Chapter 16
Redtail asked Lena,
“So how did you come to be part of the Wilder community?”
Lena laughed. “I was just drawing in my breath to ask you
the same question. I was born and raised
here. Went to school in Higginsburg and
did 6 years in the Army. I guess Wilder
spoiled me. I love the quiet and the
friendliness. I still get my share of
excitement. How ‘bout you?”
“Oh wow,” began
Redtail, “Beyond a week or so ago, it’s all a blur. All I’ve remembered of my past is my
puzzlement this morning after noticing a lack of pines and sandy soil here, and
that I seem to have a little background in survival skills. My real memory begins with walking in the
woods with not a care in the World. I
just feel refreshed, but can’t remember from what. After a few nights, I settled on a site near
a creek in what I thought was a secluded area, then George caught me, welcomed
me, adopted me, and I was hooked.”
“It must be confusing
not knowing who you are or where you’re from,” said Lena.
“Not really. I’m me,
and I hardly ever have to get my own attention, so any name’ll do ‘til the
official one comes back. And my only
concerns in life are food, shelter, and Sunday, I get to go to church
again. I’m probably more content now
than I’ve ever been.”
They both looked at
the windshield and almost in unison said, “Here it comes,” as the first few
raindrops tapped the window.
Redtail continued,
“Someone’s probably wondering where I am and what I’m up to, but my worrying
about it won’t do any good. I figure
about all I can do is wait for my memory to come back, or say, ‘Hey! That’s me
on that milk carton.” Redtail snorted a
little laugh.
Lena smiled and
asked, “What’s that laugh?”
Redtail said, “I
pictured myself initiating the search for my past. I’d probably cause a stir or even trouble if
I was to walk up to people asking, “Do you miss me?””
Lena gave a little
chuckle and said, “I supposed that could be a little awkward. What do you plan to do with yourself in the
rain tomorrow?”
“Oh, I dunno. After church, probably find a leaf to curl up
in to hide from the rain like the other critters do. I’m pretty well stocked for a few days,” said
Redtail.
Lena asked, “How you getting
to church?”
“George is taking me.”
“Wow! You actually got him to do that?”
Redtail told her, “He
offered and didn’t flinch in the slightest.
In fact, he gave me a new Bible yesterday.”
Lena said, “Frank and
I have been after him for years to come back to church. He always seemed to have something come up or
lose track of what day it was. Funny: he
never missed one of his survival presentations.” She gave a sigh and laugh.
Redtail seemed to
take quick interest at the roadside, so Lena asked, “Did you see something?”
“Actually, no. I was surprised at how quickly the buzzards
finished the snack I left for them,” answered Redtail. “The boys and I ate most of the rest of that
woodchuck.”
“Oh, that was the
roadkill they were so excited about,” said Lena. “Frank and I enjoyed about a month’s worth of
roadkilled venison, but I always tell Frank, ‘fresh venison doesn’t count as
roadkill.’”
Redtail asked, “So,
what brings you out to Perry’s Bend?”
Lena said, “Most
Conservation Areas allow foraging –above ground, no digging. I’m trying for some raspberries and to see if
any dew berries or blackberries are close to ready.”
Redtail gave a little
laugh, “I just pictured Grandpa George quizzing me on the differences between
those berries.”
Lena said, “Why don’t
we humor him and quiz ourselves?”
Redtail said, “Yeah, OK,
raspberries and dewberries have round stems and blackberry has a grooved stem
–at least the wild ones. You’re next.”
Lena smiled,
“Raspberries are ripe around Memorial Day and Blackberries start around the 4th
of July or later with dewberries in between.
OK, you go.”
Redtail continued,
“Raspberries and blackberries are on upright or arched canes and dewberries are
low, sprawling ground-huggers. Your turn.”
Lena said, “Ripe raspberries
come off the plant like thimbles or stocking caps or little cups. Anyway, the berry core is left on the plant,
while dewberries and blackberries come off core and all. Hmm.
Is there more?”
They both rode
quietly for a few seconds and Redtail blurted out, “Oh! Raspberry and dewberry have three leaflets
and blackberry often has five.”
Lena added, “They’re
all spelled different, too.”
Both smiled and
rolled their eyes.
Lena said, “I gotta
get you out to the Bumpy Log some night to meet more of the gang. I think you’d like it. George is even a semi-regular out there.”
“What’s the bumpy
log?” asked Redtail.
“It’s our social
club,” explained Lena. “It’s out in Nowhere –right in the middle,
actually. Why it’s pronounced Now-Here
is kind of a fun story, but it’s right in line with Missouri’s Ne-VAY-da
(Nevada) and Ver-SAILS (Versailles). We
can tell you the place name tale when you visit –sort of dangling a carrot for
you.”
“Sounds like a tasty
carrot, too. I love the lore behind this
area. The museum in town is gonna be a
hang-out for me.”
Lena said, “Oh
no! You gotta come out to the club to
get the story. It just wouldn’t be same
getting it from the museum.”
“Well,” said Redtail,
“I’ll try to be patient. My
communication network isn’t real effective, so it might not be easy to schedule
stuff.”
“I know where you
live. We’ll work out something. Shoot.
It looks like we’re here. You
game for berry picking?”
Redtail said, “I’d
love to, and actually need to, but I gotta get other stuff arranged before it
rains. Can I get a literal rain-check?”
Lena said, “Sounds
good. I’ll hunt you down soon.”
“Thank you so much
for the ride,” said Redtail. “Ah!
There’s another raindrop now.
Excellent timing!”
Redtail hopped out of
Lena’s car, grabbed her stuff and they exchanged waves. Redtail headed out to her new camp and Lena
departed for Perry’s Bend.
Chapter 17
George hadn’t
returned from his Big River program, so Redtail had the quiet place to herself. She went to the new wet-weather site and
stood. She folded her arms and tried to
arrange her thoughts.
Redtail smiled as she
imagined a T-ball coach yelling, “Line up!” to a bunch of four to six year old
kids. The coach gives an exasperated
laugh and rounds the kids up one-by-one.
“OK, you stand right
here. This is an important job. You’re the line-leader.”
One little girl looks
up from her mound of dirt she’d been playing with and whined, “I wanted to be
line-leader!”
“Here, you stand
right here and be Assistant Line-Leader.”
The coach caught
another and said, “Now you stand here –Come back! Yes, I know it’s a bug, but you have to be
number three.”
On to another
player. “OK, you stand-- Wait a second, you’re not on our team. Yours is over at the next field, see, right
over…” He didn’t finish and the player
was scampering off to the other field.
Redtail smiled and
thought, “Line ‘em up one by one.”
“I think the food situation
is OK for a few days. Church tomorrow. I better get my new clothes hung up to
de-wrinkle.”
She stepped into the
tent and into a side room. She stood as
straight as she could without touching her head to the ceiling. Her head was slightly bent over looking as
though her neck muscles gave out, so she decided to make her closet tripod
about shoulder height. She stepped back
outside and found three straight eye-height sticks and two more that didn’t
need to be quite so straight.
Redtail fastened the
three straight pieces together about six inches from the top and gently spread
the sticks about three feet apart at the base to form a tripod. She cut the other two sticks about in half
and fastened three of them as crossbars on the tripod legs. The fourth, she laid across the crossbars as
her closet-rod.
She found her
clothes, shook them straight and hung the shirt by the collar on a tripod
crossbar. She draped the pants over the
longest of the brace extensions. Redtail
gave her closet a look, then went outside to find more straight sticks. She returned with a straight 18-incher of about
1 ½ inch diameter and a curved one about 16 inches and almost an inch in
diameter. With her machete and a file, she
smoothed both sticks. She smoothly
rounded the ends of the curved stick after cutting it to around 14 inches.
Redtail wrapped a
piece of insulated copper wire around the middle of the curved piece of wood,
leaving about a foot of wire free. She
thought, “Now that’s a fine shirt hanger.”
She wrapped both ends of the straight stick for the pants hanger. “Now to apply the clothes.” She hung them on
her tripod. “OK, clothes are all ready
for tomorrow.” And then, a distraction
happened. The gravel started crunching
in the driveway, which indicated someone’s arrival. Redtail walked toward the house far enough to
see it was George who pulled in. She
gave a wave and headed back to her thoughts organizing. She wasn’t being unsociable and hoped George
didn’t think she was. There was a light
drizzle in the air, so she needed to stay close to her site.
George pulled a big
custom-built big-wheeled dolly from the back of the truck and loaded it with
three plastic tubs from his program. He
took those to the kitchen, grabbed two umbrellas from the coat rack behind the
door stepped back outside. George
squinted at the drizzle, popped an umbrella open and headed to Redtail’s
camp. Mr. Ziffel stood up, stretched,
twitched a couple times at the drizzle droplets, turned around, shook off and
crawled back under the porch.
George arrived at
Redtail’s camp to find her with a catfood bag poncho draped over shoulders,
covering her firewood stack with another tarp.
“Redtail,” called
George, “I brought you an umbrella.
Thought it might come in handy from time to time.”
“Why thank you,
Grandpa, that will come in handy tomorrow.”
“How ya set up for
dinner?”
Redtail said, “I got
plenty for tonight and a couple more days.
I hope the rain lets me out by then.
You want some dinner?”
“Oh, I’ve been
snacking all day at that wild edibles program.”
“That sounds like
fun. What age group did you have?”
George said, “They
were probably eight to twelve year olds.
They’re a fun bunch for a while.
I wouldn’t care to have to deal with ‘em day in and day out, or to be
responsible for their behavior.”
Redtail asked, “You
mentioned ‘Scouts’ the other day –were they Boy or Girl Scouts?”
“Actually neither. Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of
America don’t recognize Donowutt County, so we created our own
alternative. The Donowutt County Scouts
have both boys and girls in the same troop.
They keep ‘em apart for campouts and often segregate into small groups,
but the troop meetings include all. It’s
lots more traditional than what the Boy and Girl Scouts have become these days. I s’pose outsiders might call it ‘culturally
irrelevant, but we like it that way.”
“I know,” said
Redtail. “I loved the atmosphere I found today.
I went to town and even got to run Big Al’s store while he ran to
Higginsburg on some errands. I met some
of the boys in town and Renzo and Lena.
Lena brought me back here on her way to Perry’s Bend. It was a fun day. Even got tires and tubes for the bike, AND a
woodchuck.”
“Sounds like you had
a fun day, too. You ran the store? And, of course, as ‘Grandpa’, I’ve also gotta
ask, ‘What boys?’”
“Oh they were just
little guys --Kevin, Jerry and Mike. Al
calls ‘em ‘Kevin…’”
And George joined in
with a smile as they both finished the sentence, “…Riff and Raff.”
“Yeah,” said Redtail,
“They seem like good kids. We really hit
it off –my lifestyle and their love for things outdoorsy and wild.”
George said, “I had
one memorable little guy today. I think
he might’ve had some behavioral issues, since it seemed he had an adult
assigned specifically to him. They all
got into the room and seated. He was in
the back, waving his arm like he wanted to say something even before we started. His adult kept putting his arm down. The other kids pretty much ignored him,
though he did draw a couple dirty looks and eye-rolls. Poor little guy. During my presentation, he kept bouncing
around like he had to go to the bathroom.
Every now and then his hand would shoot up and his adult put it down
again. I finally finished and asked,
“Are there any questions?” Mr. Fidgit shot his hand back up again as his adult
responded like she’d always done. I took
the risk. I looked right at the kid and
said, “I think you’ve been wanting to say something for a while.” He smiled real big and the other kids gave a
quiet sigh and groan. He excitedly said,
“My… my… my dog… my dog, he fleeched a skwoozle.” At least that’s what it sounded like he
said. There were almost two seconds of
dead silence as he smiled at me. I gave
him a serious look and said, “You know, I’ve heard that happens,” and gave him
a yup-you’re-right nod. He just looked
so pleased and the other kids looked at me in disbelief. The little guy who spoke seemed to calm right
down. It felt pretty good. Then I got a few of the standard questions
followed by the silence that says I’m to ask if anyone wants to try eating any
of the bugs. The excitement erupts from
there. Kids are fun.”
Redtail said, “Kids
say some weird stuff. I think it’d be
fun to see one of your programs some time.”
“There’s lots of
times I can use help. I’ll see if you’re
game for the next one.”
“I don’t have lots on
my schedule, so I think I’d be able to make it.
The only thing on my schedule now is church tomorrow. I’m looking forward to that. It feels like I’m getting a vital missing
puzzle piece.”
“I’m sort of looking
forward to going back, myself,” said George.
“Well, I better be heading back to the house. Morning happens pretty close to right after
night, and it looks like night’s a-comin’.”
Chapter 18
Redtail woke the next
morning and got dressed. She ate a dry
sunfish and a handful of raspberries and gooseberries. She listened to an occasional tap of water
droplets on the tent roof. She scanned
about the floor for puddles and found none.
“I guess that duct tape over the hole in the roof held,” she thought out
loud.”Whether the rain’s falling off the branches or from the sky, I better
take the umbrella.” So, she took it and
the Bible and stepped outside, smiled, stretched and headed up to the house.
Mr. Ziffel met her
halfway across the clearing between the house and her camp. Redtail gave him a head-skritching and with a
laugh, “It’s funny to be happy you smell like wet dog. I’m glad your perfume wore off.” Mr. Ziffel wagged his tail and walked with
her up to the house.
The back door was
open and Redtail heard sounds of activity inside, so she announced her presence. “Good morning George, er, Grandpa. I’ll get used to that someday.”
“C’mon in. Want some eggs? Five or six is just as easy as two.”
“Oh, I had fish and
some berr… Never mind. A couple eggs sounds great!” Redtail stepped into the kitchen and pulled
out a chair, sitting down at the table.
George anticipated
her breakfast acceptance and already had two places set.
Redtail asked, “Does
the church sing traditional hymns or do they have a band and sing contemporary
Christian radio hits?”
“Well, I know they
use a hymnal, but I don’t know how traditional they are, ‘cuz lots o’ times
nobody knows the songs, but they still try to make a joyful noise.”
“Is the preacher a
hellfire and brimstone preacher or a warm fuzzy feel-good preacher?”
“Nope,” answered
George, “but he can touch on both. He’ll
step on toes and he preaches the Word.
At least if pastor Tix is still there.
It’s been a while for me.”
“Lena sounded
surprised when I told her you were bringing me.”
George laughed, “I’ll
bet she asked how you got me talked into it.”
“She sounded pleased
or even relieved when I said you volunteered to take me and even got me a Bible.”
“Yeah, she and Frank
been workin’ on me for a while to come back.
I still went regular for a few months after Mae Mae died, but then I
started slackin’ off. I even used that
excuse about communin’ with God in the outdoors instead of set times Sundays
and Wednesdays.”
Redtail lit up. “Cool!
They got Wednesday stuff too?”
“Wednesdays aren’t
usually real exciting, but they can still be fun. First Wednesday we got a fellowship dinner…
Hey, I think I’m gonna slip right back in!
I said “We” …anyway, second Wednesday, is the business meeting. Third Wednesdays are women’s meeting and the
deacons’ meeting. Fourth Wednesday is
music and craft fellowship and when we have a fifth Wednesday, it’s family
movie night. I heard a couple months
back, we even started a Sunday night Bible study.”
“What do you have for
youth?” asked Redtail.
“That was quite a
weak spot when I was going. We’re such a
small church and mighty top-heavy in the age-department. We got so few youth we don’t have much other
than Sunday school.”
“I’m not sure why,
but I got a feeling I’ve got a strong youth concern in my past, ‘cuz my mind
instantly jumped into ‘we-gotta-figure-out-how-to-keep-‘em-interested-in-Jesus’
mode,” said Redtail.
George smiled. “You seemed to fit right in with The Relics
–that’s what we call the homeschoolers, ‘cuz they’re based in the museum, and
you sure hit it off with the hardware boys.
Yeah, you might be onto something.”
“Maybe I should wait
to be invited, rather than to come across as too pushy with the youth,” said
Redtail.
George said, “Oh, I
don’t know. Maybe someone steppin’ up is
what the kids need. Aww, shoot! I just fixed yer eggs the same way I like
mine without askin’. Whites are done,
and the yolks are still soft.”
Redtail said, “Sounds
good to me.”
George brought the
pan and scooped Redtail’s eggs to her
plate, and plopped a couple on his, too.
Right about then, the toast popped up.
“Want your toast
buttered?” asked George. “Notice, I asked first this time. I got a dairy background, so stuff,
particularly bread, usually gets butter.”
“Oh, why not? I’m having breakfast at Grandpa’s, so I’ll
have breakfast like Grandpa. Besides,
I’m not even sure how I like my breakfast.
Fish and berries could work, but I’m pretty sure there’s better.”
George said, “We got
enough time we won’t have to rush breakfast, but we should probably get there
early enough to get good parking.”
Redtail gave a
questioning look. “I thought you said it was a tiny church. The lot didn’t look like parking would be a
problem.”
George laughed. “I didn’t mean for the truck. I wanted to make sure I could park myself in
the back row on an end.”
Redtail tried to put
on her best pouty-face and Precious Moments eyes. “But… Does that mean I’m
going to have to sit alone? *sniff*
*sniff*”
George smiled and
said, “Oh good. I saw what you tried,
and I recognized it as a pout, but you ain’t all that good at faking it. It’s good to see you lack experience in that
department.” He rolled his eyes. “OK,
you pick where we sit.” And they both
smiled.
George and Redtail
finished their breakfast. George got up
and cleared the table, saying, “I’m gonna rinse all these before we leave and
wash ‘em when we get back.”
Redtail asked, “Can I
help?”
“Nah, I’ve pretty
much got a system over the years.”
Redtail challenged
and smiled. “So, you’re used to cooking for two?”
“OK,” said George
jovially. “Not so much the past few years, but me and Mae Mae shared the
kitchen pretty much equally. I don’t
know. Sarah comes over fairly often so
maybe I do stay in that culinary-practice-for-two thing.”
George looked about
done, so Redtail got up, gathered her umbrella and Bible. George grabbed a beat up looking old brown
Bible and they headed out.
Mr. Ziffel crawled
out from under the porch and looked at George and Redtail. He gave a short ‘woof’ and wagged his tail.
Redtail said happily,
“You have a good morning, too!”
Mr. Ziffel wagged his
tail a few more times and crawled back under the porch as though he knew this
wasn’t his trip into town.
In the truck and on
the way, Redtail started humming a bluesy version of “What a Friend we Have in
Jesus.” George joined in on the second
verse with vocal guitar. They threw in
as much energy as they could and Redtail even belted out lyrics from time to
time. They finished the song and took
some exhausted breaths.
Redtail said, “I
didn’t know you knew Ashley Cleveland.”
George said, “Well I
didn’t figure you to be old enough to like her music. Hey, pop that glove box open.”
Redtail opened the
box and found three Ashley Cleveland CDs, a Newworldson, Tal and Acacia and two
Miss Angie CDs.
“I hadn’t heard of
Miss Angie. What’s she sound like?”
Redtail asked eagerly.
George said, “She’s
got a really neat sound. Her late ‘90s
stuff is kind of power-pop with lots of electronic enhancements. The musical energy level runs all over the
place. Her later music has a different
sort of polish to it. You can tell it’s
music from an older artist, but that’s not saying her early stuff is the least
bit amateurish. I guess the newer music
is more artistic rather than lively pop.
She’s a Missouri girl. Ha! Boy my mind wanders. She’s from Springfield, and so’s a forager
friend of mine. Wanna do some foraging
after church, weather permitting? I got
a program tomorrow.”
Redtail said, “I
gotta get a better food storage system, but yeah, that sounds like fun. Oh! I
should get some salt and try to make some kimchi! Could we play some Miss Angie on the way?”
“Sure, hand me that Triumphantine album.”
George popped the CD
in the player and the music began.
Redtail exclaimed,
“Oh wow! I love it already! It’s got an ethereal feel to it.”
George said, “Lots of
others are much livelier.”
Redtail said, “Oh,
this is neat stuff!”
“It gets even ‘Neater
Cooler’,” replied George with a smile.
“What?” puzzled
Redtail.
“Sorry, humor
attempt. Look at the case.”
Redtail scanned the
case, “OK, “Neater Cooler” is quite literal –a song title.”
As they pulled into
the parking lot, George glanced at the time.
“We’re plenty early. I wanted to
let the song play out before shutting off the truck.”
Redtail said, “Oh
good. I like her. How many albums does she have?”
“Only three that I know
of, but now I want to double-check.”
Redtail commented
about the song, “I’m glad Jesus got me when I was young.”
George said, “You’re
a ways from being old, but yeah, it can be rough to make a change as you get
older and older.”
The song ended and George
shut off the truck before track two started.
He said, “Well, it looks like this is it.”
Redtail said with a
tone similar to what George used when Redtail went to town, “No need to be
scared, Grandpa. I’ll be right with
you.”
Chapter 19
They both laughed as
they got out of the truck. Redtail
glanced at George as he closed the door.
She then closed hers, too, without locking. George said, “I don’t usually bother locking
here in Wilder. Maybe I’m too trusting.”
They both walked into
the church.
Pastor Herman Ulysses
Tix gave them a welcome by giving George a hard time right from the start. “Hi George!
My, how, you’ve grown. Why, when
I last saw you, you were just a little guy…”
And he reached out as though he was going to give George’s cheek a
pinch.
“Ya ya ya,”
interrupted George with a smile and a handshake. George looked at Redtail and said, “See? It’s been a while.”
Pastor Tix asked,
“And who is this young lady?”
“This is RT or
Redtail Scot, my granddaughter.”
Pastor Tix raised an
eyebrow.
“Adopted
granddaughter,” clarified George.
“Well, I suppose
there’s a story in there somewhere. We’re
glad to have you join us, Redtail,” said Pastor Tix.
“Why thank you,” said
Redtail. “I’m hoping it’ll be lots more
often in the future.”
George asked, “So,
Brother Herman, where do we find our classroom?”
Pastor Tix smiled and
said, “Well, the urge to ask, ‘Where did you leave it?’ is precluded by my not
really knowing if it’s changed since you were last here. We actually grew a bit and split the adult
class, but finances and teacher volunteer quantity kind of necessitated a
reunion. I’m not so sure your class is
in the same room.”
Pastor Tix reached in
to a classroom to turn on the lights. “Here’s
where the adults meet now.” Redtail and
George walked in and picked out some chairs.
“Y’all make yourselves at home.
We’re Family here.” And Pastor Tix wandered off to take care of some
more Sunday morning opening chores.
Redtail took a
Student Guide off the stack in the middle of the table. “Looks like this is the one we’re in,” she
said. “You want one?”
“That’s OK. I’ll glance at yours if I need to. What’s our Scripture today?” asked George.
Redtail gave George
the passage and another couple walked in.
The teacher said, “Good morning George! And welcome back!” The woman with him gave the teacher a quick
kiss and started to turn, but, gave Redtail and George a double-take.
“Oh wow!” she
said. “You must be Redtail. We’re Kevin’s parents, Ted and Jane
Dossett. Kevin has NOT been able to stop
talking about you. You sure made quite
an impression on him. Ever since we
moved here a couple years ago, Kevin’s been moping around all grumpy, but last
night he was excited and happy like his best friend just moved back into town.”
Redtail said,
“Wow! I sure hope I didn’t overstep my
bounds with the info I gave him.”
Jane said, “Oh, I
don’t think he held back in telling us anything. We heard about woodchucks, camping, and even
how laziness leads to invention.”
Redtail laughed and
said, “I think he got it about covered.”
Jane said, “Well,
we’re glad to have you in the neighborhood.”
Ted added, “And
welcome to our church home, too! I see
you found the books. Feel free to take
one with you.”
Redtail said, “I
don’t have a real good controlled environment so I’ll just get the Scripture
and read up on it.”
Ted smiled and said,
“I like hearing of people who enjoy preparing for class. I hope you guys get back in the habit of
fellowshipping with us.”
George said, “Yeah,
I’m sorta seein’ that as a good thing.”
In the meantime
several others walked in. There were
waves, smiles and “Hey George is back!” and the class began.
The lesson summarized
on the lines of: if people know you’re a Christian, they’ll be watching. If you’re a Christian, they should know it,
therefore, if you’re called to that higher Christian standard, what other
people think IS important.
The Sunday school
superintendent walked around ringing the 5 minute warning bell. Ted closed and released the class.
Many introductions
and reintroductions took place in the hall outside the sanctuary. The fellowshipping slowly broke up as people
started going in to sit down. George
looked more and more uncomfortable the farther up the aisle Redtail walked, or
at least he felt like he did. For
Redtail, the whole walk took only about four seconds. George’s mind slipped into slow motion as he
walked up the seemingly endless aisle –the sort art classes like to use to
teach vanishing points.
George and Redtail
sat down at about the same time. “This
isn’t too bad, is it –third row from the front?” whispered Redtail.
George said, “Oh, I
guess it’s OK,” wiping the sweat from the palms of his hands on his pants legs.
Redtail said, “I just
had a flash of my mom and dad. Still no
names or locations, but they realized they always sat in the same place every
Sunday –almost a ‘my-pew’ thing, so we started moving around each week. We got to meet lots more Family that way.”
Pastor Tix’s parents,
who were visiting, took the second from the front row on the left end and
another couple and friend took the right end.
The worship leader got up and headed to the pulpit and Redtail felt a
bump on her left and heard whispers. She
looked and found Lydia from the Relics and another little girl beaming with
grins. A tap on her shoulder revealed
Kevin in the spot right behind her.
Redtail greeted them with smiles and whispers.
Lydia whispered
loudly, “This is Chloe, my friend.”
Redtail smiled and
shook her hand and glanced around to make eye contact with Jane and another
woman she assumed was either Lydia’s or Chloe’s mom. Both gave questioning looks and seemed to
mouth, “Is that OK?”
Redtail smiled,
nodded and gave a thumbs-up. She leaned
over to George and whispered, “We gotta behave ourselves. We have accountability partners.”
Lydia giggled and
caught herself.
The worship leader
began. It was a traditional worship:
hymns from the hymnal, piano accompaniment.
Of course, there were lyrics projected on the wall, too, in case you
preferred it that way.
Redtail sang and got
the kids to sing, too. She passed a note
to Kevin and whispered to Lydia and Chloe, “If you can hear the person next to
you singing, sing louder.” The kids got
it and they all made a joyful noise.
George sort of mumbled the songs, but still, he could be heard.
After hymns and
prayers was Children’s Time. Lydia and
Chloe eagerly ran up to the front with the rest of the kids. Kevin felt awkwardly old for “Children’s”
time. He didn’t, however, feel too
awkward for a shorter run, up one row to sit down by Redtail. Lydia gave him a glare from the front, and
Redtail gave a shushing hand-gesture. Lydia
calmed somewhat and George made room for the returning girls between him and
Redtail.
Lydia’s mom put her
head in her hands but the third-rowers didn’t catch it. Lydia did and quickly adjusted her attitude
–at least outwardly.
Providentially, the
children’s message was patience in the face of adversity. The girls came back and Redtail motioned them
to sit on her other side. Lydia sat by
Redtail and Chloe paused and looked at the scary old man. George gave her a warm smile and she smiled
back and plopped herself down between Lydia and George. She looked up at George and gave him another
smile.
Pastor Tix stepped up
to the podium and began his sermon:
There’s this block of huge
beautiful homes up near Big River –on close to 200 acres. When the developer bought the place, it was
called “Tick Holler” ‘cuz it was thick with those little blood suckers. That developer knew he couldn’t sell houses
in Tick Holler, so he renamed the place, “Deer Run” ‘cuz it sounded so much
prettier. Changing what it was called,
didn’t change the truth at all. Anyway,
big city folks now buy their 2-5 acre plots, strip ‘em of the plants that made
the place pretty and replace ‘em with those astro-turf like sheets of green
called lawns. They panic if they see a
splash of color and run out with their sprays and chem-warfare suits to crush
that dandelion or violet before it contaminates their pristine wilderness. They “Ooooh” and “Awwwww” when a deer is
spotted. They “Ewwww!” and “Augh!” when
they spot a tick and run back out with their chem gear.
Changing names to suit our wants is
nothing new. Instead of calling it
“Little Strip of Dirt Between the Glacier and Icebergs”, the Viking explorers
called it “Greenland” to entice settlers.
The Viking people got cautious quick.
Explorers started talking about another new discovery and travelers
responded with: “Oh ya, sure. ‘Vinland’ yu betcha! Like dis is Greenland. I’m movin’ back ta Iceland or da
Orkneys. Didja hear, Olaf actually got
two turnips, --ya, two I tell ya-- ta
grow on one o’ doze rocky islands. A
regular Eden dere, don’t cha know.”
Let’s put a spin on things. Change what we don’t like so we can get our
own way. The whole political
correctness, blur the facts thing started lots farther back than the Vikings in
Greenland. “Surely God didn’t say you’d
really die if you ate that fruit.”
He got into the meat
of the sermon, chewed on that for a while and closed, without getting
political.
We’re not supposed to be gods or to
make any other idols, but if you’re called to be part of God’s Family, you’re
called to look to Jesus as the ultimate example. Jesus is loving and forgiving. He’s a healer and a servant, and He’s
God. One thing He’s not, is politically
correct. He calls sin for what it is
–sin. And He tells us, “Stop it!”
[Pastor Tix looked at George and
Redtail] Aside from George’s guest, or
are you her guest? I know none of us are
licensed anesthesiologists. Political
correctness is too dangerous to be messing with. It can too easily numb us to sin. God flooded the Earth already, due to rampant
sin. Yeah, I know, He promised never to
do it again –with a flood! We’ve got an
example of what can happen if we let ourselves be numbed in Ezekiel 9: 4-6. Write that down and look it up and ponder the
meaning. God may not flood the Earth
again, but if God does this in Ezekiel, I pray we resist the numbing of
political correctness and other societal anesthetics and we see sin and call it
for what it is. May the Holy Spirit
convict us and make sin so unpleasant to us we flee it always and receive that
mark
God gave us choice. He doesn’t force faith and following. He wants us to decide for ourselves.
The congregation sang
a hymn and took up the offering. Redtail
dropped a ten in the plate and George felt obligated so he put in what cash he
had. Then came announcements.
Redtail leaned across
Lydia and Chloe to quietly tell George, “I might try that music and craft
fellowship Wednesday.”
Pastor Tix gave a
closing prayer and dismissed the congregation.
As George slowly turned around, he gave a quick estimate of 60ish people
in attendance.
Redtail said, “So
many more people here to meet!”
Many scurried out and
quite a few stayed back for fellowship.
It’s one of the first times George was not among the scurriers. He found it lots easier than he thought it’d
be.
Frank and Lena walked
toward George and Redtail. The kids
started crowding around Redtail.
“It’s good to see you
here,” said Lena. “We tried to get to
Sunday school, but Esther’s dog got away again and we rounded her up before we
headed in. Did you guys make it in
time?”
“Yep, we ran the
whole gamut,” said George. “Redtail’s
even talking about comin’ back Wednesday for the Music and Crafts thing.”
Frank said, “What’s
Redtail up to? She’s got quite the crowd
gathered.”
Redtail looked up,
waved at Rick who was leaving, and then turned to Frank and Lena, saying, “Oh
hi, you guys. It looks like I might be
taking the youth on a nature walk. We’ll
have to schedule it some time soon.
Sounds like rumor of my chosen lifestyle has gotten out.”
George said, “Hey, congratulations!
Your first program!” And he shook her
hand. “You wanna go with me tomorrow for
my Midtown Garden Club program? It’s
supposed to be raining and this’ll be an indoor program.”
Lena said, “Sounds
like a set-up, Redtail.”
Redtail said, “Still,
I’d like to see one of Grandpa’s programs.
Sure, I’ll do it.”
Lena asked, “And the
Bumpy Log Tuesday evening?”
Frank said, “Looks
like your social calendar’s filling up fast, Redtail.”
Redtail said, “But it
all fits. I think it’s due to start
clearing up Thursday. Monday Midtown,
Tuesday Bumpy Log, Wednesday Music and Crafts, Thursday, foraging and hunting.” Redtail glanced toward the door. “Hi, Sarah!”
Sarah glanced around
with a look of concern. She spotted
George. “Oh, hi, Redtail. I saw George’s truck out in the lot. Everything’s OK, right?”
“Everything’s
great! Is this your church, too?” asked
Redtail.
Sarah said with a
slight smirk, “Oh, I guess, when I don’t go, this is the one I don’t go to.”
George finally saw
Sarah and asked, “Everything alright, Sarah?”
“Yeah, I saw your
truck in the lot and dropped in to find out the same thing,” Sarah said.
“We’re gonna be doing
some foraging in a bit,” said George.
“Wanna come along? Probably also be
a good time to finally show Redtail where all the boundaries of the place are.”
Redtail asked, “Is
that pond by the road yours, too? The
one with the little island in it?”
“Yep,” said George,
“and it’s also got some nice bass and catfish in it. We oughtta be heading out, too. Maybe get that foraging done before it rains
again.
Sarah said, “I just
might drop by on y’all a little later.”
Chapter 20
On their way home,
George said, “I think old Brother Herman was kinda preachin’ to the choir
today. We’re a pretty morally
conservative and non-PC bunch around here.”
Redtail said, “I
noticed that and I love it! I mean, my
hair and eyes are quite a bit darker than most of the people around here, but
not once have I encountered someone stumbling over their words or being
patronizing in order to not offend. And
nobody seemed offended. I just like
being people and there’s nothing wrong with looking different from everybody
else.”
George said, “I’m
feeling like getting all philosophical on race and ethnicity now, but that can
wait for another time.”
“OK, let’s talk about
the bunny,” said Redtail.
“The bunny?”
“That’s something
someone used to say when she wanted to change the subject.”
“OK, bunnies. Have you been to the other side of the house
–around that old fence line between the house and the pond? There’s almost always rabbits out there,”
offered George.
After a little pause,
Redtail asked, “I’ve not yet been on the other side of the house. What all are we going to do tomorrow for the
program?”
George said, “The
Midtown Garden Club is mostly women in their fifties to eighties. There’s a few guys in their forties and four
or five women in their thirties. Most
express an almost giddy delighted shock when they hear stuff like lamb’s
quarter and purslane are edible. A
couple are receptive to hearing about edible insects, but I don’t know if
they’re ready to try real survival foods like mystery roadkill or rinsed shoe
leather.”
Redtail smiled and
added, “So they probably don’t want to know how to check eyes and reject a
roadkill if they’re cloudy? That
decomposition science is cool!”
George pulled the
truck into the driveway, stopping by the mailbox. “I checked yesterday but it
might’ve been too early.”
Redtail unclicked and
hopped out, saying, “I’ll get it.” She
got back to the truck, “Nope, still nothing,” and she hopped in the truck,
clicking her seatbelt for the little stretch of driveway. “Habit,” she said.
“Not a bad one,
either,” finished George.
George stopped the
truck and asked, “Meet back here in about half an hour? I’ll bring some peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches –Dairy-Country style.”
“What’s Dairy-Country
style?” asked Redtail. “I guess I’ll find out at lunchtime.”
And off she went to
her tent as George went to the house.
What he and Mr. Ziffel discussed on the way between the truck and house
is between them.”
As Redtail changed
her clothes, she wondered, “Is it dipped in milk? No, the bread would fall apart. Unless, of course, it was toasted first. Maybe he already toasted them. I’ll bet the bread is buttered. No, that’d be weird.”
George mapped out
their forage route in his head. “North,
past the pond, then west along ZZ. South
along the west fence to the creek. East
along the creek to Redtail’s first camp and back through the woods home.”
Redtail got back to
the truck and was intercepted by Mr. Ziffel and delayed for petting until
George came out a few minutes later. He
had on a backpack and other stuff. He
carried a small burlap sack which he handed to Redtail. “A foraging bag. You can keep it if you like.”
Redtail said, “Oh
thank you! A bag that breathes is lots
better than my plastic sacks.”
George said, “Yeah,
stuff might get dried out, but wallowing in its own sweat encourages premature
spoilage.”
George asked, “What
cha got there?”
“A piece of rebar I
bent into a digging tool.”
“Want a tire
iron? I’m pretty sure I got more than
this one,” George said as he patted a canvas bag that looked like a long belt
holster.
“That’d be nice, and
it wouldn’t bend like this rebar can,” said Redtail.
George said, “I think
I know right where one is.” He set his
stuff down and trotted to the garage and pulled one out from the corner near
the open door. George got back to the
truck and handed the iron to Redtail.
Redtail said,
“This’ll be nice. Sharp, stiff, I can
hardly wait to try it out.”
George said, “I
thought I’d use today to show you the western boundary of the place. South’s easy, being the creek and north and
east are roads. Also got some cool
features of the place you might like.”
“I’m all for
exploring, and it’s fun with a guide,” said Redtail.
George said, “Well,
let’s get exploring. We can nibble along
the way or we could eat sandwiches now.”
“Whichever the guide
says,” said Redtail. “Shouldn’t we at
the very least rinse our food before we eat it, if we can’t cook it?”
George gave Redtail a
narrow-eyed look. “I know you just pluck and eat lots of the time. Why the sudden desire to wash the food?”
Redtail said, “It’s
still a good idea. I guess I’m trying to
get into teaching or program mode.”
George confessed, “I
guess at my programs I present all the edibles and lessons with all the safety
rules firmly attached.”
They headed northwest
past the house and to the old fencerow.
A rabbit, just like George mentioned earlier, tried to look scared by
hopping lazily three or four hops. He
had to look a little frightened since Mr. Ziffel was with George and Redtail.
George said, “Yep,
he’d be easy to get if you needed to.”
“I could almost kick
it,” said Redtail. “These blackberries
have a bit to go. Hard, green, I’ll
check on ‘em in a week.”
Past the fencerow
they walked into a patch of ground George worked up last winter. It was just a little more than an acre of
rough ground between the fencerow and the pond.
“Here in this patch
of ground, we oughtta get a bunch of good stuff,” said George. “Rain or shine, I think I’ll come back here
in the morning for some fresh greens. I
think there’s ample lamb’s quarter and curly dock for us, the critters and the
Garden Club. I will get some onions
now.”
“I think I’ll get
some greens now, to eat later,” said Redtail.
Northwest they
walked, to the pond.
“Oh wow, this is nice! Is the boat useable?” asked Redtail.
George said, “Last
time I used it, it was water-tight.
That’s been a couple years.”
“You said there’s
bass and catfish in here,” said Redtail.
“Do you mind if I tried for a few and checked the boat’s sea-worthiness?”
“You don’t have to
ask to use Grandpa’s stuff,” smiled George.
Redtail said, “I
guess it’s habit –and a courtesy.”
Redtail gasped, “Oh!”
She pounced on the
ground. Redtail stood up triumphantly
and tossed her grasshopper into the water.
A fish hit the hopper quickly and forcefully enough both jumped.
Redtail said, “We
gotta feed these fish better!”
“I guess so!” said
George. “At least that one was mighty
hungry.”
Redtail asked, “Have
you tried cattail? That’s a pretty
good-sized patch there.”
George said, “You
know, I’ve always been meaning to try it, but something’s always come up to
distract me. I know the roots are edible
and the pollen can be used as flour.
Those young seed heads can even be used to make a pulled pork substitute. Even the shoots are supposed to be good”
Redtail said, “Maybe
we should plan a deliberate cattail thing.
Might even try arrowhead root at the same time.”
“Maybe we’ll do that when this batch of rain
gets past,” said George.
As they neared the
road, Redtail got excited. “Ohh!
Thistles!” she exclaimed as she drew a knife and set her stuff down. Redtail squatted to the ground and began to
carefully cut off leaves. She held up
each leaf and sliced off the thorny edges, leaving the central vein.
George said, “I’d not
met anyone who knew about thistle edibility. I’ve tried ‘em, and they’re pretty
good. I just frequently forget about
‘em.”
Redtail smiled and
handed him some trimmed leaves. “They are
really good. I like the roots and tender
stem parts, too.” She pulled out the
tire iron and started to work some roots loose.
“The flowers even make for a gum-like trail chew. It doesn’t turn to gum at all, but it feels
like it in your mouth.”
“Thistle leaves, at
least, don’t have that odd wild texture that takes getting used to,” said
George. “I’m gonna cut me a bunch, too,
to sweet pickle for tomorrow.” And
George took a squat by some thistles and
began trimming, too.
Redtail said, “I was
pleasantly surprised the first time I tried thistle.”
They cut more
thistles and headed west down the road.
Redtail said, “I wish chicory grew more on the other side of the ditch
like it does right here by the road edge.
I have no idea how much the plants are affected by run-off.”
“Yeah, the run-off’s
not likely to crawl back up the ditch on the other side,” said George.
Redtail said, “Here
comes a bunch of curly dock.”
George said, “There’s
a bunch on the other side of the road, too.”
“Yeah, but it’s
growing in amongst all that poison hemlock.
Would that be safe to eat?” said Redtail. “I mean, the hemlock dies off every year and
it decomposes into the soil. The dock
sucks all that stuff back up. I’m not
gonna harvest from that patch.”
George said, “I’ve
never heard cautions against foraging in a poison hemlock patch, but it makes
sense not to. I really gotta pull it
from around the barn. That stuff makes
good George-repellant.”
Both crossed the
ditch to forage the dock on the ‘good-side’ of the road. They continued west to a gravel farming
access to an overgrown field. George
said, “Looks like you get your wish about the chicory. Here’s a bunch at the edge of this driveway.”
Redtail said, “Wow,
there’s lots of it, too. I don’t like to
forage a place unless my target munchie is very plentiful.”
George asked, “So
whatcha gonna do with it?”
“Roast the roots for
coffee and make a drink from the leaves.
I’ll eat the leaves after I boil ‘em.
I only do the leaves before the plant spikes. I’m not really sure why. I guess I think younger’s just gonna be less
bitter,” replied Redtail.
While digging chicory
and pondering coffee, Redtail continued, “Ya know, there’s times I think I miss
the comfort of indoors, but I don’t have real memories to re-live. All I get are those that’d-be-cool sorts of
memories. Like right now, I got this
picture of sitting back in a big soft chair in a cozy dimly-lit room with a cup
of coffee in my hand. I take a sip of
coffee and a long deep breath, closing my eyes and smiling. I have no clue where that place may be or
even if it exists. It’s weird.” She began humming and continued digging.
“Well, when the mood
hits ya back by the house, c’mon in and make the picture more real,” offered
George.
Redtail said, “Yeah,
sometimes I wonder where I’ve been and what I did, but, I can’t let not knowing
get me down.”
George added, “I’ve
done some wondering about you, too. Only
known you for about a week, but I like ya a lot. You’re fun, inquisitive, surprising, and,
well, a granddaughter and I think that’s just great –er, grand.”
Redtail said, “I’m
kinda likin’ this me, too. I like you,
the woods, all the new people I’ve met.
I don’t want it to end, but I’m thinking I can’t go on with this
semi-homeless state forever. I hope I
don’t find out I’m in more trouble than just having lost my old identity.
“I like how you said,
‘old’ identity,” said George.
Redtail laughed,
“Well, yeah, I’ve got an identity now.
I’m RT Scot –full-time camper and granddaughter to a pretty dern nice
grandpa.
“Why thank you,” said
George. “What say we break into those sandwiches.”
“That sounds good,”
said Redtail. “I’ve been wondering what Dairy Country peanut butter and jelly
might be.”
“Oh, ho ho ho! Prepare yourself for a culinary delight to
surpass all,” said George as he pulled the sandwiches from the paper bag.
Redtail started to
look in her sandwich and George startled her with a “No! Don’t peek. That’s cheating. Just bite into it and savor the flavor and
texture.” He closed his eyes and with
emotion, continued, “Involve your whole being with the experience.”
Redtail laughed while
closing her eyes. She bit off a corner
of her Dairy Country PBJ and began to chew. “Mmmm! This is smooth. Almost dessert-like. It’s good!
I still like the real kind, too.”
“Real kind!?”
harrumphed George with a smile.
Redtail smiled and
kept on being one with her culinary experience.
George said, “Being
brought up around dairy, that’s what I got –buttered bread. Your ‘real’ kind are almost too dry for me.”
They finished their
sandwiches while discussing the subtleties of peanut butter on bread.
With lunch completed,
they continued their walk. ZZ turned
north and our foragers turned south and into the woods.
“Here’s the west end
of my, or our, place,” said George. “It’s peaceful having Perry’s Bend to my
west and south. I get an occasional
hunter stray onto the place, but not very often.”
Redtail said, “You’d
think a fence would tip ‘em off they’re crossing a line of some sort.”
George said, “You’d
think so, but that whole better-to-ask-forgiveness-than-permission runs way too
rampant these days.”
Redtail said, “Well,
I gotta apologize. I sure wasn’t myself
when I settled on your place without asking.
I’m still not sure what “myself” really is.”
George said, “I think
your case was lots different from a trespassing hunter or dumper. Not real sure how it’s different, but it
is. Anyway, you got permission now, so
it’s all cool.”
Redtail said, “Trespassing
never crossed my mind when I found that site by the creek. Wow.” She stared as she walked.
“One big difference
is trespassing hunters and all the others, for that matter, instantly act
caught in the wrong and start making excuses,” explained George. “You were
happy to have a visitor, and I saw pure innocence to any wrong-doing.”
“Well, I’m really
really thankful you didn’t run me off.
And I love it, the way you’re helping me and just accepted me –despite
my weirdness. And yeah, I know I can
come across as pretty weird,” said Redtail.
“The woods on my side
of the fence gets a little thicker than on the Perry side,” said George. “It’s
sure pretty and dark, but not much forage at all.”
Redtail said, “Woods
edges are cool, like this fence line was open way more recently than your
woods. Your woods has almost no
underbrush! That canopy is thick!”
“Not much in a mature
forest other than nuts in the fall, stink bugs under the leaf litter in the
winter, a few spring plants and scattered mushrooms. Yeah, it’s pretty,” said George, “but ya
can’t eat pretty. I may cut down a few
trees and let in some light.”
Redtail said, “Where
underbrush is sparse, it seems so is the wildlife. Lots of squirrels in an oak hickory woods,
but not much else except what’s just passing through.”
After a bit, they
reached the creek. It was the wider,
deeper part Redtail already knew from her fishing. “I know there’s lots of stuff here,” said
Redtail.
“Hey kids!” came a
shout from the Perry’s Bend side of the creek.
“I thought I could catch you here.”
George smiled and in
about a minute, sounds of crunching leaves led their eyes to Sarah’s approach
from the other side of the creek. “I
didn’t know which way you’d be coming from, but I figured a perimeter forage
would bring you past here sooner or later,” said Sarah. She glanced around at the creek above the
pool and hopped across on some dry rocks.
Redtail asked, “How
did you get out here?”
Sarah said, “There’s
a parking lot not too far up that trail on the other side of the pool here.”
“I guess I’d never
stumbled across that trail,” said Redtail.
“But I’ve only fished the pool a couple times.”
George said, “This
just hit me, until we can figure out how to get you licensed, you probably
shouldn’t be fishing anywhere but the pond.
The landowner hunting/fishing permission only pertains within the
property, and the creek and pool aren’t within.
Redtail said, “That
won’t throw a big wrench in my life at all, since that pond looks pretty
good. I think I’ll be able to control
myself at the creek. Hmm. Crawdads may still be tasty from time to
time.”
“So, George,” said Sarah,
“Do you ever bring ‘real’ meat to your programs, or is it only bugs and little
invertebrates?”
George laughed, “Real
meat! Real peanut butter and jelly!” He laughed again, “Yes, I started out
actually cooking on-site, but that ended up being too time and attention
consuming. Dried bugs are so easy. Even as easy as salads or fresh greens are,
dried is still way easier. I used to
include frog legs, raccoon, ‘possum, rabbit, turtle and other meatier critters,
but convenience drove me to the dry side.
I still bring jerky from time to time.”
Redtail said, “I
don’t know what kind of life I led, but it seems so natural that food’s just
food, no matter if it’s green or blue or black or red or gray… OK, maybe gray’s sometimes iffy.
George said, “The difference
between ‘real’ and ‘weird’ food usually boils down to unexpected or new flavors
and textures. Like Queen Anne’s lace,
when it’s real young, has very carroty…”
Sarah comments under
her breath, “Carroty?”
Redtail smugly smiled
and whispered “Well, I know what he means, so it’s a real word.”
Sarah whispered,
“Yeah, me too, but it just sounded…”
George interrupted
the interruptions, “You two ‘bout done?”
The two snapped to
attention looking like kids caught chattering in class. Sarah even said softly, “Yes teacher.”
George chuckled and
continued, “Queen Anne’s lace, when it’s really young, tastes, smells and even
feels in the mouth, very much like our domestic carrots. They’re named Queen Anne’s lace for the
flower, but also wild carrot for the root.”
He caught an eye-roll and smile out of Sarah, but finished anyway. “Y’all probably heard this already, but I’ve
even heard if you let carrots go wild three or four generations, they’ll revert
back to Queen Anne’s lace.”
Sarah added, “They’re
non-native invasives, too.”
George said, “I
didn’t even know you knew that phrase.”
Redtail said, “We’re
not as ignorant as lots of outdoorsmen might think.”
George stumbled over
his words, “I nev… Oh…”
Sarah rescued George
from his tongue, “I probably heard it from you a long time ago.”
Redtail broke the
short silence that followed. “Textures
and the unexpected?”
George said, “I got
to inflict my Queen Anne’s lace lecture on Redtail a couple days back, but
anyway, most Queen Anne’s lace is too
woody and fibrous to chew, while some isn’t.
If you simply like the flavor, you can still fix the roots in stews and
stuff and take ‘em out before you eat.”
“Yeah, like with bay
leaves,” said Redtail.
“Like bay leaves?”
asked Sarah.
George and Redtail
gave Sarah a look, and she continued, “Yeah, you mean you take out bay leaves
before eating?”
And George got distracted, “Ah, here we go. Smilax or greenbrier!”
Sarah said, “Sounds like baby formula.”
“But it’s not,” replied George.
“Oh, this stu.. Ouch!” winced Sarah.
“Redtail giggled, “That’s it, but don’t eat the thorny
parts.”
George said, “Look for the soft growing tips like here.”
Sarah said, “Oh, I found some. Ouch! George, can I borrow your clippers? I feel like such a wimp ‘cuz this tiny,
barely visible little thorn tip has rendered my thumb nearly useless.”
George pulled his keys from his pocket and handed them to
Sarah. She pulled a key from the clipper
jaws and started digging at her thumb with the clipper.”
George said, “I think I got a tweezers in my pack.”
“It’s caught early enough.
Not too deep, anyway,” said Sarah as she continued her surgery with the
clippers.
George stopped his foraging as he watched Sarah with
concern. Redtail smiled and George
caught it. “What cha thinking?” asked
George.
Redtail said, “Oh, you two.
You’re more than just friendly acquaintances. You don’t need no matchmaker, ‘cuz it’s
already made. Y’all just need
convincing. And to top it off, I got the
strong urge to call you ‘Grandma Sarah’, like I call George, ‘Grandpa’.”
Sarah smirked, “Ha! Gotcha, you nasty little bugger!” She looked at her thumb and continued, “Man,
that was a lot of sting for no blood.”
She stuck her thumb in her mouth and bit it. “Ah, there’s a little,” she said with a smile
handing George’s keys back. “It now
feels more worthwhile going through that removal.”
George asked, “Should I kiss it and make it all better?”
“No!” said Sarah.
George grabbed her hand and kissed the wound anyway as Sarah
yanked her hand back. “Ow, you poked it with a mustache hair!” Then she softly leaned a shoulder into George
as if saying, “But that’s OK.”
Redtail laughed, “You two!”
George and Sarah stepped apart with an almost visible
reluctance and a discernible twinkle in their eyes.
George said, “So let that be a lesson to ya. Be careful around thorny plants.”
Redtail added, “Or you might get poked by a mustache hair.”
George said, “By the way, Sarah, hearing ‘Grandpa George’
feels pretty good.”
Sarah asked, “How’d you know I was thinkin’ that?”
Redtail said with a smile as she skipped several paces
ahead, “More evidence. Match made.”
George and Sarah
looked at each other and smiled again as they all continued on their walk.
Redtail called out,
“Here’s my raspberry patch! There’s a
few left, and Oh, cool! There’s even a few blackberries that might be
ready! Must be just enough sunnier here
than up in the tree line by the house that they’re a little more mature here.”
George said, “There’s
usually not much overlap in the seasons if ya find any at all.”
Redtail said, “Be
careful of thorns!”
Everybody smiled as
they picked the few ripe berries that were left or ready.
Redtail asked,
“Grandpa George?”
“Yes, grand
daughter?”
Redtail giggled a
bit, “Are there any watch or clock-makers in the area?”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, ‘cuz I’m
finding parts. I already found two
ticks.”
Sarah smiled and
rolled her eyes.
George asked,
“Crawling or dug in?”
Redtail said, “Still
crawling. I killed ‘em.”
Sarah said, “Oh
great, now ya got me feeling all crawly.”
George jumped and
grabbed a spot under his sock, ”Oh great, this one’s in. Good, I got him! Whoever said, ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff.’ hasn’t
spent much time in the woods.”
Sarah added, “or with
greenbrier.”
Redtail threw in, “or
with a mosquito sharing tent space.”
George said, “Yeah,
them little vampires are probably gonna get nasty after the rain fills some of
their hatcheries.”
Redtail said, “It’s
getting’ darker faster than I think it should.
Rain’s probably getting pretty close.”
“We oughtta be hurrying
a bit,” said George. “Sarah, how you gettin’ back to your car?”
Sarah said, “I
thought I’d borrow an umbrella and trudge back through the rain,” and she
slapped George on the back of his head.
“You old poop!”
George laughed and
Redtail said sternly, “Now you be home at a decent hour, young man!”
George said, “Hey,
I’m the grandpa here.”
Redtail said, on
spotting her old campsite, “I don’t think I miss this place. I like being closer to people –specially
y’all.” After a slight pause, she said,
“When am I supposed to be ready for tomorrow’s program? I’m sort of on a flexible six-time clock
–first thing in the morning, mid-morning, lunch, afternoon, evening and night.”
Sarah said, “Oh, so
many times I wish my clock was like that!”
George said, “Probably
afternoon, because it’s almost an hour’s drive, but I’ll gitcha.”
The overhead leaves
starting hissing and soon the canopy was penetrated by the rain. Our foragers muttered and covered up as best
they could and put a significant spring in their steps. They arrived at Redtail’s new camp and
Redtail invited George and Sarah into the tent to shake off and organize their
stuff.
George said, “Nice
place ya got here.”
Redtail said, “Yeah!
Plenty roomy and got almost all my needs met.”
Sarah bumped into
George while shaking off. Redtail said,
“Oh, feel free to spill into the bedroom or changing room.”
George stepped into
the changing room where Redtail hung her clothes and stored things. “You got
plastic tubs. Where’d they come from?”
Redtail said, “I
thought you left them. They were here
the first morning I was using this camp.”
Sarah suggested,
“Someone must’ve heard you needed some dry storage space and decided to play
early Santa or late birthday.”
Redtail looked up and
said, loudly, “Whoever you are, thank you!”
George and Sarah got
reorganized and headed out to the truck.
As they ran, Sarah said, “I sure hope you left the doors unlocked.”
Redtail called out,
“See you tomorrow!”
(story continues here: http://ognyen.blogspot.com/2018/01/rt-mac-story-chaps-21-current.html )
