The real action was going on back at City Park. It was war games. Or maybe it wasn't war games considering the sound and fury that was voiced from some of the fighters.
As a kid, we played the good and bad cowboys -- the law and the outlaws. Some of us had "real" toy guns. Some had carved pieces of wood that looked like a gun. Making the sounds of gunfire, we pointed our weapons at the enemy. Some cooperated and pretended to be hurt. Mostly the make believe gunfire missed the intended victim.
Things seem to have changed in 60 years. Not cowboys or outlaws and six shooters. The weapons at Meeker were toy machine guns and Uzis -- with the appropriate sounds. One of the combatants seemed to be holding a canister of something that may have been ammo for these toy guns. Could that be. Not the cap pistols of my youth, but real projectiles of some sort. Considering some of the kids' flinching movements, I really did wonder if there was some kind of projectile from the guns.
Soon the war games stopped apparently as the result of a peace treaty or defeat. Soon it seemed rather than two mobs, it was one straggling mob headed away from the park.
The irony of these war games in Meeker in 2011 was not lost on me. The human wars in this neighborhood started with the Meeker Massacre in 1879.
This blog is inspiring me to become a Soldier of Fortune, or at least a bounty hunter in Libya, with their $1 million dollar bounty on Gaddafi.
ReplyDeleteOf course, moving the rig overseas and learning Arabic would take some time, but remember how long it took to find Saddam and bin Laden.
When I happened on Meeker several years ago, they were holding the sheepdog championships. It was a hoot!
ReplyDeleteBoonie, The lack of bridges keeps me from making a journey to Europe or Asia.
ReplyDeleteBarb, Sheep dog herding is a pleasure to watch. Not seen it at Meeker, but other places as I've traveled. Working with hand signals and whistles from the dog's owner is a sight I will never forget.