{"id":668,"date":"2011-11-11T03:45:38","date_gmt":"2011-11-11T08:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/?p=668"},"modified":"2011-11-11T09:27:59","modified_gmt":"2011-11-11T14:27:59","slug":"all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-part-4-conclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/all-that-is-gold-does-not-glitter-part-4-conclusion.html\/","title":{"rendered":"All That Is Gold Does Not Glitter – Part 4, Conclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Continued from Part 3<\/a>…)<\/em><\/p>\n

Grandma insisted on making Doug sit down and try the apple crisp with fresh whipped cream right away. \u00a0Doug didn’t really argue. \u00a0As he was polishing off the big bowl, his grandmother quizzed him on how everyone in Twin Springs was doing, from Jessie and his mom and the almost-baby, to old Uncle Bill. \u00a0“Where’s Grandpa?” Doug asked. \u00a0“Won’t I have to go over all this with him later?”
\n“Yes, but I still want to hear it first. \u00a0Your grandfather is still teaching at the Middle College. \u00a0He’ll be back for dinnertime.”<\/p>\n

Doug busied himself helping his grandmother with dinner until Grandpa arrived. \u00a0“Well, hello Douglass. \u00a0You’ve gotten taller. \u00a0How about you show me that problem power supply, eh? \u00a0Hopefully I can figure something out before Mother calls us to sit down. \u00a0Set it up on my workbench while I change out of my teaching clothes into my farmer’s uniform.”
\n“You don’t farm, Grandpa.”
\n“No… not anymore. \u00a0Just a little gardening. \u00a0You don’t remember?”
\nDoug shook his head. \u00a0He had been four when Grandma and Grandpa moved out of Twin Springs into Ontonagon, so he didn’t have any memory of his grandfather working the farm.
\nGrandpa sighed. \u00a0“Well, that’s too bad. \u00a0Now I just farm brains at school. \u00a0I swear, sometimes those weeds are harder to pull.”
\nIt didn’t take long to get the power supply disassembled on Grandpa’s electronics workbench. \u00a0Doug had only picked up the very basics of electronics, but the blown capacitor and charred traces on the main board were obvious. \u00a0“What do you think?”
\n“I’ll know in a minute. \u00a0Let’s see…” \u00a0He reached up to a shelf and pulled out a tablet with some cables attached. \u00a0“Here. \u00a0This is the debug port, let’s see…” \u00a0He attached one of the cables to a small connector on one of the power supply boards, tapped up a debugger app on the tablet, frowned, then started to check around the board with a meter. \u00a0“I don’t know – it’s still using CPU control rather than analog, and the brains might be fried. \u00a0Need to see if I can get some voltage to it…” \u00a0Doug watched, asking a few questions but mostly just trying to follow along.
\nEventually, Grandpa shook his head. \u00a0“Nope. \u00a0Chip’s fried too. \u00a0So much for failsafes.”
\n“Could you replace it?”
\n“It’d be tricky – but no point. \u00a0We’d have to order it preprogrammed for this supply, and they charge more for that than for a new unit. \u00a0It’s spare parts now.”
\nDoug was thrilled for a second — this meant that he’d get to go to Houghton after all! \u00a0Then, he felt ashamed. \u00a0A new supply was going to cost most of the profits from this year’s log bonding. \u00a0A repair would have meant that a lot more money was available for the family.
\n“Dad’s going to be disappointed.”
\nGrandpa shrugged. \u00a0“Seems like it’s harder all the time to get decent electronics from the Brazillians, and nobody is taking up the slack. \u00a0Wish we could get some Yooper supplier, or at least NortAmerican, but that’s more than I’m going to take on at my age.”
\n“You telling me there’s a business opportunity?”
\n“I think there might be. \u00a0At least, I’d like to think so. \u00a0Why, you looking to start a business?” Grandpa asked, with a bit of an eager gleam in his eye that surprised Doug.
\n“Well, m-maybe,” Doug stuttered. \u00a0“I don’t like trees and sheep and potatoes the way Dad does.”
\n“Hmm.”
\n“But don’t you need to be rich to start something like that?”
\nHis grandfather laughed a bit. \u00a0“Rich? \u00a0Well, money does<\/em> help with that sort of thing, although not always as much as you might think. \u00a0You sound like you think you’re not already rich.”
\n“Say what? \u00a0We’re farmers<\/em>, Grandpa. \u00a0And log-bonders. \u00a0Who have to worry about whether we can afford a new power supply. \u00a0That’s not rich.”
\nGrandpa looked at Doug over the top of his glasses. \u00a0“Oh, really? \u00a0You think you need to be a fancy mine chief, or maybe a shipbuilder, driving your car around town just to show off to be rich?” \u00a0He frowned. \u00a0“You need to look down instead of just up, young man, and appreciate your blessings. \u00a0Been hungry lately?”
\n“Just between meals.”
\n“Bingo. \u00a0Which I know are being put on your table at least three times a day. \u00a0Probably more like a Hobbit schedule, if I know you grandkids.” Doug chuckled at that – he and Michael had started asking for “second breakfast” after reading about Shire mealtimes. \u00a0“And fresh water to wash it down with?”
\n“It’s called ‘Twin Springs’ for a reason, Grandpa.”
\n“Bingo again. \u00a0One of the main reasons your great-grandfather bought the place before the Troubles, you know. \u00a0He wanted his family where he could be sure of a water supply. \u00a0Always said that, if the springs failed, worst case we weren’t that far from the biggest supply of fresh water on the planet.”
\nDoug stood up from his workbench stool and shuffled his feet a bit. “I don’t feel rich. \u00a0Seems like all we do is work, work, work.”
\n“Well, we’re not rich enough to laze around, that’s for sure. \u00a0But… you haven’t done your service trip yet, have you?”
\nDoug shook his head. \u00a0It wasn’t exactly mandatory — you could still be Confirmed without it, although the Bishop didn’t like it — but the Church was encouraging young people to spend at least three months with a mission order doing some sort of service.
\n“You should, you know. \u00a0It would be good for you to see more of the world than \u2018Nogon and the Porkies. Compared to the beggars in New Chicago, you’ve got it pretty good.”
\nDoug didn’t answer. \u00a0It was true; compared to them, he was fabulously wealthy. \u00a0At least up here, you didn’t have to worry so much about whether the ground you were growing your food in was poisoned or radioactive.
\nGrandpa pushed his glasses back up on his face, and gave Doug a pat on the shoulder. \u00a0“You really are richer than you know. \u00a0\u2018All that is gold does not glitter,\u2019<\/em> of course.”
\n“What does that mean?”
\nGrandpa was surprised. \u00a0“You must not have gotten that far in the Fellowship<\/em>.”
\n“They all just arrived at Bree.”
\n“Ah. \u00a0Well, you’ll see soon, then.”<\/p>\n

They returned to the house and phoned Twin Springs to break the bad news about the power supply. \u00a0Dad reported no baby yet. \u00a0“But I can’t imagine she’ll hold on until you get back now, so be ready for a new brother or sister.” \u00a0Grandma said she would drive the team back to Twin Springs tomorrow and stay there until after the baby came.
\n“How am I going to get home?” asked Doug.
\n“We’ll do the reverse trip when you get back,” Dad said. \u00a0“Either your grandmother will come back with the buggy, or if we can’t pry her away from the baby, I’ll find someone to send.”
\nThey said their goodbyes and hung up after that, to keep from running up charges. \u00a0Doug had to admit to himself that not everyone had phone service, so maybe they _were_ better off than he was used to thinking.
\nDoug had hoped that the pasties might be for dinner, but Grandma said those would be for tomorrow’s lunch. \u00a0Instead, she had concocted a mix of roasted vegetables with potatoes, parsnips, carrots, rutabagas, and turnips, with some goat cheese melted on top, and served it with salad from their hoophouse and the chicken soup she had been simmering. \u00a0He admitted this would keep his mind off the pasties until tomorrow.
\n“And mind you stay out of those cookies,” Grandma warned. \u00a0“Those are for All Hallow’s Eve.”
\n“Is that tonight? \u00a0I lost track. \u00a0If I dress up as a saint, can I have one too?”
\n“And just who do you think you are going to be?”
\nDoug walked over to the woodstove, picked up the kindling hatchet, and slung it over his shoulder like a lumberman’s axe. \u00a0His grandparents were puzzled for a moment, then Grandpa blurted out “Saint Boniface! Good choice.” \u00a0Grandma laughed. \u00a0“Well, then, you deserve a cookie for that one.”
\n“While your grandmother hands out cookies, I’m going to Mass tonight. \u00a0Are you coming?”
\nDoug looked uncomfortable. \u00a0“I really wasn’t planning on it…”
\n“Is there a problem?”
\n“No! Well, I mean… I guess I haven’t been to confession in a while.”
\n“No surprise, with only that little chapel out there. \u00a0But you’re here now.”
\n“I know, but I hate confession with Father Nakamura. \u00a0Half the time, I can’t understand him, and I end up being afraid that he didn’t hear me right or that I’ll mess up the penances and be worse off than before.”
\n“It doesn’t get easier if you put it off, you know,” said Grandma.
\n“I should be in Houghton in plenty of time to catch All Saints, if I get an early enough train. \u00a0I can try to catch a priest who speaks English then, eh?”
\n“Or at least who speaks Yooper.”<\/p>\n

It ended up being a quiet evening. \u00a0Doug helped Grandma hand out cookies, but the rush of kids yelling “Trick or Treat!” only lasted about a half hour. \u00a0That left plenty of time to clean up from dinner, discuss details of what to look for in the next power supply with Grandpa and to get back to reading Fellowship<\/em> before turning in.
\n“Oh, I see! \u00a0Aragorn’s verse is what you were saying earlier? \u00a0But what does that have to do with anything?”
\n“Think, Douglass. \u00a0It\u2019ll come to you.”<\/p>\n

It was early in the morning when they all got up. \u00a0Grandpa gave Doug some letters of introduction to Houghton’s two electrical shops, plus some of the Michigan Tech faculty. \u00a0“I want you to see Dr. Lynch while you are there,” Grandpa told Doug.
\n“Is he Electrical Engineering?”
\n“Mining and Geology, actually.”Doug couldn’t believe his ears. \u00a0He had wondered if it would be possible to get someone from Tech to validate his find, and now his grandfather was setting it up for him. \u00a0He wondered for a second if he actually knew about the nuggets, then dismissed the thought. \u00a0Just a coincidence.
\n“Sure, Grandpa. \u00a0What for?”
\n“I just want you to get introduced. He’s an old friend of mine. \u00a0He’d be a good one to talk to about getting off the farm, if you’re looking for a way.”
\nDoug blinked. \u00a0“I didn’t think you would take that seriously.”
\nGrandpa smiled. \u00a0“Why not?”<\/p>\n

The train ride from Ontonagon to Houghton was delightful. \u00a0Doug was able to read and take in the fall color without the worry of having to drive a team of horses. \u00a0He noticed the increasing number of farms as they got closer – the Keewenaw was much more populated than the Trap Hills. \u00a0Leaving the train station, he checked Mass times at St. Frederick Baraga, and decided he had plenty of time to stop by the University and look up Dr. Lynch before the last service. \u00a0Besides, he was planning on staying there for at least one night anyhow – his grandfather had arranged that too. \u00a0Tech had more dorm space than students these days, and was willing to let out rooms, if one knew who to ask.<\/p>\n

It took Doug a few wrong turns, but he eventually figured out the right building on campus. \u00a0It should have been simple, but the height of the buildings was a little disorienting – most were at least eight stories tall. \u00a0\u201cCome in!\u201d a voice said, when he knocked on the half-open door of the office. \u00a0The man at the desk looked up as Doug came in. \u00a0\u201cWhat can I do for you?\u201d
\n\u201cHello, Dr. Lynch. \u00a0Um… I\u2019m just in the city for a day or two, and my grandfather wanted me to introduce myself. \u00a0My name is Doug Pakala.\u201d
\nThe man got up from his desk and extended his hand. \u00a0\u201cNice to make your acquaintance, young man. \u00a0I\u2019m Bob Lynch. \u00a0So, you must be one of Professor Pakala\u2019s grandkids?\u201d
\nProfessor Pakala<\/em>? \u201cMy grandfather is Dale Pakala. \u00a0He said that you two are friends? \u00a0I never heard that he taught at Tech.\u201d
\n\u201cWonderful! \u00a0I can see the resemblance. \u00a0Have a seat, relax. \u00a0Yes, he\u2019s an emeritus<\/em> now, but he did teach for several years, although after that he was a research fellow until he retired.\u201d
\n\u201cGrandpa was into electronics research?\u201d
\n\u201cOh, no,\u201d Dr. Lynch replied, \u201celectronics are just his hobby. \u00a0Your grandfather is part of the Agriculture faculty.\u201d
\n\u201cI thought he was just a farmer.\u201d
\n\u201cJust<\/em> a farmer? \u00a0Oh, no. \u00a0That pollard \/ pasture mix that\u2019s at Twin Springs?\u201d \u00a0Doug nodded – he knew it well. \u00a0Taking trimmings from the high branches was one of his jobs. \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s starting to be used all over the State now? \u00a0The research that showed how productive that could be was done by your grandfather. \u00a0It\u2019s still ongoing, even though he keeps trying to retire.\u201d
\nDoug decided he was going to have to ask Grandpa more about this when he got home. \u00a0It would be a lot more interesting grazing the sheep on the back forty if he knew the rationale for the tree arrangement.
\n\u201cDr. Lynch? \u00a0Can I ask you something? \u00a0You are a mineralogist, right?\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s part of what I do, yes.\u201d
\n\u201cWould you please take a look at these and tell me what you think?\u201d \u00a0Doug brought out his two small nuggets, carefully unwrapped them, and set them on Dr. Lynch\u2019s desk.
\nDr. Lynch whistled, then started to examine them with a magnifying glass. \u00a0\u201cVery nice specimens of native gold. \u00a0Where did you get them?\u201d
\n\u201cFound them out deer hunting last fall, to the west of Twin Springs.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat do you want to know about them?\u201d
\n\u201cWell, I was wondering… I found them near one of the creeks. \u00a0Do you think they show that there is a mother lode?\u201d
\nDr. Lynch shook his head. \u00a0\u201cAh, I see why you\u2019re excited. \u00a0No, I don\u2019t think so. \u00a0Look carefully at these.\u201d \u00a0He handed Doug the magnifying glass. \u00a0\u201cDo you see those fine striations, and the way there are those bits of fine gravel embedded into the gold? \u00a0That indicates that this gold was placed glacially, not weathered out of a mother lode. \u00a0It could have come from anywhere. \u00a0I\u2019m sorry to give you the bad news. \u00a0They are very nice specimens, though. \u00a0I can offer you a premium over what you would get from a smelter so we can add them to the University\u2019s collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doug walked back slowly to St. Baraga\u2019s. \u00a0He hadn\u2019t realized quite how much the daydream of striking it rich had gotten hold of him until Dr. Lynch had crushed it. \u00a0The money Tech was offering would make a difference, of course, but it wouldn\u2019t make him rich.
\nInside the church, there was a short line at the confessional. \u00a0Well, I don\u2019t <\/em>think that I\u2019ve committed any mortal sins, but better safe than sorry, I suppose.<\/em> \u00a0The waiting area had a pamphlet containing an examination of conscience. \u00a0Doug read through it casually, until he got to \u201cHave I been motivated by avarice?\u201d \u00a0Oh<\/em>. \u00a0He was happy to find that the priest heard his confession and pronounced absolution in fluent Yooper.<\/p>\n

Doug took his place near the back of the church. \u00a0It felt good to be at Mass again. \u00a0Usually, the family\u2019s only opportunity would be the once every month or so Father Nakamura would come into Green. \u00a0Some months, they didn\u2019t find out until afterwards. \u00a0Dad made an extra effort to get them to Ontonagon at Christmas and Easter, but the weather was always chancy. \u00a0More than one year, they\u2019d been snowed in for Christmas.
\nThe Psalm for the day was Psalm 16. \u00a0While Doug tried to be attentive to the lessons, usually the chanting of the Psalm made all the words jumble together in his mind. \u00a0Today, however, they came into bright focus:<\/p>\n

\n

O LORD, you are my portion and my cup;\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

it is you who uphold my lot.<\/em><\/p>\n

My boundaries enclose a pleasant land;<\/em><\/p>\n

indeed, I have a goodly heritage…<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As the words of the Psalm flowed, Doug saw Twin Springs in his mind, but as if he were seeing it for the first time. \u00a0It\u2019s so beautiful. \u00a0Why did I let myself get used to it?<\/em> \u00a0He wondered about his mother, and if the new baby had come yet, and if so, how Jessica was handling not being the littlest any more.
\nMaybe Grandpa was right and he was richer than he knew. \u00a0After all, he had a goodly heritage, and his boundaries enclosed a pleasant land.<\/p>\n

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(Continued from Part 3…) Grandma insisted on making Doug sit down and try the apple crisp with fresh whipped cream right away. \u00a0Doug didn’t really argue. \u00a0As he was polishing off the big bowl, his grandmother quizzed him on how everyone in Twin Springs was doing, from Jessie and his mom and the almost-baby, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sZgq-aM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":685,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668\/revisions\/685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.znfrey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}