[at-l] One Sunday in Williamstown...

["cosmo catalano, jr." <Cosmo.A.Catalano@williams.edu>]

It was a typical Sunday in the village of Williamstown.  Hot for late
September.  I was enjoying my usual ritual Sunday morning, reading the
paper and fixing some buttermilk oatmeal pancakes.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, "Who could that be?" asked my wife.
"I don't know", I replied. "I'll go see."  As I approached the door, the
smell hit me, and I realized I was in trouble.  Opening the door I was
confronted with what appeared to be four homeless people, except that they
were carrying sticks.
Then one of them said in a voice of pure midwest corn:  "You must be Cosmo."
"Yes", I said reluctantly, knowing what was to come next, "I am".
"I'm Felix", the first one said, "and this is Ke Kehawe, and Pokey-hantas".
 "I'm Stoat" the scruffiest of the bunch said.  He was carrying a shirt on
the end of a stick.  It seemed to be the locus of the smell that made the
me glad I hadn't made a double batch of pancakes.

We stood there eyeing each other for a moment,  I was wondering how to
explain this to my wife.  I uncharacteristically, had cleaned the basement
just the day before, so she was already somewhat suspicious.  "You got a TV
w/ cable in there?", the one called Felix asked?  "I haven't seen any
football in nigh on nine months, and I'm wondering how my team is doing."
"Is there an NFL team in Indiana?" I asked.  The group surged forward
almost as one as I hurriedly corrected myself.

I squeezed my way onto the porch closing the door behind me, and managed to
heard them around to the basement door, being careful to stay away from the
shirt.  "I've got a rec room down here, it's got a TV and a laundry, knock
yourselves out", I said.  "I've got two teenagers, so the carpet's about as
clean as the floor of your last shelter."
"It's softer", said the one called Pokey, "thank you".  Do you have a
bathroom we could use?"
 I was reluctant to let them go upstairs, the bathrooms had just been
cleaned last month, but as I gazed into her lovely face, my resistance
melted, and I gave in.  "Sure, come on up and meet the rest of the family"

As we came up the stairs,  we bumped into my wife who, wise beyond her
years, was guarding the refrigerator.  "Hi, dear", I said wondering how I
was going to pay for this later, "this is Felix, Mike and 'Becca.  That
one's Gary.  Felix and 'Becca are hiking from Maine to Georgia, Mike and
Gary are helping out.  Can they sleep over?"
"Fine", Mary said, "but perhaps they'd like a shower first?.  Then maybe
some lunch."  There was another moment of silence in the room as I tried to
figure a way to distract them while I welded the refrigerator door shut.
"No thanks", said Felix, "we had breakfast and lunch at the Friendly's."
"Great!" I said, before anyone else could answer, I'll go get the reserve
hot water heater on line."

The rest of that muggy day was spent watching football, snoozing, and
watching Ke Kehawe making his Palm Pilot talk to his C*** P****.
Inevitably, the discussion moved from the trail ahead, to food, and we
decided to visit the AYCE chinese buffet in nearby North Adams.  Dinner was
a success, and as we all waddled away from the table, Ke Kehawe suggested
that the quartet pay for my meal.  I demurred briefly-very briefly-- it's
not often one can out-Yogi a thru hiker!

After a great episode of the Simpsons, I warned my guests about the dangers
of trying to use the bathroom when there are two teenagers trying to get
ready for school in the morning, and bid them good night.  This morning, I
dropped Felix at the North Adams PO, and the others at Friendly's, where
Felix would meet them for a light breakfast before they traversed Mt.
Greylock on the way to Cheshire.  One of Felix's dreams for this hike is to
see the cheese  monument, so he was very excited to be off.  Their next
stop is planned for Salisbury CT in about a week.  Wish them well.

Respectfully Submitted,

Cosmo


Cosmo Catalano

Production Manager
Williams College Department of Theatre
1000 Main St.
Williamstown, MA 01267
413-597-2590


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