I may have an overactive imagination...  Alan and Lester are characters compiled from people I know or who have been described to me.  They epitomize the kind of man I aspire to be and spend time with.  I hope one day to write stories with them as the characters. 

Fort Darby, is for now, a fictional place as well.

Those who created Fort Darby labored from a passion for discovery and a commitment to share a rich life with their neighbors.  Alan Darby and Lester McCool are the founding characters of this endeavor and epitomize the heart of those who call it theirs.  In the beginning and now, many called them crazy.  Many are drawn to them and their dream for a better kind of living.  Both of them share an understanding of life that is unusual in American culture.  It is a perspective that costs comfort and convenience but pays significant dividends.  (What is meant by that word – life?*)  Of course, since both actually live that way the challenge is hard to ignore.  Those that know them recognize the impact of their lives as well as the contentment and purposefulness they exhibit.  Their lives and character are worth investigation.

Alan Darby
Alan Darby is an old man.  No one knows for sure how old.  He likes to keep it a secret and seems to take a private pleasure in the consternation it causes among his friends.  Guesses range from late sixties to early nineties.  He’s a healthy and strong widower, living on his own in the farm house he shared with his wife of many years.  Visitors find his home to be tidy and inviting; he says that’s the way his wife left it.  His property is a neatly organized scheme of storage barns, cow pens, and “the shop”.  He still farms hay and corn and runs milk cows on his own land.  He harvests the hay each summer with local teenage boys he shanghais each year with the help of the local high schools FFA director.   He says it’s his way of making sure the youngsters don’t head down the farming road without knowing about it first.  One of his favorite sayings is “hard work is what we’re doin’ here!”  Funny thing about it is that even though he pushes the kids hard each summer, most of them still go into agriculture for a career.  Most of them come back to help again after their first summer and all of them name Mr. Darby as a mentor in the stories they tell of those summers. 

I remember one of those summers myself.  I was just fourteen and barely as big as a bale of hay.  Alan decided it was better for me to wait until the next year to start bucking hay as it might break me in half.  So he gave me a machete and a five gallon back pack weed sprayer and sent me into the fields to do battle with thistles.  I marched around for weeks hacking and spraying.  I single handedly defeated the entire thistle population in over 100 acres.  In the evenings when they started taking the bales in, I would push them in front of the conveyor.  On the nights when morning dew was expected, we would work feverishly until the wee hours of the morning.  All of us were willing because we knew that after, Mr. Darby’s wife would have some kind of an enormous dessert waiting for us.  Nothing was better than being exhausted, sweaty and covered with hay dust, sitting around a table together filling our stomachs with delicious food.  I became a man during those days.  Eventually, I became the field boss.  I drove the hay wagons and strategized with Mr. Darby the plan for the huge stacks of hay stored in the hay lofts of his barns. 

Back to Alan Darby.  He seems to know everything but rarely offers advice unless asked.  Somehow though, you want to ask.  One thing to watch for; if Alan Darby gives you unsought for advice, you better listen.  It’s probably because you are about to do something stupid.  In particular, he will warn people he considers a risk to those he cares about.  He sees himself as a protector of his neighbors, especially women and children; anyone who is somehow limited in their ability to care for themselves.  Often he will recommend someone else as an expert.  He knows everyone that knows the most about a particular subject and by recommending, weaves the fabric of the community.  He is a great respector of people, especially those who have put in the hard work to gain wisdom and understanding through difficulty.  I’ve heard him say, “I don’t trust a man who hasn’t been through hard times.”  He can tell you about fixing tractors, caring for animals, building out of wood or steel, how to make great cornbread and about the confusing interactions with the fairer sex.  He is an articulate communicator and seems to bring every subject back to its deeper context.  It is rare to talk with him and not wonder about the more significant questions of life.  Most people say he is encouraging and supportive, even when he tells you you’re wrong.  Mostly he asks questions and tells stories.  Somehow, when talking with him, you figure out more about yourself.  Another of his favorite expressions is “you said it.”  People often attribute their ideas and opinions to Alan and he is quick to remind them that he didn’t tell them, they figured it out. 

Alan is tall but not intimidatingly so.  He is thin with broader shoulders that are square and held back.  His clothes are always worn but clean.  Usually overalls and a cotton shirt.  Except Sundays, when he always wears a suit and tie to church and dinner with friends.  Apparently, he has not changed in size for many years because it appears that his Sunday suits are at least 30 years old.  When it’s not Sunday, his hair is usually wind blown or hand tousled.  He is often outside and tends to run his fingers through his hair when solving a problem.  When not in the company of women, he will often wear a battered cap.  Apparently, he has a collection because you never know what it might say.  His skin is weathered and wrinkled but not loose.  His hands are calloused and His eyes are grey and either piercing or observant, depending on the circumstances.  He has a tattoo of a voluptuous beauty on his left forearm.  Rumor has it that it is from the nose of the plane he flew in WWII.  Some say it’s of his late wife.  It’s hard to tell because it’s old like him and tattoos weren’t done with the same precise methods they are today.  It’s another mystery.  He is always chewing on something.  He smoked in the old days and says it’s a leftover habit.  Don’t loan him your favorite pen.  Lacking an implement he will work on his manicure.   There is a deep and ragged perpendicular scar on the other side of the same forearm.  He says he got it fighting off girls, but whenever he says it around Lester, Lester shakes his head and mutters while he walks away. 

Alan can usually be found in town around lunch time and sitting on his front porch after dinner.  He rarely dines alone, but doesn’t seem to plan his lunch dates.  While he works hard, he never seems to be rushed.  Lots of people drop by his house to visit and seek his advice and he is rarely unavailable.  However, if you stop by in the middle of the work day, you will find yourself working while you talk.  Not only will you find a wise listening ear, you will also learn something.  Alan spends a lot of time at Fort Darby.  He serves as an advisor and participated significantly in its creation.  He is one of the men who works on the garden project and has donated generously to its health and effectiveness. 

Lester McCool
Alan’s most frequent companion is Lester McCool.  Lester is younger than Alan by a generation or two or maybe three, though it’s hard to tell.  Lester spent his early working years as a machinist and welder.  He worked on the railroad, and later as a crew boss in a factory that produced large farming implements.   He lives in town in a white house with a big front porch that faces the street.  He comes home every day at 5:30 and emerges from the bathroom freshly showered and clean shaven at the exact moment his wife places the dinner on the table.  He carries a black metal lunch box and wears a collared shirt with overalls every day except Sunday.  On Sundays, he wears a hat, slacks, white shirt and a tie (he teases Alan about his suit being out dated, but wears styles from the 80s himself).  His hair is never messy and his face is always close shaved (at least after dinner and breakfast) until his 5:00 shadow shows up.  He is rarely without a hat.

Lester’s passion, at least the most obvious one, is his wife Jean.  She is a dignified woman who seems to reduce him to jello whenever she is around.  Though known to argue frequently, they can more often be seen sitting close on the front porch.  She is the happy victim of his constant affection and blushes when he comments on her many worthy character traits and attributes.  Their daughter Betsy is his next in line eye twinkle.  Now married with her own children.  He is smitten whenever she is around.  His unabashed love for the women in his life combined with his strength and solidity is one of the things that aptly demonstrate his character.  Few men are willing to express themselves with humility and passion.  Either they are effeminate or overly macho.  Lester is neither.

Lester is a big man well over six feet and more than 200lbs.  His shoulders are heavy and sloped and his arms are thick with corded muscle.  Though often dirty from hard labor, he is neat and fastidious and never lingers in his work clothes.  Under his shirt sleeves, both arms are nearly covered in tattoos.  He is an imposing figure and known to be a threat to those who deserve it.  However, Lester is a gentle, kind man that children gravitate to.  He often has hard candy on his person and always treats people old or young, big or small, rich or poor, whatever nationality with respect and generosity.  It seems as though everyone knows him.  I have often walked with him down Main Street and it is impossible to carry on an uninterrupted conversation because everyone is familiar.  Lively discussion on a multitude of topics is spontaneous and frequent.  Lester’s smile is always on the ready, though he lacks silliness except with his own family.  His laugh is deep and warm and authoritatively infectious.  Like Alan, he is unassuming about his own wisdom and often refuses to comment on things he feels uninformed of.  There is a kinship between he and Alan that resembles an older brother, younger brother respect and camaraderie. 

Lester is the kind of man who mysteriously is somehow involved in lots of projects with many different people.  I’m not sure how he ends up having time to help in so many different circumstances, but he is always asking detailed questions about things people are doing.  You can tell by the way they answer that he has been a participant in some way or another.  It’s interesting that a man like him would be so ready to help.  He never comes across as too busy so is always giving the impression that he is available to be a part of your life.  Though he does not tout his own experience or skills, when he is part of a project, he is always foundational.  He leads without telling people what to do.  He brings out confidence and extra effort from anyone involved.  However, he is very impatient with those who are lazy or excuse makers.  If you are not on the team, then stay out of the way.  Lester has a garage full of obscure miscellaneous parts and pieces from machines and projects that are always available and seem to never be reduced.  Always willing to lend a tool or an odd part, he is also not afraid to ask for help.  Rather, he expects participation – especially on things that are for mutual benefit for the community.

Often on Saturday afternoons Alan and Lester can be found playing chess on the boardwalk in front of the hardware store; Alan smoking (and chewing on) a pipe, Lester with a cigar, arguing good naturedly about cars, sports or the destiny of America.  Lester’s dog, Mike curled up under the table.  Both stopping frequently to visit with whoever may come up the steps.  Many an untried man has walked up the steps to the hardware store to piece together a project for his homestead and ended up as a disciple in the Alan and Lester school of rural life.  They both share an interest in seeing people discover the joys of a simple hardworking way of life that is shared with neighbors and are quick to help it come about.  Lester often says, “There’s enough time for everything important.”  He demonstrates his strong belief in that statement by spending himself on those around him.  He believes that riches only last until they are spent, but a life spent on his neighbors lasts forever.

The world may never know Alan Darby or Lester McCool, but their neighbors consider themselves fortunate to.  Visit Fort Darby some time, if you get a chance to meet them, you’ll understand why.

 

 


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