We dug the last of the beets today, to go down in the root cellar. Tanya and I were sitting in +33C shade cutting the tops off when I remembered an incident from my distant past.
At age 10, I had saved enough money to buy a Stockman's knife. A real knife, not one of those $2 toys that some of the boys took to school, so dull they wouldn't cut butter. It was $10 at the Leipzig Coop and I had been watching it for months hoping it would still be there when I had the money.
Early October I bought the knife and proudly carried it home in my jeans pocket. It was very sharp and Dad warned me to be careful. If I cut myself the knife would sit on the window over the sink for a month to remind me to be more careful.
The day I brought it home we dug the turnips. I was topping turnips with my new knife and, of course, sliced my thumb. Dad was so upset. He put my knife up on the window as he said he would but because I had been working, not fooling around, all I had to do was ask any time I wanted to use it.
Over time, the point broke off the long blade (don't ask) and the bone handles broke but unless someone threw it out it should still be in a treasure box someplace.
At age 10, I had saved enough money to buy a Stockman's knife. A real knife, not one of those $2 toys that some of the boys took to school, so dull they wouldn't cut butter. It was $10 at the Leipzig Coop and I had been watching it for months hoping it would still be there when I had the money.
Early October I bought the knife and proudly carried it home in my jeans pocket. It was very sharp and Dad warned me to be careful. If I cut myself the knife would sit on the window over the sink for a month to remind me to be more careful.
The day I brought it home we dug the turnips. I was topping turnips with my new knife and, of course, sliced my thumb. Dad was so upset. He put my knife up on the window as he said he would but because I had been working, not fooling around, all I had to do was ask any time I wanted to use it.
Over time, the point broke off the long blade (don't ask) and the bone handles broke but unless someone threw it out it should still be in a treasure box someplace.
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| This is exactly what my knife looked like |
I always have a knife with me, sometimes two depending on what i expect to be doing. They are so handy around the farm and at work. When I go to the Big City or an airport I have to consciously think about where it (they) is. I feel naked without one, but I need to remember "security" issues in areas that have lots of people.
ReplyDeleteI carried a knife all the years I was on a farm. They can wear a hole in your pocket which is why the belt holder for folding knives are in fashion with so many I guess. Hard to be without one on a farm.
DeleteMy dad had a knife exactly like that. Like Jono, I never go anywhere without at least one knife, but the good news is I'm getting to the age where nobody considers me a threat. I was afraid I'd get banned from my nephew's band concert when the school did a weapons check at the door, but fortunately they only checked the kids and waved us old farts through. Sometimes you win...
ReplyDeleteYou made me laugh. You carry a knife? Who would have guessed. An Glock 9 mm I could guess but not just a knife. They do weapons checks at school dances and band concerts now? Life was boring when I went to school. All the boys carried pocket knives.
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of strange you posted on that knife. It was also my first 'real' knife - and I saved for months to buy it (I was raised by a grandmother and had no dad.) I have no idea what happened to that knife; but I do still have the first rifle I was given. An uncle moved to New Orleans when I was about twelve and I helped him pack and move. He gave me his 22 rifle - a Winchester model 69 - A, bolt action and I still have and value it. I have carried a pocket knife all my life - I wouldn't feel dressed without it.
ReplyDeletethe Ol'Buzzard
I wonder how many other boys would recognize this as their first real knife?
DeleteWe had a single shot .22 for a few years when I was young, then dad bought a Cooey tube loader, no idea the model but it is still at the farm. Useful for gophers and at butchering time to knock out the animal prior to bleeding. Whiz-Bang shorts were 0.99 per box of 50. Long rifle mushroom were 1.50 per box of 50.