Steve Buttress

Junior's Way Steve Buttress

Junior was a one-of-a-kind. "Brought up hard," as he described it, Junior took other folk's discards and fashioned a fine living. Problem is, he did it his way, which was a genius way, an ingenious way, an amazing way, a way that made something out of nothing. But it wasn't always a legal way. When the corporate bully across the road decided it was time for Junior to go, all hell broke loose in sleepy South Fork. It could have been resolved with a little give and take. But there was no give, no take. Now I'm not saying that's how it should have come down. Oh sure, it would have been simpler. And faster. It would have involved several hundred fewer people. And several million fewer dollars. There would have been far less pain and anxiety. Probably no shots would have been fired, lawsuits filed, charges pressed. On the other hand, we'd have missed out on a lot of unpredictable stuff: career paths altered, political dreams spawned and smashed, long-term friendships formed and flattened, lakes and mini-mountains built, swans relocated, new drugs discovered, books inspired, laughs laughed. On the whole, the world is most surely a better place for the rockier road taken. As my ole pappy used to say, "It's the pebbles that give the brook its song."