Mood:
rushedTopic: "Mudbums"(9)
Tommy Yanosky attended Cornell University prior to his service with the guys who draw maps. Significant it is because this was the last that anyone ever heard of him. So long ago now that the conversations rarely even include an acknowledgement of his historical star power to the Fellowship. Tommy Yanosky was a bright enough guy, but he was also the best fisherman any of us ever knew.
While Legolas and Frodo played baseball, Yanosky patrolled the rapids and pools of the rivers nearby, teaching himself the artistry of Izaak Walton, et al. By accident one day, the Fellowship followed Yanosky and they saw him catch a mighty fish. The hook, it seems, was more wide-spread than that which brought the monster to shore, for it resulted in the first great economic demands of Frodo's life. Soon each was driven to the purchase of products by organizations like Shakespeare, Heddon, and objets d'art called "Tiny Lucky 13," "River Runt," and "Finnish Minnow."
The countless days spent wading and crossing rapids in search of picene giants were to the members of the Fellowship as were those known to Huck, Tom, and interestingly, Jim too. Early on, the Fellowship noted Yanosky's reference to "Willie" and the "mudbums" who it seems were always nearby. They ate the fish that they caught, and they welcomed the addition of those assembled by the Hobbits and Elves. For Frodo's friends eating fish from industrialized runoff was deemed less attractive than half a dozen burgers, fries, and a shake. It made the Hobbits feel "noble" and it certainly opened many a conversation with inhabitants of the far corners of Middle Earth. Given the politics of the day, it was not a surprise that heroic liberalism grew exponentially.
Frodo learned that great changes do occur, and the most important changes seem to emanate from streets and byways when people assemble. Frodo has seen people just like the mudbums take on the irrationality of a nineteenth century world a hundred years unchanged, and do so almost entirely alone. Perhaps they, too, desired a more modern world. He watches now as beautiful and wealthy women gather to make a mockery of inane politicians with names like Kasich and Perry. They march, and they chant, and they obstruct. In the most ancient of worlds Egyptian youth react against religious intolerance, and they are assembled in "numbers too big to ignore." Frodo has also learned that patience prevails despite the fact that the passage of time ensures the presence of a violent act by those not willing to share burgers and fries.
The "Arab Spring" is far from a footnote in world history. On this day the mudbums are replaced by different actors, but the lines are just the same. Tommy Yanosky is out there, somewhere, artfully manuvering the slippery pathways which open young eyes to angels with dirty faces.
incredulous
on fire
sharp
bright
spacey
quizzical
not sure
caffeinated
accident prone