Chapter 7: After a successful initial run, the Forks return home, Mr. Wellstone’s application is approved and he joins the gang for a long push through the Western States. 

Now, as we have yet to describe Professor T. to any satisfying detail, please indulge this brief meta moment as we more properly introduce this slightly enigmatic character. Mork J. (Jehosiphat) Thompson was born in a Kansas small town, a little over 20 miles due South of Junction City, training ground for the U.S. Army’s oldest active-duty infantry division, “The Big Red One”. Council Grove was named after an agreement between American settlers and the native Osage Nation allowing settlers’ wagon trains to pass westward through the area on the Santa Fe Trail. Pioneers from the established Eastern states gathered at a grove of trees so that wagons could band together for their trip west. Council Grove’s first post office was established in 1855, several decades ahead of the remaining soon to be established Western townships. 

Many a cross-country sojourner East and West can testify, and joke about the flat, treeless landscape that characterizes the western two thirds of the Sunflower State. But Council Grove is nestled in the fabled “Flint Hills”, some of the more interesting topography in a mostly flat landscape where natives jokingly claim the state tree is the telephone pole. Due to its rocky soil, the early settlers were unable to plow the area, resulting in the prevalence of cattle ranches as opposed to the crop land more typical of the Great Plains. 

And like his Flint Hills birthplace, Mork J.Thompson is a flinty soul. Almost preternaturally averse to conformist sentiments, Mork Thompson will go out of his way to defy popular trends. Short in stature, stout in constitution and bodily girth, he exudes a stern, almost severe, yet melancholy countenance. His olive skin browns fast and easy in the warmer months, rendering him fairly dark in the summer and walnut olive in the colder months. An avid reader, this habit serves well in the profession that claimed him after the “Great Recession (2007-09)” cratered the Internet enterprise he went to work for after the Forks gave up the ghostly rock star dream. Although accidentally landing in the halls of higher-ed, he adapted, and his voracious reading habits served him well contributing to the larger discipline through multiple published research papers and essays, as well as his unique brand of mentorship provided to the student population.

With this latest funding grant and burning question, he was able to reassemble his favorite team for a year long expedition exploring public sentiments on politics and culture in the United States of America. Where the data leads is still a big mystery, but The Forks have the means of nimble travel, and subsistence through the generous research grant. Professor Thompson is confident the eventual publications will shed illumination on the origin of the nation’s “fibrillating heart”. If voters and policy makers can use the results to make positive changes for the sake of the nation’s health… success!

And so, we pick up where The Forks left off, conspiring to add a fourth teammate in the person of Buck Wellstone. They say timing is everything, and with Mr. Wellstone, he was between gigs. Recently earning his undergrad degree and ready to continue in higher-ed, at least for a Master’s Degree as his undergrad advisor told him the master’s degree was statistically the best choice for “return on investment” potential. Lifetime income stats showed a rather large gap between those with a high school diploma and those with a master’s degree. His serendipitous encounter with the Forks and their research mission looked to be a perfect opportunity for facilitating his transition. 

In the short time he had known The Forks he had grown quite fond and attached.

Professor T. impressed him as honest, true and genuinely committed to the American experiment. For some reason, Jack Dean was reserving his normally suspicious tendencies after watching Mr. Wellstone effortlessly defuse the potentially volatile situation in Fort Collins, and his unhurried Southern Gentleman countenance. But, if Mr. Wellstone was truly honest, he would tell you it was Billie that attracted him to the Forks most earnestly.

Billie notwithstanding, he saw Professor T. as brilliant, if innocent, a slightly vulnerable soul in need of a loyal aid de camp. Mr. Wellstone understood and believed in the mission depending on this tight-knit team and the Chool Bus on which they rode. When he saw that Professor T. failed to see danger brewing in Fort Collins, he intervened to the satisfaction of all involved, the suspicious locals went back to drowning their sorrows, and Professor T. retired his rather conspicuous recording rig. “Wow, that could have gone sideways in a hurry,” Jack had mused as Professor T. dismantled the recording rig. 

“Ah, ‘twern’t nuthin’. That feller weren’t no Curly Wolf,” Buck drawled with his thickest cowboy affect. This, he did every once in while, never failing to produce a grin on Billie’s secretly admiring countenance. Later that evening, Professor T. received clearance to process Mr. Wellstone’s application. Just a couple more hurdles to clear. Mr. Wellstone would sit for an interview with a department search committee, and his references would be contacted. The processed would be completed in a couple weeks, then The Forks +1 would resume the Westward push, first stop, Salt Lake City.

NEXT WEEK:
The Forks prepare for a long swing through the western states. Professor T. ponders a vivid dream and Abigail Weiser takes advantage of his unsuspecting nature. 

GO BACK => (Preface & Chapter links)