I should give a brief introduction to this story for the younger Baileys. G.W. and Saphrona Bailey were the first of our lineage to come to Carleton, Nebraska. Most of their children had remarkable, incredible eyes. They were so very pale blue that they were stunning. They were pale blue like ice. They would sometimes seem to flash across the room in a moment of humor. I don't know of any of the Bailey relatives now alive who have blue eyes so pale and icy as that generation. My brother, Neil, has very pale blue eyes, but still slightly darker. If you ever see a good close up of Paul Newman in the movies, look at his eyes. These are Bailey eyes.
Second, the males of this generation had a sense of humor that took some getting used to. It's hard to explain, but this story captures one instance of it. Basically, it involves producing a situation that is funny, but in which you are not allowed to laugh. The laughter is revealed only in a twinkle or sparkle of the pale blue eyes. The external enjoyment of the situation is saved for a later day when the story is retold. And of course, the humor was always at somebody else's expense, not theirs. Those old enough to remember them will remember that quirky sense of humor, I'm sure.
Ok, now on with the story.
In the summer, around 1959 or 1960, my grandfather, Floyd, and I had spent a rainy morning in the coffee shop in Carleton. As we finished with our coffee and conversation with everyone in the cafe, the rain stopped. Then Floyd said, "Lets get the mail before we go home."
When we stepped out of the post office onto the wet sidewalk Floyd looked down the street and was reminded of rainy mornings some years earlier. He put his hand on my shoulder and began, "You know, one day when Sam (Swenson) was about five- or six-years old (about 1951), I was rained out from working in the field, and after I fed the cattle I went downtown for coffee. After the coffee break it had stopped raining, just like today, but it was still too wet to work so I walked down to Swede's Garage.
"Now somebody gave Sam an old stuffed owl and Sam really liked it. Sam thought it was an eagle. He wanted to keep his owl or eagle in the house but Isabel and Swede (Sam's parents) wouldn't allow it, so Swede put it on some planks above the rafters in his shop.
"I talked to Isabel for a while and then I went out to the shop, sat on a box and chatted with a couple of other fellows who were also rained out. Pretty soon, here came Sam. I said, "Sam, I was down by the post office today and I saw your eagle."
Sam raised his eyebrows in horror, imagining the eagle flying free, without his protection. He wanted to know where I saw it, so I said, "It was flying over the school and circling over the drug store and post office."
"This started working on Sam's mind and worrying him, and pretty soon he started pestering Swede to check on his eagle. Swede was working. This was his busy, busy season. Machinery and tractors were jammed in around the shop and even out on the street waiting to be fixed. Farmers were anxious. Swede didn't want to be bothered with Sam's eagle. So he just kept telling Sam his eagle was up in the rafters and to forget about it and go play outdoors somewhere.
"But Sam couldn't see the eagle up there and it kept working on his mind, the worry growing worse and worse as time went on. Sam kept whining to Swede that I had had seen it flying around and begging Swede to check on it. So finally Swede sighed, shook his head, put down his tools, got a ladder, and climbed up into the rafters. He got the eagle and held it out for Sam to see."
When Floyd told me this, his icy blue eyes flashed sparks of joy and delight, he was so very pleased with himself for having created a situation where the busy and overworked Swede had to stop what he was doing, and climb up into the rafters to show Sam the eagle. To Floyd, the joke was not on Sam, but on Swede. But Floyd couldn't laugh in front of Swede, while he was up in the rafters, for fear of making Swede really angry. This was dangerous stuff. He had to keep a dead serious expression.
Floyd continued, "Now a few weeks later I was rained out again. So after my coffee downtown, I got the mail and walked down to Swede's, just the same as before. Sam was there, so I told him I saw his eagle again. And Sam started worrying again, and the worrying just got worse and worse, and he pestered Swede something awful to climb up in the rafters and check on the eagle again. After about twenty minutes of torment from Sam, Swede had to put his tools down and get the ladder, and climb up to the rafters, and show Sam the eagle one more time.
Then Floyd said, "At about the end of the summer, just before school started, I was rained out one more time. So after my coffee downtown, I got the mail and walked down to Swede's shop. Swede was really busy. He hadn't had a day off in a long time. And just as I walked through the door and Swede said,
"FLOYD! GOD DAMN IT! I DON'T WANT YOU TELLING SAM YOU SAW THAT GOD-DAMNED EAGLE TODAY. YOU HEAR ME?"
Floyd had been looking off toward Swede's shop while he was telling the story. But as he finished, he turned, and I saw his pale blue eyes erupt in a whole fountain of laughter sparks.