Father's Day Memory - The Typewriter

When I was young,
maybe eight or nine,
I watched my dad
type his sermons and, man,
could he type fast. He pushed
that old Underwood desk
model to its mechanical limits --
there is a point at which
any particular letter key must
strike the page and then
retreat so the next letter key
may then enter the same space.
The timing of that is an art.
And the rat-a-tat of typing
has a rhythm to it like music.
He wasn’t 100% accurate
but it was always readable.
I’m guessing he was
pleased I was watching
him type and that he probably
stepped up the pace a bit
to show off for me.
As a result,
I learned to type
at an early age
and by the time I
took a junior high
typing class, I was
the best in the class.
I think he still used
that Underwood desk model
after new generation
electric typewriters
were available.
Several years ago
I decided to collect
typewriters as a hobby.
There seemed to be
plenty of them still
around and the two
I found at a garage sale
didn’t cost much
more than ten or
fifteen bucks.
One is a Royal and
one is a Smith-Corona.
They are both in
cases which fit so
nicely tight around them
when the carriage
is centered just right,
and both still work.
They were made
in the 1950s I think,
one possibly the 1940s.
I realized early on
after purchasing those two
that would be the extent of
my collection. Although
they are considered
“portable,” they are bulky
and would soon take up
far more space than
I could reliably spare
should my collection expand.
And besides, I likely
would not be able to afford
the more interesting ones.
The two I have
are very cool, though,
and allow one to
type even when the
power is down like it
was for several hours
Friday night.
I might have gotten one
out of my garage
and typed on it, but
my laptop computer
has a battery, and the ribbons
are likely not still good.
The mechanics of
typewriters are intricate
and reliable.
It’s interesting that we
still say we are typing
when we “process” words
on a computer.