THE book, “The Popular Science Illustrated Almanac for Home Owners” (1972), has been with me since I was in college. I bought it because not only is the book informative, it connects me to the past, makes me continue to the future, and teaches me to almanac my life.
It is sepia with age and has the fragrance of a clean, old book that has been protected from rain and waiting to be of use again. It has traveled with me to wherever I have moved house over the years. Then September came, and thoughts of my brother Flaviano Jr. reminded me that I have this book that I am sure he would have loved to own.
Published annually, an almanac is a compilation containing important dates, general information, pastime, statistics and even tips on how to prune trees. As I leafed through the book, I felt the collection would have tickled pink Flaviano, or Junior as we called him, though there was nothing junior or fickle or weak about him. He saved and fixed broken things at home, and created replacement parts that would astound you. Maybe it is the prosaic way of saying my brother loved the broken and downtrodden, and gave them a new lease on life.
Sept. 3 on page 203 of the almanac has a note on sitting “out in your yard”—or porch or doorway if you live in cramped spaces. It says: “At this time of the year and keep tab on the movements of butterflies.” Maybe in the process you will see trees of green, red roses too; you’ll see them bloom and think to yourself what a wonderful world (from “What a Wonderful World” popularized by trumpeteer Louis Armstrong). For Junior, he chose life without complications or attention, and from conversations with him, it was a wonderful world for him.
Sept. 24 is concerned about how to check for termites. They silently undermine houses and destroy the best intentions of home owners. Though my brother never really got to deal with termites, he did build a strong foundation for his 13 children and over 30 grand and great grand children. The heart is one place out of reach to pesky relationship termintes.
“Repair a basement leak” is the entry for Sept. 26, my brother’s birthday. Fight leaks with hydraulic cement. It says: “As it cures, it expands.” Though Junior will not see another birthday (he passed away on Aug. 5), he left his curing mark on his children. As the clan expands, his signature will always be there, and it’s going to be a wonderful world.