Torna
Live
by
the
Sword . . .
An Adventure Novel of Swords and Space and Such by B W Canfield
Why I Do What I Do
I think what I really love to do, what makes me tick and always has, is sharing experiences, literature, art, or history with others, especially when I am teaching them how to get the most out of it, or am entertaining them with the story of how I came to experience or enjoy the topic, and if I get to travel prior to, during or subsequent to this interchange, all the better. I really want to spend my waning years doing that; working, sharing, doing something that I enjoy that much. I have never had a job, not in 37 years of working for a living, (50 years old, started when I was 13 working for T. Brewers dad and Roy Gatlin etc.) and have never had a job that I liked, that I looked forward to in the morning. Now, it seems that I may . . .
On Airplanes . . .
I was surprised to hear that you didn't know about the Stearman biplane. It was the first time ever in a plane for me. It was a two man plane, a trainer, that came stock with a 200 hp 7 cyl. engine.
This one had a 450hp Pratt and Whitney, 9 cylinder stunt motor and prop. We hit the throttle, the tail came off the ground, Joel McNeal said, now we'll ease back on the stick, and we were climbing, just that fast, with the rudder almost all the way to the right, the plane crabbing to the left unnaturally, and my pants bunching up around my knees. We levelled out, and Joel said (through a speaker tube, he was in back and I couldn't talk to him) Look at the altimeter, then look down at the end of the runway. We were at 1,000 feet, and just coming to the end of the runway. I think flying in an open cockpit, loud, cold, fast maneuverable plane like that is the life; I mean it is really hard to describe the thrill.
I took lessons for six months, in a cramped stuffy Cessna 150 (150 hp), sluggish control yoke, that's to keep you from changing direction quickly(!?) that was lucky to even be airborne by the time we ran it out to top speed to rotate off the ground. The only exciting part was wondering if we would clear Cowles Mountain, half a mile past the end of the runway.
Sadly, they just don't compare, and spending money on something I wasn't enjoying, in the hopes of someday flying an open pit stunt plane didn't add up. So I got a big, fast motorcycle, and a sailboat, and hiked in the mountains when it snowed, to avoid the crush, and camped in the desert in the summer for the same reason.
. . . and Sailboats . . .
Did I tell you about sailing through the storm that sunk Tom Smith's 40' Chriscraft lobster boat? He was a professional, and thought he should tell me about boats. The Coast Guard prised his death grip from the keel, 100' from shore, just before it smashed on the rocks of Point Loma. I sailed right past, and didn't know that that was him, until a few years later. I sailed on, with Dave 'Sure, I know all about sailing' Johnson rolling on the deck, because he had fallen and hit his head when he wasn't paying attention, knocking one of my stays loose in the process. It was pitch black, no moon because of the clouds, so I navigated by the lights on shore, until I recognized Sea World. I'll tell you more another time.
. . . and Life
Do you remember the picture that Grandma Canfield had, of Uncle Matt on a horse, under a big pine tree, at the edge of a huge, deep, colorful canyon, or maybe it was the badlands? He was in the shade, but the landscape was glowing in the late afternoon sunshine. It was breathtaking, and we saw it on her piano, every time we went there. It made me want to go have an adventure, just like my uncles, the cowboys, talked about.
I built my own business, from the ground up, without a loan from anyone. I drove a car carrier from Tijuana to Los Angeles three times a day, twice or three times a week, for about six months, until we had enough stock to hire people.
I was a journeyman plasterer, doing custom work, until I fell three stories and almost died (short version).
I have lived in Wisconsin, California, Idaho, Mexico, Texas, and Imperial Beach, which is its own unique environment. I have also lived in Minnesota, where I learned the art of the 'Long Goodbye', and the fact that there are people on this earth that will put ketchup on literally anything. I have spent extensive amounts of time in SoDak and Montana, and got to ride a horse in a round-up, really, and my uncles are real live cowboys, with real live horses, and one is a real live sheriff in a western town. I have been all over the west, and parts of Mexico, and have never been east of the Mississippi River. Go figure.
I have slept in the snow, the desert, the woods, the mountains, in cars, trucks, boats, and a jail cell. They all beat East Texas, no matter what you're sleeping in.
I have survived three motorcycle accidents, rolling cars twice, being stranded in the desert, stranded in a blizzard in the mountains, being assaulted with knives (three times) being shot at (three times) a storm at sea in a small sailboat, being married 3 times, and raising, all or in part, 9 children.
I have fought fires, and saved a town once by running 3/4 of a mile through a South Dakota prairie fire up and down hills and through a deep wash to warn the Captain that the fire had gone up the gully, and burnt the hair off my legs, arms and face, and melted sagebrush and rocks into the soles of my shoes, and never did get paid for it because we came back to CA.
I saved my Dad's cousin's husband Frank when he fell in the mouth of the Tia Juana river as the tide was rushing out, because my dad didn't have his glasses and couldn't see, and I had qualified as a life gaurd in the class at high school, and Dad and Frank made a big deal of it, but said don't tell Mom and Aunt Anita about it, because it would get them upset and scare them. It scared me, too.
I have spent two and a half years at San Diego City College, which I enjoyed, and 4 months in intensive care, which I didn't.
I can rebuild just about any car or motorcycle engine, especially pre 1980 models, repair boats and bicycles and surfboards, and don't know how to record a TV program on my stupid 'Extra Easy to Use, One Touch Recording' machine.
I like Tom Clancy, Louis LaMour, Pat McManus, Len Deighton, Rex Stout and Dick Francis. I don't like Zane Grey or Agatha Christie.
I read Green Mansions when I was 17, fell in love with Rima in my imagination, and the next winter, met a girl named Rima, who was more beautiful than I imaqined, and smart and funny too. So I fell in love for real, but was too shy to say so.
17 years later, I told her, and now we're married.
What is That Noise?
I like most music, but especially the Smithereens, Antonio Vivaldi, Hank Williams, Neil Young, Ludwig von, Bach, and anything by Muddy Waters or Mckinley Morganfield.
If you can whistle the tune, its music. If you can't, its not. Simple things are usually profound like that.
So, Why Are We Here Again?
I like to help other people, when they appreciate the help. To help someone else draw the best from within themselves often results from drawing upon the best that is within ourselves.
More to follow.
If you have questions or comments, go ahead. Just ask.
BW Canfield
April 30th, 2009
