EPISODE 629 GRANDSON JACK SKEOCH TO GRANDPA ALAN SKEOCHalan skeochAug. 19. 2022
“Grandpa,. all our unit bought hats to hide our heads.”“Why?”Jack’s answer makes me ashamed to be a Canadian… but atthe same time proud of my grandson, Jack Skeoch. These are bad timesfor us all, but particularly bad for young people of principle.
Today, Jack and I spent the whole day clearing the barn. We talked a lot,Not preachy kind of talk just grandpa to grandson. Just an old mantalking to a young Canadian soldier, Princess Patricia Light Infantry (PPLI) who had just passed basic training.
Now Private Jack Skeoch. Pleased with himself…. for Basic Training is no joke.
“We get yelled at a lot…and
push ups are demanded for tiny tiny infractions. Our unit surprised the sergeants because we are remarkably
physically fit. Watch this….”
Jack dropped flat to the ground and did rapid fire push ups as if they were handshakes.He is tough.
And that is where the hats enter the picture.
“Why did your army unit…your new friends…buy those nondescript baseball hats, Jack?”
“The hats hide our short haircuts.”
“Why hide the haircuts?”
“Because our short hair…shorn like sheep…our short hair identifies us as Canadian soldiers…new soldiers.”
“So what?”
“So when we get week end leave we like to have a beer or two in Edmonton pubs…not a lot Granddad…sometimes we
get into trouble. A lot of the local guys in Edmonton like to pick fights with us.”
“Must be a reason?”
“No reason Grandpa…makes no sense at all but it happens. So we all went out and bought
the baseball hats to disguise ourselves.”
“Maybe the locals are jealous. It takes guts to join the Canadian army….and not everyone is accepted.”
“Some make comments…try to egg us on.”
“Do fights happen?”
“Not yet. Anyway we are not allowed to fight back. The sergeants made that clear. If we get
into a fight we could be sent home…booted out of the army,”
“I guess there is a point. We do not want Canadian soldiers running around
looking for fights. We expect better of them than that. Does that sound right, Jack?”
“Seems so.”
Jack just came home this week. Three weeks of leave after passing basic training. He went away
as a 19 year old kid unsure of what life path he would take. A lot of kids face that today. They
dom’t have clear steps in life’s journey. Voltaire’s Candide….young French kid who ventured into
the world around him and concluded “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what then of the others.”
When I was Jack’s age I had no idea what I would
do with my life. Just rolled along. Went to Victoria College at the U. of T. for no firm reason.
Best reason I could think of was it might be a good place to find a wife. But that thought was suppressed
at first. Went with my best friend Russ Vanstone who was just as lost as I was back then. Nicest ting about first year university was our college football
team. Just like Jack’s army unit. New and firm friends. I skipped a lo of lectures and drank a lot of beer.
“Jack, what do your high school chums think of you joining the Canadian Army?”
“Most do not know….I never say.”
“Why not?”
“Most would not understand. Being a Canadian soldier is the last thing on their minds I think.”
“But they must know?”
“Nope, they don’t. We do not wear our uniforms…no one back here suspects I am a soldier. And I
like to keep it that way.”
“You had a goo job before enlisting…making good money…gave that up. Must have been hard to do that?”
“Not really. I wanted to do something myself…find a purpose in life. you might say.”
“What do your mom and dad think?”
“They agree…they don’t go around boasting but I think they are impressed
that I made the decision. Dad welcomed me into his business. But he did not interfere.
You know that because you and Grandma came with them to my graduation along with my sister Molly.
Some of the guys did not have tha kind of support.”
So Jack and I Spent the whole day making the barn presentable. I have a small rental busiess . Historic objects
used in the motion picture industry. Piles of things that movie set people rent. A lot of the things cannot
be seen due to the clutter so Jack and I sorted the good from the bad. Then hauled the bad to the dump. It was good fun.
Some things we found were just plain junk but Jack never said that. He respected my collection.
“What’s that, Grandpa?
“Tree climbing harness …hang tools from it and a chain saw…Heavy”
“And you don’t want it?”
“No movie request…horse harness is more popular.”
“Can I have it then?”
“Sure…but dangerous.”
Jack and Molly Skeoch, long ago, admiring my collection of ancient machines….fanning mills.
“Jack, some people are horrified at this stuff. Fine by me. They will never be competition. There is
a secret few people understand in this business. To make a period movie believable then things worn. bent or busted
by the human hand are necessary. Especially for rural sciences. A broken plow leating against a rusty 45
gallon drum with a broken pump inserted makes a good background scene. A teeter totter with peeling paint for a playground..
A bashed up hawker’s cart for a market scene.
. Jack did not object to these gems.. We debated the fate of a wooden four drawer filing cabinet…1920;s kind….then
cast it in the junk pile which made room for an 1890 grain cleaning machine which looks prettier. A set of spike tooth harrows on wood
mounts was also hauled to the dump. Just too dangerous to lay hidden in the weeds like a bear trap.
I learned more about him. He is a goodperson making his way on his own like hundreds…thousands…of high
school students cast adrift by the Covid pandemic. He made me feel good about our
collection….never used the word junk.regarded artefacts from the distant past as treasures.
.
Strange thing about the day. Ordinary day really but I think it will be fondly remembered forever.
I am thinking about Jack’s decision to wear a hat. Such a simple thing but full of meaning…a lesson in life.
alan