Shot in the forehead

 Let's go back to Bostwick, population 378 to the year 1964 or 65. 

We have all gathered at my Grandparents house for a reunion or birthday party it didn't matter to me I was just glad to be there because I knew I was too young to be given a job setting up or cooking so I knew my Mom and her Sisters would run me out of the house to play and there was nothing I liked better than that. My Grandfather was a Dairy farmer and there were tons of stuff to do on a working farm. I would start in his blacksmith shop, I would turn the bellows to push as much air as I could into coal, no fire so don't worry. Then I would take one of the big hammers and bang on the anvil. I had permission to do this because they thought that even I couldn't break an anvil, they were right, I couldn't. 

Then it off to the hay barn where I would climb to the 2nd floor and jump into the hay stack below and not once did I find a needle. 

As I would wander back up to the house I had to pass the gas pump. This pump was about 10 foot tall with a glass globe at the top. You pump the handle at the bottom and the globe would fill with gas and you take the pump in hand and Mr. Gravity will let you put all the gas you pumped up into your car, truck, or tractor and if you were just playing the gas would slowly go back into the tank, no harm done.

Let's get back to the party, remember I was sent outside until I was called. While I was playing in the barn we had a summer rain shower. I was wearing the official uniform of all boys in 1964, a white t-shirt Levi's blue jeans rolled up because my Mom wanted me to get at least 2 years out of them but it was usually the knees or the seat that wore out first. Last but not least I had on my PF Flyers because I really wanted to run faster and jump higher and the PF Flyer commercial said I could do that with those shoes and I thought it worked.

Anyway it was a REALLY hot day in middle Georgia and after a rain everything was steaming so I wanted to cool off. In the front yard there were 2 really big live oak trees and with a full groth of leaves it was still dripping from the rain. I needed to make it drip more cause I was hot. Around the mailbox and the driveway was made with gravel as were most driveways in the South. I would throw a rock into the tree and glorious water would fall from the leaves  and drench me with cool water. I thought I was in heaven until one-time I threw the rock and I'm looking up waiting on the water and the water came but so did the rock and it popped me right in the middle of my forehead. I thought "Dang that hurt" and didn't think anything else about it so I continued being the rain maker for about 10 more minutes. 

It was getting close to time to eat so I headed to the door. The front door was open but the screen door was locked so I knocked on the screen door and my Mom's oldest Sister Aunt Helen came out of the kitchen with a platter in her hands as she saw me she put the platter down and let out a blood curdling scream and ran to the door. It scared me to death, I thought she saw a bear behind me or something so she opened the door and grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall to the bathroom, I thought she had lost her mind until we got to the bathroom and I saw myself in the mirror. It looked like Dirty Harry had shot me in the forehead with a 44 magnum. My forehead and face were covered in blood and my uniform white t-shirt was red also. A tiny pinhole from the rock mixed with water and me continuing to play did a number on me. Too bad there were no cellphone cameras then I'd kinda like to see that again.