{"id":5776,"date":"2020-09-17T22:50:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T02:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5776"},"modified":"2020-09-17T22:51:17","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T02:51:17","slug":"episode-121-violence-theme-prince-of-darkness-why-i-hate-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5776","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 121 VIOLENCE THEME: PRINCE OF DARKNESS : WHY I HATE GUNS"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 121   VIOLENCE THEME:   PRINCE OF DARKNESS<\/p>\n
(why I hate guns)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept. 2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
Dad Startled us one Christmas when I was  15 and Eric 14.   He bought us a Red Ryder  BB gun.<\/div>\n
That was the only Christmas present he had ever bought us and he used the usual scam\u2026i..e He put<\/div>\n
a dollar downpayment and left the rest to us.  Or, rather, to mom since I do not remember how the financing<\/div>\n
was resolved.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The gun had a very short life\u2026one day and it died ignominiously smashed against the Manitoba Maple in our back yard.<\/div>\n
That one day still embarrasses me now that I am 82.  What an asshole I could be at times.  If you judge my seeming Voltaire<\/div>\n
like innocence as some kind of fairy tale Prince of Light marvelling at the world around him.  Then you are not getting<\/div>\n
the true picture.  I am also a Prince of Darkness who has  done things of which I am not around.  The BB gun caper is my best example.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

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

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Dad set himself up as an example of proper BB gun behaviour that Christmas Eve, 1954.  We opened  the paper bag <\/div>\n
and found the new gun.  Mom frowned.  She loved her husband but could not always control him.  She had no idea<\/div>\n
he bought this \u2018dollar down\u2019 Red Ryder special.  Mom disliked guns.  \u201cGive me one god reason why we should<\/div>\n
have a gun,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Dad took the gun right away and set himself up as a sniper in our little second floor kitchen.  \u201cLeave the goddamn light out.\u201d<\/div>\n
The window was small.  Just enough room for mom to hang out the clothes to dry on the revolving clothes line.  There was<\/div>\n
a clothespin pocket on the line where mom forced dad to keep his Limburger cheese.  Strong stuff.  Maybe his cigars as<\/div>\n
well\u2026White Owl Invincibles that he could only smoke outside the house.  Best lit boldly at the racetrack. Lit at home slyly<\/div>\n
in the back yard only.   So dad was familiar<\/div>\n
with the little window located high above the back fence.  Perfect sniper eyrie.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Our cat Tinker was a bit of a loose woman, so to speak.  She had lots of lovers when she came in heat.  Other families<\/div>\n
had their pets \u2018fixed\u2019, something we could not afford or, more accurately, something of which Tinker disapproved.<\/div>\n
A couple of Tom Cats made the mistake of serenading Tinker that evening.  They got a stinging BB for their efforts.<\/div>\n
IF he even hit one.  Long distance from kitchen window to back fence.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Christmas Day 1954 or  might have been1955.  That day we went to the farm likely by Gray Coach bus since we did<\/div>\n
not have a car.  Uncle Frank met us at the Fifth line  with his team of horses and the big bob sleigh or with his well used<\/div>\n
Model A Ford that smelled of cattle dung.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Eric and  I took turns carrying the BB Gun \u2026 as if it was some kind of sacred artifact.  As the oldest I got the  first<\/div>\n
shot out between the house and the barn.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cEric, walk about fifty feet away and keep you bum facing me. We\u2019ll see if<\/div>\n
a BB can sting you through your breeks\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cYow!  That hurt, Alan.”<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
  I think that act of stupidity was the moment Eric lost confidence  in  me as  an older brother\u2026as  a mentor\u2026<\/div>\n
as someone worthy of admiration .<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
About that time our cousin Ted Freeman arrived in a decrepit Model T Ford that George Johnson had got working.<\/div>\n
Not a top of the line model.  More like a car en route to the scrap yard but out for one more time.<\/div>\n
Eric and I hopped in the back.  I had the gun.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Here  is how  I used it.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
1) As we drove down the Fifth line I took pot shots at drive shed and barn stable windows.   <\/div>\n
Seemed like fun.  George and  Ted must have been flabbergasted.   Word went up snd down<\/div>\n
the line afterward and I did pay for a few windows I think.  Not sure because I tried to wipe the<\/div>\n
memory.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
2) Walking back to Grandma snd Granddad\u2019s farm after George headed home I was pleased to<\/div>\n
see Angus McEchern passing  by with his red half ton. \u201cWatch this, Eric!\u201d  I raised the gun<\/div>\n
and  took one shot at the back window of the truck.  Angus put on the brakes. Got out.<\/div>\n
Looked at the little round hole in his window.   He did not say a word.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
How could I be so stupid?   The amazing part was that I was forgiven.  Some of the <\/div>\n
talk on the line  must have gone like this,  \u201cDid  you hear what that city boy Skeoch<\/div>\n
did on Christmas Day.  City people  don\u2019t know any better, they live in a jungle.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That night, when we caught the Gray Coach Bus back to Toronto the BB gun<\/div>\n
met its demise.  Smashed  against our Manitoba Maple.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Eric came out of the adventure as pure  and honest as the driven  snow.<\/div>\n
\u2026with a little red mark on his bum.   I had to do a lot of apologizing<\/div>\n
\u2026but I was forgiven.   Dad?  No one snitched on him.   Payment?<\/div>\n
I think mom put up the rest of the money owed on the gun.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept\/   2020<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

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

EPISODE 121   VIOLENCE THEME:   PRINCE OF DARKNESS (why I hate guns) alan skeoch Sept. 2020 Dad Startled us one Christmas when I was  15 and Eric 14.   He bought us a Red Ryder  BB gun. That was the only Christmas present he had ever bought us and he used the usual scam\u2026i..e […]<\/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-5776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776","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=5776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}