Paul was cereal: part XXI

Paul was “I don’t know exactly.”

 

“Well if you would have been payin”

“but this is the war with that ship, the USS Constitution, and when fired upon by the British Royal Navy their cannon balls bounced off the sides and a cry went up from the Brits ‘Huzzah! her sides are made of iron!’ So that is how it got its nickname, Old Ironsides and my grandfather took me to see that ship last summer. He is really interested in all that naval stuff, foremast main mast mizzen mast, has all these old books and is always visiting the”

“Paul.”

Classroom kids had ceased their normal chair squirming note passing general disregard for the teacher.

“library.” Paul continued spilling, “and models. In his trailer they are everywhere, in emptied out wine jugs and on shelves, we put them together longboats hanging off the sides rigged and ready for pulling, the radio playing as yardarms came together at the kitchen table all summer long we were at grandfather’s trailer and we would walk home and mom’s eyes red and puffy and Dad gone again to work an extra shift at the factory.

These tiny ships, I could always find the pieces, see where the wooden slots fit, a clear progression from beginning to end, and after finishing the Old Ironsides model we went on a trip up to Boston to see the ship. And when we came back Dad was gone, his car and his bottle of aftershave. But, but I stood on that ship, Old Ironsides.”

 

The war of 1812? What will Paul have for lunch?

 

Tune in tomorrow for Part XXII of “Paul was cereal”