BRUCE PATON, SEVEN SINS, RENFREW, OLD STORY DROPPED OUT OF FILES
BROUGHT IT BACK TO WEBISTE FOR MY APPLICATION FOR A THIRD YEAR CREATIVE WRITING COURSE - THEY WANTED PROOF OF LIFE BRUCE'S SEVEN CRIMES OF THE LAST CENTURY (AND THEN SOME) photo by Bruce Paton By Stephen Weir The first crime of the day was the sweetest. Black paint spray cans at the ready; Bruce and I had our way with the road sign that had stuck in our craw for years … “Renfrew, a beautiful town to live in, population 9,800.” We weren’t very literate back in the day, so we made it short and to the point. “Renfrew a beautiful town to die in, population 9,798.” Littering was our second misdemeanor that hot dusty August morning. We tossed the evidence – two spent spray cans - into the weed filled ditch just before we threw our knapsacks into the back of the pickup truck that had stopped to give us a ride. Squeezed into the cab, left knee getting pummeled by the vibrating four-on-the-floor gearshift, Bruce and I once again left town forever. We were too young to understand tha