{"id":19500,"date":"2021-12-21T10:26:48","date_gmt":"2021-12-21T15:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19500"},"modified":"2021-12-21T10:29:37","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T15:29:37","slug":"fwd-episode-22-april-20-2020-arnold-red-skeoch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19500","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: EPISODE 22 APRIL 20, 2020 ARNOLD RED SKEOCH"},"content":{"rendered":"
NOTE: THIS EPISODE is a repeat of Episode 22,  written back on April 20, 2020.  Just when my episode project<\/p>\n
began and when I expected the pandemic to end.  The reason I am sending it is that Marvi Ricker sent us an<\/div>\n
ecard which featured an idyllic sleigh ride.  Warm and touching.  Dad\u2026Arnold Red Skeoch\u2019s sleigh ride was <\/div>\n
different.   Even included a ride on the old De Witt TTC cars.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I am currently finishing an episode on Harvest Excursions in 1920 with lots of Dad\u2019s salty language.
<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

From: <\/b><\/span>ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Subject: <\/b><\/span>EPISODE 22 APRIL 20, 2020 ARNOLD RED SKEOCH<\/b>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Date: <\/b><\/span>April 20, 2020 at 1:22:59 PM EDT
<\/span><\/div>\n
To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
EPISODE 22<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
april 22,2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
BROKEN RIBS AND BROKEN DREAMS<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is an earlier picture of Dad about 1940\u2026looked much the<\/div>\n
same by 1945 though.  <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The  toboggan runs at High Park were a big attraction\u2026sometimes ice covered<\/div>\n
for speed.  Sleighs were not wise to be used on the  formal runs so sleighs<\/div>\n
used the hills.  I do not remember which run dad used.   One thing sure, <\/div>\n
 200 pound  man on two steel runners  could go at quite a velocity.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ARNOLD RED SKEOCH: BROKEN RIBS AND BROKEN DREAMS<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cRed, take the boys  out somewhere, they need the winter air.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re fine in the park.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cTake them sleigh riding with that neW sleigh\u2026they will love iT.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHigh Park\u2026the big toboggan run down to Grenadier Pond.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLong  way.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIt is  not\u2026catch the College Street Car\u2026goes right into High Park.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHmmmm1\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We had been presented with a sleigh at Christmas\u2026maybe new, maybe used.<\/div>\n
It was s beauty with steel runners and  wooden hand hold that could steer it.  Room<\/div>\n
for one person.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So the three of us  mounted the old  De Witt street car  then running on College<\/div>\n
Street.  Big lumbering ancient things made of wood.  They even once had wood<\/div>\n
or coal stoves mid way down to provide heat.  And they rattled a  lot when moving so<\/div>\n
the ride itself was a  great adventure for us.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Eric and I jumped off at the High Park loop and dad carried the wonderful sleigh painted<\/div>\n
red with varnished wood slashes.  It sparkled.  Dad may have even pulled the pair<\/div>\n
of us across the park to the western side where the great expanse of Grenadier pond <\/div>\n
sparkled in the sunshine.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The long hill down to the pond was  well peopled.  Lots of sleighs and toboggans<\/div>\n
zooming down the long slope and out onto the ice covered pond.  Dad said there<\/div>\n
were a bunch of dead soldiers at the bottom of the pond with their cannons.  Drowned<\/div>\n
in some war long ago when fleeing an American invasion.  Could have been bull<\/div>\n
shit but we believed him.  The story put icing on the cake. A little more danger.<\/div>\n
What if we fell through the ice?   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That never happened.   As a matter of fact we never even got a chance to go down the<\/div>\n
hill on the sleigh.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201c Stand side boys,  I will test the sleigh on the first run.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAww\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cJust to be sure it works right.\u201d<\/div>\n
(Now Dad was s big man\u2026maybe 200 to 220 pounds of mostly muscle from building big tires)<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, don\u2019t break  the sleigh.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cShut up, here I go.\u201d<\/div>\n
(And  Dad soon disappeared in the crowd of people sleighing.  There was even a slight dusting of<\/div>\n
snow falling.)<\/div>\n
\u201cDid  you see him, Eric?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAt first\u2026but not now.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhen will he get back?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSoon.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow soon.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCold up here\u2026wish Dad would get back up the hill.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCrowd down there.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere is Dad?\u201d<\/div>\n
(We waited and  waited.   Two cold little boys in high cut boots and home made breeches \u2026 made by mom who<\/div>\n
made all our winter clothing out of old coats.  We waited.  Waited.  Dad never returned)<\/div>\n
\u201cMaybe he\u2019s down with that crowd watching something.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s walk down and see.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCareful\u2026sleighs coming.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDodge.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We  found the crowd and weaselled our way to the front where we found Dad and the sleight.  Dad was<\/div>\n
wrapped around a tree.  Hurt.  The sleigh was a  shambles\u2026twisted into a piece of scrap.<\/div>\n
Some men helped Dad to his feet.  He could stand but was in pain.  As we found out later<\/div>\n
he had broken his ribs\u2026not all  of them but some of them.  He hobbled up the long hill.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat about the sleigh, Dad?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLeave the son of a bitch there.  It was no goddamned good.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cBut Dad, it\u2019s our sleigh.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDid not steer \u2026 leave it.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOur sleigh\u2026our sleigh\u2026our sleigh\u2026”we may have whimpered.<\/div>\n
Then again we did know Dad was  hurt.  Not sure which pain was  worst the smashed sleigh<\/div>\n
or knowledge that dad  was injured.   I think it was the sleigh.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Later, Dad  got some doctor to bind him up.  Great white bandaged<\/div>\n
around his upper body.  Did he stay home?  Nope.  I think he went to<\/div>\n
work that Monday as usual.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cMom, Dad  smashed our sleigh\u2026can we get another?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWait and  see.\u201d<\/div>\n
(I don\u2019t think we ever did get another sleigh until our teen age years.<\/div>\n
But that long hill down to Grenadier Pond is  graven deep in my consciousness.<\/div>\n
I suppose things  could have been worse had  Dad gone through the ice to<\/div>\n
join the British Grenadiers.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
April  20,  2020<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Postscript.   Long years later, after Dad was  gone, I was doing weekly radio stories<\/div>\n
every Friday for CBC radio noon with Christopher Thomas.<\/div>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s do a story about the Grenadier legend, Alan.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGreat, we can get the boys to dive down deep, maybe find the nose of an old cannon or wheel.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat boys?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cKevin and  Andy\u2026one  has a snorkel and the other a diving tank.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNeed permission and a boat.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo problem\u2026just do not overdo the diving angle.:\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
This turned out to be a bad idea in one way but a good radio story.  Kevin and Andy loved it.<\/div>\n
Christopher Thomas got all the CBC recording gear in the boat and away we paddled.<\/div>\n
It was  a Beautiful sunny morning.  Not many people around.  Easy to imagine what<\/div>\n
might found beneath the mirky waters.  The boys dove.<\/div>\n
Kevin surfaced first because he only had a  snorkel.  Andy did not surface<\/div>\n
for a while.  Then he appeared  with both arms as black as a length of stove pipe.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cNothing down there Dad.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHow do you know?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMud  and  crap down there\u2026.I shoved  my hands deep as I could\u2026nothing.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cStory may  not be true\u2026we will never know\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My mind was spinning.  This had not been a good idea.  Danger lurked down there.<\/div>\n
I did not ask Andy to dig through the mud.  Should have told him not to do it.<\/div>\n
We paddled  to shore.  In the end we got a good story. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
As I looked back up the Grenadier Hill I tried figure which tree did had  hit long <\/div>\n
ago.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
april 20, 2020<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n


<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE: THIS EPISODE is a repeat of Episode 22,  written back on April 20, 2020.  Just when my episode project began and when I expected the pandemic to end.  The reason I am sending it is that Marvi Ricker sent us an ecard which featured an idyllic sleigh ride.  Warm and touching.  Dad\u2026Arnold Red Skeoch\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}