Passing of History

I have a sand trap in my back yard. Anything that lands in the sand trap gets sucked into the earth. So far I’ve lost 12 dogs, a recycling container, and my scooter.

The scooter was passed down through my family. It was originally given to my great great great grandfather, Harlan Palmer, by President William McKinley in 1901. McKinley was running for re-election and was out on the street handing out scooters to kids as part of a press drawing op. Back then news was reported via sketches. Harlan got the scooter and a few seconds later President McKinley was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz.

One of the bullets went through Harlan’s scooter. President McKinley, laying on the ground bleeding, saw the hole and apologized to Harlan. Back at the beginning of the 20th century everyone was sincere.