Saturday, August 18, 2007

Flashback from the Past


I’ve officially started my taper for CC100 so my mind is starting to wander. For what ever reason the following memory from my past bubbled up and I’ve decided to share:

My buddy Jordan and I took our positions and waited. It had just turned dark and we knew that we would be seeing a number of rockets and many explosions around us soon. We had planned our mission as best we could but success was not a guarantee. Armed with explosives we hunkered down behind a log and waited. We heard voices and then footsteps on a gravel path. The building was occupied and based on the voice we heard our target was in there.

I moved to the back of the building as Jordan covered me. I ignited a fuse and slipped the charge into a knothole on the back of the building. I heard a faint splash as it fell but I had already started moving back to cover behind the log. I dove behind the log, turned and looked up in time to hear the explosion. It made a loud WHUMP sound and light flashed out the knotholes and space between the vertical wood siding on the building. Silence fell upon us for what seemed like an eternity. Then we heard dripping sounds followed by a loud “JESUS CHRIST!” bellowed by our victim.

Jordan and I both 14 years old had just successfully tossed an M-80 into the pit of an outhouse occupied by Verge Verrick who was holding a huge 4th of July celebration at his beach house. We ran away as fast as we could so we didn’t get a chance to see Verge when he emerged from the outhouse. From what we heard it was not a pleasant sight however instead of being mad he started laughing about it and went into his beach house for a quick shower. Every year Verge, a commercial fisherman, would travel to Mexico and purchase about $1,500 worth of fireworks. He would tow a 40-foot barge in front of his beach house and anchor it as a platform to set off the display. This particular year they had an actual casket filled with ice on the beach full of beer. A warning not to drink and drive. I’m guessing there were about 400 guests at the party. Verge had armed Jordan and I with about 25 M-80’s each and told us to have fun and be careful. Little did he know…
M-80 Link

Do you ever wonder how we survived our childhoods? No helmets, no seat belts, no airbags, no ipod, no cell phone, no computers, no XBox… the list goes on.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I wish we could go back to those days. Great story! I cannot believe I have not heard that on a run before.

Sarah said...

Have you told your sons this story? ; ) : ) Those were the days! Enjoy your taper. : )

wendy said...

Fantastic story! I am a little curious as to how that came bubbling up though...

Time to taper - what on earth are you going to do with all the extra time on your hands???

Sarah Elaine said...

Great story! Can't wait to hear more of the Taper Tales. :-)

Adelyn said...

What a story! Of course, I had no idea what an M-80 was, but luckily google helped out :) I used to love when my Dad told me "Daddy Stories" before bed about crazy things he did growing up :D Kids seem like they're often pretty resilient

Journey to a Centum said...

I added a U-Tube Link so you can see what an M-80 can do. The fuses are waterproof so they will go off underwater. We actually used to throw them into schools of candlefish out in the bay and they would come floating to the surface. Big fun for bored boys during the summer.

Scott McMurtrey said...

ah, explosives. yummy.

if you don't post before the weekend - have a great race!!

shawn said...

Eric, when I saw the picture at the top of your post and you mentioned taper off the bat I thought "oh no - he's reverting to playing video games! Nooooo!" ha ha. Your tale of your childhood was much better though. Yeah, even I can't believe what we used to get away with as kids. Glad you survived your early years and are now playing it safe and not, you know, doing anything CRAZY like running 100 miles!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! You're lucky Verge was laughing!

Quite a few of us survived those dangerous days of childhood. Makes you wonder if we're overdoing it with all these protective devices today. (Well, it makes me wonder anyway!) :)

Sarah Elaine said...

OK, I just watched that video. The exploding teddy bear is just warped, man. Made me want to duct tape him back together again.

Anonymous said...

Now this brings back many great childhood memories of the 4th of July. We used to use the quarter stick to blow up my uncle's mailbox every year. I'm a sucker for tradition! =)
Best of luck to you at CCC!
Possum