Have You Ever

I saw a questionnaire my niece Jennifer Potosky added to Facebook. It was a challenge of sorts. I had nothing else in mind to write about and thought answering the questions posted would make a great share in my Blogspot. Itt would tie together several stories I’ve already shared earlier.

The first question was, “Have you broken a bone?” Only one, my little toe, I’d been outside shoveling snow. Coming came inside, my fogged glasses caused me to misjudge a doorway, and I caught my little toe. A bit of tape solved the problem.

Did I ever fire a gun? Yes, I hunt and I have sgot some target practice, although not as much as my brother Ken.

Have I ever done skydiving…no, nor will I ever bungee jump. Until I turned 50, heights never bothered me. I had several episodes of an off-balance feeling. Now climbing onto the roof of my house is enough.

I’ve ridden in a limo, swam in the ocean, and gotten a massage, but I’ve never gotten a tattoo, had braces, or given birth. I’ve ridden a horse, ridden a train, and got a speeding ticket. I’ve watched Star Wars, eaten sushi, and dyed my hair. Let me explain the last item. When an accident victim was spitting blood over everything and everyone, I unwittingly used peroxide to clean the clots from my hair.

I haven’t scuba dived. As a fireman and wearing the masks and air tanks was uncomfortable. I’ve been camping and shared many stories about our church’s tenting trip out west.

I will admit, I’ve eaten some food that’s fallen to the floor at home. The cat won’t so I have to. I’ve never zip lined, but have swung on ropes and jumped into a creek’s swimming hole. That’s where I’ve skinny dipped with other guys after a baseball game, tired and hot.

Have I ever traveled out of country? While in the US Navy I was stationed in Iceland. Later in life I traveled into Canada as far north as Nain, Labrador. I’ve ridden in ambulances caring for a person inside and being cared for.

This question makes me laugh. Have you ever been on television? Yes. I dressed as Col. Sanders at a Pittsburgh Pirate game. White jacket, pants, shirt, fedora, and a black bowtie, I was in full regalia. Root sports television did some shots of me and I was on the Jumbotron.

Lastly, I’ve never been on a cruise, but have fished off Cape Canaveral in Florida. The only thing that has been pierced was my arm. As a kid, my brother tossed an awl off my parent’s house roof.

What have you ever?

 

Tree-mendous Christmas Memories

There was a time in history when a person could go out into a grove where pine trees grew wild and harvest on. The person would cut the chosen tree, then take it home. It wasn’t quite stealing, but close, very close. The unclaimed trees were always fresher and much cheaper than going to a sales lot to purchase one. A friend was doing just that. He was accompanied by his wife to get an evergreen tree for the holiday. Once he and his axe were out of the car, she drove away with plans to return later and collect him and the newly acquired tree. So the friend would recognize that it was his wife, she planned to flash the headlights and he would hurry back to the road with his prize and quickly load it into the car.

The trunks of cars were larger back then and unless the tree was huge, it would fit in the car’s trunk with only the tip of the pine peeking out from a tied down lid. If the limbs were too large, the tree could be tied to the car’s sturdy steel roof for the short transport back to their home.
            It was cold that winter’s day and the man was warmly dressed in his red and black Woolrich pants, coat, and hat. Thick Woolrich clothing was the accepted winter and hunting clothing of that time period. Having cut the tree, he squatted on a bank above the road to watch for the return of his wife. When the headlights of an oncoming car flashed, he hopped down onto the roadway only to find that it wasn't his wife. The oncoming car had rolled over a bump in the road and the headlights only appeared to flash. He told me that the surprise on the driver's face was stupendous. When he suddenly leaped into the roadway, can you imagine driving along and seeing a man clad from head to foot in red at Christmastime, carrying an evergreen tree in one hand and an axe in the other unexpectedly hop into view?

~*~*~*~

When my wife Cindy and I started our own home and our own tradition of Christmas and decorating the tree, one thing she insisted upon was that the tree was live and the star topper had to touch the ceiling of our mobile home. Our mobile home had a vaulted roof in the living room in front of the windows. One of the live trees I brought home had a full branched bottom and the star reached the eight foot ceiling. But there was a problem with the tree. The bottom limbs spread out over more than half of the width of the trailer. All season long while the tree was up, we had to skirt those limbs to move through the mobile home, but the star brushed the ceiling.

That was the last live tree that we had. Until that point, my uncle Ted and I went together to cut Christmas trees; one for Grandma Rebecca Miner and one for Cindy and me. When he died, Christmas wasn’t the same. I no longer had the desire to drive to the grove of pines and cut a tree. That was the year we bought an artificial tree. The star touched the ceiling, but it somehow it didn’t seem as bright.    

Difficult Shoes to Fill

Some random thoughts popped into my head about my father and my grandfathers. I remembered some of their qualities and the trials and struggles that they stoically endured to make a better life for their children. Sometimes I think I have fallen painfully short. They grew up in an era where times were difficult and I believe it tried their mettle and honed them into the men that they were.

My grandfather Raymond Miner was short in stature, quiet, and meek, but a diligent worker. He dug and loaded coal. The mine where he worked night shift was of low seam coal about three feet high. Often in awkward positions with a feeble carbide lamp and hand tools he loosened, then shoveled the bituminous coal into buggies to be hauled to the surface. During the day he cared for his farm to feed and clothe his wife Rebecca Rugg Miner and eight children, Rachel, Violet, Cora, Ina, Dale, Cosey, Theodore, and Sybil. The constant strain on his body and dementia finally claimed his life at the age of eighty.

My other grandfather Edson Thomas Beck held a wide variety of jobs. Farming and working the timber, cutting and hauling felled trees. His home was in a remote area. Doctors and dentists I recall one story he told as a young man were nearly inaccessible. One story he told about a toothache he had from a decayed tooth, that he bent the rattail handle of a file, heated it red hot and burned the nerve. Other positions he held was a justice of the peace and accountant for several large businesses. He was also a lay preacher and started a church near the summit between Jones Mills and Somerset named Mt. Hope.

The memories I have about my father Edson Carl Beck are of another hardworking man. His hands were rough and calloused with a work ethic that shames most people today.  In the many years he worked at Walworth in South Greensburg making valves, he may have missed a week of work. Most of those days were because he was in the hospital after surgery. One of the traits he is most remembered for is his punctuality; quoting him, “If you’re not early, you’re late.” It’s a trait I’ve picked up, arriving almost half an hour early for appointments; much to the dismay of hosts for meals or parties. He was a man of few words, but when he spoke, I listened…for the most part. I can only once remember him saying out loud, “I love you,” but his day to day work ethic to provide for us spoke volumes.

 

 With so much turmoil and political unrest, I want to share something uplifting.

Goodhearted Men Still Exist

My daughter shared this story with me one evening while she was working on craft projects in my basement. Although she and her husband James own a home, they live in their basement to allow his mother and two brothers to live in the main part of the house. This arrangement has been going on for nearly five years. With no room for her to lay out and finish her art projects, she comes to my house to get ready for upcoming craft and vendor sales.

Now, I’ll share the story she told me about her husband James.

“I'm going to brag about how amazing my husband is! He went to Wal-Mart yesterday and saw a police cruiser parked near the front of the store. He did his shopping and when he came out he saw that the cruiser was still there. He went back inside to grab a drink and a Starbucks gift card. When he came out the cruiser wasn't there. He went to his truck, put the grocery bags in and started getting in himself. He then spotted the police cruiser coming down the parking lot. He jumps out of the truck and motions for the police officer to stop. The officer asked my husband James if he could help him. James told the officer he wanted to thank him for his service and to give him something. He handed the officer the gift card. The officer was in tears and said that no one has done anything like that to him.

I don't know this officer's name, but I do know that this officer puts his life on the line to keep us safe! I'm so thankful to have a husband that wants to give back to those that have done so much for us!”

She shared a similar story Sunday evening. She and James were entering a store and saw an unmarked empty police cruiser at the front. They bought another gift card and waited. Then the trooper emerged, they handed the card to her. At first she refused, but after some persuading, she accepted.

Yes, there are still caring and giving people in the United States. People that are still wanting to make things better for others; especially those soldiers, firemen, emergency responders, and yes, even the police officers who go about their daily tasks to protect fellow Americans from the evils that exist in this world today. Thank you to those men and women. Take the time to recognize and honor them.