A brief note on places and the nature of being · 02/19/2006 11:48 AM
This site’s inaugural tagline, “Everybody’s gotta be somewhere, man,” is posted in memory of Clarence “Piggy” Reed. I suppose he might not be dead yet, but it’s a pretty safe bet that he is. If anyone has information to the contrary, please let me know. Last I heard, Piggy was doing time in the Kansas State Penitentiary at Lansing. That was in 1982. I meant to visit him there but never got around to it.
My path wound alongside Piggy’s for the better part of a year beginning in the Fall of 1974 when he came to work as a track laborer on Santa Fe Extra Gang 64. He’d already done time in Lansing and was fairly hardened, but Piggy didn’t strike me as dangerous—except perhaps when he undertook to swing a spike maul while stoned. That didn’t happen very often. Although Piggy got high at every opportunity, he usually managed to avoid handling tools whose use required sustained exertion.
As far as my experience went, Piggy generally maintained a laid back disposition. There was a memorable exception. One morning he showed up in the yards late and visibly shaken. When I asked what troubled his mind, Piggy recounted a long night of running and hiding from police who just missed busting him (or worse) during an attempted robbery. I said something like “Shit, Piggy, you’re gonna get your ass thrown back into prison.” Without looking up from the tie we were cross tamping, Piggy replied, “Everybody’s gotta be somewhere, man.” We passed long days on the tracks exchanging endless volleys of inane bullshit. I knew this wasn’t that. It was nothing less than Piggy’s stone-cold Truth, and I froze for a moment as it sunk in. After over 30 years, it still comes to mind on fitting occasions.
This is Some Dark Holler. Everybody’s gotta be somewhere.
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Comments
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What kind of drivel is this?
— Bat Noire Feb 19, 08:02 PM #
Mmmm. Good drivel.
Everyone must explain their tagline.
— Reid Feb 19, 08:16 PM #
Excellent, in fact.
— Tab Hunter Feb 19, 10:22 PM #
I’m confused.
— Bat Noire Feb 23, 09:07 PM #
Me, too. I came here looking for Grateful Dead MP3’s, and all I got was Piggy drivel.
— Lem Motlow Feb 23, 11:57 PM #
Geez, this site is starting to resemble a certain Dead Donkey in the middle of the web. You’ve got a public out there banging their forks on the table screaming “feed me!!”
Fun, huh?
“It’s not dark yet, but it’s gettin’ there…”
— Tab Hunter Mar 19, 05:15 PM #