The Ambler

Durward Winze was an ambler. Not only did he amble when he walked along the byways of his country village, he ambled through life. Being such, he was one of those fellows who took life as it came. Not much ambition that Durward, but somehow he got along. It's not that he wasn't smart; took one of those IQ tests and scored over 140. No, he was smart enough, he just didn't have any goals in life.


Durward was a reader of books. He accumulated tons of books for his own library, mostly from secondhand shops and library sales. The city library was a weekly stop for him. and it was usual for him to bring home 4 or five books to read. And read them he did, returning them faithfully each Saturday morning and returning home with an armload of new tomes. To say that Durward lived vicariously would be a gross understatement.


One day while having a conversation with an old family friend, Doctor Lambed Kroner, Durward admitted that from time to time he regretted not having set any real goals in his life. Mediocrity satisfied him most of the time but every now and then, usually when observing friends more driven than himself,or when reading biographies of men like Michelangelo or Leonardo de Vinci he would ask himself how much better his life would have been if he had set some goals in life and then worked to see them through to the end.

In the early Fall of his life, Durward suffered a nonfatal heart attack which caused him to go on disability. A truck driver/laborer his whole life, he was now, effectively, grounded.
What to do? What to do?

Throughout his adult life, from time to time he would listen to people tell him he should've been a teacher of English or literature. "Perhaps," he thought, "this heart attack is a blessing in disguise." He enrolled in college. Probably for the first time in his life he had a goal to work toward; becoming a writer/teacher of literature.

His wit and intellect endeared him to his much younger classmates and professors as well. Exceeding even his own expectations, he was soon on his way to a magna cum-laude.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As one enters the special room in the library dedicated to Durward Winze, two things catch the visitor's eye: Durward's silver topped walking stick propped against the wall just inside the doorway, and a sign on the door which reads,; Come in and set a spell, amble amongst the books here-in and find your Goals. D. W.

Durward Winze died of a massive coronary, nestled in the bosom of academia, his junior year at University.

For more Magpie tales go here