10th and Lawrence Streets, N.E. Washington D.C. 20017
From: Martin Paule <paulfolk@intrepid.net>
Subject: Tales of the "Old" West
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 12:42:20 -0500
Smitty,
I hope you take a break from the drywalling today to write another
installment of your travel tales.
Miren,
so good to hear from you! Was Marcellus friends with a guy named
Aaron and they used to come to CYO dances? Aaron had buggy eyes. Do I
have the right people?
John,
I was about to ask you for some tales of the West when you obliged.
I am hoping to revisit the Rockies at some point. My experiences with them
were very fun and positive. I have seen the Grand Canyon from the rim, but
always longed to actually travel in it. Would love to hear more as you have
time.
The talk of Wyoming reminded me of visits to my Uncle Louie's
house. He and his family were ranchers and lived near Ten Sleep, WY. One
one trip when I was about 8 years old, I remember watching dozens of
shooting stars from my bed outdoors and then drifting off to sleep. I woke
up rather disoriented in the morning because in the middle of the night my
brother, sister and cousins carried my bed to the other side of the house
as I slept. The rooster standing on my chest when I awoke was also a tad
distracting. That was the year our family travelled on to Yellowstone
Park. We spent the night in two tiny cabins on park grounds. It got so
cold at night my Mom decided to build a fire in the wood stove, but had
trouble getting it lit. She went next door to get help from my Dad and
while she was on the way got cornered by a black bear who had been looting
garbage in the area. Fortunately my Dad was a light sleeper and rescued
her after a few minutes of fear.
Another year after leaving Uncle Louie's, we attempted a shortcut
and got hopelessly lost in the scrub, thermos out of water, all four kids
(we were teens by then and Jane was there) carsick, gas tank on empty and
driving along a stream bed. Eventually my Dad saw electric wires and
headed for them where we found a small gas station--so much for that
shortcut!
In recent years, I took my kids and husband to Louie's--he was my
favorite uncle! Even after bypass heart surgery, Louie was fit enough to
guide us the 4 miles or so on foot to a cave near their homestead with
Native American paintings. In addition to ranching he had been the school
bus driver, piloting the children over the mountain roads through all kinds
of weather. In winter, he would stay in town rather than make the 22 mile
trek back home during the day and as a result often inherited odd jobs such
as gravedigging. Apparently he had dug many a grave in the frozen earth
because on my last visit he confided that when he died he hoped it would be
in the dead of winter so someone else would have to dig through frozen
ground. He was a cantankerous old guy, but awfully fun! Alas, he died in
the Springtime. He was quite a character, though. He was the only person
I have ever met who could roll a cigarette with one hand while astride a
horse!
Enough for now.
Rose