Levi Peterson

I was born at the close of WWII and grew up in a Norman Rockwell small town. In this pre-air conditioner world, summer evenings were spent on front porches visiting with family and friends, escaping the pent up daytime heat of the house. After I was tucked into my bed in the room I shared with my younger brother, I would lay with my head next to the window, trying to catch any stray breeze I could. One of my earliest memories was dozing off to the neighborhood sound of muffled conversation, radio baseball and soft distance harmonica music.
The harmonica was played by Levi Peterson, who lived two doors to the south. Levi was old, well into his eighties, with his wife long gone, when I first knew him in 1950, and over a hundred when he died. My world was small then, I wasn’t allowed to cross streets at that point in my life. Levi lived near the end of my world, which was bounded to the south by the end of the sidewalk.
During the week Levi wore straw hats, chambray work shirts and denium overalls left over from a long life of farming. Obviously he had grown smaller with age. His clothes were loose and baggy. After a long life of hard work his sun dried soul was wrapped in yards of faded blue cotton. All that was left was his essence. Levi was one of my first adult friends and I thought he was the most wonderful musician in the world. We would sit on the glider on his front porch, sipping strawberry floats while we talked business, and he would play his Hohner Marine Band. He played old songs, simple tunes tunes that were easy to remember. When he learned to play, some of the songs were new - new tunes that he played for pretty young girls. I still have Sweet Betsy From Pike and Darling Clementine etched deep in my brain where the emotions and memories are stored.
Levi was the first person in our town to have a television. He was really not particularly interested in the programming, but in the people who would drop in in the evenings to sit huddled in the dark room with their eyes glued to the miracle in the corner. I don’t think Levi ever watched. He was too busy in the kitchen making popcorn, coffee and snacks, just enjoying his house being full of the energy of young people. He was a good friend for a kid to have.