The winsomeness of passion

5. LThe Winsomeness of Passion

One of the things I enjoy most as the varied tide of humanity streams through my life, is the particular colour, people who are passionate about something, bring.  It might be gardening, or golf, or good grief, it might be football!

Let me share with you a gentleman of my acquaintance who has enriched my life with the expression of his particular fixation.  The name has been changed to protect the innocent.  I’ve called him Bill.

Bill is a man who calls a spade a spade. Some might say he is bombastic;  his firmly-held opinions are delivered with force and finality. But this barge-like manner is tempered by a deeply ingrained cheerfulness and goodwill.  I prefer to call his personality robust.

This rather large personality is housed in a short, rotund little physique, which has a very round face, black hair and  glasses.  When Bill smiles, it makes beguiling dimples in his rosy cheeks. Bill is rather fond of his homemade brew (another of his passions), which gives him a large tummy, or,  as my father called it, a “brewer’s goitre”. Over this are stretched cute, black braces,  the better to hold up his pants.

Bill’s passion is pigeon racing. I find myself, after the service one Sunday morning, standing next to him in the queue for morning tea.  So, there we are shuffling towards the morning tea table.  “How are your pigeons going Bill”  I ask.  Bill’s response is immediate.  (His language occasionally veers away from the straight and narrow of the ladies-coffee-morning standard, and sets foot in the boys-at-the-pub-on-a-Saturday-arvo level) “Well bugger me if I didn’t loose one to a hawk yesterdee”.  This is delivered at full forte volume and those around blink and turn their heads, as they are also bombarded with this disappointing news.  “No sooner out of the box, she was, and a blanky hawk came from no-where and got ‘er”.  “What a shame”  says I, all concern and nodding sympathy.  With a little more gentle inquiry from me, his voice takes on a more instructional  tone.  He shifts his weight on to both his feet, spacing them slightly apart as he does so. His hands come out of his pockets and he folds them across his body, head slightly dropped, he becomes the tutor, the teacher, the expert caught up in a subject he loves. “You’ve got you’re racing stock,  then you’ve got your breeding cocks and broody hens.  Then I’ve got a few youngsters still getting used to flying with the mob”  (shouldn’t that be ‘flock’, but I didn’t say it!). His little black eyes, inscribed with intensity, bore into mine  as he launches into the finer points on housing, diet, breeding and of course, racing.  I am as much transfixed by his passion for it, as I am by the actual facts.

After a while, I asked him how many birds he had, thinking of perhaps a dozen or so at the most. 

“I’ve got about 500 at the moment”, he says.

 I was astounded.  “Good grief, that many!”

 “But where do you put them all?” I asked with a touch of amazement.  He lives on a corner block in town, and I couldn’t see how his back yard would be much bigger than a cricket pitch.

“Well, I’ve got double tiers of cages.....”  

His unique sense of humour also displays this bombastic quality.  Bill is never content with a little twitter or a giggle.  Not for him the polite, gentle chuckle. When he finds something funny, and he frequently does, he twinkles up at me over his glasses, his face splits into an endearing grin (he also has a dieresis) , then he applies himself to a sonorous, booming belly laugh, during which his tummy shakes gently.  

He has a round, man-in-the moon sort of face;  it's honest and ingenuous. His eyes twinkled with pleasure as he told me about his birds, but this is nothing compared to when he talks about his home brew!  He can give you the low down on the best brands for different flavour or keeping quality.  His knowledge  about ingredients, bottling techniques, storage time, is extensive.  He can tell you which brand most tastes like Victoria Bitter…. And that’s something I was dying to know.   His laundry is full of the paraphernalia of home brewing, and he loves it.  Once, at a Parish Council meeting, we were discussing the family camp and Anne was giving a run down on the facilities of the venue.  Bill asks, with just a hint of anxiety, “What are the refrigeration facilities like Anne?”  “Oh, quite adequate”  she replies breezily.  “Oh good” says Bill, relieved, “because…  you know” (his voice takes on quite a wistful quality) “I was thinking about how I’d get the home brew chilled”. 

But you know, for all his rampaging, bombastic personality, I cannot find it in my heart to censor him.  He is an unfailingly honest man in every way.  No pretense;  no shuttered secrets or veiled malice. There is nothing snide or sneaky about Bill. What you see is what he is.  And goodness knows, the world needs more of that. 

In conclusion then, what a joy it is for me to run across these people.  Could I encourage you to keep an eye out for them too.  Look with fresh eyes on the people of your circle.  You might just find an enriching and delightful example of all the complex, eccentric, wonderful tapestry which is essence of the common man.

 d of all being, I give you my all;
if I should disown you, I'd stumble and fall;
but, sworn in your service your word I'll obey,
and walk in your freedom to the end of the way