Saturday Stories. #12

Good morning to everyone! It is a lovely, sunny, spring morning here. There is a bit of light high clouds, but nothing serious. There is still the odd patch of snow visible in shaded areas, but otherwise the snow is gone. Spring is here nice and early this year. I do like spring. It feels so good after a long cold winter. Even though we did not get a long cold winter this year, but spring still feels the same.

Gulls are flying around squawking. An eagle is soaring high overhead. A flock of geese has just flown past. This is the kind of spring weather I used to like for some exploring. So, one time years ago, I made my lunch, packed extra clothes and whatever else I needed, putting it all in my backpack and off I went. I stopped for breakfast and ended up having Krissy join me on this adventure.

Lady Pearl (left) and Sir George (right), my old Herring Gull friends on a spring morning.

We found the old road that I had spotted the week before and stopped to look at it. Okay, it was more of a trail than a road. Well, at one time it was probably a trail anyway. But it looked drivable. Kind of. So, off we went. “You are going to get a lot of scratches on your car,” said Krissy. “It does sound like it,” I admitted.

Another Herring Gull named Sir Henry.

But, it was not a long drive and it opened up to a small clearing with a house and a large shed which had collapsed long ago. The house was still standing though. Sort of. It was leaning a bit. At one time it was a story and a half, but the upper part was, well, kind of in the lower part now. Half of it anyway. Along with half of the roof.

We went in the front door, which was open. There was quite a bit of furniture in the house, curtains still on the windows, there was even some cans and jars of food in the kitchen cupboards, along with dishes. It looked like whoever lived here just decided to move and leave most everything behind. “Hey, a basement!” said Krissy excitedly. Naturally I forgot to bring a flashlight.

An American Bald Eagle flying around on a spring afternoon.

“There are candles,” said Krissy, “and I have a lighter.” Down we went, each of us holding a candle. There were jars of preserves on shelves, lots of broken glass in one corner, 2 broken chairs, some empty wood boxes, plus a pile of rocks and bricks. People keep some odd things in their basements. Back up the stairs we went, but at about the half way point we heard something upstairs.

It was walking around, creaking across the floor. I could tell it was a bear so we went back down the stairs. “Um, Steve, we can’t stay down here,” said Krissy. “Well, we can’t go up either,” I said, “hopefully the bear will not want to come down here.” “Oh good, that makes me feel better,” she said. The bear did come to the basement entrance and kind of stuck its head down a bit, sniffing.

One of my chipmunk friends on a spring afternoon.

It likely was able to smell us so that should keep it away. I was wrong, the bear began coming down the stairs… Well, I better stop before this gets too long and I will continue it next time. Hmm, gulls are still flying around and 2 crows are chasing a raven, a typical spring scene. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2024 Steve McLeod.