{"id":382,"date":"2018-01-14T11:07:16","date_gmt":"2018-01-14T16:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=382"},"modified":"2018-02-19T16:40:47","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T21:40:47","slug":"dad-hits-the-dtich-with-the-1953-meteror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=382","title":{"rendered":"DAD HITS THE DITCH WITH THE 1953 METEOR"},"content":{"rendered":"
DAD HITS THE DITCH\u2026BLAMES \u00a0THE \u00a0ROAD<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cFix your goddamn road\u2026hear me\u2026.FIX YOUR ROAD!!\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u2018Red! \u00a0Red! \u00a0Be careful, you’re weaving all over the road.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201chave to miss the pot holes\u2026could break a spring. \u00a0If that son of a \u00a0bitch would \u00a0fix \u00a0his road, I wouldn\u2019t have play \u00a0Dodge \u2018Em all the way to the farm. \u00a0FIX YOUR ROAD!!\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cRed! You Fathead!* \u00a0You\u2019re off the road\u2026Yiiiiii\u2026we\u2019re going to turn over in the swamp.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cGet out .. \u00a0everybody out.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cElsie\u2026get out my door\u2026.not yours\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t\u2026I \u00a0cannot move.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cHigh heels have gone through the floorboards\u2026.pinned me here.\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cTake off your shoes\u2026crawl out\u2026not that way\u2026boys can see top of your nylons\u2026girdle clips\u2026be more graceful can\u2019t you?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
{*Calling Dad a Fathead \u00a0was the \u00a0closest Mom every got to swearing. \u00a0Dad made up for this lack \u00a0of obscenities however.}<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cSlip up the road \u00a0and \u00a0get Frank or Ted to come down \u00a0to haul us out.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

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

\n
That little adventure was just taken for granted \u00a0when driving with Dad on the Fifth Line. \u00a0For some perverse reasons he held farmers accountable for the roads \u00a0in front of their farms. \u00a0As \u00a0if we were still living in pioneer times. \u00a0And he loved to yell \u00a0obscenities \u00a0at them. Most of them knew him and probably let the words \u00a0slides of them like \u00a0water off a duck\u2019s back.\u00a0 In this case we had to get cousin Ted \u00a0Freeman to bring the tractor down with a chain to get us out of the ditch.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
turned \u00a0out to be a good chance to laugh at Dad\u2019s expense.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Dad was never easy to control. \u00a0Impossible really.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We bought the 1953 Meteor for $400 in 1958. \u00a0None of us \u00a0could drive\u2026neither Dad, mom, Eric nor myself. \u00a0By 1958 every one we knew seemed<\/div>\n
to have a car so \u00a0Eric \u00a0and \u00a0I sleuthed \u00a0out the Meteor from a used \u00a0car dealer on Bloor. We believed his sales pitch.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u201cGreat car\u2026the owner developed \u00a0gangrene in his right leg and cold no loner drive. \u00a0This car just came on the lot today but won\u2019t be here long.\u201d\u00a0 Eric and I believed \u00a0his \u00a0sales pitch.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u201cMom, we should \u00a0buy this car. \u00a0Can you find \u00a0$400?\u201d<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Mom was the stable part of our family. \u00a0She made her money as \u00a0a seamstress in various garment factories and sweatshops in west Toronto. \u00a0And \u00a0she saved what she could. \u00a0Dad had a good job\u2026high paying tire\u00a0 builder at Dunlop Tire Corpoation\u2026skilled..but he never saved a cent. \u00a0Plowed his money and \u00a0any he \u00a0could \u00a0beg, borrow or steal down the throats of race horses across Ontario and even into New York State\u2019s \u00a0Batavia Downs. \u00a0I thought the word Garnishee was just a \u00a0normal deduction from\u00a0wages. \u00a0 Later we came to understand \u00a0that Finance Companies had long arms that could reach right into the accountants office at Dunlop\u2019s.\u00a0 \u00a0Dad treated debt just like he \u00a0treated the farmers on gravel roads. \u00a0People that had money should be willing to lend a \u00a0bit to him. \u00a0Non refundable loans.\u00a0 To Eric and \u00a0I, this was normal. \u00a0Adventures with finance companies need a whole chapter. \u00a0\u201cBastards have more money than \u00a0they know what to do with\u2026\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 Should make you laugh or cry. We never could \u00a0understand \u00a0why people would \u00a0say \u00a0\u201cthose poor boys\u201d \u00a0because we never felt poor. \u00a0Dad \u00a0loved \u00a0us although he never said so. \u00a0Love was a word used by sissies. But we knew\u2026as did Mom. \u00a0We felt we were part of a \u00a0great adventure\u2026new surprise every \u00a0day.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The car gave Dad \u00a0more freedom. \u00a0Which \u00a0unleashed even more \u00a0weird behaviour.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Ten few \u00a0years later when Marjorie and I were married we were at the farm and entrusted Dad with the kids while we went shopping . \u00a0When we returned a couple \u00a0of hours \u00a0later. \u00a0There they were\u2026all three of them chomping and puffing on White Owl \u00a0Invincible cigars.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Not a bad thing really for neither Kevin nor Andy became \u00a0smokers\u2026.except of course for the odd cigar now and then.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Jan. 2018<\/div>\n

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

DAD HITS THE DITCH\u2026BLAMES \u00a0THE \u00a0ROAD \u201cFix your goddamn road\u2026hear me\u2026.FIX YOUR ROAD!!\u201d \u2018Red! \u00a0Red! \u00a0Be careful, you’re weaving all over the road.\u201d \u201chave to miss the pot holes\u2026could break a spring. \u00a0If that son of a \u00a0bitch would \u00a0fix \u00a0his road, I wouldn\u2019t have play \u00a0Dodge \u2018Em all the way to the farm. \u00a0FIX […]<\/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-382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382","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=382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382\/revisions\/389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}