Page 163 - my-people-abbie-harris-beck

Have you ever wondered about the secrets of the universe? Like when was earth
formed? Or is there life on other planets? What are UFO's? Where do they come from?
Well I had an amazing experience many years ago that may just be the key to some of
these mysteries; or at least it got me thinking about it. It was a rather strange experience,
and I am not yet at all certain who or what I encountered that fateful day in the woods so
many years ago. At any event I pass the story along to you so that, perhaps, you can
solve the riddles and then, in turn, answer some of the questions that I have asked for so
many years.

It all started one late Saturday afternoon in the early fall back in 1953. I was
twelve years old. Daddy had just passed along his 410 shotgun to me and I was out
squirrel hunting. Daddy had gotten the gun as a kid for his 12th birthday and now it was
mine! We had reblued the barrel and refinished the stock. That took several weeks
because we had to steel wool the barrel and apply several coats of the bluing material.
The stock did not take so long. Boy did it look good when we finished ! It was better
than new. It had been daddy's and now it was mine. Boy was I proud!

Anyway, I was out on grand daddy Grover's land where daddy had taken me
hunting before. It was in the woods near where the fish pond is. The pond was not there
then, it was just woods, There were some hickory trees on the hill. The squirrels would
scamper around the tree limbs cutting the hickory nuts and letting them fall to the ground.
Then they would fly down the tree trunk and hit the ground. Each squirrel would go its
separate way, gathering nuts in its mouth. Once their mouths were full-they looked like
they had the mumps!-they would run up the tree to their nests and spit out the nuts. Then
they would scamper down and reload. To hunt them and get close enough for a shot I had
to sneak up real quiet and peer through the bushes.

By the way this was my first hunting all alone. I had been going with daddy as
long as I could walk. I knew to be careful with a shotgun. I had watched as he sneaked
quietly along the trails. I knew not to cross on longs or climb fences without first
unloading the gun. Even though I had learned not to talk loud and to be quiet when
hunting, I was not quite ready for the feeling of loneliness that I felt on my first hunt all by
myself. There was a sense of freedom. I could go in any direction and I wanted to go. I
could walk as slow as I wanted. Now I had to make the choices and I felt a new since of
responsibility. But I have to admit that the sounds of the woods made me somewhat
jumpy! Every time a bird chirped, I would stop and half turn around. One time an owl
screeched right beside me and I nearly wet my pants!