people I have known

[doodlebug]

"In the end it all worked itself into a stroke of good fortune for me. Dave hooked me up with the old station wagon,some good Extratuf boots and great rain gear.Carina gave me the tent and some cash ,which she said I earned helping her with the transitions. I stayed two weeks there and was ready to go to the mountains. I was lucky to meet Mike and lucky,I think to run into you. Be that as it may,Now that you've heard my tale of woe and wow what kind of advice do you have."
"I said"Don't take any wooden nickles."
He smiled and said," I'm serious."
I asked him what his goals were at that moment. "What do you WANT to do?"

[doodlebug]

" Honestly I'm thinking I should join up with Mike and learn something about being out here. I really don't know much about the mountains at all.Driving around will not be an option much longer because of gasoline and the fact I don't intend to try to get work. I don't believe it is in my best interest and neither does Angel. She isn't helping much lately and says shes almost ready to go to Europe for the summer.I didn't want to hear that, but if that is the case I have to learn to watch out for me. I believe Mike can help me prepare. I don't really have any other plan. He told me he comes to town on the second Tuesday of every month."
"That's true. He'll be at the Blue Spruce Tavern by 7:00.He always is.He gets anything he might need, has a couple of brews and he's gone for a month.If he has offered to help then that is more than he is usually willing to have to do with folks.Means he has faith in your ability to listen and learn.He isn't one to take on responsibilities other than his patrol. That is his life. However,if you decide on that path, you do have to listen and not question.It is very important.He has ptsd and can lose control if things are going bad. Remember that and remember to not try to wake him if he's having a bad dream. That can get you killed.O.K.?"
"Makes sense to me." It's Sunday isn't it.?"
"yes."
"I best find a camp spot till Tuesday then."
I told him to pitch camp right across the road on the flat and it would be fine for that short of time.My neighbors aren't around and they don't mind. I'll call them to be sure."
So I called my neighbors down in the tri -cities and they said it was alright. I watched him out the front window as he put up his tent and started pacing around,talking to the air and waving his arms around with great expression.
I was ready for bed.

[doodlebug]

I went to sleep. As soon as I had a good snore going I dreamed a beautiful meadow in the high country. It was late spring and the flowers were blooming. There were a few elk with babies dancing around them.Above them I could hear a creek running and some one singing. I seemed to float down towards the sound.I rounded a bend in the water and out in the stream stood a beautiful woman.I could tell inside myself that she was beautiful even before I could make her face out.She was looking directly at me. My eyes focused.Her hair was a cascade of jet black curls that fell below her breasts and her lips were full and smiling.She had deep blue eyes, the color of the Ohanapacosh rivers' deep pools.Her hands were held out towards me and glowed a soft golden color.Then she spoke,"Nice to meet you,sir.I'm Sheila.Ron knows me as angel." Then she turned away and started walking down the creek. When she did I noticed first that she had cardboard wings duct taped to her shoulders and second that she had a mark on the back of her head inside the curls. As I stared my vision zoomed in like a telescope and I saw it was a lemon sized hole with maggots falling out. My eyes followed them to the water where they turned into rainbow trout as they hit the surface.
I sat up in bed trying to catch my breath. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I rolled to the floor and made my way to the kitchen,grabbed an aspirin and stuck it under my tongue. Then I stepped over to the table and opened my bottle of nitros and swallowed one. After sitting a spell my heart settled down and my breathing came back to normal. I slipped out to the deck with Peo beside me and sat down.
Across the road there was a dim light in Ron's tent and I could hear him reading aloud." In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried unto God .He heard my voice out of his temple and my cry came before Him even into his ears."
I sat and quietly listen to Ron read from Psalms for an hour. It calmed me and I went back to bed.

[doodlebug]

After breakfast and a pot of coffee I dug a 8" high carbon butcher knife out of the knife drawer and demonstrated how to build a sheath for it. This is a perfect tool for the woods. It is easily kept sharp and large enough to take some rougher use like splitting small pieces of wood from a larger one. High carbon rusts quickly compared to stainless but a knife used daily never has a chance to do that. Should you lose it,and you will, you haven't lost a lot. I tried to drive home the fact that a good rule is to always put your knife back in the sheath as son as you get through with what you're cutting. If you get into that bad habit of laying it down beside you(because you may use it again "here in a minute",sooner or later you'll walk off without it. When you do,everyone(believer or not) finds out that the Little people that live in the woods will take it. Even if you go back to the exact same spot ,it'll be gone. They don't keep these things long. It is more a thing of them just letting you know that they are around. As you spend time in the woods you'll find other knives,machetes,canteens and rain jackets on a regular basis. During mushroom season,it is common for a person to lose as many a 8 or 9 in a week. You'll also find 8 or 9! In stream fishing season there are always pocket knives or those small trout knives to be found. Usually laying in plain sight on top of a rock where it would be easy to clean a fish. Another tip,around popular "primitive" camp sights if you walk by where flat landers leave a pile of toilet paper you'll often find knives,wallets, cell phones and anything else one carries in a back pocket. The loser goes home never knowing where that item went.
I let him do the stitching since I already knew how.He was a good student and concentrated well for as worn as he looked. I don't know how much sleep he got but I hoped more than I had. I found him a small day pack and got him hooked up with fire making stuff and a small first aid kit. That was enough. He could pack a change of clothes and several pairs of socks and he'd be ready for lessons. I was happy he had the perfect bot for our area already and great rain gear. Mike would teach him everything else. I knew Mikes system well and what he would be doing for the next three weeks. He has a training program he's used to help other Nam vets learn when they move into the woods for what ever reason they have.
His approach is water,shelter,food and tools. Basics. If you get those things down then all you have to do is live with your self and your dreams.There are caves,overhangs and brush houses you can use or make.A can is all you need to boil drinking water.you don't have to have a large fire for this .A pitch wood fire will boil water in no time.You can't just drink the water because of beaver fever.That is caused by Giardia lamblia.he's a little one celled critter that will give you the trots.You'll dehydrate and get all confused and often die. On the other hand,some people get over it fairly quick with no help. It is one thing you don't chance. I've heard a stream cleans itself every hundred yards or so but have found this to be untrue sometimes. It isn't worth the risk. An exception to the rule is water from springs right at the source. Never have I gotten sick from a spring.Some people don't know a spring from runoff coming from above. Could be a dead elk laying out of sight up there.
Our area has plenty of knapping rocks for making knives or arrow heads. Mike will show Ron how to do this and have him work on some tool each time that stop anywhere for a rest.Once he has that one down he won't be as concerned about the loss of a knife. It is fairly quick and easy to make a usable knife in minutes if you know.After that he'll move on to emergency bow making. Arrow shafts from ocean spray. How to make glue from pitch and coals.The proper way to fletch the shaft and tie the point securely.
He'll be traveling while pointing out and harvesting plants, explaining dead fall and loop traps with figure 4 triggers/trips. His route will be one that runs about ten days in a circle around the town.The same one the elk use only paralleled to it. just like the bull elk do it. As they go,he'll learn the land marks and the directions with some star gazing along for fun. After two trips around Mike will have Ron take the lead. If he gets going the wrong way,he'll let him.then he'll show him where and often why he went in the wrong direction. The terrain sorta herds you along.You run into straight up cliff,you automatically go around. You come to a deep canyon you change course unless you just want a serious work out.There are only so many places you can go both one way or the other.That's where you lose it. The main thing he'll learn about navigation,is you're never truly lost. just confused for a week or so. When you live that lifestyle though,it doesn't matter much where you lay down to rest at night. As dark starts coming you find your spot before you can't see and get settled in. Preferably with wind protection.
If Ron is a good student he'll be ready to go any where in the Northwest woods and be just fine. Then he can make decisions on what to do with his life. No rush, no need for the grid. As close to free as one can be I suppose.

[doodlebug]

There are many good plants for harvest around these parts. Getting them to taste good is a different story many times. You have to learn to look for your spices as well if you like to enjoy eating. There is yerba buena a plenty,ginger root along the creek banks,the lemony flavor of the red sumac buds( excellent on fish)the black and red ants that build the huge pine needle nests(Formica rufa) make great pepper taste, licorice ferns,wild garlics and onions, berry leaves,sages of different varieties, several wild mints, etc. Knowing these and remembering to pick a bit as you go along can and will make dining more enjoyable. Some ,like ginger are more rare so you usually need to get that when you see it. Never,but never,take more than you'll need and never take it all.Many can be dried and stored without too much trouble. Knowing from a book if something is "o.k." to eat doesn't help you out much unless you know how to properly prepare it. Many things have to be cooked and drained two or three times.Many things can hurt you if you don't do this. It is best to learn from some one. Medicines are particularly tricky.
Just as in all schooling ,learning the world outside takes time. Some things come natural to one person but difficult for the next. Mostly the water is the one you have to take care of.more can go wrong from lack of water than lack of food and much quicker.We have all the water you could ever drink in the North west.Just gotta make it safe. Another problem with people getting outside is many depend on meat for food and forget that you have to have other parts of the diet. It only takes a short while of a meat diet to get you a good case of gout going. This can get to be crippling. Mikes main defense against this is his craisins.Dried cranberries. There are so few wild here that they aren't dependable but other berries are available if you dry enough and store them well. I pick up craisins in bulk for him.Also his favorite dried apricots. A luxury item. On his Tuesday in town I'll get his list. Some times he doesn't need anything.other times there might be 4 or 5 items. Never much.His idea of spoiling himself is store bought soap or maybe a ready made toothbrush. He keeps some alcohol and peroxide around in different stashes along with a sack of powdered"animal grade" antibiotics. Some baking powder is nice and often flour ,rice, oatmeal, some sea salt and peppercorns. He doesn't HAVE to have any of that but it's nice to have a hot biscuit every so often.

[doodlebug]

We spent the afternoon cleaning up his station wagon and washing /drying anything that would be stored inside of it. The boys at the hi way department agreed to stash his rig in their truck compound for no more than two months.That was awful nice of them.Things needed to be dry and in order as mold will eat a car that sits here, along with everything in it.This would give Ron a nice window of time to make some decisions. He really didn't have much of use in the car. The sleeping bag he had was large and too cumbersome and the tent wasn't needed and weighed too much.
Tuesday morning we drove to the big town for my groceries and a few items for my neighbor, three pairs of socks for Mike and a cast iron skillet for Big Gene,another vet that lives in the forest.
Big Gene is also one of the best cooks I ever knew.His chicken and dumplins' are killer!! He had a habit of coming by a couple of times a month, bringing whatever he has on his mind to cook and fixed us a dinner.Always something to look forward to.He moved on just last year to the Oregon country.Haven't heard a word since. I miss his visits. He was one of two men I knew that had fought it out with a black bear. He was in the hospital for three weeks. Mostly infection related. His back and legs looked like some kind of modern art picture done by means of scarification. He tried that "play dead" routine after the initial attack( he surprised the bear with cubs topping a hill,coming up out of brush)the bear sat down and started eating his calf muscle and the fight was on. Big Gene hurt her enough with his knife to get her to leave him alone but he knew from wounds received in the "police action" in Viet Nam that he was going to lose consciousness soon and figured she'd come back and eat him. Lucky for him, other hunters came upon him and got him out of there. They were strangers but were below him on the mountain and heard him screaming earlier.
Anyway,sorry for the sidetrack, we picked up our goods and met Mike at the Tavern that night.

[whocanibe]

I've just found this thread doodles, I shall have to keep reading from the beginning.

[doodlebug]

Hi Sis! I thought I told you about this.Guess not. Mostly it is an excersise in memory. I've found myself losing so many, I thought perhaps I best use the ones I have before they're gone as well. I'm getting help from the ex every now and then. Seems that once prompted the doors open with a little pushing and pulling. I do have a few journals that help. When I can find them. I hope you enjoy.

[doodlebug]

There's three doors leading into the tavern.Mike sits in the one spot where a person can see all three.One time he told me there's six steps to the side door and thirty to the back.The third one leads to the dining room and one of the two restrooms and is "next to useless in an emergency situation."( one night I counted those steps and he's exactly right.I wasn't surprised.)A neon Bud Light sign hangs on the wall behind his table which he unplugs as he sits down.He never sits behind the table exactly.He's a little to the side.It's dark at his station. I know he has a nine inch knife strapped to his leg beneath his pants and a Govt. .45 auto tucked in his belt at his back hidden by the light jacket."Traveling light"is what he calls it.
Rita knows about the weapons.She doesn't mind and I always feel good cause you never knew ,back then when you might need some help. Mike doesn't excite easily and he would never pull a weapon unless some one was going to die if he didn't. He's disciplined. In the early days of his visits I did See him have to deal with obnoxious guys from town but he certainly didn't need or use a weapon. It always strikes me funny how some men will come up here and get to feeling wild and woolly and for some reason they try to pick a fight with some old guy like Mike. His answer is to try to just buy them a beer and forget about it but some folks are hard to please. They're the ones that end up not wanting to come back up here.
Mike has already been to Rita's trailer,showered,changed into town clothes,picked up his wallet and checked his messages. He has a message box under the back porch.It looks like a plastic coffee container.

[doodlebug]

Mikes' looks sometime call attention to him.His eyes are a gray,sorta see through color. He's got a nasty scar that starts at his chin and follows his jaw line up to his ear on the left side.The bullet took most of his jaw muscle on it's way through so it's rather ugly in the day light.Some nine or ten year old kid put it there in 1968 during his second tour of the Nam police action. It doesn't bother Rita. She told me she doesn't even see it. I'm of the opinion her love washes it away for her. Those two get together every time he's out of the hills.She likes to trim his curly black hair and clip his nails. He'll sit through anything she decides to do.He looks like a little kid when she's working on him. She's damn good with sutures too. She's sewed almost every Woods Rats hide at least once, removed foreign objects from skin,given out antibiotics and vitamins and an occasional pain pill.
Rita is what you'd call a lady of the evening,selling her attention to mostly out of towners during hunting season. It is easy money and she doesn't have a problem with being self employed.Third Tuesday of the month she is a different person. Everyone knows that. She and Mike are in cahoots. He said that he has a great respect for her because she was also a prisoner of war. A different war, but war all the same. They're actually a cute couple. Myself, I love Rita for her time given to the elderly here. She plays an accordion like you wouldn't believe and entertains the folks at the Senior Center almost every week. They think she's the cats meow and won't stand for any one talking down to her or about her. Rita will stay with you when you're sick.She doesn't mind any kind of mess and is fearless when it comes to dealing with scam artist that show up to trick her friends. She'll come cook for you or help you get wood in or shovel you out of the snow.I've often thought she must be the most well rounded person I know. Mike is crazy about her. They formed their own secret society after he started drawing a check. He doesn't need all that he is getting by any stretch of the imagination so Rita keeps his bank card and they are always doing something fun.Maybe a kid needs basket ball shoes or a ball glove or a prom dress. They'll get it done and no one will know where it came from. That is the fun for them. Kathy and Karl do the dirty work. They can keep a secret. They own the Tavern.

[doodlebug]

Mike and Rita's secret society has,at times,been a benefit to the community in other ways.I'll only mention one. One of Rita's' neighbors in the trailer park decided to come home and almost kill his wife and daughter.He was very much under the influence. He stuck a steak knife twice in his wife's back as she was trying to get out of the house. He drug her back in and beat her up real bad.Then he went to work on their daughter. When the police finally got there she wouldn't press charges. She made the daughter stay in her room and made up some kind of crazy story to protect her husband. Again. It wasn't that she cared about him. She was just scared.
Anyway,the society dealt with it. The next Saturday night the fellow was hitting on Rita and she was shooting some pool with him and feeding him drinks. For some reason he passed out outside in the smoking area. He woke up in his truck missing a thumb. Looked like some one cut it off with some shrubbery shears.He had a note pinned to his chest politely informing him that should he ever find himself in a bad enough mood to hurt his family he should go the other way. Next time he would awaken with no penis. He took that well and left this town,alone, and we haven't seen him since. I don't think that is all that bad. I think someone showed restraint. I can't feel too bad when I see his girl. She's grown and married now and a real nice kid. Her crushed eye socket has healed fairly well. Her mom died a couple of years ago from some kind of infection. I can't remember the details.
It is just my opinion but I personally have an appreciation for the society. I'd vote for it to be used more often. No one has the right to be that mean. I'd make a terrible judge I suppose. I'd revive hanging.The good Lord knows best what we're suited for maybe.

[doodlebug]

So, Ron and I joined Mike at his table. We shook hands all round and sat down. Ron,asked Mike,"Is your offer still open to show me some things that will help me function out here?" Mike said "Sure. What was your name again?"
"Ron."
"Fine, Ron. You can meet me at three corners mid morning tomorrow.We'll get started.Bring your knife and bedroll. Good night."
I almost laughed at Ron's expression. He isn't use to being dismissed I guess. Mike laughed and said"want a beer?I'm buying." and punched Ron in the arm.He's a funny guy sometimes.
"Sure, thanks Mike."
I excused myself as I had a bone to pick with the cook from the last time I was in the tavern.She served me some chicken that was raw in the middle. I was unhappy.
After we got our cards in order in the kitchen I came back out and played a couple of games of stick with Karl and once again took a beating. Never could get the best of him.Of course it IS his table and he played every day. That's my best excuses. Plus the house sticks are all crooked. You don't bring your own you're in for a challenge.
About 11:00 we left Mike to have some time with Rita. At the house I got two wool blankets for Ron and showed him how to make it a load easy to haul ,wrapped around your torso. We packed some dried fruit and granola in his pack. After a cup of bedtime coffee I went to bed and Ron went to his tent across the road.
The next day I dropped Ron off at three corners after we delivered his station wagon to the State shed. I told him to just wait and Mike will be along. I told him"maybe see you in a few weeks. You'll do fine. Just remember,don't try to wake him from his sleep.Have fun."
On the way home I kinda wished I could be a mouse in his pack for a few days. This would be entertaining!

[doodlebug]

Two weeks later I checked our box up by Packwood Lake parking lot and found notes from both Mike and Ron. Also a scibbling from Nine Toes Bob.Mike wanted a five pound sack of brown sugar.Ron's list was a little longer. Nine Toes wanted triple a batteries for his head lamp. Easy order. I'd get those things before the next Tuesday came around.Mike also asked me to pick up a box of candy for Rita. It was their anniversary. I laughed at that because we both know she doesn't eat candy.However,she does like to show it off to the ladies at the Senior Center and share it with everyone. This has been known to prompt all kinds of romantic stories from the gals and Rita has a huge heart for romance. It would be the perfect gift. I don't think they notice that Rita doesn't ever eat any candy.The ladies in the kitchen at the center told me about it once. They had asked her what the deal was.All she said to them was "I'm in love with the wind ,ladies." And then she spread her arms and pretended to fly around the room just giggling. When they told me that I cried. It made my insides grin so big it hurt. There's nothing I'd change about that girl. If you detect the fact that I've always had a small crush on her spirit I'm not surprised. It glows when you're around her.
When Tuesday rolled around I met Mike and Ron at the Blue Spruce. They both were in good spirits. It had been warmer and everyone was in a pretty good "we made it through the winter" mood. Ron was smiling from head to toe and very lively and excited. I asked him how he was doing and he said,"never better,thank you.I'm going horn hunting with Nine Toes for the next two weeks over in Sasquatch Heaven.We're partnering up. He is a kick in the pants.Mike and I need a break anyways.He's tired of company. Thought a change would be good."
I said" Nine Toes will show you the ropes well. There's good money in sheds and he knows where to look."
"That's exactly what Mike says plus he thinks if I don't do that ,I could end up kilt.HA HA HA! I guess he's feeling edgy. A lot of dreams lately. I wish I could help."
"We all wish that and we can. Help is as easy as leaving him alone. Always works.Anyway, you do need to make some cash for winter supplies if you're hanging around."
"Oh,I'm hanging around. Already got a few homes picked out.Just waiting to close on them.HA! Mike is giving me that quadrant below butter butte over to Dixen mountain. I plan on patrolling that like it was my own. Nine toes is going to help me with my language skills and I hope to know enough Cambodian and Spanish so that I can communicate if need be. I already know how to say "you die." and "go away." in either. HA!"
Ron seemed a bit fruity to me but I think it was the coming to town after a month that was doing it. Rita hauled Mike out of the Tavern quite early and Ron went home with me that night. When we got home he said,"good night." and walked off into the woods. That was a good sign. Comfortable in his own skin. The next morning Nine Toes was asleep in my garage when I went out to take out the garbage.
"Morning, Mr. Burnett " and cleared my throat real loud. He sat up and said," I know it's morning without your help. Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me or do you have a cuppa joe to offer a tired old soul.Cream and sugar if you have it."
"Come on up Friend. How about some pancakes.There's huckleberry syrup and lots of butter."
Nine Toes pulled a big bowie from it's sheath and handed it to me, hilt first, and says," Make me."
We laughed at that and went up inside the house. A few minutes later Ron knocked at the door.
"Come on up."
Over breakfast Nine Toes Burnett lined out his plan. He had a friend in helicopter logging that had agreed to pick up a sling of antlers on a certain date. All the boys had to do was find the sheds and rig them in the sling. No carrying all that out on foot. This was an excellent plan and the area they were headed to was perfect as no one is allowed in there and it is watched a bit. Being as the rules and laws don't apply to Woods Rats this worked out to their good.
with sheds bringing 8.00 a pound this would give both men enough for a good mess of supplies.That, with mushroom season and if need be, berry season would give everyone all they could ever want. That is of course,barring trouble. Seems there is always trouble though. It is part of it and builds character.

[doodlebug]

Nine Toes has ten. His name came after a feud he had with a boar black bear. They sorta chased each other around for a whole spring /summer season. Burnett ended up in the Ohanapacosh River and almost drowning. The bear must have realized the trick he played, by ambush, at a perfect spot made the man overly upset to the point of dropping everything until they had a face off. He left the country. Of course he left during breeding season so I'm not so sure it was because of Nine Toes. The bear had only nine toes. So, the boys in the woods gave the name to the Burnett. He's worn it proudly. Since the bear was never seen again everyone figures he's become a rug hung on some hunters den wall with green or red felt glued to his tummy.
Mike had already filled Ron in with pointers on how to deal with or be with Nine Toes. The man has his bad moments but they are sorta predictable. It is best to be away from him if the moon is full and the sky is clear. He gets so paranoid "he is a loose cannon and unsafe to be around." Burnett and I talked about it after one incident that I was witness to. He said to me,"You know ,when the wind blows straight, the deer knows with his tail to the wind he isn't being sniffed by the cat behind him. Down wind,every one knows you're coming and will ambush you. So it kinda works for you and against you. Like 60/40. Let the wind come from more than one direction,all swirly, and you have serious problems. That's why in a swirl you can find them laid down,with a view,up high if possible. That is their only real defense at that time. They're nervous and shaky and ill. With me, it is that moon so bright that everything is casting a shadow around you. A lot of movement in the brush with the slightest breeze. You don't know what is something and what is nothing.Normally,I can tell a ghost if I see one. Maybe several.But in the daylight of a full moon ,it's hard to tell, plus everything can see you better.In the dark you are invisible. Anything or anyone that is serious will use invisibility to their advantage. I should know. Best thing to do in that situation is get under ground with your back to a wall,fully armed and your finger on the trigger.Then pray.I do my best praying like that.I know there's fools that don't have a god but not many of them are around after their first fire fight. Bullets flying all around your head brings about a conversion more times than you hear them calling for their momma.It's usually one of the other. My mother was gone before I ever finished school so I call out the heavens. I figure either she or God will hear.I must be right. I'm still walking the Earth when by rights I shouldn't be. Don't need no other proof in my book. just remember that."

[doodlebug]

Burnett was educated and "current." We'd leave him old Readers Digest and McCall's magazines I got from Donna's House of Hair when they got too deep there.There was even an occasional National Geographic whose pages were getting frayed.He was sentimental as hell when he got into McCall's. He "knew" his daughter was probably reading those because his ex-wife was. The girl would be grown and more than likely married by now. Maybe she had a career. He didn't know. He had missed her for fifteen years. She was six when he left. His ex "poisoned her mind against him"years ago. "She told her I was a drunk and no good for nothing and to her credit,I was.But I wasn't always and I planned on getting better back then. She could have waited ,but she didn't. As fate would have it,I got better too late. That's just sticks floating down the river."
Later we found out how they worked together. After a tour of the area,a large expanse,Nine Toes laid out a search area for Ron and a rendezvous point for the pile of antlers. Three weeks later they had a nice collection of deer and elk shed horns.They had no problems. Angel came along to help Ron and Nine Toes didn't need any. Their ending total was around six thousand dollars. Ron stashed his and Burnett banked his with Clara, the pie shop owner and baker supreme. He didn't need much to get by on.
Ron learned the Saint Helens wilderness and all the way over to the Birly Mountain area through to Morton like the back of his hand. Ron was also self contained by then. He was a walking recreation vehicle with all the amenities. All up in his brain and written into his muscles and bones. He'd also worn out all of his socks and was down to flint knives.

[doodlebug]

Ron decide to make a trip with me to town to pick up the things he felt he needed before heading back out.The spring run of coho salmon was starting and he wanted to get salt as mike was going to help he smoke fish. They could get all they needed in any number of small creeks that the fish run up from the river. Also decided on the smaller Bolo machete like the timber cruisers use. A little heavier metal and not so cumbersome as carrying a longer blade. So, we went over the pass and spent the day running around. He got a head lamp and batteries, socks,Bolo,a couple of camo tee shirts,another pair of boots and a couple of sacks of food items. He was all smiley and said he felt like a rich man now that he knew he could live without any of the conveniences he had purchase. When we got home though he was a nervous wreck and talking to himself. It was just too much excitement for him and far to loud. I understood that part well.
He wanted me to sell his station wagon as he didn't think he would ever need a car. I got a hundred bucks for it from a guy who worked for the road crew who was going to use it in the demolition derby during Loggers Jubilee in August.
The rest of the summer Ron didn't come to town. Mike said he was off walking to the Redwoods in California.He would walk down the coast and he did. Ron was a free man. Mike had given him some hints on the trip and where to avoid.He also gave him advice of harvesting from the Pacific ocean.Ron got back in September and had gained weight on that trip.
We had a real deep snowy winter next and it turned into a test of survival for the Woods Rats. While we had 4 feet on the valley floor it got much deeper above 2000 ft'. Ron learned to make snowshoes from Nine Toes and how to dig in to the snow for shelter. He did get bored though.There isn't much to do when the snow is so deep and you live in it every day. He asked Mike what he does to keep from going nuts through these slow spells. Mike said,"That's easy.I sulk."
Ron said that information didn't help him much until he tried it. He sulked and pouted and practiced disgusted looks until he laughed. He said that when you're truly sulking and no one is around to see you sulk ,pretty soon you're laughing at yourself.

[doodlebug]

When Spring came around Ron moved his camp up on the mountain behind my shack. He went to the library often and used their computer. He spent some time with Big Gene because he was also fairly close to me on the same mountain. Gene is a happy go lucky guy and easy to be around as long as you clean up after yourself and enjoy eating.Ron picked up some good recipes for grouse and deer.
Then in July Ron asked if I could give him a ride to Morton. He was going to get a job. That floored me but I said "sure." Ron took a janitor job at the hospital.He polished floors at night mostly and helped with laundry. He called it the perfect job because you didn't need to know much after your initial training and there wasn't much responsibility. He lived in the garage of a person he met on line during his library visits.
I saw him next after a surgery I had there.He kinda saved my ass really. I had my stomach all stitched up after a patch for an incisional hernia and was only out of surgery for a few hours. I talked a nurse I know into taking me into the back waiting room a wheel chair to watch t.v. The room was closed at night and I was trying to get away from the old fart in the room with me. She got me into a recliner,gave me a remote and left.I guess because I was sorta out of it,I forgot how bad my back hurts if I try to recline like that. AT first I thought I'll just hop over t the wheel chair and I'll be fine.I would have too. However I found out I couldn't make that move. I couldn't move me at all.every time I tried it was too much pain in my gut muscles to overcome. now I was in a mess.My back is screaming by then and I had no way to call a nurse. I thought I should stay calm because"surely Lisa would check on me soon." Lisa didn't. It finally got past the point of living any longer,I thought at least,so I hollered. Real loud. Shortly, Ron's head popped through the door. I was so relieved! I said,"Ron,you're a saint. Come get me out of this chair and get me in the rig over there." Ron said,"You don't look good. Are you sure I'm suppose to move you?" I just nodded and said I'm ready,Ron,lets go!" I didn't use my "inside voice".He got me back to my bed and got me a nurse. She was kind enough to get me comfortable.
The hospital has programs to help with medical training. Ron went from janitor to blood sucker for the lab first and ten years after his going to work there he is now a full time nurse and a good one. He married Karen, a nurse he met there, right after he started drawing blood and they both work there now. They seem happy. They camp in the old way every chance they get and know more trails than anyone I can think of. I'm proud to call them friends.

[doodlebug]

Footnote: Nine Toes had a beautiful Bowie knife.He made it from an International Harvester truck leaf spring in the welding shop at the mill in Randle. Anything over 8 inches we call a bowie. It was 14 inches long overall and sharp as a razor. One morning in fall of 2002 Mike found it in his message box above Packwood Lake parking lot.With it was a note as to where to find Burnetts body. He gave permission for our pie lady to send his money to his daughter in Arizona. She had located her a couple of years earlier and communicated with her. She wanted nothing to do with her "crazy father."
If you drive up Hager Lake road ,it splits left and right at 5 miles. Take the right hand and drive to the very end. Get out and walk to your right 25 yards and you'll find the prettiest view of Packwood Lake from about a mile off, laying down in the valley. It is a straight down cliff right there.The kind that you walk up to and get a weird feeling as it is such a drop. It is wonderful. Nine Toes dived off of that cliff to his death. It was a full moon. When Mike found him, he hadn't been gone long. He planted Burnett right there and placed a flat rock over his grave Indian style. He left no note about why and I guess we'll never know. Incredibly, to me at least, he left his daughter 63 thousand dollars. He never really needed money.
I always wondered how she felt getting that money. I reckon it's none of my business.
Footnote 2. Angel parted ways with Ron after he rejoined society,as we call it. She went home at last. All he said about it was," It was Sheila all along. When I saw her as she was I knew it would be best to let her go without whining. I cried for a week. After that,I sulked. After that I just laughed.I think she did too. It WAS a long trip after all"

[doodlebug]

Packwood Hotel is an old log building that has been here forever. At least that long. My friend,Darla, ran it back in the early 90's. Her son was getting married in California and she hadn't had a break in a couple of years so she took five weeks off and I stayed in the hotel and ran it. Myself,the wife and my dog,Brownie to be exact. I kinda expected it to be haunted because it looks that way at night for some reason. If it is, no one revealed them self or bothered me. It was quite the opposite. I've never felt more at home in a strange place. Comfortable to the body and the mind.There are only eight rooms and one bathroom. It had a wonderful living room/lobby with a river stone fireplace and a old piano of quarter sawed oak who's grain stood out and called your eye right to it.On the front porch is a carved cedar statue of Teddy Roosevelt, who spent a night there back in the day. It did have the new addition of a nice hot tub out back by the garden . It turned out to be a good place to break a rib. I was in my "stage" of having a couple of drinks every so often there for a very short while. I never could drink worth a damn. I was hazardous to the public and could be a nuisance at the drop of a shot. The wife had to yank in my leash often enough that it became an issue. I was easily convinced that women wanted my attention. after one particularly romantic evening in the Blue Spruce my guardian broke a hundred dollar cue stick over my head. The next day I had to take a look at my problem while looking at the big egg sized knot on my head behind my ear. I had gone down hard and kissed an upright beam in passing. The wife said nothing. When I walked into Peters Inn for coffee later in the morning I got a standing ovation from the locals. Lorraine eased up beside me and grinned real big and says," How do you like her now?" then she punched me in my shoulder hard enough to make me stumble some. It also made the throbbing return with a vengeance. By the time I finished my second cup of coffee I had swore off strong drink and told Loraine so when she brought me a refill. She gave me a disgusted look and called me a Quitter. Lorraine was an expert drinker. She drank every night with her old man and her best friend Donna and her husband,Blue. They played pull tabs and drank beer after beer until Donna's husband went Blue Drunk. That was the signal to go home. Blue Drunk is when you're sitting at the bar and your sound asleep but hold on to your beer bottle without ever spilling it. Then every now and then you jerk awake and take another drink. Then nod out. A lot of money has been won off of tourist betting he'd spill that beer. He never did. Never. These days the Blues don't drink at all. It got old and noticeably costly after the mill closed down and work got scarce. After that the mood in the two bars in town was so sour after a while that no one was having any fun. You couldn't even have a good fist fight in the parking lot any more without some fool calling the state police and getting people in trouble. That was a break down in the civilization here. Use to be, people were kind enough to just settle their petty arguments without lawyers and judges butting in. If some one stole some ones stuff they fully expected to pay the owner in one way or another but they knew the rules. Mess with some ones daughter and you'll wake up looking at fish up close for eternity. Simple life without the complications of a county courthouse which should be used to keep town people in line, in town. Several men have told me that in the early days if some one was found to have wasted meat,say kill a deer and not take it all, others would wait on the path to his house some night and give them a severe beating. That seemed fair to everyone.
I was aware of Clara for a while as another character that you saw around town. She liked to walk. She was a cane waver. Her walking cane was yew wood with a bulldogs head carved on top. She didn't need it to walk but she was prepared to deal with dogs at all times. Her Dad carved the thing and I think she carried it to keep him close by. They call Clara ,crazy Clara. Not to her face. They call her CeeCee. She was the one who suggested it in a personal ad she placed in the Morton Journal after she first learned they called her that. She even threw a hot chocolate party in her garden for a few choice friends because she had wanted a nick name all her life. The chocolate had a bunch of peppermint schnapps in it. She brought out an antique chocolate set.The tall china pitcher and the dainty little cups with Nippon on the bottoms. Clara got all teary eyed when she stood to make a speech to her guests thanking them "from the bottom of my heart". Everyone left feeling like they had been a part of fulfilling a dream.Everyone also had diarrhea by midnight. No one knows why. It happened before I moved here but I heard tales from participants of that party. None tried to place the blame on any one thing or person. Not while Clara was alive.

[Sammy]

Doodlebug, you remind me of an old poster named Edgar. Edgar posted on the old Money boards going back at least 7 years or more. Your prose brought him to mind... thanks.

[doodlebug]

Sammy, here's to old friends.

[doodlebug]

The pleasure was all mine when Clara decided to have a seat in one of the rockers on the porch one Sunday afternoon. She had been making her way home from church.Her place was directly behind the hotel a block towards the airport. It was warm out and she said she had walked too fast on that first block. At first, not knowing her,I expected an invitation to her church,which I had already visited and found it noisy. She had no such plan as it was all she could do to make herself attend more than once a month. Her reason for the visit was to insure there would be a crowd at her graveside some day. "They're kinda obligated ,you see."she'd say. I found that a sound reason. What I didn't know was that she slept through the whole service. As soon as the first song began she would put her chin on her chest and start the process of snoring. She started out with a few snorts,then she'd clear her throat,look around and then resume the position.The snorts were her "fair warning". The song service was louder when Clara was there. It isn't easy to over power Clara's snoring, once she gets up a full head of steam. Some times the music got so inspired by the attempts some sinner would see the light and get religion. As the preacher began his sermon Clara sat up looked around and opened her bible to the passage he would be reading. When he shut his book she shut hers,chinned down again and went back into action. She somehow knew she needed to be quiet and she managed to keep her noise to the sounds of a small chain saw. Every now and then she'd sputter like the fuel was spent but a cough and another snort and she'd get back in rhythm. When the service ended ,whoever was closest would give her a tap and she'd say Praise the Lord real loud and rise,fresh as a daisy and march out. At the door she never passed up a chance to tell the minister what a wonderful heart touching sermon he had delivered ,although she couldn't agree with him completely on a certain part. She didn't bother elaborating as everyone was anxious to leave and she didn't want to hold up the line of hand shakers. He called her bluff one afternoon when there was a social with pic nic tables full of food in the yard.She simply told him she had realized she had misunderstood him and had the same ideas as he did about the subject and" hows about you help me with my plate?"
Clara introduced herself that day stating that she already knew my name and where I had come from and just about all I had done to try to get by since coming to the mountains. She pointed over at Teddy's likeness and said, "I seen him right here on this very porch. He isn't ,by far ,the most important person that walked here.That would be handsome young Anthony Myers. I said,"and what did he do? She said,"why,he fell in love with me.caught him hook,line,and sinker. Took him from Martha Rutherford not a month before they were to be wed. How do you like that? Me? A simple child I was. Barely 16. Mr. Myers was the most promising fellow of the available men around and I was looking to move away from my family. I had made my mind up I would fall madly in love with him after he took the bait and I had him in my creel."
I said "are you going to tell me how you accomplished this feat?" I was thinking a great pie, the best elk roast or something along those lines. She said," I certainly will not.I will say though that I truly cheated in that game! Martha told me when we worked trail crew together that she would never have done that. However, a couple of years later I caught her doing just that with one of the boys that come in here with the CCC program. Funny isn't it?"
I admitted that it was .

[doodlebug]

"I use to live here you know."
"No,I didn't."
"not all the time.just during the week when I was going to school.When I turned fourteen. Before that getting over here to school wasn't always possible. It meant crossing the river with Old Man Mueller who ran a ferry that was just a dugout cottonwood canoe. He'd get us piled in that thing and off we'd go. If the water was too high we just didn't go. A young lady though? Then it is a different cat all together. We had to be seen and meet the weaker sex. Ha! Several of us girls roomed here. I shared a room with Maude Blakeley.You know her I'm sure. We boarded for two dollars a month. A lot of money then. I was lucky Dad was doing o.k. He was a smart trader and a fair farmer and an excellent judge of mules.He sawed cedar off of our place and made everything from split rails to shakes. He could call his team from the field and they came with no questions asked. One time he tried training an elk but it didn't work out. He was the sort that had to try.
Of course we all sewed and made patterns from newspapers that we passed around. Hegleson had plenty of material and it was the best they could afford to stock. In Spring I got two store bought dresses,a new pair of coveralls and sturdy shoes. Fall came and there were two more dresses and winter underwear.Lots of girls wore dresses made from flour sacks that they embroidered or dressed up with ribbons or maybe lace salvaged from something some one else had worn out. To me it didn't matter much because it always rained and you'd be covered in the same canvas jacket you did chores in. All of them stained up with pitch and general duff from the forest and barn yard. No one smelled pretty back then.You tried to stay clean as the next person but the body odor could be distracting when you had the chance to have some mixers with the boys. They were worse. A bath a week was the normal habit.I still don't think many of my generation did as much necking as they did after everyone got deodorants and perfumes. After the war things changed in the social scene. The goddamn war! Christ!"
With that she stood up ,held out her hand and I took it."I'll see you,kid." She walked away and I watched her move down the block. At the end, beneath those Locust trees, she abruptly sat down in the grass and pulled her knees up towards her face and sobbed. I could see her body bouncing with her crying. I ducked back inside afraid she would see me.
In my life I've known too many people that the word "war "sent into a dark place. My own Aunt recalled to me that there were only six boys from her senior class that came home from the War alive.She looked me in the eye with big tears rolling down her cheeks and said,"Such a waste.They were good boys."

[doodlebug]

The laundry room was built by closing in the back porch of the hotel at a later date. There is a nice large window above a deep double sink that comes in handy too. That day I used the window to check on CeeCee. After an hour she still sat there. Her legs were now out in front of her and she was looking up towards Dixon Mountain. Clara was eighty years old and I figured she probably did this every now and then. I didn't want to bother her yet I felt concerned. I thought I might take a stroll with Brownie and just kinda check on her. About then though I saw "Sis" Blakeley come out of her house and walk over towards Clara. She had a quilt draped over one shoulder and a bottle in her hand. Arriving at the locusts she threw the quilt on the ground and slowly eased down beside Clara. She opened the bottle and handed it to her. Clara raised it to the sky and took a good long drink. She then let out a little whoop and handed it back to Sis who in turn repeated the move. I decided things were under control and went back to some chores. After vacuuming the front room and dusting the big mantle piece and returning some calls I went out to the front porch and rolled a smoke. Out behind me I could hear those ladies singing at the top of their lungs. It was "Bicycle Built For Two". I peaked around the corner and watched those two embraced in a waltz across the grass. They carried on like that for twenty minutes or more. My heart smiled some and I went into the kitchen where the wife was building some zucchini bread. I caught a hold of her and turned her around and said "may I have this dance?" When she looked at my face she had a tear running down her face. She had been watching the scene through the sink windows and listening in. I sang ,"Mary, Mary give me your answer do." She just pushed me away and said I have bread to make and you have a yard to clean up. Then she smeared some butter on my nose and said,"Here's your rain check shithead." She was always full of pet names.
I joined Brownie in the yard and we twirled around the hot tub gazebo one time and then sat in the shade on the east side ,out of sight, and I watched an ant carry a huge piece of bread across the little flower patch that didn't really grow anything. The singing had stopped and the afternoon sun was dropping behind Dixon firing a few rays straight up at the fading trail of some people flying for Seatac Airport.

[doodlebug]

Over at the Club Cafe on Wednesdays, Doreen has her famous carrot cake and her Dad, eightyone year old Crow,a man I've spoke of before,is always there a little before the lunch rush. Every Wednesday Doreen calls Crow and more or less forces him to eat lunch with her and have some cake. Crow never did eat right but never missed a day of sipping out of the
'Jack' bottle he carried in his Ford. Doreen was one of seven kids that Crow claimed and the mother hen of the family. Later on I cooked at the Club with her and pulled the second shift. She taught me a lot but never would give up her recipe for the cake. For my taste it was perfect. Not too many raisins and just enough English walnuts. Her cream cheese topping was a piece of heaven that landed on earth. I don't like a lot of raisins in cooked stuff. A little box of them on the trail or in my lunch sack was enough. Many cookies and cakes are ruined by too many of the damn things.
I greeted Crow with" how ya feeling Crow?" He would say "awful unnecessary." I thought it was funny when he said that even though I knew he was serious. Then he would comment on how Doreen won't let him rest unless he comes in and has cake. He acted like it was a terrible chore. Usually he ate cake first and then she would make him eat a hamburger or at the least a bowl of soup. When I cooked there I did the same. My way was to fix something and then tell him I had made a mistake and couldn't he see his way to eat it up, on the house before the boss came in and found out. That worked out well for me and gave my greedy boss the opportunity to do something kind even if she didn't know it. I sorta felt it was my Christian duty in a way. Maybe I was wrong, but I hope for forgiveness in the end.One thing I do know is there is no way to understand the workings of the Big Guy up there. You just have to go along some times and see how it turns out.
Crow and I had worked our way through our cake, the weather, the crop of new elk calves and the wreck some Texas tourist had out by Rimrock Lake trying to miss a deer that picked the wrong time to cross the road for a drink when Clara came in. She made a bee line for us. First she hands Crow her cane with a "Hold that.", then walked over to the cake/pie safe ,opened the door and just stood there shaking her head. Doreen looked out the order window. She hollered out at Clara." sit down ,I got yours back here." She brought out a smaller portion of cake with maybe a tablespoon of chocolate ice cream beside it and set it on the table. Clara said "thanks kiddo." to Doreen and then to Crow,"this one is a keeper. I always told you that." Doreen says" Kiddo,huh? I'm sixty two and you're still calling me that?" Clara laughed and said,"If I was that much of a spring chicken I'd haul your old Dad here over to my house and make a man out of him! Curl his toes I would!" Crow faked embarrassment and the gently elbowed her and winked.I got the feeling she had already curled his toes in the past.
Crow was a ladies man all the way till the end. Doreen told me her mom couldn't keep him home and after a while preferred it that way.The thing about that man was he truly loved women and women truly loved him. He was the guy who would lay his jacket over a mud puddle for a lady to walk on so her shoes didn't get all nasty and be proud to do it. He was a good tipper in the bars and loved to two step. If you wanted a dance you had to get it early though as he was forever on a mission to get a buzz early. I drove him home a hundred times as did just about every one in town at one time or another.I never minded and he never got sick in your rig. That is a good quality in a drunk you're driving home in my mind.

[doodlebug]

We sat and talked some while she finished off her cake and ice cream.When she was finished she got up and took her plate over to the counter by the kitchen door and hollered back a "thanks" to Doreen. Then she sat back down and took a sip from my coffee cup. She smiled and licked her lips then belched. "With that,gentlemen,I bid you ado. see ya later my Tuesday Tiger"she said winking at Crow,retrieved her cane and went out the door and headed down the street towards the post office.
I said,"she is something isn't she? Tuesday tiger?"
Crow laughed and said" There was a moment in time that I sparked Miss Clara.I was tired of living alone and getting skinny."then he lowered his voice and leaned across the table." now, we did wrestle some and she was prime for harvesting but she didn't want to have to cook and wash for an old coot duck such as myself. I always figured she made a wise decision.Fine lady, that one."
I told him about the scene on Sunday. He wagged his head and said"she got kinda permanently lost, in a way, after we all came home from Europe in '45. Her Anthony stayed over there. Buried in France. For a long while it was like she blamed us for leaving him there. When we left we planned on taking care of each other while we stomped hell out of Hitler and his ruffians.We were fighters one and all and figured there was no bunch that could whip us on any shore.We were fools but we were kids too. We had no idea what we were getting in to.It didn't always go well lets just say. Dammit if Tony didn't catch a mortar round right in his lap. We found him scattered in pieces.The sarge gathered his wedding ring and dog tags with the Saint Christopher medallion attached and sent them home after a "We're sorry to inform you" telegram. The rest was shoveled into a grave. The night before it happened we had liberated a fine wine cellar and had one helluva party. We toasted each others brave deeds and talked about home. We were scared as hell. None of us felt like heroes,I can tell you that.
Clara never considered marrying again as far as I know. The line at her porch was always crowded but she wanted no one rich or poor. She preferred her own company mostly though she wasn't exactly unsociable. Clara is good people.Now, to answer your question.Tuesdays ,I use to come back from working in Tacoma at the time. I'd end up at her place after kicking around town some."

[doodlebug]

It was a little later, right before I was through babysitting the hotel,that I was over at the "big cafe" in town talking camp sights with a buddy.We were trying to decide between two really and as both were great spots we were at a standstill. Waiting for inspiration to come up and bite us, Clara walked in the front door where she just stopped and looked around at the tables full of Saturday morning tourist with a sprinkling of local coffee drinkers. When she spotted me she waved for me to come over saying,"Kid, give me a hand would ya?" I walked over and offered her my arm. I'd seen her coming through the front window and she hadn't seemed to be having any trouble. She leaned hard on me and we took a couple of steps. She just stopped and looked around again. By now most of the people were looking up. In a very loud voice she shouts out,"Who's the idiot in the Winnebago with California tags on it?" Eyes got big and now there was a full audience. A young man with a table full of kids and a wife raised his hand and said,"Over here." She started for his table dragging me stiffly along until we stood in front of them. She announced for all to hear," Well,I was wondering what's your precious little doggies name?" "Oh,that's Suzie Q" said the lady.Clara said "Well honey.Suzie Q is puking all over your dashboard. I believe shes buried your camera! Maybe you should give her some air!" The wife gasped and looked at the husband with a face full of accusation and the husband turned green and started to rise. We got out of his way and headed back to the bar,me feeling very embarrassed and trying to hurry.
In the bar Clara sits down at the first table,stuck her face beneath her sweater and started laughing ,hardly able to stifle it. I started to say something but she squeezed my arm and said ,"just hold on." Shortly the man in question comes stomping into the bar and looks at Clara and opened his mouth to apparently give her a piece of his mind but she shouted happily,"April Fools!" and started laughing out loud and stomping her foot. The poor mans face went to disbelief and he sternly said ,"It's the end of June you old fool!" Clara looked shocked. She looked at him and then at her watch. Back at him and then back at her watch. Then she starts tapping the timepiece on the table and then having another look. Finally she looks up and says to the guy,"I don't suppose it's 2:30 either?" Her face had a perfect puzzled look. The man just turned around and walked away. When he was gone Clara punched me in the arm with the cane head and said,"how's that for entertainment, ya damn puppy!?" Then she laughed until she cried up her napkin. She turns to the lady tending bar "let's celebrate ,Judy I'll have a shot of Yukon and a Chablis chaser.I don't know about my partner here." I said I was strictly on coffee but thanks. "Lord, but your a cheap date,son." I said "I suppose I am at that."

[doodlebug]

Probably a month later or just as berry season started my friend,Betty, crossed over to the other side. It got to me pretty bad because she was a local historian from an original pioneer family here. She and her hubby knew everything about everything local between the two of them. She had tried to get me over to their place for a while so she could connect some dots for me on local tribes. Not from history books .From the two of them.They knew the families and were raised with them around here. Anyway, I missed my chance. Fortunately for all of us,Bud and Betty did get a fair book printed. Still, it set me to thinking. I decided to do some interviews. I had Crow,an old timer named Mel, Sis Blakeley and Clara. Betty had worked for the forest service along with Sis and Clara during the period of the 2nd world war up into the 1960s. Betty was still working for them in the early 90s and her husband manned the High Rock fire lookouts. To get there you hike straight up a mile and a half hogback trail that has no flat spot on it. A real pull. Bud was still carrying a full pack up there at 70.He'd spend the week alone and loved every minute of it. From that lookout you are staring straight at Rainier so close you could touch it.It is a cabin of sorts perched on a 1500 foot drop off cliff of solid rock with the building cabled down into the rock.Bud said the winds would just sorta pick it up and set it down. Couldn't keep wooden shutters on the windows. The wind took them almost every year. he said during electrical storms he's seen the blue fire crawling around on the rocks. Of course ,he saw a lot up there a lone year after year.
I had hopped into a conversation with Sis and Clara once but they got to laughing about stuff they did that it was impossible to get very far. I figured I'd have to talk to them separately.

[doodlebug]

I gave Clara her choice between a trip to Yakima, or over to the west side towns or Berry picking.She didn't get out of town unless she had a doctors appointment and she was pretty healthy. She said if I knew of a good flat spot to pick she would love to do that. Before I could answer and tell her I knew a place up by High Rock she said"I know a spot we call Mountain View!" As it turns out that was exactly where I had in mind and all of my Indian friends called it Mountain View as well. It was cool because there are hundreds of miles of back roads with berry bushes from here to Trout Lake. Mountain view has some huge open fields on top of a mountain that is directly across form the Nisqually Glacier side of the mountain. A lot of people that know me on the boards have seen pictures from there that I've posted. The view will move you ,unless you're all dead inside. Sunset from there is so powerful it can cure most rashes.

[doodlebug]

The first week of September I went to pick Clara up for our first berry trip. I was excited because I love to pick berries! She was in the same frame of mind. She hadn't been up in the hills for three years and before that trip it had been five. Clara was dressed for the occasion.She had on a few layers of clothing, a large brimmed straw hat, her berry bucket, belt with a big .45 caliber Colt sporting a six inch barrel and her hunting knife. She also had her water jug and a small towel. I had our lunch packed and a thermos of coffee. I wondered if she could lift that pistol if she needed too but felt that more than likely she could or she wouldn't carry that extra weight around. When she saw my .38 she said,"Oh good. I won't have to lug this piece with me. Just don't let the damn bears eat me." I promised, I'll do my best but sometimes it's every man for himself." She laughed at that but just to get her I kept a somber face.She sat there a minute and then started laughing.She punched me and said,"you had me going." I just said."what?" and kept my face set at "misunderstanding." So she pulled out the Colt and flipped the cylinder open to check her loads.She then snapped it shut rather violently with a loud click. That made me lose it. I just howled. She said,"You little shit! I swear I was gonna shoot you in the foot after tripping on a vine or something. you better watch your step!" I faked fear and just laughed. We started getting along better than ever after that.