drink. I'm already caught in the
web, and if I ever return to liquor you can be sure the devil has
found a new follower.

* * *

Note: This collection of Boonastiel stories was written by H. A.
Harter in the original Penna-Dutch dialect and were published in the
Keystone Gazette, Bellefonte, PA, between 1894 and 1904. They
were translated and transcribed by Bob James of Alaska and they
are being posted to this PADUTCH-LIFE mailing list with his
permission.

This thread:

• 110-Homesick by "Vee L. Housman" <>