The Splendor of Ordinary Days (31 page)

W
alking through the brisk November cold, Luke quickly made his way home from the Memorial Building. He was bubbling with anticipation. Both he and Christine were taking the next day off so they could go to Nashville that evening, grab some dinner, and then go hear Pink Martini play in a live concert. They would be late getting back to Watervalley, but the evening had all the potential to be nothing short of a fabulous time.

Before heading inside, he stopped at his mailbox and grabbed the envelopes that had accumulated over the last couple of days. While walking to the porch, he shuffled through a few familiar bills and became intrigued by a letter addressed to him from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. It was from Dr. Burns, his old med school professor. Consumed with curiosity, he stopped and opened it.

Dear Luke:

The medical center has recently been awarded a significant research grant to work in concert with Abbott Laboratories to perform alpha testing of a new fertility drug covering a range of reproductive disorders. I am searching for a candidate to head up the research team and thus am writing to see if this opportunity might be of interest.

It is my belief that this project would be well served by your considerable academic talents. While it may not avail the daily rewards of your present rural practice, it has the potential of bringing hope to innumerable women and couples struggling with infertility.

Please give this opportunity your fullest consideration and contact me at your convenience.

Sincerely, John Burns, MD

Upon finishing the letter, Luke immediately wadded it up and stuck it into his coat pocket. But after taking two steps, he paused and stood for a moment, his mind racing. Then he carefully took the letter out of his pocket and neatly unfolded it. Smoothing out the crumpled edges, he again read Dr. Burns's words, “it has the potential of bringing hope to innumerable women and couples struggling with infertility.” After standing there reflecting for a few seconds longer, he exhaled deeply and reached for his cell phone.

Many thanks to my wife, Dawn, and son, Austin, for their continued support of my writing career. As well, thanks to Terri and Teresa . . . my amusing muses from oh-so-many decades ago.

A special ­thank-­you to my mom, Sarah, whose beautiful mind has lost the light that so brilliantly inspired me during those tender years. Your love of words and the enchantment of story were matched only by your gift of hilarity. Thanks for always telling me I was your favorite. I promise not to let the brothers know.

And, as always, heartfelt thanks to my editor, Ellen Edwards, for once again chiseling at the words to render an extraordinary story about the splendor of ordinary days.

A CONVERSATION WITH JEFF HIGH

Spoiler Alert: The Conversation with Jeff High and Questions for Discussion that follow tell more about what happens in the book than you might want to know before reading it.

Q. It's terrific to be back in Watervalley with the characters we've come to love. This third book in the series explores, among other things, a military veteran who still suffers the effects of his service. What inspired you to tell this story?

A. Two different times in my life I went and talked to an Army recruiter. The first time was just before going to college. The recruiter talked me out of it because I was going to school on an academic scholarship, which the Army couldn't promise to duplicate. The second time was after I'd graduated college. This time I talked myself out of it. Although I have never served in the armed forces, I have always held a deep respect for the men and women who have. This story was my small way of expressing that admiration.

Q. Your original title for the book was They Also Serve. What was the inspiration behind that idea?

A. The original title was taken from Milton's poem “On His Blindness,” in which the final line is “They also serve who only stand and wait.” Among other things, it is a powerful statement about finding peace with one's lot in life, about how ordinary people doing ordinary work serve the ideals they hold dear. As well, the theme of ­blindness—­physical, emotional, and even moral ­blindness—­plays a huge role in this story.

Q. Four characters in the book are military veterans who still suffer from the effects of their service in one way or another. The book ends with the dedication of a new memorial statue to the local men and women who lost their lives serving their country in the last century. Can you tell us more about why you wanted to explore this theme, and what military service means to people in rural Tennessee?

A. In rural ­Tennessee—­I am very proud to ­say—­military service engenders a genuine respect that transcends boundaries of class, race, and gender that exist in all communities. I don't care if you are black, white, rich, poor, male, female, educated or not. . . . If you served in the military, and especially if you gave your life, we in Tennessee hold you in great reverence. When I was in grade school, a high school football star from my town was killed in Vietnam. Years later, as an adult, I happened to be in Washington, DC, and went to the Vietnam Memorial to do a rubbing of his name to give to his sister, whom I knew only secondhand. I intended it as simply a kind gesture. But strangely, the powerful, somber emotion of that moment brought me to tears. I was so struck with the young man's sacrifice.

Q. Luke and Christine face some significant challenges to their relationship in this book, not the least of which is Luke's thwarted attempts to propose marriage. What do you hope readers will take away from Luke and Christine's romance? And why was it important to include excerpts from Christine's teenage diary?

A. Luke and Christine's evolving relationship weighed heavily on me as I wrote this book. I wanted to portray two people who fall deeply in love and are clearly and naturally compelled by their desire for physical intimacy. But I also wanted to define them as two adults who have a moral compass, who struggle with their ideals in light of a larger world that overwhelmingly would think their choice to abstain archaic. The diary entries serve as a way of telling the reader more about Christine, who she is and how she defines herself. They also give the reader an enjoyable window into how close (or un-close) Luke comes to being the guy of her dreams.

Q. Luke's visits to Leyland Carter add an element of mystery, and even of the supernatural. Leyland acts almost as a philosopher whose questions help Luke to determine his course of action. The mystery surrounding Leyland makes him much more appealing than if he were just another wise old guy chatting on a porch. Can you share more about what you want to convey through this character?

A. Leyland Carter provides a means to reveal the struggles of Luke's conscience . . . to provide a monologue for working out his moral choices. As well, it is not by accident that it is Reverend Joe Dawson who brings Leyland to Luke's attention.

Q. Luke is the only one who sees Leyland, but over many years, others have heard the singing on the wind whose source remains unidentified. You suggest that such communion with the inexplicable is a feature of Southern life. Can you elaborate?

A. Few people in the South will admit to believing in ghosts . . . but then again, everyone in the South can tell you a personal ghost story. Religion and religious traditions run deep down here. By and large we are a people of faith, which requires that we believe in what we cannot see. We are also a region with a storied past. Great battles were fought in our backyards, battles in which young men were slaughtered, their lives ended before their time. All that loss and all that human agony leave the residue of a thousand stories about who died in this field, or near that house, or by that creek. Their spirits remain. Put together the two ingredients of faith and loss, and you have a culture in which the supernatural is part of the daily vernacular.

Q. I didn't know that there are Mennonite communities as far south as Tennessee. How long have they existed and what impact have they had?

A. Significant Mennonite communities can be found in Tennessee and Georgia (and perhaps other Southern states). There is a large Mennonite community in the county next to mine, and I often encountered them at the hospital where I worked. As well, my father ran a ­government-­owned ­agricultural-­research facility during my growing-up years. At a time when young men were being drafted for the Vietnam War, several Mennonite men worked at that facility in lieu of doing military service. That's where I got the idea for the story of Eli Yoder.

Q. Like Luke, do you believe that dogs can understand human speech? Or is Luke's golden retriever Rhett an exceptional case?

A. Let me just say this. . . . The original Rhett Butler, our family dog whose picture can be found on my Facebook page, without a doubt understood English fluently, especially Southern English. He would growl if you didn't say, “Yes, ma'am,” or “No, ma'am.”

Q. You include some quirky medical cases. Surely you've never met a man who spoke only in song lyrics or a blind woman who drove a lawn mower down Main Street. . . .

A. Actually, one story is completely true, and the other is partly true. In the little town of Spring Hill, where I grew up, there was an elderly lady who often drove her lawn mower down the street to the bank or the small grocery store. It was only a couple of blocks, and no one seemed to mind. There was also a fellow I knew while growing up who had a metal plate in his head after suffering a brain injury in a car accident. He swore the plate picked up a frequency from the local AM radio station, and he could hear what was being broadcast. We would test him against what was on the car radio, and sure enough, he could tell what song was playing. I don't just make this stuff up.

Q. You end the book with a surprise twist in which Luke is offered a new opportunity. Please don't keep us in suspense! Is Luke going to leave Watervalley? Can you give us some hints of what we can expect next?

A. For the answer to that question, you'll have to wait for book four of the Watervalley series.

Q. Your last book was honored as an OKRA Pick by the Independent Southern Booksellers. What has it been like for you to talk about the Watervalley series with booksellers and readers?

A. Of course it is a delight! As I have mentioned in earlier discussions, the Watervalley books are “glass half full” stories that seek to illuminate the sweet and decent things about Southern culture and the strong character of those who live there. But I would hasten to add that when I was travel nursing, I found these qualities in the people of small towns and communities all over America.

Q. So much about Watervalley seems timeless. In your day-to-day, do you see changes coming to the South that might become an ingrained part of Southern life? Do you anticipate working them into a future book?

A. I believe the South will become different . . . but its essence will not change. Our communities will become more diverse, and more and more of our jobs will be urban rather than rural. This is neither good nor bad, just different. What will not change is the Southern ­mind-­set that invariably includes a devotion to our communities and our families. As well, the Christian faith comes in a lot of flavors in the South, including everything from the very traditionally devout to God's little goofballs. Even still, a belief in something beyond ourselves permeates our lives and speaks to defining qualities of our culture. I don't see that changing for a very long time, and clearly, I hope it never does.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. What did you most enjoy about
The Splendor of Ordinary Days
? What made you laugh? What made you cry? Will anything about the book stay with you and become a part of who you are?

2. Name the characters who give Luke advice, wanted and unwanted, whenever he faces a dilemma. Do they help or hinder him? When is it right to step in to help advise a friend, and when is it better to stand back?

3. Luther Whitmore and Eli Yoder both want to keep pure the memory of Ellie Yoder, and decide not to reveal that she is the mother of Jacob and the grandmother of his children. In their situation, would you have made the same choice?

4. Is the Mr. Wonderful whom Christine writes about in her journal an unrealistic romantic idealization or a way of defining what qualities she considers most important in the man she marries? What did you write about in your teenage diary?

5. What was your response to Leyland Carter? What does he impart to Luke that Luke could not have learned any other way?

6. Luke feels compelled to resolve conflicts between people in town. Discuss the many ways in which he tries to bring about better understanding and reconciliation. Do you consider him a busybody who should mind his own business or a model for how the rest of us should behave?

7. Luke and Christine spend much of their courtship sitting and talking on her family's front porch. When was the last time you whiled away a summer evening sitting outside, watching night fall? Does Watervalley's slower pace appeal to you, or would it leave you bored? How much time do you spend outside enjoying the natural world?

8. Luke and Christine decide to abstain from physical intimacy until they're married. What do you think about that? What are some of the pros and cons of their decision? Does Christine's medical condition change that in your mind?

9. Discuss the various ghosts in Watervalley. Have you ever experienced an unexplained supernatural phenomenon? Or have you heard local stories about the supernatural? How do you explain the prevalence of such tales?

10. The Mennonite community in Watervalley lives largely apart, and sometimes tensions arise between it and the general population over their differing ­beliefs—­regarding pacifism versus military service, for example, and over the role of government organizations such as the fire department. Is there a group of people in your community who live largely separate from the whole? If tensions exist, what have people done to resolve them?

11. Discuss Karen Davidson's reception by the town and what it takes for the situation to turn around.

12. Watervalley reveres its military veterans but doesn't always know how to meet their needs. Do you know a vet who could use some help? What are some of the factors that might complicate your community's efforts to help?

13. Will Fox has love troubles, but he finds a way to overcome his disappointment. Do you have any stories to share about youngsters you've known who have dealt with romantic complications?

14. Do you think Luke will leave Watervalley? Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of staying.