Childhood Stories
Wiggles to the Rescue
Our family would take unusual camping trips and dad
would drag along a friend or neighbor, to share in the fun of experiencing the great outdoors. The victim this time was the Green's, strangely they had and old green Plymouth that we nicknamed the Green Hornet. He was a popular comic book character in those days. Sometimes, our trips became more of a challenge than pure excitement. Wiggles, our dog, would hang out of the window as we pursued our dream.
One sunny summer day, the camping bug bit us and off we went on a adventure to the forest somewhere in Washington, probably in the Mount Rainer area. After a long ride in the car we turned off onto a forest road and plunged into the thick dirt road that lead who knows where, the winding old thing was full of pot holes, Dad did not seem to be slowed down by the constant banging and lurching of the car. Some distance in, lying over the road was a freshly fallen small tree, so Dad and his friend, Skid, got out and removed the tree with some effort and the path was clear, at least for now. We weaved our way thru the serpentine dirt road hoping we would stop soon and find a good camping spot.
In those days they had fire lookout towers placed at intervals throughout the Cascades, as we neared one set up on the top of a hill, some places would call it a mountain, but in Washington it's not a mountain till it's 8 to 9 thousand feet high. As I remember, it was occupied by a ranger who was on duty, so we received permission to climb the stairs and check it out. The view was 360 degrees of pure tree heaven, thankfully there were no fires visible.
Continuing on some distance, bumping along, we came upon a open area that had a small stream running through it. This is a campers dream. The weather was warn and sunny the air fresh and clean. What could be better in the world anywhere than the perfect camping spot? We pitched our tents and set about exploring. Wiggles was running around excitedly and wagging his tail furiously, for that's how he got his name, looking for a squirrel to chase. He loved to chase cars back home, so it was natural for him to be in pursuit of game.
The fire was lit, the marshmallows toasting, and the story telling under way. Dad loved to make up a story or two, intended to scare the kids of course. Sometime after nightfall, we would reluctantly crawl into our sleeping bags and soon be of to dreamland.
In the morning, Mike and I woke up early and impatiently waited to explore the forest stretched out before us, every vista begging us to partake in its mysteries. After breakfast, everyone except the moms, headed off for our adventure into the unknown, Wiggles leading the way. He ploughed along rapidly, pumping his short legs vigorously to keep just ahead. As we traversed deeper and deeper into the forest for some distance, it became clear that we were not entirely sure the way back to camp. As a little panic crept into our minds, for no one had dropped bread crumbs or notched trees during our sojourn, it became apparent soon all would be lost. They maybe wouldn’t even find our bodies for years.
Someone said Wiggles could find our way back, for he was hungry and could certainly find camp just to survive. Sure enough, off he went, leading us directly back to camp, ending our non-trail traverse successfully.
We found the true meaning of real friends and hero’s.
Wiggles super dog and friend.
CHILDHOOD
The ORCHARD
AT THE END OF THE BLOCK ON THE SAME SIDE OF THE STREET
AND RIGHT NEXT TO WHERE AN EMBANKMENT DROPPED OFF TO THE
TRACKS WAS A LARGE LOT, MAYBE AN ACRE OR MORE. IT WAS
COVERED WITH TREES, BUT NOT ORDINARY TREES, FRUIT TREES, AND NOTHING IS MORE ATTRACTIVE TO CHILDREN THEN FRUIT TREES.
DICK, MARTY AND I WOULD STAND OUTSIDE THE FENCED ORCHARD AND TRY TO CONVINCE OUR SELFS THAT We COULD JUMP OVER THE FENCE AND RUN TO THE APPLE TREES AN GRAB SOME OF THE DELECTABLE FRUIT, (WASHINGTONIEAS ARE PARTIAL TO APPLES) AND RETURN BEFORE...
YES THERE WAS A PROBLEM. A DOG IT LOOKED ESPECIALLY ADAPT AT EATING LITTLE BOYS WHO MIGHT HAVE ANY IDEAS ABOUT STEALING APPLES (WE OF COURSE PREFERRED NOT TO THINK OF IT AS STEALING, BUT ONLY AS BORROWING, FOR WE WOULD RETURN THE CORES, SO WE JUST SAT THERE IMAGINING WE COULD BE BRAVE ENOUGH TO VENTURE IN TO SAMPLE THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT,FOR IT'S ALWAYS THE FRUIT OR THINGS, THAT ARE OUT OF OUR REACH THAT ARE THE MOST INVITING.
NO WE NEVER VENTURED INTO THE YARD WHEN THE LARGE
MAN EATING DOG WAS ON THE JOB, BUT ON OCCASION WOULD DASH
IN AN OUT WHEN THE DOG WAS INSIDE OR SOMEWHERE ELSE, AN NO ONE WAS HOME.
THE APPLES WHERE ONLY APPLES AND NOT NEARLY GOOD AS WHAT WE ALREADY HAD AT HOME. JUST ONE OF LIFES LITTLE LESSONS TO LEARN AND LEARN THEM WE DID AS WE CONTINUED TO EXPLORE THIS LIFE THAT HAD BEEN THRUST UPON US BY OUR PARENTS, IT'S ALWAYS THE PARENTS FAULT.
STEVE K
