![\"Morris](\"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Morris-head-new.jpg\")
<\/a>By Hobie Morris<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n(Brookfield, NY – April 2014) A few days ago Billy asked me to convey his thanks to many Brookfielders.\u00a0 Billy can\u2019t read or write. I has tried to retain some of Billy\u2019s often colorful language by occasionally using phonetic spelling of his words.<\/p>\n
I taint much of a letter writer and my spelling is a lot worse.\u00a0 Failed kindergarten so my scholin\u2019 pretty much ended there.\u00a0 Dad was in the pokey for makin\u2019 shine in the hog trough.\u00a0 I had to do the farm work most of the time.\u00a0 Pa was in and out of jail most of my growin\u2019 up years.\u00a0 One day a vacuum cleaner salesman came to our house.\u00a0 He wanted Ma real bad to buy one\u2014even though we had no electrics.\u00a0 Apparently Ma was in a buyin\u2019 mood because she ran off with him.\u00a0 We lost the farm and I soon took to the road.\u00a0 Wandered into Brookfield last fall just as winter was a\u2019settin\u2019 in.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t have any money, only the clothes on my back and no place to go.\u00a0 I found a rocky place near the road where I slept in the leaves and could watch the world go by.\u00a0 Then one\u00a0 mornin\u2019 a little snow covered me.\u00a0 I started shiverin,\u2019 was hungry and pretty down and out.<\/p>\n
Then a miracle happened.\u00a0 Two people spent an afternoon puttin\u2019 up a place for me to stay.\u00a0 (I was wanderin\u2019 in the woods tryin\u2019 to warm up). The place was nothin\u2019 fanci but perfect for me.\u00a0 Compared to sleepin\u2019 on the cold ground it was like a hotel.\u00a0 The next day the snow and cold really began, and it\u2019s come with lots of wind ever since.\u00a0 But this ole hobo was like a bug in a warm rug. When it got really cold I\u2019d walk along the road until I warmed up.<\/p>\n
Apparently the word spread that an old hobo was acampin\u2019 in a bunch of rocks and cliffs south of the Brookfield village.\u00a0\u00a0 Then it began to happen and has continued to happen every day since.\u00a0 People kept stoppin\u2019 and leavin\u2019 all kinds of food.\u00a0 They came on tractors, trucks, cars\u2014even on foot.\u00a0 Some even had cameras and took pictures of me.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t very presentable and stunk a little bit but that didn\u2019t seem to matter.\u00a0 I especially loved the keds.\u00a0 They would yell out \u201dHi Billy,\u00a0 Hi Billy\u201d and would wave at me.\u00a0 I would jump in the air or at least try to, but I am too old to get very far off the ground.\u00a0 But I was just trying to show them how happy I was to be liked.\u00a0 One couple stopped every morning and brought me fresh rye bread\u2014my favorite.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been wandering all over for many years.\u00a0 I\u2019m an old man now, my teeth mostly gone, my beard white.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t had a lot of luv in my life and have been kicked around more than I can remember.\u00a0 But not in Brookfield.<\/p>\n
Winter is about over and soon I\u2019ll be hoofin\u2019 on.\u00a0 I get itchy feet in the Spring.\u00a0 That\u2019s the way I\u2019ve always been.\u00a0 But before I go I want to thank all the kind people for making Brookfield a different place.<\/p>\n
You took me under your arms and took darn good care of me.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget all the good and loving people here about.\u00a0\u00a0 In many ways I never thought possible I\u2019m a new old man.\u00a0 I\u2019m heavier in weight but lighter and brighter in my heart.\u00a0 I\u2019m really somebody now, thanks to you all.\u00a0 When I think of Brookfield in my travels I\u2019ll think of two words\u2014love and kindness.\u00a0 Thanks, Your old friend Billy.<\/p>\n
Hobie Morris is a Brookfield resident and simple country man.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Musings of a Simple Country Man By Hobie Morris (Brookfield, NY – April 2014) A few days ago Billy asked me to convey his thanks to many Brookfielders.\u00a0 Billy can\u2019t read or write. I has tried to retain some of Billy\u2019s often colorful language by occasionally using phonetic spelling of his words. I taint much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}