🦃🧡🦃
Ramona
and Cherry spent a lazy day waiting for the hunters’ return. There isn’t a ton
of housework to do in the Home Clearing. A few dishes. Burn the scraps and bits
of detritus that blow in, after a little sweeping. Wash a pot and some bowls
down at the river. That’s about it. As
she did her few chores Cherry floated along
behind her staying out of the way.
Honestly, they were a bit lonely. Cherry didn’t talk much, so Ramona had no one to visit with. She would have been glad to see Thaga, or Constance. It would have been good to see her again. Now that she was married to Ferdy they didn’t see her much.
The sun moved across the sky. Still they waited. The wind came around, but didn’t stay. It was a little chilly, so Ramona built up the fire. She put her iron grate over the fire in preparation for whatever the hunters caught. She sighed and was starting to feel a little sleepy.
Just about then she heard someone, or several someones coming down the path. First Bob arrived, then Berry. Then Twigg ran to her, and finally Ralph himself appeared. He was carrying two wild turkeys over one arm and a large orange squash-like thing in the other. Ramona had never seen anything like it.
“What’s that?” said she.
“I’m not sure,” said Ralph.
“Where did you get it?” Ramona was awake now!
“That’s a little bit of a long story,” said Ralph.
“I thought we should walk along the tree line next to the meadow where the grass is tall and sometimes deer wander. I thought we might meet one there. But we didn’t see any deer today. We did see birds. There were pheasants, and lots of things like crows.
“Anyway we walked a lot further than we usually go. We stay pretty close to home here, so this was almost unknown territory. It started to feel like we had sort of left our little world in a way. It was different there. On the horizon I could see houses and gardens. Then we saw more buildings and it started to look like a village, Ramona! It was a place I had never been before and I’m not sure how that happened. If there was a portal, baby, it was a secret one.
“Twigg and Bob and Berry seemed to be a little frightened or shy. But we kept going anyhow. We felt dazed in a way. It was a funny scene.
“We walked on until we came to a gravel road. There was a small park near the road. In the parking area there was one car. It was a square shaped thing painted dark orange. There was a lady sitting in the driver’s seat. There was just her. Nobody else. The window was rolled down and she was smoking and drinking a big paper cup of coffee. I could smell both.
“Next thing, she peeks around behind her car and sees all of us. She laughs and says, ‘I know you! I do! I’ve heard about you and your boy and your cats! Oh just a minute. I have something for you to take home to Ramona!’
“So, she hops out of the car, goes around to the back, opens the door back there and inside are about six of these big gourd things. She hauls the biggest one out and hands it to me, grinning all the while.”
“She hugged me, mommy,” said Twigg. “And she petted Bob and Berry too! And they liked it.”
“She hugged me too. It was a funny hug because she was so short. Not short for a Hairless, but much shorter than you! It was the funniest thing. I don’t know what to think. I still felt like we had fallen out of our world somehow.
“She said she thought that if we headed back the way we had come that we would probably find some turkeys in the grass and that the cats could probably catch them easily. And you know what? She was right! When we got around half way back home, it started feel like home again and we saw a whole flock of turkeys. The turkeys jumped up and began to run down into the meadow, but Berry and Bob were faster, and each caught one! So I guess we will have turkey for dinner. I’ll clean them up down by the river in a minute.
“What do you think about that?” said Ralph. He put the pumpkin, for of course it was a pumpkin, a huge one, down at Ramona’s feet.
“I don’t know what to think, Ralph. And yet here you all are with turkeys and that large orange vegetable,” said Ramona with her eyebrows up, laughing a little. “I suppose it’s edible, or the strange lady wouldn’t have given it to you.”
“I don’t know what else the Hairless do with these things,” said Ralph.
“I wonder if they have some kind of festival, and they use these things for that?” said Ramona. “It’s hard to imagine, but people are strange.”
“What in the world?” Ralph just laughed.
So, Ramona cut the top off of the pumpkin. Finding a lot of strings and seeds inside, she pulled them out. It occurred to her that the seeds could be toasted and eaten so she saved those and threw the stringy stuff in her fire.
When Ralph came back from the river with Twigg, he had two plucked and cleaned turkeys ready to cook. He looked at the pumpkin sitting there all cleaned out and said, “I wonder what it would be like if you cut some little holes, like in a design, in that thing, and put a little fire inside it, if it wouldn’t look pretty that way?”
“I wonder if it would cook that way?” said Ramona.
“You could sure try it,” said Ralph.
So, Ramona cut some triangle shaped holes in the hollowed out pumpkin. Then she made a fire inside it with pinecones and small resinous sticks. It began to smell like a cooking vegetable around the fire circle.
It took quite while for the turkeys, which were split in half, to roast over the fire. And during the time they were cooking it got dark. But the little fire in the pumpkin continued to burn, because Ramona had cut a little chimney hole in the lid.
It lit up the Home Clearing with a festive lantern light.
They all thought it was great. When it got soft and fell apart they ate it too, with their turkeys and had a very fine evening.
But then, they always had a very fine evening in the Home Clearing in the Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest!
Honestly, they were a bit lonely. Cherry didn’t talk much, so Ramona had no one to visit with. She would have been glad to see Thaga, or Constance. It would have been good to see her again. Now that she was married to Ferdy they didn’t see her much.
The sun moved across the sky. Still they waited. The wind came around, but didn’t stay. It was a little chilly, so Ramona built up the fire. She put her iron grate over the fire in preparation for whatever the hunters caught. She sighed and was starting to feel a little sleepy.
Just about then she heard someone, or several someones coming down the path. First Bob arrived, then Berry. Then Twigg ran to her, and finally Ralph himself appeared. He was carrying two wild turkeys over one arm and a large orange squash-like thing in the other. Ramona had never seen anything like it.
“What’s that?” said she.
“I’m not sure,” said Ralph.
“Where did you get it?” Ramona was awake now!
“That’s a little bit of a long story,” said Ralph.
“I thought we should walk along the tree line next to the meadow where the grass is tall and sometimes deer wander. I thought we might meet one there. But we didn’t see any deer today. We did see birds. There were pheasants, and lots of things like crows.
“Anyway we walked a lot further than we usually go. We stay pretty close to home here, so this was almost unknown territory. It started to feel like we had sort of left our little world in a way. It was different there. On the horizon I could see houses and gardens. Then we saw more buildings and it started to look like a village, Ramona! It was a place I had never been before and I’m not sure how that happened. If there was a portal, baby, it was a secret one.
“Twigg and Bob and Berry seemed to be a little frightened or shy. But we kept going anyhow. We felt dazed in a way. It was a funny scene.
“We walked on until we came to a gravel road. There was a small park near the road. In the parking area there was one car. It was a square shaped thing painted dark orange. There was a lady sitting in the driver’s seat. There was just her. Nobody else. The window was rolled down and she was smoking and drinking a big paper cup of coffee. I could smell both.
“Next thing, she peeks around behind her car and sees all of us. She laughs and says, ‘I know you! I do! I’ve heard about you and your boy and your cats! Oh just a minute. I have something for you to take home to Ramona!’
“So, she hops out of the car, goes around to the back, opens the door back there and inside are about six of these big gourd things. She hauls the biggest one out and hands it to me, grinning all the while.”
“She hugged me, mommy,” said Twigg. “And she petted Bob and Berry too! And they liked it.”
“She hugged me too. It was a funny hug because she was so short. Not short for a Hairless, but much shorter than you! It was the funniest thing. I don’t know what to think. I still felt like we had fallen out of our world somehow.
“She said she thought that if we headed back the way we had come that we would probably find some turkeys in the grass and that the cats could probably catch them easily. And you know what? She was right! When we got around half way back home, it started feel like home again and we saw a whole flock of turkeys. The turkeys jumped up and began to run down into the meadow, but Berry and Bob were faster, and each caught one! So I guess we will have turkey for dinner. I’ll clean them up down by the river in a minute.
“What do you think about that?” said Ralph. He put the pumpkin, for of course it was a pumpkin, a huge one, down at Ramona’s feet.
“I don’t know what to think, Ralph. And yet here you all are with turkeys and that large orange vegetable,” said Ramona with her eyebrows up, laughing a little. “I suppose it’s edible, or the strange lady wouldn’t have given it to you.”
“I don’t know what else the Hairless do with these things,” said Ralph.
“I wonder if they have some kind of festival, and they use these things for that?” said Ramona. “It’s hard to imagine, but people are strange.”
“What in the world?” Ralph just laughed.
So, Ramona cut the top off of the pumpkin. Finding a lot of strings and seeds inside, she pulled them out. It occurred to her that the seeds could be toasted and eaten so she saved those and threw the stringy stuff in her fire.
When Ralph came back from the river with Twigg, he had two plucked and cleaned turkeys ready to cook. He looked at the pumpkin sitting there all cleaned out and said, “I wonder what it would be like if you cut some little holes, like in a design, in that thing, and put a little fire inside it, if it wouldn’t look pretty that way?”
“I wonder if it would cook that way?” said Ramona.
“You could sure try it,” said Ralph.
So, Ramona cut some triangle shaped holes in the hollowed out pumpkin. Then she made a fire inside it with pinecones and small resinous sticks. It began to smell like a cooking vegetable around the fire circle.
It took quite while for the turkeys, which were split in half, to roast over the fire. And during the time they were cooking it got dark. But the little fire in the pumpkin continued to burn, because Ramona had cut a little chimney hole in the lid.
It lit up the Home Clearing with a festive lantern light.
They all thought it was great. When it got soft and fell apart they ate it too, with their turkeys and had a very fine evening.
But then, they always had a very fine evening in the Home Clearing in the Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest!
Not quite correct, but finding the right photo doesn't always happen!
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