Finding positive in the negative of COVID-19
- Bruce Stambaugh: The Rural View
- May 14, 2020
- 1228
Whether by hook or by crook, our dynamic daughter Carrie models many of her mother’s positive qualities. Keeping things tidy and organized through sorting is just one of them.
Our daughter has been cleaning, discarding, donating, organizing, selling and otherwise giving away items from her home during the pandemic. I suspect you all have to some extent as well.
My wife and I have followed that trend too because we have the time during this health crisis sequestering. So far we have sorted old slides and photos, books, clothes, and files.
My wife and I chuckled at long-forgotten moments captured on slides and photos stuck in boxes buried deep in a closet. The feelings they evoked ran the gamut of emotions.
All of this reordering has stirred memories and even uncovered a mystery. Our daughter found a children’s book published 55 years ago. The author had even signed it.
Carrie couldn’t remember where the book came from but suspected we had given it to her as she began her elementary teaching. Of course Carrie passed it on to us to contemplate. The book didn’t register with either my wife or me.
“Deneki: An Alaskan Moose” by William D. Berry had a nicely illustrated jacket cover, which was torn at the binding. I examined the skinny book for clues of its origin. The hardback cover and pages were well-preserved.
I read the enlightening story and enjoyed the many illustrations, also done by the author. The storyline revolved around the encounters of a yearling bull moose near Denali National Park.
It was a first-edition book, and I found Berry had autographed the book twice. One signature was on a card with a moose he had drawn and pasted on the inside right-hand cover. He also signed by his name on the author page.
Neither Neva nor I could remember the book, where we got it or when. Carrie was sure we had given it to her. Because Neva and I were both educators, there were plenty of options. We just all drew blanks.
Berry’s writing was crisp, the story factual and informative, and the illustrations superb. A signed first-edition book was a treasure. The question was, whose prize was it?
I was intrigued. The setting was near one of the areas Neva and I had visited last August on our tour of Alaska. I easily imagined the geography and topography the young moose and its mother traversed.
I Googled the author and found he had a studio in Alaska. I clicked on the website and discovered William D. Berry had died in 1979. Berry’s son Mark and his wife Diane now ran the studio, located in Gustavus, Alaska.
I emailed them from their webpage, telling of the book’s discovery, and offered to donate it to them. By morning I already had a reply.
Mark was thrilled to learn about the book. He said the studio ironically never had a signed copy of “Deneki.” They had to buy one off of eBay for more than the book had earned in royalties in its initial year of publication.
Mark said he would donate the book to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, once it reopens from the COVID-19 emergency closures. The university houses an archive of his father’s field sketches and other items.
The book is in the mail to Alaska. It’s a treasure that might have remained hidden without the methodical house cleaning of our daughter and the foggy memories of her parents.
I reckon “Deneki” will be glad to be home too.
Bruce Stambaugh writes about nature, weather, hobbies and people, often using personal experiences. Much to their dismay, he also writes about his family. He uses humor and pathos when he can’t think of anything else to include. To read more The Rural View, visit Stambaugh at www.thebargainhunter.com.