PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

June 19, 2024

FORTY-ONE YEARS FROM THE SAME AGE AND PLACE

Rex Stout wrote his first Nero Wolfe mystery in 1934 and his last in 1975 at the age of eighty-nine.  Throughout these forty-one years the routine within the old brownstone in which Wolfe and Archie Goodwin lived in New York remained pretty much the same.

In every one of Stout’s mysteries Wolfe is fifty-six and Archie thirty-four.  The Monday through Saturday routine is constant.  Fritz Brenner–chef, waiter, butler, housekeeper, phone answerer, and all-around indispensible man–takes  a breakfast tray up to Wolfe’s bedroom about 8:00 A.M.  Archie usually eats in the kitchen with his morning paper.  Lunch is served promptly at 1:15 P.M. in the dining room with dinner at 7:15 P.M.

From 9:00-11:00 A.M. and 4:00-6:00 P.M. Wolfe can be found up on the roof with Theodore Horstmann tending to his orchids.  Business is conducted from 11:00 A.M. until 1:15 P.M., 6:00 -7:15 P.M., and after 9:00 P.M.

While life within the brownstone remained constant, life outside was ever changing.  This can be seen by the different models of cars which Archie drives, the books Wolfe reads, and the media that informs the residents.  The topics for discussion at the dinner table were a reflection of the year in which each of the adventures was written.

Rex Stout’s approach raises the interesting question that if it were possible, from what age and place might we chose to watch the passing of the last forty-one years.  For myself I can think of at least ten.  Unfortunately, space only allows me to share five of them.

Age 9, an Old Farm House in Cortland, Ohio

For nine years I lived in an old farmhouse which had been enveloped by Cortland, Ohio, with my parents, my brother and my grandmother Boyd.  In addition outside there were two dogs: Lady and Fuzzy.   Watching the world pass by from this perspective was like seeing it through the eyes of the residents of Mayberry.

Age 19, a One Floor Apartment in Gary, Indiana

When I was nineteen, I lived with my parents and brother in a one floor, downstairs apartment in the Horace Mann school district of Gary, Indiana.  This was the end of the Eisenhower years.  Life was simple, certain, and known.  Most of those who graduated with me from high school knew that for them success was to be found in either going to college or working in mills like their fathers and grandfathers before them.  The apartment in Gary provided an unfaltering window through which to watch the passing of time.

Age 29, a Rural Home in Aix, Indiana

At the age of 29, Diane, I, and our three young sons lived in one of three houses that made up the town of Aix, Indiana.  The only other building was one of the church’s I was serving.  Everything in the church and the community revolved around farming.  All that happened in the world was viewed by how it impacted agriculture.

Age 39, a Home just outside Kingsford Heights, Indiana

At the age of 39 Diane and I were seeing the world through the eyes of our teenage sons, their friends, and their parents.  My father was a frequent visitor.  It seems like we were always on the go.

Age 69, a Home in Plymouth, Indiana

There are only two of us who live in our brick home in Plymouth, Indiana.  Periodically the number of inhabitants will grow when our grandchildren and their parents come to visit.  From retirement we now see the passing of time through their eyes.

Each of these five ages and places has its unique perspective from which to watch the world pass by.  I am not sure that I would choose any one of them to the exclusion of the others.  As the Book of Ecclesiastes says in the third chapter there is a time and place for everything under the sun.

How about you?  What are the ages and places from which you have watched the world go by?  Would you choose any one of them over the others to watch the last forty-one years pass.

(This article was originally published June 19, 2011.  Comments may be sent to davidh15503@embarqmail.com.)