>>>>>>>>>A PLACE CALLED SHIRTTAIL CREEK<<<<<<<<<……….Verse #2 First half.Now I built me a sluice, one quite primitive…With all the confidence that ignorance can give.Though I hadn’t the slightest idea when,…I knew I’d be out there trying again.I didn’t knoe how, and certainly not where,…But I knew in my heart i’d out there somewhere.>>>>>>…Well, it’s now 1959 up in Willits. Sping is coming and I can hardly wait for summer. It’s about a half-hour drive to the Clear Lake area, and numerous resorts.. …I bought a 1950 Indian Scout motorcycle from one of the guys at the mill. I think it was April when I totaled it going too wide on a turn, in the middle of which a driveway opened onto the road. Not a very wide road, eithr, and got into some damp grass. the bike stared slipping and going down. I saw a hog-wire fence the bike was headed for, and dove off it. Landed on my right knee and forearm.…Bit of medical history: In 1951 I had hurt my right knee while playing football. Couple of bays in the hospital and was advised “no more football”. In 1952 I hurt the knee again….. Playing football. Doctor told me that if I were to hurt my knee like that again, I probably wouldn’t be able to bend it again. Didn’t play any more football.>>>>>>…Now my knee was hurt far worse than it had been some seven years earlier. This time it was three or four days in the hospital, and a month or so on crutches. As soon as was able, I went over to the coast (about a half-hour drive to Fort Bragg. …I forgot to write that I had gotten into diving in the ocean. Had a wet suit and air tank. carried enough weight that i could go down to the bottom and sit on a rock and just trip-out on all the life around me.…Anyhow, I would go over and put my wet suit on and swim til I couldn’t stand the pain any more. My knee didn’t go stiff on me, so it was worth the pain.…I got a month’s worth of unemployment, plus a check from the hospital that the insurance had over paid. Back at the mill. a started having issues with the millwright and quit.…There was a plywood mill on the SE side of town, and I went over there the morning after I left the stud mill. There was a bunch of guys looking for a job. When the guy in charge said there weren’t any, everybody left. Me too.…I came back when the shift changed and there were a bunch of guys again, and no openings.…I had some friends that worked there, and my best friend was one of them. So when I came over that afternoon, I brought a lunch with me and hung around. I was curious about how plywood was actually made. Lo and behold, about three-four hours later the foreman came over to me and asked if I wanted a job. Thus I began working at the plywood mill.…By early summer I had accumulated enough money for a down payment on a used motorcycle, and headed down to San Francisco to check around. Put half the cost on a “48 Harley Davidson 45 cubic inch that looked ….. Well, it had a red fender and a black fender, a black gas tank and spring forks that had been painted bronze. The exaust pipe was a piece of 1 1/2 iron pipe wirh a lot of holes drilled in ir, and a cap on the end. I got about two blocks and ran out of gas. Pushed it to the nearest station and topped it off. Who ever had worked on the throttle had put it back wrong and it turned the wrong way. Then as I was coming over a hill on the way to the Golded Gate Bridge, the throttle cable broke. I coasted down to a gas station told them what happened asked if I could use some tools.re-attached the throotle properly, thanked them, and went on my way.…Once I was across the bridge and a ways up 101, I hit the summer heat. Took off my jacket and shirt and went on wearing just my sleevless denim vest. A couple months later I went down to San Francisco to visit my sister. My Harley was stolen, which probably is the reasonI’m alie today. That junky looling bike was fast. I think the cylinders had been bored out cause that puppy was a lot faster than it should have been.>>>>>>And that’s enough for tonight.. It’s almost midnight and I haven’t done my meds yet. I get to writing and, become unaware of the time. Forget to eat, etc,. etc,. etc…….But I will submit, now.
shirttailslim over 12 years ago
Good morning, Vagabonds. >>>>>>Today I go meet my new urologist.
shirttailslim over 12 years ago
>>>>>>>>>A PLACE CALLED SHIRTTAIL CREEK<<<<<<<<<……….Verse #2 First half.Now I built me a sluice, one quite primitive…With all the confidence that ignorance can give.Though I hadn’t the slightest idea when,…I knew I’d be out there trying again.I didn’t knoe how, and certainly not where,…But I knew in my heart i’d out there somewhere.>>>>>>…Well, it’s now 1959 up in Willits. Sping is coming and I can hardly wait for summer. It’s about a half-hour drive to the Clear Lake area, and numerous resorts.. …I bought a 1950 Indian Scout motorcycle from one of the guys at the mill. I think it was April when I totaled it going too wide on a turn, in the middle of which a driveway opened onto the road. Not a very wide road, eithr, and got into some damp grass. the bike stared slipping and going down. I saw a hog-wire fence the bike was headed for, and dove off it. Landed on my right knee and forearm.…Bit of medical history: In 1951 I had hurt my right knee while playing football. Couple of bays in the hospital and was advised “no more football”. In 1952 I hurt the knee again….. Playing football. Doctor told me that if I were to hurt my knee like that again, I probably wouldn’t be able to bend it again. Didn’t play any more football.>>>>>>…Now my knee was hurt far worse than it had been some seven years earlier. This time it was three or four days in the hospital, and a month or so on crutches. As soon as was able, I went over to the coast (about a half-hour drive to Fort Bragg. …I forgot to write that I had gotten into diving in the ocean. Had a wet suit and air tank. carried enough weight that i could go down to the bottom and sit on a rock and just trip-out on all the life around me.…Anyhow, I would go over and put my wet suit on and swim til I couldn’t stand the pain any more. My knee didn’t go stiff on me, so it was worth the pain.…I got a month’s worth of unemployment, plus a check from the hospital that the insurance had over paid. Back at the mill. a started having issues with the millwright and quit.…There was a plywood mill on the SE side of town, and I went over there the morning after I left the stud mill. There was a bunch of guys looking for a job. When the guy in charge said there weren’t any, everybody left. Me too.…I came back when the shift changed and there were a bunch of guys again, and no openings.…I had some friends that worked there, and my best friend was one of them. So when I came over that afternoon, I brought a lunch with me and hung around. I was curious about how plywood was actually made. Lo and behold, about three-four hours later the foreman came over to me and asked if I wanted a job. Thus I began working at the plywood mill.…By early summer I had accumulated enough money for a down payment on a used motorcycle, and headed down to San Francisco to check around. Put half the cost on a “48 Harley Davidson 45 cubic inch that looked ….. Well, it had a red fender and a black fender, a black gas tank and spring forks that had been painted bronze. The exaust pipe was a piece of 1 1/2 iron pipe wirh a lot of holes drilled in ir, and a cap on the end. I got about two blocks and ran out of gas. Pushed it to the nearest station and topped it off. Who ever had worked on the throttle had put it back wrong and it turned the wrong way. Then as I was coming over a hill on the way to the Golded Gate Bridge, the throttle cable broke. I coasted down to a gas station told them what happened asked if I could use some tools.re-attached the throotle properly, thanked them, and went on my way.…Once I was across the bridge and a ways up 101, I hit the summer heat. Took off my jacket and shirt and went on wearing just my sleevless denim vest. A couple months later I went down to San Francisco to visit my sister. My Harley was stolen, which probably is the reasonI’m alie today. That junky looling bike was fast. I think the cylinders had been bored out cause that puppy was a lot faster than it should have been.>>>>>>And that’s enough for tonight.. It’s almost midnight and I haven’t done my meds yet. I get to writing and, become unaware of the time. Forget to eat, etc,. etc,. etc…….But I will submit, now.
arye uygur over 12 years ago
Good morning, Vagabonds. I’ll never forget a joke I read: The receptionist at a urologist’s office answers the phone, saying, “Urogoly, please hold.”
davidf42 over 12 years ago
Morning, Vagabonds!Slim – Did you read the late night additions to the comments from Florchi and me yesterday evening?Arye – LOL!
MontanaLady over 12 years ago
Loved your story, Slim. Thanks for taking the time to reminisce with all of us!
Women Survivor’s Support Group today. I haven’t gone in about 5 weeks since we have been traveling. Time for my group hug.
chris.smith618 over 12 years ago
Good Afternoon Everyone.