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Spring was coming for sure. Ralph
knew it. Everybody knew it.
The days kept getting longer. The sunlight actually began to bestow some heat. Birds were courting. Buds were bursting. He could almost hear life. In fact, there was nothing intangible about that at all. Spring is noisy in the great forest.
Even the river was making more noise than usual. All that snow melt was rushing down to Puget Sound as fast as it could go.
Ralph felt like doing something. He was a little restless, in a nice comfortable way. He decided to trot over to see Thaga and Ooog, just to see how preparations for the garden were going. Maybe he could help out he thought. Thaga and Ooog were so generous with their garden produce and with so many other things also.
He didn’t bother to send Maeve ahead. He knew a visit would be fine with them.
Now, as it happened, Thaga and Ooog, being one of the last known Neanderthal couples, had caught the interest of a pair of anthropologists from the university down in Seattle. Word surely gets around in the academic community. Somebody told somebody else, and there you go. This required serious research.
A letter was sent, an answer was sent back, and a date was settled on for a visit from the anthropologists. That day was this day. The very day that Ralph had decided to just show up.
These kids from the university were Harold Forrest and Destiny Humboldt, graduate students on a mission of research. How many students get to meet Neanderthals these days. Not many! They were excited. They were ready.
Thaga and Ooog’s place was not like the Home Clearing. It could be reached by normal methods. It had an address that was searchable, and they did receive mail sometimes. A person could drive quite near, park, and then walk in on a nice path along a smaller river. Altogether a pleasant arrival.
Harold and Destiny loaded up with recording equipment and gifts. Before leaving Seattle, Harold drove by one of the local Sees stores so they could get a five pound box of dark chocolates with nuts and chews to bring along. Destiny wanted to stop to buy some flowers, so they did that too. She ran in and bought a couple dozen roses of various colors.
Harold drove north into Snohomish County, then up into the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It was just like a day off. They were having a great time being off campus and free. Maybe a little bit of love was in the air. They were young and it was spring. You know how it is.
Harold drove his Civic, 2015, up the gravel road which he had located by means of internet and paper map and parked by the mailbox. The mailbox proclaimed Ooog and Thaga, 101 Forest Road. Destiny looked all around. “Wow, Harold. We are in the sticks for real!”
“That we are,” said Harold and they got out. The recording equipment really only amounted to a new GoPro, and a notebook, the paper kind, He also brought his old laptop computer. All of that was in his pack. He also carried that huge box of chocolates.
Destiny was in charge of the roses. She also brought her usual junk in a big leather purse. She carried a new iPhone, so she must have been thinking of taking photos too.
It was a well worn path through the tree line which concealed the house.
“It’s so quiet out here,” said Destiny. “Nothing but birds and a little wind in the trees.” Compared to their campus, it was quiet!
They walked beside the small tributary down toward the house. It took maybe ten minutes. It was a charming walk, like a dream, it seemed to the kids. Soon they came out into a sunlit area, a meadow.
The house presented itself. It looked like something from Mother Goose maybe. It was low, fitting into the landscape cozily. The lower part was made of large river pebbles and the upper part of smallish logs. The roof was made of local slate, and the few windows were comprised of many small panes. There was a large garden patch which was in the process of being prepared for planting. A great big tabby cat lay on the porch sunning himself. It looked too good to be true to Harold and Destiny.
The tomcat removed himself as they approached. Harold knocked on the door.
The door, which looked for all the world as if made by Hobbits, was opened by a cheerful looking short lady in a long floral print dress of black and pink, with a blue and white striped apron over it. She also wore a handknit grey sweater, and her graying hair was up in a fluffy knot on her head.
“Come on in,” said Thaga. “We are dying to meet you! Oh! Roses!”
So, Harold and Destiny, smiling a little shyly, went on into Thaga’s kitchen. They presented their gifts. The chocolates created quite an impression. But Thaga loved the roses.
“Ooog, come and meet these anthropologists, and look what they brought!” she called out to the other room.
Ooog appeared. His long white hair was newly braided and hung below his belt. His beard was also braided into two plaits. He had his leather pants on, his homemade shoes, a little elfin looking, and a blue cotton shirt under a gray woolen pullover sweater.
His eyes were brilliantly light blue and had smile crinkles all around. Ooog also had a rather large nose. The whole effect was gnomish in the extreme.
Destiny drew her breath in sharply. These people were all you could ever hope for in a pair of latter day Neanderthals. It was almost too good to be true, truly! And they spoke English!
“Hello, I am Ooog,” said Ooog, laughing a little. He admired the gifts and invited Harold and Destiny into the living room to sit so they could talk comfortably.
It was just then that Ralph arrived.
He knocked on the door, and as had been the habit between them, he opened the door and walked in. Finding no one in the big kitchen, he went looking for his friends in the living room.
“Oh dear,” said Thaga to herself. But there he was. Ralph. Bigger than life. In her house with these poor students all of a sudden.
Destiny took one look and fainted, falling limply back against her chair.
Harold leapt to his feet. He started fumbling with the GoPro…
“Oh, hi, everybody,” said Ralph. “Did I bust into a party?” He smiled, checking out the newcomers.
“No, Ralph,” said Thaga. “They are Harold, with the camera there, and Destiny, who has fainted. I guess you scared her. They came to interview and photograph us for their papers.”
“Is she alright,” Ralph asked, looking concerned.
“I believe she will be,” said Thaga. “She looks to be waking up right now.”
“Have a seat, Ralph,” said Ooog. “We’ll make introductions and see if we can all sort ourselves out here.”
So, Ralph settled down into a special very large wooden chair that Ooog had made just for his visits. He tried to look as agreeable as possible, but goodness he was very large and very hairy.
“Harold you may as well forget the camera,” said Thaga. “It never works around my friend Ralph here. I’m not sure why. Some goofy thing his wavelength does to electronic stuff.”
“Well, shoot,” said Harold. But he believed her, because the thing was not working in fact.
Destiny woke up. She was nodding her head and saying a few things to herself, but she held steady. For a real anthropologist, this was a dream come true, something she had never expected to happen in this world. Oh, she knew a bit about Forest Keepers, and she had discussed the possibility with Harold several times.
When it came down to it, they all had a lovely visit. Ralph was his most charming, and eventually Destiny just loved him. Harold thought he was great. He made some written notes, but didn’t get any photos.
“Why don’t you come back next week at this same time,” said Ooog. “If Ralph will stay home, you can get photos and record us talking and all of that.”
Harold said, “you bet. We’ll do that!”
They all sampled the chocolates and drank some coffee.
It started to get dark, so Harold and Destiny said they should take off and that they would see Thaga and Ooog next week.
“Goodbye Ralph. It was wonderful to meet you,” said Destiny. Harold nodded.
“Goodbye,” said Ralph. “This was a great surprise. Maybe someday we will meet again. You never know!”
Harold and Destiny left with their heads in the clouds thinking of wonderful papers that could be written. They held hands on the way back up the path to Harold’s old Civic waiting for them up by the mailbox.
When they got as far as Milltown, they stopped in a Chinese restaurant on Broadway because they were getting hungry. They had a lot to talk about, and then, love was in the air after all.
The days kept getting longer. The sunlight actually began to bestow some heat. Birds were courting. Buds were bursting. He could almost hear life. In fact, there was nothing intangible about that at all. Spring is noisy in the great forest.
Even the river was making more noise than usual. All that snow melt was rushing down to Puget Sound as fast as it could go.
Ralph felt like doing something. He was a little restless, in a nice comfortable way. He decided to trot over to see Thaga and Ooog, just to see how preparations for the garden were going. Maybe he could help out he thought. Thaga and Ooog were so generous with their garden produce and with so many other things also.
He didn’t bother to send Maeve ahead. He knew a visit would be fine with them.
Now, as it happened, Thaga and Ooog, being one of the last known Neanderthal couples, had caught the interest of a pair of anthropologists from the university down in Seattle. Word surely gets around in the academic community. Somebody told somebody else, and there you go. This required serious research.
A letter was sent, an answer was sent back, and a date was settled on for a visit from the anthropologists. That day was this day. The very day that Ralph had decided to just show up.
These kids from the university were Harold Forrest and Destiny Humboldt, graduate students on a mission of research. How many students get to meet Neanderthals these days. Not many! They were excited. They were ready.
Thaga and Ooog’s place was not like the Home Clearing. It could be reached by normal methods. It had an address that was searchable, and they did receive mail sometimes. A person could drive quite near, park, and then walk in on a nice path along a smaller river. Altogether a pleasant arrival.
Harold and Destiny loaded up with recording equipment and gifts. Before leaving Seattle, Harold drove by one of the local Sees stores so they could get a five pound box of dark chocolates with nuts and chews to bring along. Destiny wanted to stop to buy some flowers, so they did that too. She ran in and bought a couple dozen roses of various colors.
Harold drove north into Snohomish County, then up into the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It was just like a day off. They were having a great time being off campus and free. Maybe a little bit of love was in the air. They were young and it was spring. You know how it is.
Harold drove his Civic, 2015, up the gravel road which he had located by means of internet and paper map and parked by the mailbox. The mailbox proclaimed Ooog and Thaga, 101 Forest Road. Destiny looked all around. “Wow, Harold. We are in the sticks for real!”
“That we are,” said Harold and they got out. The recording equipment really only amounted to a new GoPro, and a notebook, the paper kind, He also brought his old laptop computer. All of that was in his pack. He also carried that huge box of chocolates.
Destiny was in charge of the roses. She also brought her usual junk in a big leather purse. She carried a new iPhone, so she must have been thinking of taking photos too.
It was a well worn path through the tree line which concealed the house.
“It’s so quiet out here,” said Destiny. “Nothing but birds and a little wind in the trees.” Compared to their campus, it was quiet!
They walked beside the small tributary down toward the house. It took maybe ten minutes. It was a charming walk, like a dream, it seemed to the kids. Soon they came out into a sunlit area, a meadow.
The house presented itself. It looked like something from Mother Goose maybe. It was low, fitting into the landscape cozily. The lower part was made of large river pebbles and the upper part of smallish logs. The roof was made of local slate, and the few windows were comprised of many small panes. There was a large garden patch which was in the process of being prepared for planting. A great big tabby cat lay on the porch sunning himself. It looked too good to be true to Harold and Destiny.
The tomcat removed himself as they approached. Harold knocked on the door.
The door, which looked for all the world as if made by Hobbits, was opened by a cheerful looking short lady in a long floral print dress of black and pink, with a blue and white striped apron over it. She also wore a handknit grey sweater, and her graying hair was up in a fluffy knot on her head.
“Come on in,” said Thaga. “We are dying to meet you! Oh! Roses!”
So, Harold and Destiny, smiling a little shyly, went on into Thaga’s kitchen. They presented their gifts. The chocolates created quite an impression. But Thaga loved the roses.
“Ooog, come and meet these anthropologists, and look what they brought!” she called out to the other room.
Ooog appeared. His long white hair was newly braided and hung below his belt. His beard was also braided into two plaits. He had his leather pants on, his homemade shoes, a little elfin looking, and a blue cotton shirt under a gray woolen pullover sweater.
His eyes were brilliantly light blue and had smile crinkles all around. Ooog also had a rather large nose. The whole effect was gnomish in the extreme.
Destiny drew her breath in sharply. These people were all you could ever hope for in a pair of latter day Neanderthals. It was almost too good to be true, truly! And they spoke English!
“Hello, I am Ooog,” said Ooog, laughing a little. He admired the gifts and invited Harold and Destiny into the living room to sit so they could talk comfortably.
It was just then that Ralph arrived.
He knocked on the door, and as had been the habit between them, he opened the door and walked in. Finding no one in the big kitchen, he went looking for his friends in the living room.
“Oh dear,” said Thaga to herself. But there he was. Ralph. Bigger than life. In her house with these poor students all of a sudden.
Destiny took one look and fainted, falling limply back against her chair.
Harold leapt to his feet. He started fumbling with the GoPro…
“Oh, hi, everybody,” said Ralph. “Did I bust into a party?” He smiled, checking out the newcomers.
“No, Ralph,” said Thaga. “They are Harold, with the camera there, and Destiny, who has fainted. I guess you scared her. They came to interview and photograph us for their papers.”
“Is she alright,” Ralph asked, looking concerned.
“I believe she will be,” said Thaga. “She looks to be waking up right now.”
“Have a seat, Ralph,” said Ooog. “We’ll make introductions and see if we can all sort ourselves out here.”
So, Ralph settled down into a special very large wooden chair that Ooog had made just for his visits. He tried to look as agreeable as possible, but goodness he was very large and very hairy.
“Harold you may as well forget the camera,” said Thaga. “It never works around my friend Ralph here. I’m not sure why. Some goofy thing his wavelength does to electronic stuff.”
“Well, shoot,” said Harold. But he believed her, because the thing was not working in fact.
Destiny woke up. She was nodding her head and saying a few things to herself, but she held steady. For a real anthropologist, this was a dream come true, something she had never expected to happen in this world. Oh, she knew a bit about Forest Keepers, and she had discussed the possibility with Harold several times.
When it came down to it, they all had a lovely visit. Ralph was his most charming, and eventually Destiny just loved him. Harold thought he was great. He made some written notes, but didn’t get any photos.
“Why don’t you come back next week at this same time,” said Ooog. “If Ralph will stay home, you can get photos and record us talking and all of that.”
Harold said, “you bet. We’ll do that!”
They all sampled the chocolates and drank some coffee.
It started to get dark, so Harold and Destiny said they should take off and that they would see Thaga and Ooog next week.
“Goodbye Ralph. It was wonderful to meet you,” said Destiny. Harold nodded.
“Goodbye,” said Ralph. “This was a great surprise. Maybe someday we will meet again. You never know!”
Harold and Destiny left with their heads in the clouds thinking of wonderful papers that could be written. They held hands on the way back up the path to Harold’s old Civic waiting for them up by the mailbox.
When they got as far as Milltown, they stopped in a Chinese restaurant on Broadway because they were getting hungry. They had a lot to talk about, and then, love was in the air after all.
💚
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