{"id":2020,"date":"2018-12-07T23:52:25","date_gmt":"2018-12-08T04:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=2020"},"modified":"2018-12-07T23:53:58","modified_gmt":"2018-12-08T04:53:58","slug":"facebook-does-wonders-and-sequel-wild-pigs-run-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=2020","title":{"rendered":"FACEBOOK DOES WONDERS! (and sequel ” WILD PIGS…RUN..RUN!”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
FACEBOOK: A  POSITIVE FORCE  IN OUR LIVES <\/div>\n
(a feel good  story of Christmas Present and Christmas Past)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

DATELINE DEC. 7, 2018<\/p>\n


<\/div>\n
I have read  many criticisms  of our computer age but the one that<\/div>\n
concerned  me the most was the comment that we no longer have<\/div>\n
face  on friendships\u2026flesh  and blood contacts\u2026meet people who<\/div>\n
we can see and touch.   That comment struck me as true and very<\/div>\n
sad.<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n
Guess what ?  The anonymity of  Facebook is  just not true.<\/div>\n
 Marjorie and I  discovered that the word anonymity was not even part of<\/div>\n
the vocabulary of these Facebook  users<\/div>\n
\u2026..as Christine\u2019s smile (above)  confirms.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
 Marjorie made contact with this  diverse group of Facebook friends<\/div>\n
who  meet regularly in the middle of High Park.  They have one thing in<\/div>\n
common\u2026their ages and Roncesvales Avenue<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This is Carl who organized it all and  supervised the gift giving and provided me with<\/div>\n
a huge box which I expected to contain wealth beyond  my dreams.  Instead I received<\/div>\n
a  pile of rubber mud  mats \u201cthat could be made to fit any car.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And on Dec. 7, 2018 Carl organized a big Christmas party complete<\/div>\n
with gifts (under $15) for everyone.  We became part of this  meeting.<\/div>\n
Marjorie made cookies, big butter tarts and  a bright red cowgirl hat.  I wrote a story<\/div>\n
about a dinosaur tooth and the mystery of time.  A replica of the dinosaur<\/div>\n
tooth was included.   Goofy?   Right.  A lot of the gifts had a goofy<\/div>\n
nature.  In my case I got that  huge box of rubber mud  mats that would<\/div>\n
fit any car as long as you could use a big scissors.  Just opening the<\/div>\n
box was an ordeal  worse than any snowstorm.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
John was wearing a bright red  Christmas sweater with a prominent<\/div>\n
Christian cross hanging from his neck.  \u201cAre you a priest?\u201d  \u201cNope, this<\/div>\n
was my mother\u2019s necklace.  I put it on 17years ago when vowed to never<\/div>\n
touch a  drink again.   Sitting nearby was a man who gave my wife his<\/div>\n
Christmas package which was a Moosehead Beer special.   Now who<\/div>\n
could not enjoy meeting such people.  Some even had special Christmas<\/div>\n
sweaters that were hand knitted.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
It was  a grand experience.  Especially so since several of my ex students<\/div>\n
from Parkdale Collegiate were present.  And they remembered  me.<\/div>\n
One young  lady, Lucy, even confessed  she lied to me back in 1965<\/div>\n
about doing her homework.  Confessional?  Seemed so.  I gave her<\/div>\n
absolution \u2018\u201cbut sorry to say I will have to dock you ten marks.\u201d<\/div>\n
Silly?   That\u2019s the nice thing about the passage of time.  Being silly.<\/div>\n
\u201cRemember Joan, June and Carmen, \u2026sir?\u201d  \u201cSure  do.  I remember<\/div>\n
Carmen set their house on fire by hiding in the closet  smoking a<\/div>\n
cigarette.  And  June gave me her old  lawn mower years  ago\u2026cast <\/div>\n
iron push kind\u2026still have it.  Kids\u2026students\u2026became friends but still <\/div>\n
called  me sir.”<\/div>\n
Another remembered my odd behaviour when teaching, \u201cYou would <\/div>\n
look at me\u2026direct the question to me\u2026but use the name of another<\/div>\n
classmate on the other side of the room. \u201cClasses were always fun, sir\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Jerry and Marilyn sat with Marjorie and me.  We have known each<\/div>\n
other for sixty years.  Our paths  cross in the most unusual situations.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cSir! \u201c Amazing to still be called  sir after nearly half a century.<\/div>\n
 I am 80 years old and the students at the meeting must be<\/div>\n
close to 70.  Yet they still called  me sir.  Heart warming.  Respected.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
There were nearly 20 people at tis Christmas Party.  People from <\/div>\n
the 50\u2019s, 60\u2019s and 70\u2019s.  As mentioned They were not brought together by schools,<\/div>\n
churches,  businesses, sports\u2026no, they got to know each other on<\/div>\n
Facebook and they all lived within walking distance of Roncesvales<\/div>\n
Avenue,Toronto.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 7, 2018<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
See  pictures below\u2026and if you really have noting better to do then<\/div>\n
read the sequel which has little to do with Facebook but a lot to do<\/div>\n
with my memories  of the High Park zoo.
<\/p>\n

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

<\/div>\n
Marjorie Skeoch with Gerry and Marilyn Holmes\u2026our paths have crossed  for more than half a century.  Marjorie touched  base with<\/div>\n
this crowd, \u201cAlan, we must go to their Christmas Party\u2026we were Roncesvales people too.”<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n
This  is the Facebook gang having their annual Christmas party in the Grenadier Restaurant in the centre of High Park<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
MEMORIES OF CHRISTMAS PAST TRIGGERED BY THE  FACEBOOK CROWD<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
AN IRRELEVANT SEQUEL\u2026BUT TRUE<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Dad was  not exactly the doting parent.  And when he took on a  parenting role it usually led  to<\/div>\n
a memorable  adventure.   Some of those adventures involved High Park.  Mom was the real<\/div>\n
caregiver of  our family  and  Dad was more like the third child.   He  was no shrinking  violet though.<\/div>\n
Quite the reverse.  He seemed  to have been given a double dose of testosterone when compared<\/div>\n
to other fathers.   Tough and rough and endearing.  Loved.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
THESE PHOTOS are a  little out of period except for the pic os Eric and me in Granddad\u2019s wheelbarrow. <\/div>\n
But the pics will help the two stories  a bit.  Dad  made our lives  one constant adventure.  Mom kept us<\/div>\n
alive.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cTHOSE GODDAMN WILD  PIGS WILL EAT YOU!  RUN! RUN!”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
As we exited the Grenadier Restaurant two of Dad\u2019s  missteps  as a  parent came to mind because<\/div>\n
both of them originated  damn close to the Grenadier Restaurant.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
1)  The High Park Zoo is built in a little valley that weaves  southward  through the park.  In 1946 to 1947,<\/div>\n
Mom asked dad.  \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take the boys  to the High Park zoo?\u201d  He could  find no good excuse<\/div>\n
to avoid  the zoo since the horses were not running at either the Dufferin or Woodbine racetracks.<\/div>\n
So  we went to the zoo. Most people view the zoo from deep in the valley but dad never did what most<\/div>\n
people like to do.  \u201cLet\u2019s see the zoo from the backside\u2026no one goes there.\u201d  Seemed  like a  food idea<\/div>\n
except for the fact that in 1946 the maintenance standards were not high.   Just as we reached the<\/div>\n
wild  pig  enclosure disaster struck.  Now wild pigs are called  peccaries.  They are small but they are<\/div>\n
also  vicious.  And in 1946 they seemed to be breeding like rabbits.  There were dozens of them behind<\/div>\n
the wire fence.   Behind the fence be damned.  \u201cThose goddamn pigs are free\u2026and they out to get us.<\/div>\n
Alan run like a son of a bitch while I grab Eric.\u201d  And we all ran as fast as  we could with a couple of dozen<\/div>\n
peccaries chasing us with their little tusks gleaming.   We survived but Dad was sweating.  Not sure if he<\/div>\n
told  us  to “keep your goddamn  mouths  shut” when we got home.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDAD NEVER RETURNED\u2026OUR SLEIGH WAS SMASHED TO BITS”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
2)  Just west of the Grenadier Restaurant is  the long rather steep hill that runs down to Grenadier Pond<\/div>\n
where it was once believed the British Grenadiers drowned  with their cannons  while retreating from the<\/div>\n
American troops  who took Fort York in the War of 1812.  Myth of course.  Let\u2019s be fair and call it embellished<\/div>\n
truth.   In 1946 to 1947, that long hill was a toboggan run.   Long, steep and fast.  No children romp in the snow.<\/div>\n
This toboggan run was serious  business.  That year we got a sleigh for Christmas.  A metal sleight with metal runners<\/div>\n
and a wooden steering bar.  Beautiful thing.  Eric  and  I looked forward to using it.  But we never got a chance.<\/div>\n
\u201cRed, why don\u2019t you take the kids to High Park to try out their new sleigh?\u201d  Again he was trapped.   So we hopped<\/div>\n
on College Street Car that t germinated in High Park.  And there before us was the toboggan run.  Lots  of people<\/div>\n
yelling and  screaming as they thundered down the hill and out onto the ice of Grenadier Pond.  We were nervous.<\/div>\n
No need to be tough.  \u201cOK, boys, let me test the sleigh first.\u201d  Dad was  a big man\u2026a tough man\u2026a 220 pound <\/div>\n
tire builder at Dunlop Tire Corporation.  The sleigh seemed small when he plopped  his  body on it face down with<\/div>\n
hands on the steering bar.  \u201cBoys, you wait here\u2026see how she goes.\u201d  And  away he went.  and  we waited\u2026and<\/div>\n
waited.   He did not come back.  Eventually we walked  down the hill where a crowd had gathered.  Dad had  rocketed<\/div>\n
his way down the ice covered toboggan run going so fast that the iron runners on the sleigh gave him enough speed<\/div>\n
to become airborne.  He flew out of the wood channels, sailed  through the air for a short while and then hit a tree<\/div>\n
dead on.  Broke his  ribs as it turned out.  He was badly hurt but managed to get us home holding his rib cage all the while<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
To us the big disaster was our brand new broken sleigh.  <\/div>\n
  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 7, 2018<\/div>\n

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

FACEBOOK: A  POSITIVE FORCE  IN OUR LIVES  (a feel good  story of Christmas Present and Christmas Past) DATELINE DEC. 7, 2018 I have read  many criticisms  of our computer age but the one that concerned  me the most was the comment that we no longer have face  on friendships\u2026flesh  and blood contacts\u2026meet people who we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}