The crossroads

Early Sept. and it was a beautiful Sunday to take a ride and do some scouting, so he packed the car with the family and they headed out of the park down into the Klamath Forest.  At this location the forest is mostly Ponderosa Pine with a scattering of Black and Sugar pines.  The logging road they were traveling on was just 2 tracks in the sand and everything looked the same.  The old adage "You can't see the forest for all the trees" was made from this location.  The road meandered through the trees and finally they came to a clearing about half the size of a football field.  In the center was a crossroads.  He came to a stop and said "which way", they shouted back, "Straight ahead", so off he drove.  His trusty friend, the sun, suddenly disappeared behind a low overcast sky.  He has always had a great sense of direction and was not at all worried.  He never uses a compass and normally he would know exactly where he was at by watching the sun, but today it had turned cloudy and everything looked the same.  Moss only grows on the north side of the tree doesn't work in the high plateau's where there is little rain.  He could use his watch to tell directions, but needed the sun for that too.  Soon he came to a fork in the road, just as an owl swooped down to catch a mouse and again asked for directions, "left they said", so left they went.  A half hour later he came to another clearing and crossroad and staying to his pattern for crossroads, he went straight again.  Soon he came to another fork, just as an owl swooped down to catch a mouse, this time he went right.  All thoughts of seeing wildlife had vanished and his speed had increased.  He drove for some time, his gas tank about half full, when he came upon another crossroad the car had become silent, sensing the urgency of finding their way out.  He stopped and looked, thinking he had been here before, that was the same old gnarly snag he had seen hours ago?   He said, “I know where we are, this is the same crossroad, we’re on our way home”, and took a left.  The car had come back to life and they began to laugh again until he came to the same crossroads, this time he could hear, "do do do do-do do do do, as he approached.  With the sound of Hotel California faintly in the background  he could hear Rod Serling talking about a family lost on the logging road of no return, one way in and no way out, he had entered the “Twilight Zone”.  He stopped, checked his gas and beyond worried now, he took the road left.  He came to the same fork and stopped.  Now starting to panic, he went right this time.  The gas tank was near empty and the car was dead silent when he approached the crossroads again.  Suddenly the sun peaked out from beneath the clouds and he breathed a sigh of relief, nodded to the dark haired man in the black suit standing in the crossroad as he drove by and took the road south and went home.

The rabbit hunt

In the early 70's:  The weather had finally warmed to freezing and a low pressure front was on the way, a perfect time to go Snowshoe Hare hunting.  I called my brother and he said yes, so did his wife.  So the 4 of us (my wife also) suited up and took off to one of our favorite spots, a little northeast of Milltown Wisc.  The snow was about waist deep, no bother for us, my brother and I, we had snowshoes,  the tag along's would have to wade through the deep stuff.  A Snowshoe Hare sitting on the snow is impossible to see, you have to look for its silhouette on a dark background, and when you finally do spot one its usually running away.   We slowly approached, we luckily spotted one sitting and shot it.  A little further Sharon (my brothers wife) yells, I see one.  We say where?  Under that tree!  I said its all trees.  She says RIGHT THERE!  I say where.  Right there, are you blind, give me the damn gun.  Now I'm the hunter, and there is no way I'm giving my gun up, especially to a W......  Times have changed since then and I am a more rational person now, in tune with the opposite sex.  Today if she asked for my gun I would just reply,  If you think you can do better than me, than take it.  The Hare? tired of our arguing and hopped off, I think I could hear it laughing.

Opening day

The morning was darker than usual, overcast and a new moon, as if there was a black hole sucking in all the light. He got out of the truck and put on his backpack and slung the rifle over his shoulder. He had an appointment, it was opening day. He was hunting the bottom lands along the Hudson river, an area he new well and had supported many fine deer for him. He hunts alone, to commune with Mother Nature he says, but in reality, he knows no one who hunts. Off he trudged into the brush and darkness. 20 or so minutes later he came to the spot he wanted to be, or so he thought, it was to dark to tell, so he sat and waited, he could re-position himself after first light. Morning light comes in waves and with each wave a little more clarity comes with it. Along the way your imagination takes over and you begin to see things that aren't really there. As it became lighter, out of boredom he raised his sight to his eye, there standing 20 feet from him was a large buck, he laughed, and lowered the gun, the morning light playing its tricks again. 10 minutes later the buck was still there, it hadn't moved a muscle. Raising the gun again he peered through the scope and if he looked just right, could make out the eyes and one ear, and wasn't that antlers instead of branches? Gunshots started in the distance so the day had begun. He put the cross hairs between the eyes and a little above and squeezed the trigger.

Steam Bath

When we were on shore leave in Sassabo Japan, my friends Tony, Don and myself thought it would be fun to go to a steam bath and get a massage.  They are not hard to find and when we went in they broke us up, Don in one room and Tony and I in another.  The young geisha? gave us camonas and told us to undress and left the room.  Coming back she put Tony in the steam vault (only head sticking out) and me in the hottest bath I've ever had.  After ten minutes or so she took Tony to a table and put me in the steamer.  Then she begins to message Tony and ending by walking up and down his spine, digging her toes into crevasses he didn't know he had.  Then we switch again, this time he gets the hot bath and I the message.  He eases into the bath and says," this is so hot I have to relieve myself".  I said  "Me too".  He said "WHAT" and I said "only kidding"  After 55 years I must confess, I lied.  By the way, we found the only steam bath in town where they really do give steam baths.

Moji

Tired and sore from a long day afield with the dogs, I stumbled coming up the back steps.  I was not hurt but it did remind me of a day we were site seeing in Moji Japan.  We had been selected to represent the US as the first ever warship to enter that port.  My friends and I had been walking through the Moji Mall, which is a glass covered street with all the markets below (wonder where we got that idea) and decided to eat.  Our restaurant was just ahead, but I was busy taking pictures with my new Canon to notice they were gone.  I turned just in time to see them go through the restaurant door, so off I ran.  Out of wind when I entered, I saw a flight of stairs to the restaurant door so up I ran.  2 young ladies were halfway up the stairs and just before I reached them I tripped and fell flat on my face.  What to do? being me, I curved one hand into a claw and held it by my chest and as I rose I uttered, ahr, ahr.  The ladies turned and flew down the stairs and the last I saw them they were still screaming, as they were running down the street.  Lessen learned, don't pull pranks in strange lands.

Cady

Today we morn the 1 year anniversary of Cady's passing.  She made me smile and laugh with her girlish antics and I miss her so.  I didn't realize that my smile was gone until we brought this little brown dog into our lives a few weeks ago.  Chip and Thai are males, steadfast and true, affectionate and loving but there is something about having a female around.  Or maybe its the never ending exuberance and playfulness that I have craved.  Brown dog will never be a Cady, she will be a Madeline and she has wormed her way into our hearts already.

New back yard

Yesterday I drove up north to where I bought property to put my bees on ( to be known as "The Farm".  It is covered in Bayberry brush so I have been (painfully) chopping it down and burning it.  As I was working, evening suddenly appeared and I noticed the dogs looking toward the meadow and saw 5 deer munching away, not caring a thing as we watched.  Back to work to bring in the last pieces before dark and put them on the fire.  Then I opened a bottle of wine and sat.  Looking up the first star appeared, soon the sky was ablaze,  matching the fire before me.  I was admiring the Milky Way, something you can't see from the city,  as it stretched across the sky when a satellite past overhead and it took me back some some 59 years ago when my trusty companion, our golden retriever, Goldie, and I were skating on Green lake, one of my favorite winter things to do, and tiring, I lay down with my head on Goldie's chest, listening to the throb of her heart and rhythm of her breathing and saw Sputnik, the first ever satellite cross the sky, a night to remember.