There was A LOT of rain in the spring of 2007. In low spots the earth was almost like quicksand, even after two weeks without rain. But I did not know that until I got the 8N tractor stuck (#1). Two months later I decided, on our 33rd wedding anniversary, to rescue the tractor with my 4WD dually (#2 & 3). After a neighbor helped me pull the dually and tractor out he got stuck going back for the brush hog (#4). At that point we called his father-in-law to come pull him out. #5 is the hole where the my 8N's right rear wheel had sunken into the very soft earth quickly filled with water after the tractor had been pulled out - some 2 1/2 months after the rain had stopped!.
Short Story (c)
Dinner
Preface:
It was a few years ago when Suzie and I got into longer range shooting; shooting beyond one hundred or two hundred yards. The idea of lobbing a glob of lead a long ways down range and actually hitting what you’re aiming at was irresistible. Somewhere in the back of my mind there lives a fantasy of getting that desperately needed kill that will sustain lives for a few more days. Maybe something like this:The Pennsylvanian was prone, with little cover, when he saw the prong horn antelope. It might be Dinner. It would keep his wife Suzie of ten years and two girls, Annie aged seven and Holly, aged four, alive for another few days. A flood of random thoughts races through the Pennsylvanian’s mind all at once. “The sun is low in the sky behind me. The grass over there is waving. Slight left quartering headwind by Dinner. Mirage, too. Must be one hundred degrees out here”. It had been the only game he’d seen for two and one half days.“Wind here is almost still. Dinner is over on the next rise, just below the crest. Must be a one hundred fifty yard upwind shot. Almost level from here, I expect. I made a two hundred yard shot, before. But only once in fifteen tries”.There were only twenty-two more cartridges between the Pennsylvanian and Cheyenne, Wyoming still some ten days away. Who knew how many robbers and other manner of hostiles would they encounter on the journey between here and there? He cursed at the waste of fifteen shells under his breath. Wyoming was a dream and two years away when they were back home. The valley between the hunter and quarry was fifteen to twenty feet deep. Back in Pennsylvania, back in the woods, standing single shot kills at forty to fifty yards were routine and easy. All the Pennsylvanian had seen since St. Louis sixty-seven days of rolling, treeless prairie. Grass. Lots of grass. Endless seas of grass. He remembered the farm just north of Philadelphia. Lots of game on the table. The bins in the red barn, with the Pennsylvania Dutch Hex signs, overflowing. Skins in the tanning shed. Jerky in the larder. “What possessed me to drag my family away from a comfortable life, and come all the way out here? We used to be prosperous, happy, well fed and clean. Clean. I’m glad I’m downwind – we all desperately need baths. Bet I’ve lost forty-five pounds, too. How long has it been since we've had a bath, clean clothes, or a pie for dessert?”“Time to shoot,” he thinks as he begins to move through the process. “Slowly now. Dinner sees very well. Ladder sight up and set the elevation. Mount the rifle. I hope this forty-four is up to the job. Find Dinner in the sights. Slowly, move your hand to the receiver. Slowly thumb the hammer from half to full cock. Now to the trigger guard and lever. Did I remember my skinning knife? Flex right calf. Its there. Pointer finger to the trigger. Control your breathing!”
Dinner dips its head. “Did Dinner see me? No – seems Dinner just wants to get another bite of grass.” The Pennsylvanian’s heart is beating in his chest like a blacksmith’s hammer. “OK. Sight alignment. Aim point between Dinner’s shoulder, and just below the top of Dinner’s back. Come left into the wind just behind midpoint in the neck. Breath control. Pull the rifle back into my shoulder. Trigger squeeze……… “If I just can bring this back to the wagon, it’ll get our spirits up for a week........” squeeze……… “Keep your mind on the task at hand………” squeeze……… “Sight alignment………” squeeze………“Breath control………” The rifle cracks and bucks into his shoulder. Only fifteen seconds have passed since the Pennsylvanian first saw Dinner and now he prays, “Please, please, please………” The smoke clears agonizingly slowly……… --Finis--
US Air Force
The dates are as close as I can recall.
Basic Training: Lackland AFB, Texas
Oct 22 '68 - Dec ' 68Fairchild AFB, Washington
Dec '68 - Apr ' 70Base Operations
Yokota AB, Japan
Apr '70 - Nov ' '72Base Operations
Keesler AFB, Mississippi
Nov ''72 - May ' 73Crosstraining to Air Traffic Control
Fairchild AFB, Washington
May ''73 - Apr ' 74Air Traffic Control / Tower
Spangdahlem AB, Germany
Apr ''74 - May ' 77Air Traffic Control / Radar Approach Control
Clovis AFB, New Mexico
May ''77 - Jun 21 ' 78Air Traffic Control / Radar Approach Control
I did a short stint for Lockheed and the Royal Saudi Air Force as an ATC Tower and Radar Operator and Instructor back in 1980-81. Was posted at Tubuk in the NW, near Jordan, for about 6 weeks. Then moved to Al Kharj, about 100KM south of Riyadh.
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