Mike "Pops" Klumpp

Tanglewood is the novel that is currently in the works at Pop’s Place. Here’s a glimpse!

Tanglewood

            I am not certain this is legal. If legal, I am still uncertain if it is a good idea. I found a file box after the fire. I read the contents and decided that the only way to make sense of it was to organize what I found and combine it in a single document. So here it is.

            Let me preface with commenting on why. Why did I think these documents needed special attention? Why after combining them have I decided to share them? Why should anyone else be interested?

            First “why”. I found the box in a corner between two metal file cabinets that had somehow survived the fire. Tanglewood, with its large mansion like exterior, resembled the facade of many an old Louisiana plantation. To see it, one might have been coming up the drive to Oak Alley or the Whitney Plantation, any of the old plantations outside New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The construction was old but elegant. The wings, clinics and extensions which connected to the main building by porticos, walkways and breezeways were also well-aged but well kept. However, once the fire raged, the brick crumbled, the wood became ash and little was left standing but the occasional scorched broken brick of an office wall, metal examination tables, and a few metal cabinets. Oh, and of course, the front office large metal safe. But it was empty. Yet, somehow, between two metal file cabinets black with soot  an untouched cardboard file box had survived. Surrounded by burned remains, this box of notebooks, files, journal entries stood out, still white or smokey yellow but undamaged like a special gift a remembrance or a Mardi Gras ball masque favor – an angel’s hand with a note begging to be read. Their survival amidst such immense and complete destruction demanded attention. Poetically and practically, the prudence of a second look was obvious. Why had this box been spared?

            The second question. Why share the contents? The contents alone bear the argument. Read them and decide for yourself.

            The third question is actually a sub-set of the second. Once the contents are brought to light, the questions may or may not answer themselves. There is no certain answer to how anyone should interpret these documents. Maybe no one “should” be interested. Perhaps, in fact, nothing matters and therefore these documents don’t matter. However, if one wonders about the nature of this life, its purpose, its substance, its essence or even if it is (perhaps Descartes is somehow mistaken), well then these documents may offer worthwhile reflection. They were after all in a box labeled in quotes Doctor Meades “secret” documents. I assumed at first the “secret” was intended as satire though I am not sure why I thought so.. Then again, maybe it was not sarcasm. I would have to read in order to know. So I did. I am compelled to share what I found. 

So that is the opening of a novel which has first notes dating back to 1975. My deadline for completion is December 25th, 2025. Keep an eye on the blog for other info and excerpts.

Thanks for the read – Pops