More on Dad

Maybe 50 years ago, Uncle Clayton bought a new car. Well, it wasn't really new, but it was newer than his old car. He wanted to show it off to my Dad, so Dad dropped by his house. Uncle Clayton had to use the washroom, and thankfully Dad was prepared. He had brought a pocket full of washers and while Uncle Clayton was "occupied" Dad slipped some of them over the floor post for the accelerator. When they got it out on the highway, Uncle Clayton put the pedal to the metal and zoomed all the way up to 50 mph. Of course, Dad took the opportunity to revile Uncle Clayton's car as gutless.

Of course you have to be careful who you play your practical jokes on. Dad and Uncle Clayton trust each other in the special way that only two men who have shot cigarettes out of each other's mouths can trust each other. "Clayton. You stand on that hill over there and I'll shoot the cigarette out of your mouth with my 30-30 rifle". "Uh, do you think I could have the first turn Jack?" Well, boys will be boys. There was one other incident with rifles that could have been more dangerous if the prison guards had been trigger happy, but that story will have to wait.

Still, for all the times they fired their rifles nobody was ever hurt, which is not a claim Dad can make about downhill skiing. To state the facts briefly, Dad skiied off a cliff and woke up in a snow bank with a very sore neck. Of course, they were too poor to go see a doctor about something like a sore neck. You only go to the doctor when you're really sick. After a few months, the pain went away. About 20 years later, Dad was in a car accident and got x-rays. No whiplash, but the doctor did ask Dad when he had broken his neck. Got to respect a man who doesn't bother seeing a doctor about a little thing like a broken neck.