Bigfoot's Continuing Adventures Thread

“Hey!”

“He is Bigfoot and apparently he is back.
However, I am puzzled,
for it is rhymes that are lack.
Yes, I do realize that it has been a while,
but I look forward to his poems,
for that is his style.”

“LOL!”

“Hey BigFoot! Good to see ya for a second. Stick around would ya? =)”

“howdy der big foot. long time since i heard on of yer stories.”

“I went with a life long friend to the mountains the other day, gonna do a bit of a day hike-kinda get lost-type-thingy, just something to do to get out and away from everyone and everything.

He picked me up and after enough coffee to float a boat we were well up in the mountains and the light was tryin` to filter through the trees and chase away the night`s shadows that seemed to cling to everything and begrudge their holdings they`d clamed during the long dark night.

Damn me, but I love the shadows cast from objects and they hold a special place in my heart almost as much as the reflections off water, how it bends what it loves double at times to make more of it if you just look at it in the right light.

I was drinkin` it all in and absorbin` it almost as fast as my eyes could grasp it and just got lost to the moment, till the truck came to a stop and other thoughs came rushin` in to take the place of what had held me so fast just moments before.

We got out and stretched our legs a bit and made small talk as we went about gatherin` up a few things to take along with us to make the day a bit lighter, even if it made the goin` tougher to start with.

How the heck do I ever forget how beautiful nature is and how much it can change in what seems like the blink of an eye? I was walkin` along and tryin` to make time, but couldn`t keep my eyes on the trail and what I`d see I wanted to explore more so, I was off trail faster than a cat can lick itself and my friend used to me just started in after me, not even questioning me, or my judgement.(gota love friends like that;))

What I saw first lead me there, but then we were close enough to hear water running,.. no falling,.. there were some hidden falls off in the draw just over from us so, we had to go check it out and we weren`t disapointed for our efforts.

The falls were beautiful, though not big in scope, they still held out hope, because from them we could see up the draw and saw what looked like a better set of twin falls cascading to a big pool below them so, we up and head for it.

Deep, almost green lookin` water greeted us and the falls were better, more of a spray, or mist of water than it looked downstream, but still beautiful and inviting us to linger and just enjoy the sounds and feel of it all.

We built a fire ring and set about gettin` a fire up and glowin` good and in no time at all we had the makin`s of a thrown together meal and the last of our coffee. It was so pleasent there and we were down and out of the winds that were pickin` up overhead so we just didn`t notice the storm rolling in at first.

Both of us are old hands and at home with nature and most anything she can throw at us so we didn`t get in a big sweat about it all, but did start bustin` up the fire ring and dousin` out the remains of our coals and tryin` to climb back up out of there before it could get any worse.

Good thing we did, we were lost and about to worry,.. nothin` looked right when we reached the top of the rise and it was dark and spittin` rain already, but I did remember the way the wind was blowin` when we were goin` in so, we just went back the other way and luck held out for us and we hit the road not a hundred yards from the truck.

That`s when things got bad and the wind was so intence it was breakin` off limbs and old widowmakers had fallen to the force of it and made driving out a nightmare, but we never encountered anything we couldn`t move, or hook a chain to and pull it out of the way. Thanks goodness no live trees had gone down or it woulda been different and we might have been there a spell.

Almost home we heard on the news how many roads had been closed because of fallen trees and high winds blowing down power poles and I was thinkin` how lucky we were we got out when we did and my friend looks at me and asks me if I`m up for a trip back up there the next morning.

I asked him if he was kiddin`, he said no,.. I left my coffee cup back there.LOL”

“Hey Big Foot, thanks fer showin' yer face err.... foot on TT!

Y'all come back!
last edited: 3/27/05 5:56:37 AM”

“Thanks for sharin', Big Foot! :)”

“Hiya PedXing,.. miss talkin` to you, I`m glad you`re well.

Hiya Sunny,.. you sweet thing you;),.. I`m glad you`re well and I miss you too!

Bill”

“Just moments after the first few rays of the sun had kissed the earth, (goodmorning) the stillness is broken by a squeal of a rabbit in trouble and tryin` to free itself. This causes a chain reaction of events to take place and life and death are played out right then and there infront of me.

Seems the rabbit was runnin` for it`s life and hot on it`s tail was a bobcat and the cat was intent on a rabbit breakfast, furballs and all, but even the best of plans can go wrong and did in the blink of an eye.

They were tearin` up some ground, zig-zaggin` and scurrin` for cover, but outa the underbrush down by the creek they were headed for appears a coyote and he must have heard the rabbit screamin` when it got caught up in the bushes and briars for a bit and the coyote was wantin` his share of it.

It was so funny, the rabbit all but jumped the coyote with the bobcat right there in the air with him when they musta seen the coyote and for a fraction of a second the bobcat musta blinked tryin` to think, but it was wrong whatever he thought.

That bobcat ended up balled up on the coyote and the coyote wasn`t sure what had just happened, but knew something very bad was takin` place and tried first to shake the bobcat off, but not with any sucess.

That`s when things got crazzy and I never heard such racket in all my life, screamin`, hissin`, growls and yelps,.. dirt flyin` everywhere and just like that there`s just the dirt settelin` back down, but all the players in this comedy have departed for parts unknown.

I had to go get a better look at what just happened and was tryin` to figure it out, but I`m still not sure who got the best of it, my best guess goes to the rabbit that lived to try to tempt fate yet another day. The ground was tore to hell and gone and there was enough hair there to stuff a couch, not much blood spilt, but good lessons all around were learned and in a heartbeat.

You don`t gota be born wild to go butt-wild in a moment such as that, stuff just happens up on you when you least expect it will and I guess that`s the wonder of it all and the excitement in everything and everyone,.. it sometimes just takes a chain of events to jumpstart us all,..;)”

“Glad to see you back, big foot.

I always enjoy your posts.”

“Hiya Chili,.. I`m glad kind faces like your`s still graces these pages.

Take Care!

Bill”

“Does Matt still delete these threads if no one posts to `em in a year?”

“Nope ... you're enshrined forever.”

“Very cool!

Thanks Geobeet!!!!!”

“Thank Matt. He's the god of TT.

And lo, he hath banned Tarpy to the nether regions.”

“I guess I`m over it and just don`t love it anymore, or don`t need it like I did before. To me it`s a curse to think in vurse and waste my time in rhyme.

I was/am dyslexic to the max,..okay, not as bad as my computer seems to have it, but still, writing was never anything I wanted to take on. I can`t spell my way out of a paper bag. Lemme just give you an example, this is a true story, it happened when I was in the 5th grade.

I was in home room class, it was in the years before classes changed and Mrs. Lewis taught every subject in her 5th grade class, it was the same year Kenniday(sp) got killed, but about a month before that and we had already been to lunch and had recess and were back in class for a spelling bee type crapy thing and all the boys were laughin` `cause the only easy word on the list was "shirt", but being boys and hatched with less than fully working minds a few thought it`d be funny as hell if any of us got the word and spelt it wrong. We all laughed about it, but hell none of us were that brain dead, okay one of us was, but anyway.

Everything was going good, hell I`d already made two rounds and spelled both of my words right, there were only 4 boys still standing and the rest were gurls and the gurls were kickin` ass and takin` names and gonna win like always. Big deal, I thought, they always win, why should today be any different? Well wouldn`t you know it, I`m there watchin` something out the window behind me and the teacher all but screams my name, I jump and turn around to see her starin` a hole through my silly lil` ass. I started to say I gave her a stupid look, but in my case it wasn`t a planed thing, I didn`t have to act.

She glares at me and says, "well?" I`m like, what? She squeals in a voice only dogs and bats can hear, we`ll `cept for that first and last part of it that sounds like fingernails scratchin` a blackboard kinda stuff and I know I`m in real trouble. She gets red in the face and says, are you gonna spell the word please so we can go on with class, or do you think you need to check on the weather again first? I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling her what I was thinking, but instead I looked at the floor some more and muttered out Ma`am, would you Please re-ask me the word, I didn`t understand it, or hear it right? The guys busted up laughin` and it only made her madder at me.

She finally says, spell the word Shirt for me Please, or take your seat. I grin from ear to ear, hokey smokes I got an easy word and I`m gonna best my all time record and get three right, hell it also tied up my all time best record for any one week too, I couldn`t spell for shucks. So, I stop grinnin` just long enough and spell it and her face drains of all color, `cept her damn ears almost glowed red for some strange reason and her mouth was gapin` open lookin` just like a horse does when it eats corn and most of it is falling out, of all the times in the world for me not to laugh at her this was one of `em, but oh well, you know me. She collects herself somewhat and asks me to spell it again,.. and I`m thinkin` Dayum, she must know this is a record for me and she wants to see if she can trick me up. I spell it again and her face is so red you could fry an egg on it, I swear it and it even runs down her neck, hell her neck was throbbin` she looked like she was gonna pop, but she screached at me to spell IT AGAIN!!! So I did, (#&%!$!!!!!!!)

That ol` bat strated jumpin` those tiny chairs and came across three rows of `em to get at me. She looked like OJ Simpsion in those airport comercials jumpin` stuff, but she was dead set on gettin` me and she did. She hauled me over the last row of desks by my ear and never let up on it till we were out in the hall and then she turns to me and says, "spell Shirt for me again!"

I took a deep breath and spelled it SHIRT,....she backhanded me across the face and grabbed my ear again and set in shakin` me like a dirty dishrag. I was about to haul off and slap her when she let go and said I heard you boys talking before the spelling contest and I heard them say one of you should spell it without the "R" in it and you did!!!

Till then I had no idea what I had done, duh, I just thought the old bat went group crazy in a spit-wad all on her own. I told her I was sorry and I haddn`t meant to spell it wrong, but she didn`t believe me one bit. An hour later when she let me come back in the class all the guys went nuts and cheered for me like I`d done a great thing,.. I never had the heart to tell `em right then that I just screwed up and spelt it wrong. For a time I was a hero and not a dyslexic dork,..LOL”

“hello bill.”

“Hiya Baume,..

Long time no type, I hope you`re doing well, it`s nice to see some of the old bunch still haunts these pages,..

Take Care!

Bill”

“good story”

“Thanks F.L.Hiker,..

It wasn`t much of a story, but Thanks,.. it was just my responce to a question I was asked earlier, the questions was, "Why do you wanna stop writing?"

Bill”

“Good story BF.

It's great to see you posting here.”

“Hiya Bill! How's it going??”

“Hiya PedXing,...& Thanks!

It`s good to come back and see nicks I know and remember and miss. I enjoyed our many talks and late night adventures together, it was a hoot in hell.

Good to bump into you again,..

Bill”

“Hiya Lizs, you lil` meanie sweetie you,..lol

Yup, I even miss you;)

I hope you`re well and as full of life as ever and still giving the men hell on here,..lol

Take care!

Bill”

“Browsing the archives I have run across a number of your stories and found them enjoyable.”

“Thank You F.L.Hiker,..

Those stories are not much, but it was fun reliving `em here and I`m glad you found something in some of `em that you enjoyed.


Take Care,..


Bill”

“how about some more stories bigfoot?”

“I`m not sure how much of an adventure this is, but here goes not much, just for the sheer heck of it.

I met a new friend a few years ago that just moved up the street from me and in no time flat we became close friends and the two of us hunt and fish and just hang out a lot together.

As often as we can we get together and get into something, or some messes, but we always seem to end up laughing about it all and he has been with me and helped see me through some real bad times.

But, this isn`t about that mess, this is about the other night and him callin` me up and askin` me if I wanted to do a bit of fishing together. I said sure lets go and faster than that he drove up and we threw some things together and we were off to the lake.

We had a blast and we caught fish till the world looked flat and all, but during lulls in the fishin` we shared a cup of hot coffee and some stories of our youth and it turns out he and I were a lot alike in many things, as I suspect many country boys are.

I did a bit of cookin` for us over some freshly gathered scraps of wood we found layin` about and we watched the darkness gather up and roll over us like a blanket, but not before the sunset had it`s last say and we marveled at the brilliant colors as the shadows gathered closer to us and then seemed to spread from us and our tiny fire.

Time was measured in fish caught and missed and bouts of laughter here and there, but soon we saw lightening off in the distance and that seemed to hold our attention and it soon became more and more our topic of discussion. The storm was so far off we couldn`t hear the reports of thunder even, but as time wore on the sound and light show grew and grew and we knew for a fact we were in for a show of sorts.

We weren`t dissapointed one bit either, it was beautiful, but mostly going around us always, one storm after the other rolled in, each a bit worse than the last and some were just freaks, with ball lightening and sheet lightening and it sounded like a battle field. Everyone else had long gone and we even talked about gatherin` up and headin` out, but you know me, I wanted to stay and ride it out and so we did. I felt the worst of it would pass us by and I was right.

We ended up havin` the times of our lives and at times the wind blew so hard we couldn`t hear eachother talking, but we never got much more than sprinkled on and twice had to set out small squalls in the truck.

You`re allowed two limits of fish as long as one of `em is caught after midnight so, we stayed on and did just that and we kept a fire glowin` and the time passed quickly.

We finally caught our second limit of fish apiece and hauled all of our gear to the truck and headded for home, it was only then that we found out from the radio that three of those storms we`d watched gather and pass had spawned tornados.

We both knew they were freaky looking storms, but we never guessed they were as bad as that and his wife was worried sick about us when we got home. The storms didn`t even threaten us, but she sure did and I`m not sure I better tell you what she had to say either, but all`s well that ends well and the fish fry was scrumptious!

Good Times!”

“Hey Big Foot, great to see a you and a new adventure!

Love your description of the sunset and shadows.”

“i'm glad you had a good time, i understand why you stayed. but i totally get why your wife was scared and upset.”

“Thanks Sassy!

That wasn`t much of a story, but I miss writing here,.

I hope you and yours are all well and happy, good to hear from you again.


Bill”

“Thanks Pamela!


But, I don`t have a wife, it was his wife, but she chews me out the same as she does him,..LOL”

“Thanks BigFoot.”

“Thanks Foot! Good to see ya!”

“Man long time no see Bigfoot.

Stop in a bit more if ya could. I for one miss your stories.”

“For a second there I thought ya'll were going to make out or something. j/k”

“This isn`t much either, but a few years after I had the wreck that changed my life I was over at my sisters, (the one married to a doctor) and I still couldn`t walk but a step, or two and I`d just had another surgery on my right ankle, but she hauled me down to their barn to look at the horses and cows and such.

We were just talkin` and havin` a good time and enjoyin` the day after I had a doctor`s appointment with my brother in law and it was a beautiful evening and it was fun to visit with her and catch up on things in our lives.

She was telling me about each horse and their quirks and this one horse was a problem and he`d gotten his bluff in on everyone, he`d bite, buck, kick, or anything he could think of including running away with you when he`s roll his bits and take his head and head right under a tree to rake you off. He was a brat and a half alright and he reminded me of some of the spoiled horses we used to get from time to time from other folks, that wanted us to break `em of bad habits that they themselves had allowed the horse to develope.

He was a pest to boot and he kept comin` over to the fence and biting at us from time to time when he wasn`t pestering the other horses, or tormenting the cows, or even chasing a chicken around the barn lot.

I caught my sister off in the barn away from me and not watchin` good and that plug came back over to pester me again, but this time I pulled myself up on the top rail of the fence and after a failed attempt on his part to nop my elbo he turned his head to nop at a horsefly and just that quick I was on him and he went ape nuts and then some.

He wasn`t much on buckin` thankgoodness, but he`d crowhop a bit and then try to dart out from under me as he`d change directions in mid air, but I clung to his back and it worried him more than anything. Soon he was tryin` out lod tricks on me but I stuck to him like a tight hat and just went where he wanted to go, it wasn`t like I had a bridle on him or anything anyway.

About that time my sister shows back up and she screems loud enough to give that dang old hay burnner and me both a right good heart attack. That nag just freezes dead still and we`re both lookin` at her like,.. what?

She wasn`t none the happy camper and she knew I couldn`t hop back from where he quit to the fence so she went and got a leadrope and was gonna lead that pile of soap bones up to the fence where I could haul back up and offa him, but I talked her into lettin` me ride him some more and she laughed and didn`t really see any harm in it, she figured we were both to done into do the other one much real harm, ... she always did underestimate me and this time she wasn`t givin` that nag much credit either,..LOL

She tossed me the leadrope and opened the corral gate and we were off faster than I can tell you about it and we left her behind in a cloud of dust as wwe cantered off down the road and wouldn`t`cha just know it, that sack of bones wasn`t near done with me, he got his second wind and we were off like we were two pups fightin` over the same sock, but in truth it was just him and me tuggin` against the other one with a lead rope holdin` us together and it was on then and there. I can`t say for sure about him, but my heart was beatin` like a hammer mill gone crazy and plumb outta contril, but that sumbuck slid down to a hault and swapped ends like a cartoon horse does and we were off again like he was a cuttin` horse and headded back to the barn.

Sister was havin` a fit and screamin` at us againm, but we were a bit to busy to notice it right then and there, but as we rounded the last curve and were about to go round the corral that sumbuck`s back legs went out from under him on the turn and he went down like a one egg puddin` and took me right along with him, but it mustta looked worse than it was, cause it was like it happened in slow motion, it didn`t hurt the horse, or me, when the dust did settle, I was still on top of him and he just hauled himself back up on his legs and the two of us kinda shook off the dust like we`d planned the whole thing. I had a grin you couldn`t slap offa my face about then, I guess my heart and lungs had time to catch up to eachother, but my sister`s scream made that horse and me both about jump outta our skins. She got the two of us seperated and threatened to take up whwere that horse left off and kill me.

Geeeebu, women, they are emotional, aren`t they?lol


More good times!”

“Great read Big Foot! Thanks for posting.”

“Lol Bigfoot! Found a four legged brother huh?”

“I always enjoy bigfoot's posts.”

“Okay this is redneck as heck and then some, but all things considered it`s not a lot different than most, or at the very least it`s not much different that a lot of days are where I come from.

That same hunting and fishin` friend I told you about wanted to go ridin` around out on our deer lease and scout out a place to hunt later in the season. I thought why not, lets go and so we did, but it was already muzzloader season and I decided to take my gun along just on the odd chance we`d see something worth bringin` home with us, but he didn`t own a blackpowder gun.

He didn`t really wanna hunt, he just wanted to ride around and see what was moving around and walk out a few trails and see if any of `em held lotsa deer and several did and we kept seeing deer along the roads and in fields and clearcuts too.

It set in raining like a cow peein` on a flat rock and it`d splatter anything big enough to matter so we mostly stayed in the truck and just rode around durring the worst of the storms that hit us that day.

Along about evening the rain had let up a bit and we started seein` lotsa deer and wild turkeys and such and we were slippin` up and down a few old logroads here and there, with no real place to go, but we didn`t let that hender us any either.

Now where I`m from the ground is mostly harder than a preachers prick and rocky to boot, but the parts that aren`t solid rock are blood red clay and it`s slippery than a used car salesman`s tongue, or bag of his tricks and the recent rains had made the roads not much more than a pig wallow in most places.

We were goin` on at a pretty good clip and ended up down an old road that was bad at the best of times, but today it was a nightmare and wouldn`t you know it, trees were down in the road and we couldn`t go around `em and we had to turn around and go back the way we came in.

Even on a good day that in itself wouldda been a big mistake, the road in only goes down hill and it`s got more twists and turns in it than a belly dancer does, but when it`s wet it`s almost impossiable to go back up hill to get out, but we didn`t have any other choices and I had made it out in the past by pourin` the coals to the truck and layin` `er ears back and makin` a run for the barn, but if you let up on it any you`re a gonner and can`t back down it, it`s just to steep and slippery. Sayin` all that, I still have failed to get out on the first run, but had to sink to some old tricks my Grandad had taught me long ago and on that same bad stretch of road. You`d think I`dda learned my lesson, wouldn`t`cha, bit oh no, not me,..

He taught me how to let almost all of the air outta my tires and the weight of the truck and the flatness of the tired would allow added traction and you could creep out like that, but had to air the tires back up as soon as you got on solid ground, or your tires weren`t worth warm spit.

We get turned around and we`re goin` outta there like we`re on the baha run and it`s fun as heck when we`re not almost kissin` trees, or swappin` ends and fishtailin` like we were at times, but right in the big middle of all this fun I spy a big mudhole in the road we were able to creep around coming down, but going out that just wasn`t gonna be an option so, I showered down on the gas and gave it fits, but over the roar of the motor and the mud slappin` the sides of the truck and the side mirrors, I scream out to my friend to get ahold of that muzzle loader and point it`s barrel out the window so it doesn`t go off and take our heads off as we hit that mudhole.

Just as the front of the truck about goes outta sight in the mudhole and the water`s thrown all over the windshild, he reaches for the gun and ,.."BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM",.. the truck died dead still in the mud and muck just the other side of the mudhole, with only the speed of the truck pulling us clear of it, the truck is filled with smoke and I can`t see a darn thing for the mud on the windows and the newly tented windows I had just aquired.

I`m afraid to look over at him, I`m afraid he has killed himself, or me and my ears are ringing so bad my head is throbbin`, but I do look over and he has turned into a black man and I ask him if he`s okay? He looks at me with his mouth wide open and his teeth and eyes are the only white things about him, he has blackpowder burns all over him, his clothes and hat even.

About then I notice the back window is completely gone and so is the overhead dome light in the cab of the truck, later I discover my hat too was blown out and into the back of the truck, but he answered me about then and he said that he thought he was alright.

We took a few minutes to see what kinda damage we`d recieved and we more or less were unhurt, other than shellshocked a bit, I discovered I was just as black as he was, but only by him tellin` me I was, the inside mirror was tinted black as well and there was burnt powder covering everything. We also discovered the shot had gone through the top of my pickup seat and just nicked the bottom of the metal holding the glass.


Wouldn`t you know it, this wasn`t the worst of our troubles, the dang truck wouldn`t restart, it wasn`t wet, it wasn`t the battery, we weren`t outta gas either, it was just dead in the road, he had killed my truck too.lol

Well, we were more than half way back out of the road and noone in their right minds would come down that road lookin` for us so we decided to walk back out and try to flag down some help on the other road and we did just that.

We`d been out of there for almost an hour before someone did pass by and sure enough he was more than willin` to help us out, but he had a much smaller truck than mine and his front end on his toyota four wheel drive was out, but he still said he`d try and pull us out.

I rode back down with him and hooked up the chains first to my truck and then to his as he got turned around and it was all he could do to pull me out and there was no way I could pop the clutch and restart my truck or it would stop him dead in the road every time I tried it, but about a quater of a mile from the top there was a very short run where it was a slope in a draw before the last ridge outta there and I popped the clutch and my truck sputtered to life, but he never let up till we were out on the main road again.

We thanked him, tried to pay him, but he wouldn`t hear of it, he just wanted us to help him if we ever saw him in a bind and that was that, we went our own seperate ways. I didn`t try to restart the truck again till we were nose down on a big hill, where I knew I could let it roll and pop the clutch to restart it. It`s a good thing too, it wouldn`t restart so, we decided to go on home.

Later I found out when all that happened, it had somehow burnt out my starter, don`t ask me how, I don`t know, but that`s what I had to replace to fix it, but our real problem was hidin` my truck from his wife and my friends till we could get the window replaced,..LOL

Any of Y`all wanna go muddin`?LOL



Good Times!”

“Bro, by not posting for so long, you were saving up some words, lol.”

“Thanks Chili!

Good to see you`re still around and I hope you`re doing well,..”

“good ones.”

“Doing much better lately, BF. Sometimes a person just has to endure some uncomfort to realize how much better life can be.”

“There was a moment of silance
but I heard a voice from above
it spoke of creation, of animals
there was talk of war and love

all alone in the woods, that day
I invisioned things I`d never see
I saw how the world was and is
as if God was there talking to me

A whisper of wind, fresh as rain
it like warm air against my cheek
I just sat there and drank it all in
lost to it all, I didn`t try to speak

I don`t know if God spoke to me
but there was this magic in the air
think what you will and I will too
it was as if God was standing there”

“I felt my heart caught up in my throat, my lungs bursting and laboring for air, the pounding in my ears wasn`t war drums, but my excitement running away with itself, once more.

Geeee-hause-a-fat,.. I was just hittin` the high spots, as if the rest of the world had just gone flat. Yup, I was alone once more and in the woods I loved and absorbed in it all and lost to the moment, as only a nature nut can be and me so long wanting just a taste of what I have waited years for and at last my thirst wasn`t quinched, but my lips were wetted at the very least. I can walk again, I wanted to scream, I was so excited, but I felt like a fool in my happiness.

A wreck that left me house bound for so many years took so much from me and yet gave me back something I never knew I had to start with. I knew I had a love for wild things and wild places, for distant things and things with different faces. But, what I never knew was they were with me always, I just had to see `em in othwer folks and live it through their adventures for a time and in time it was good to even have small amounts of an old love revisit me in any form at all.

I found out love can fade, but it never truely dies in any of us as long as we draw breath. And here I was again in the woods, it was like I was walkin` on broken glass, but it was so rewarding, every step I took away from my truck took me closer to a new adventure and brought my love for wild things closer to me.

This time I knew I had lost something wonderful, knew I had missed it, but this time I saw everything new AGAIN! I forgot how sweet the sounds of wind whispering through the pines are, how much magic there is in fall leaves turning lose of their hosts and freefalling to where-ever they end up and how much color there is in it all, like fresh paint drippin` off of a painting and spread on the forest floor.

Used to, I was in a hurry to get from here to there and back again, but this time I couldn`t hurry and each step made me open my eyes and look where my next step would take me and now and then I`d look back over my shoulder and grin at how far I had gone. With nowhere to go I soon was faced with the fact that I was where I wanted to be all along, not that far off from anything in any direction, but it got me away from myself and I felt small and less important again. Then and there, it wasn`t all about me as much as this may seem like, but it was more about how small I was out there and how it made me see my problems as less and less as I just let go and drank in the day and all the sounds of nothingness and everythingness, if those are real words,..LOL Yanno,.. I didn`t care then, or now, if they`re real, it was real to me.

I`m a long way away from real mountain trecks again, but now my mountains are reduced to molehills,... I may never go as far in the woods as I used to, but now I come away with a lot more and once again, I have my very own adventures,.

Bill”

“Just to get out is good. The woods are there waiting for you.I have not hiked the last three weeks, waiting for gun season to end. Next week I get to return and I will have the same feelings about being back out as you have.”