Fred takes time off from his tree service to scrounge up parts, research old service manuals, and reflect on the merits of painting his project bike anything other than basic black. He goes to the fabled Sturgis motorcycle rally a couple of times; in a pickup truck at the beginning of the book, on his fresh Millenium Flyer at the end. While he's at it, he & his wife have a baby girl (relatively) late in life, and get to raise a second family, about the same time as his cycletramp mentor/groundman goes thru his own midlife crisis.
As a former college writing professor who put himself through school by doing tree work, this arborist tells the very real story of selling a novel and taking another look at his conflicted life. In this first-person tale of a complicated treeman who does indeed have a life, I found a lot of parallels with my own life as well. We share a past with similarities of drug use, a stint on a Sportster, a 2-decade estrangement from my own son (complete with jubilant reconciliation) and the requisite tree work & attendant euc personalities involved.
I also wonder how to make it thru the winter doldrums, but the northern climate puts several months of life next to the woodstove into the real hardship category. A mental state of stagnation/hibernation must be met with some real fortitude to bounce back successfully in the spring. But, what joy the springtime brings! The book brings heart to the self doubt of the entrepreneur.
The book deals with the trials & tribulations of dealing with bidding & sales of (sometimes scarce) tree work. Equally penetrating is the bounty following unexpectedly nasty weather. The stories of tricky storm damage removals and working with a crew that is not always ready for prime time raised hairs on the back of my neck. This is the first literary work that addresses the daily life routines of the commercial arborist through the full cycle of all 4 seasons of the year.
While I found the technical details of the actual mechanics of the motorcycle rebuild fascinating, this story really could have been about doing anything else. Devotion to the biker lifestyle is a compelling addiction, but Fred excels at the writing craft, and makes his subject real. The friends met & made in the garages, bike swap meets, coffee shops, & yes, bars, form the basis of a true subculture that we are shown the inner workings of by a very gracious host.
Thanks, Fred, for sharing the sometimes intimate joys and powerful lows of the life of the common man. It's about time that arborists join the ranks of respectable individuals depicted as dignified working citizens. I'll be on the lookout for an upcoming technical book on arboriculture. For an online sample of his work, check out an article on recreational tree climbing in Outside magazine.
"Rebuilding the Indian, A Memoir", copyright 1998 by Fred Haefele. Riverhead Books, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc.
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