oneighty
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Fri Oct-24-03 10:32 AM
Original message |
Unintended Consequences, black cherries and a bird |
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Edited on Fri Oct-24-03 11:14 AM by oneighty
In the spring I deliver newspapers door to door in my village. I have one hundred twenty five customers. One of my favorite customers is a very pleasant older woman. In her front yard is a black cherry tree loaded with fat juicy black cherries. "Eddie" she tells me "You can have all the cherries you want, bring your little friends." She is like that, a kind woman.
Come Christmas time the newspaper company issues a very popular calendar. The paper boys are given a calendar for each of their customers. Many of the customers give the paperboys a few coins in return, sort of a Christmas time present. My cherry tree lady gave me a bright shiny silver dollar. I net eleven dollars from my one hundred twenty five customers.
With my eleven dollars I buy a single shot twenty two caliber rifle.In the spring of the following year Carl and I are out in the woods. From my hip I raise my rifle, fire it in the general direction of a bird sitting in a tree. The bird fell to the ground. I pick the bird up from the ground. It is a red headed wood pecker. I stare in horror at what I have done. Blood soaks my hand.
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JitterbugPerfume
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Fri Oct-24-03 10:49 AM
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I just can not imagine you shooting a poor little woodpecker Remember Still life With Woodpecker? Good book huh?
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oneighty
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Fri Oct-24-03 10:58 AM
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Yes..Working on "Skinny Legs and All" now.
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Droopy
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Fri Oct-24-03 10:56 AM
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2. I had a similar experience as a boy |
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A friend and I had a couple of BB guns and we decided to go after some game instead of the usual target practice. It seemed like a good idea and it was exciting. I got a sparrow. You wouldn't think that a BB gun would be powerful enough to kill something but it was. It was one of the worst feelings that I've ever had. I wanted to take it back so bad.
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BlueJazz
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Fri Oct-24-03 11:04 AM
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4. When I was about 9 years old and ... |
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...doing silly things that 9 year old boys do, I was out in my back yard one early Saturday morning, messing around.
I noticed a little Mockingbird that was walking around the yard,not 10 feet from me just doing his little "bird stuff"
For some adolescent reason I picked up a piece of brick that was leftover from my Dad's barbecue building and threw it at the little bird. A second later where once was a happy little creature now lay a dead feathered thing.
I remember the feeling of somehow I had done a horrible, selfish thing. I had taken a little life for no other reason than to see how good my aim was.
I remember sitting in the grass next to the little bird with the early-morning sun glistening on it's feathers and with all the resolve that a 9 year-old can muster, promising myself that I would never knowingly hurt another creature again.
The silly thing about it is 30 years later a tinge of guilt is still felt by me....
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oneighty
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Fri Oct-24-03 11:11 AM
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We know that for sure don't we?
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displacedtexan
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Fri Oct-24-03 11:22 AM
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6. where do cherries ripen in the spring? |
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i only know summer cherry trees (early july sweets and late july tarts).
btw, your experience will make you a better person in the future.
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oneighty
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Fri Oct-24-03 11:30 AM
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Edited on Fri Oct-24-03 11:35 AM by oneighty
well be summer for ripe cherries. Memories fade over time. That was about fifty eight years ago. I have learned much since then such as cherries ripening in summer. I do hope I improve in the future as you suggest but I do not have much future left! Thank you for teaching me.
Ed
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Thu May 02nd 2024, 05:37 PM
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