Yenli came for a visit yesterday to prepare cranberry shrimp and go for a walk on the ridge. Jon and Kam came to visit while Yenli was here. Both loved the food and Kam told Yenli she was the best cooker ever. I loaned Yenli a walking stick, carved by my brother Lee from a red cedar limb. We started on the walk by descending the steep stairs on the bank from my yard to the road. Yenli said, Ew. Why are there so many leaves on the stairs? We walked through a hay field and came to a fence with a barbed wire gap. I held up the wire and the boys scooted under. Yenli said, Oh! I cant do that! I loosened the gap so she and I could pass through. I told her how I cut my leg a few months ago by falling through the gap. We started across a cattle pasture. Yenli said, Ew! Ew! Ew! Why is there so much poop? She warned the boys to avoid the manure. Normally, they take delight in kicking and scattering the piles that are not very fresh. We walked along a lane through the woods. Yenli complained that so many leaves covered the forest floor. Jon took a forked stick and plowed a path through the leaves for her. We came to a pond sullied by cattle. The dogs ran through it. Yenli said, Ew! Ew! Ew! and complained about the smell. We came to a barbed wire fence. Jon and Kam crawled under. I crossed over, then turned to hold the wire for Yenli. She couldnt slide under the fence so I demonstrated how she could hold down some strands of wire as I held up other strands, allowing her to pass through the middle. She said, Oh! Oh! Oh! But she managed to squeeze through after several false starts. We walked through more woods and cattle pastures and we crossed more fences. Yenli accused me of choosing a path to discourage her from going on walks in Millers Chapel. We were surprised to find a hunter in a metal deer blind high up in a tree. The hunter was positioned directly in front of a property posted with a no trespassing sign. If deer grazed in the meadow, he could kill them without trespassing. We entered the cedar trees and crouched through underlying briers as we moved down the steep ridge. Yenli said, Oh! Oh! Oh! as briers caught at her clothing. She said, Ew! Ew! Ew! as she skidded on leaves and muddy cow paths. Jon kept trying to clear a path for Yenli. He boasted about his own skills as a woodsman and survivalist. We came to another fence. Although this one was easy to cross, Yenli caught her shoe on a barb and scratched her leg deeply. Before I could stop him, Jon rubbed dirt on the scratch. I made him stop and said we would clean the scratch at home. I told Yenli to get a tetanus shot at the health department on Monday. I explained how she could get it free of charge. We skirted a second pond, looked into a deep cave and explored a second, shallow cave under a tree. Jon told us a long, long story about how the Vietcong had dug tunnels under the tree to ambush soldiers and passers-by. We crossed a muddy little stream and a once-electric fence. As Yenli stooped to go under the fence, she raised up prematurely and caught her jacket on the barbed wire. Thats how we learned the fence was no longer electrified. I disentangled her as she wailed Oh! Oh! Oh! We walked home along the road. We stopped at Moms house and visited with her, Savannah, Deb, Sharon Lee and Wesson. Yenli told everyone how I led them to hazardous places in order to discourage her from walking. Mom told Yenli we were clodhoppers. Yenli is not a country gal. This morning Kam and Jon came to my house before church. Kam picked up the cedar walking stick and mimicked the whining sounds Yenli made as she crossed fences and smelled poop. He had it down pat. Yenli is an excellent cook.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 23:41:05 +0000
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