{"id":3322,"date":"2019-07-21T11:37:24","date_gmt":"2019-07-21T15:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=3322"},"modified":"2019-07-21T12:05:07","modified_gmt":"2019-07-21T16:05:07","slug":"jack-is-a-laid-back-kind-of-grandson-you-bought-what","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=3322","title":{"rendered":"JACK IS A LAID BACK KIND OF GRANDSON: YOU BOUGHT WHAT?"},"content":{"rendered":"
YOU BOUGHT WHAT?<\/p>\n
(JACK is a laid back kind of person)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
July 20, 2019<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My grandmother regularly,  in the 1950\u2019s, sent me poems by Edna Jacques that she<\/div>\n
carefully cut out of the Toronto Star in spite of her advanced Parkisons\u2019s<\/div>\n
disease.   Today, july 20, 2019, I thought of her and was reminded of a snippet<\/div>\n
from one of those poems<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cIf you put your nose to the grindstone rough<\/div>\n
And hold it down there long enough<\/div>\n
In time you\u2019ll say there\u2019s no such thing<\/div>\n
as tails that wage or birds that sing.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
(I imposed the \u2018tails that wag\u2019 as I forget what Edna wrote but<\/div>\n
the meaning is the same\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The reminder came from Jackson Skeoch, our grandson, who is  best described<\/div>\n
by the expression \u2018laid back\u2019 but also he is unpredictable at times.  Today was <\/div>\n
one of those occasions.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Andrew, Jack and I were attending the massive Amish School Auction sale near Milverton,<\/div>\n
Ontario.   Piles and piles of things.  Long lines of items  laid out on a recently threshed  grain<\/div>\n
field.   Thousands of people.<\/div>\n

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\u201cJack, look at all the horses and buggies\u2026.”<\/div>\n

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\u201cSeems everyone is out for a good time, Jack.”<\/div>\n

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\u201cLots of people here grandpa\u2026all after the same kind of ancient junk you like so much.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cTake a really close look, Jack\u2026there is more going on here than just the auction\u2026more<\/div>\n
than the bidding wars for hay ladders, crocks, wagon wheels, roosters, horses, picks and shovels.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cLook around\u2026you will see.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So Jack disappeared while Andrew and I were bidding and buying wood water trough, <\/div>\n
fireman\u2019s reeled  hose cart from the 19th century, ancient anchors rescued from the<\/div>\n
bottom of the St Lawrence river, barrels, pumps, a boat, boxes of plumbing fittings\u2026etc.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere is jack?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cNo idea.\u201d<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
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\u201cI hope he notices those Amish girls\u2026there is a reason they are all dressed up<\/div>\n
in their brightest dresses.  This is a meeting ground.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cJack will notice.  He\u2019s seventeen with a keen eye.”<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhere have you been jack?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cOver with the rabbits\u2026bought four of them.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou bought four rabbits?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cYep,  waved  my hand at a fly and the guy yelled  \u2018Sold\u2019\u2026no cage\u2026cost<\/div>\n
me $12.  Nearly had a box full of pigeons as well. What can we put them in?”<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n
\u201cDid you say no cage?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cYep, what can we put them in\u2026you must have something grandpa\u2026how about<\/div>\n
that $2 chicken crate?\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cJack you make me laugh\u2026all the time\u2026maybe you can wheel one of my purchases\u2026wicker<\/div>\n
baby carriage and two old  saddles to the truck.  I will give you the cage.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cDid you notice the girls?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat girls?\u201d<\/div>\n

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(He made that comment with the usual twinkle in his eye.  He saw them\u2026and they<\/div>\n
must have seen him.  Both sexes were dressed to be seen.)<\/div>\n

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\u201cGrandma, there are four rabbits in this crate\u2026see the shining eye of one?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cJack, you bought four rabbits?\u201d  said Marjorie with hooping  laughter.<\/div>\n

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\u201cDad had to wait hours to get those cages.  Cost more than the rabbits.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cMales or females?\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cHow would I know, Grandma.\u201d  And Marjorie proceeded  to determine the<\/div>\n
sex of the rabbits\u2026a very tricky thing to do…three males and one female\u2026enough for a brood to come<\/div>\n
along.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat will Julie think when you get home with these rabbits.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cRemains to be seen, Grandma\u2026.they will be company for the dogs.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cGot them with the swat of fly, Grandma.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
July 20, 2019<\/div>\n

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

YOU BOUGHT WHAT? (JACK is a laid back kind of person) alan skeoch July 20, 2019 My grandmother regularly,  in the 1950\u2019s, sent me poems by Edna Jacques that she carefully cut out of the Toronto Star in spite of her advanced Parkisons\u2019s disease.   Today, july 20, 2019, I thought of her and was […]<\/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-3322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3322","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=3322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}