Old Tim had collected wheel spokes for years and now he was ready to create his sculpture.

Tim was not or rather had never been a sculptor but once when he was a kid, he saw this buggy which had the spokes broken out and he picked up a spoke and looked at the smooth hickory wood and marveled at the grain, so he saved it.

Well, that was back in 26 it was, welll ........... no maybe it was 27 , now let me see, Dharla was born in 23 then Sarah Louise, yeah it was 26, Tim saved that first spoke back in 26.

And from that day forward he would save every spoke he could find, and well then he became a lawyer and so he could afford to buy them, yes he would buy wheels, buggies and even whole wagons and then have the spokes taken out of the wheels.

"Tim you silly man what are you saving all those spokes for? They are not going to become a rarity and worth lots of money, and they won't see us through our retirement, Tim why?" Lousey, Tim's wife asked him.

Tim just grinned at his wife, "Lousey, you save string, you save old clothes and all sorts of stuff, and I save old spokes. Some day I am going to make me a spoke sculpture, when I get enough and I get time, going to make me a big sculpture." And so it went, for Lousey never said much again.

He had this big old tobacco barn on his farm on the north side of the place there just east of town where he put all the spokes. It was one of those great big barns and the barn and the roof were that barn red you used to see all over the country; but it was about a half mile from the house on the other side of the hill toward the big pasture.

Well when the cars came out, Tim started just saving them old wooden spokes from car wheels, and matter of fact once Silas Purtnigh over in the springs sent Tim four train wheels, sent them to him collect with a note, "Here are some more spokes," cost Tim nigh on to four hundred dollars for the freight they did, yes they did. And Tim had those wheels polished and they set in front of the baccy barn.

Then the first bicycles started coming round, those old big one wheelers, with that little wheel, what is it they called them , what was it, dad burn I fergit.

Now Tim started to save spokes in 26 but Silas Purtnigh didn't send those railroad wheels till the latter part of 48, yeah it was 48 fer Silas knew that old tom Dewey was going to whip up on old Missouri bantam Harry, yes he was and Silas was a backing Dewey and Tim was backing Cap'n Harry. Tim then he just started to save bicycle wheels and motorcycle wheels, and every junk man in the county, well not in his county, Marion county but for counties all around knew that Tim would buy spokes, wheels and anything that had wheels with spokes, on it.

So by the time Tim retired in 1976 I think it was, he had that baccy barn plum full of spokes and the other thing was he had about twelve acres of wagons, buggies, old cars and such stuff solid on those twelve acres.

His wife Lousey, threatened to leave Tim if he didn't keep it all cleaned up, so Tim hired Josh Woodkiln as the caretaker. Now Josh was a retired old race driver, and so he and Theda his wife, they would tinker, and mow and then Josh started rearranging those things and then he made a list of what they all were and what they had come from and who they were bought from.

Well it wasn't long till Josh and his wife had two full time helpers, and Theda got her a computer and started to inventory all those wheels, spokes and vehicles.

Well, Tim got sick, really sick with the lumbago and so he and his wife went south for a year to Arizonny, to where it was dry

While he was gone Josh and Theda started to do a little wheeling and dealing and to build up the place, since Tim was gone, Oh yes Tim owned the local Chevy GMC and Chrysler business, long fore Daimler Benz got their hands on Chrysler and was the Federal Circuit Judge for the circuit of two and a half, but the two and a half circuit had more problems than most, but that is another story.

Now one day Thettis Ballwart though the would get old Tim rattled and maybe make himself some money, "Judge Tim don't you know about and aren't you scared of the Spoke termites, wow didn't you know that they were what caused Eddy Rickenbacker's Hat in The Ring race car to crash at Indy?

Tim said, "Nah he didn't know, and he send Thettis out to see Theda and then Josh; well Theda had already read up on all these spokes and she and Josh had determined that all the wood was treated with Anglitermitwatisitis and that made them durn nigh impervious to termites, but the big problems was with the rusting of non anodized Polyutriwhupized spokes.

But that again is another story, anyway Tim sicked Thettis on Theda and Theda done bankrupted poor Thettis.

Anyhow when Tim got down to Arizonny immediately the weather makes him feel so much better, he bought him an old ranch and he sets out to buying more spokes. Well he loves the weather and the dry climate so he has a ball traveling around looking for old whatevers with spokes, that is until one day he gets run over by a durn coyote chasing a spinlely legged road runner and he is then deceased. It seems Tim was in this draw where he had found an old freight wagon and he was down pulling a wheel off of the wagon when this road runner comes flying down the gully and jumps over Tim, but the Coyote was so busy chasing his nose hit Tim in the side and crushed it. And they bound Tim's body with that Coyote laying there with his nose driven back into his pea brain. Heck just like the Cartoons except this time Wily C. Coyote didn't have anything from Acme to help him.

Well, when Tim's will is read, he left the farm and all the spokes including he ones in Arizonny to Josh and Theda, and Tim's wife stayed in Arizonny. She just sells all the businesses and buys her a condo in Arizonny.

Well, Josh done had a big neon sign put up on top of the barn and then he charged a dollar a visit. So he made a statute of Tim out of the spokes and wheels, and if you ever get out to Spokes Kansas, just take Spokes lane out and see the Tim Spokes museum. (Written on an IM after having been given the first sentence.)