COOL PEOPLE I KNOW
my uncle eric was politically my opposite
i think we never really talked politics
thats impolite when you are drinking and at most other times
some things are just felt
and i felt that it would be alot of raised voices if we talked about those things
i lived with him for a week or two
in his tiny apartment across the street from the dog track in jacksonville
we'd play chess and sometimes i would win
he was alot like my aunt kitty
the quaker
whe it came to drinking
they professed moderation
when it was me drinking with them
uncle eric would let me have a shooter
jim beam and ice
sometimes a second
when we played chess
aunt kitty would allow me two beer before dinner and one with
when i was a truly young lad
you want another shooter? hed say
when his was gone and the answer was always yes
i went to college
im part irish, part german, part bacchus
drinking means you get to sleep sooner
the best time there is in life
the dogs did not run the way we wanted them too
but the chess was the thing
he had trained his kids to be chess ninjas
every time we played at my grandfathers beach house i would get smoked
because uncle eric played to win
i went to college and learned ghetto chess
timed chess
chess for money
snatch free pawns
weak move
when in doubt send a scout
so i held my own ten years later
but the funnest and best times i had with my uncle were on vacation in south carolina
we played knock rummy all night
for pennies
he was apparently the best player on the aircarft carrier
the one he swam to thru eel infested waters
eels everywhere
ransomed for icecream
after he ditched his plane and was picked up by fishermen
his whole brood are/were great swimmers
some kind of genetic blessing
anyway
we were drinking cheap beer til late late late
and i took him for 3 bucks
i wish i had the picture
this was a man so focussed he bullied cancer for decades, thru surgeries, angioplasties
he was too mean to go out early
a real fighter
one of my few tough guy heros
visiting his family was a list of rules
we cant do that
thats unacceptable
and the kids all called him sir
it was quite a change from my hippy upbringing
the kitchen full of smoke
the nine foot plants in the garden
the marches
the camden seventeen
his favorite saying was
GAWDAMMIT
at least that is my perception
but when we played knock rummy into the wee hours
and he talked of strafing musk ox and maybe elephants
the details are hazy
i recognized the tought guy core that makes my psyche sing
the dude you dont want to rile
and maybe it was a facade wut it was an enjoyable one
he got kicked out of college for drunken hijinx
which was related over dinner with my mom and dad and his new wife and i saw in him the same guy i see in the mirror these days
an aging tough guy
a greying badass
someone not to mess with unless you want to experience painful moments
a warrior
a philosophe
my gene pool
and i know what side of the family my inability to deal with idiots comes from
my alpha male stuff comes from my germanic side
my sensitivity comes from my dad
my dissillusionment comes from paying attention to the world
my hangover comes from bad wine
COOL PEOPLE I KNOW
part I
more to follow