03.07.2021 “all the skin and eyes”

I was contacted by an old friend named Mark whomst lived on the commune I grew up on today. We haven't talked in probably 15 years or so. I waned to try to write down some memories in my head that contained this person.

The moccasins

We had an issue with a stray cat who we were worried had rabies and Mark offered to be the one to put it down. They drowned it in a 5 gallon bucket. I remember watching Mark hold this cat down and after a while pulling it up and it still being alive and having to try again. It had long orange fur and I think a snaggletooth. Mark ended up skinning the cat and making a pair of moccasins with it. I remember trying them on. They were rather stiff as I don't think the leather was tanned quite right.

The sheep head

Mark had been painting still lifes of stuff harvested from the garden. Kirk had gotten a sheep that had died from Bob Fred and someone at Dreamtime butchered it. Mark had kept the head with all the skin and eyes and such still intact and put it in a bowl of fruit to paint. I remember seeing the painting right after it was done and being impressed by how realistic the painting was. It was on the wall in the Hotel for many years. Probably still hiding at Dreamtime somewhere.

The swimming pool

My mother had been taking me to learn to swim at the Richland Center community pool for a few months. I was a slow learner in this regard. I already had a fear of not being able to touch the ground and had been going to the pool and using floaties there and slowly practicing. One day Mark came with us to the pool and after I practiced for a while Mark commented to me that they had learned to swim in a single day. I said “I want to learn in a single day!” and they asked “are you sure?” and I replied “of course!” and they threw me in the deep end of the pool and I sank straight to the bottom. My mother jumped in and pulled me out and had to push all the chlorine filled water out of my lunges. I remember riding home feeling the sting of chlorine in my throat. To this day I still can't swim cause of the shock of that day. I don't blame Mark for this fact. As an adult I could have prioritized learning to swim many times but never have.