Monday, October 15, 2007

Orange Alert



Jon fell over a log in the rain yesterday and his knee hurt, so I went for a walk with Molly by myself today.

On the way up we encountered a neighbor who didn't remember ever meeting me. (It's that kind of place.) Fashion tip for her: Big older gals who look like Julia Child shouldn't dress like big babies, even in the woods. You know those little knit caps with Nordic trim and dingle dangles? Of course I've made her look like she's headed into World War I. I should talk. Notice how many pictures of me I post compared to pictures of Molly? There's a reason!



I actually didn't draw that with my left hand, it just looks that way.

So Molly and I wiggled under two barbed wire barriers and were marching merrily across the mountain top when I heard a strange noise, rumbling. I thought we must have finally come upon the elusive thundering elk herd.

And then I spotted three guys far across the aspen forest, wearing orange coats like Molly's, riding motorized tricycles. They were looking at us. We'd heard cows nearby the night before.

My first thought: These cowboys lose the romance on tricycles. Kind of sad...
Next thought: They're going to yell at me for climbing under their fences and my dog off leash. I better get going.

Next thought: Ya big dope! They're hunters on tricycles. And they call them ATVS! It was only because of Molly's orange coat they'd seen us. I was dressed in an old aspen gold color jacket, blending perfectly with the landscape.

Hunter rant: not only do they use telescopes on their rifles but they buzz around the land forcing the animals out.

We hurried home.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I wander around my Farmers Co-op I see the stuff sold to hunters that tricks turkey and deer...tricking them to approach so hunters can kill them. Not an honest hunt. I try to imagine what it's like to work for a manufacturer of these, what are they..."hunting aids"...but I can't. I'm glad Molly wore orange.

Linda Davick said...

At Sea Ranch they don't allow motorized vehicles of any kind off the main roads, OR hunting. They do allow horses, however. Also, they have a library full of mysteries. And there's a Western footwear shop up the road in Gualala. Just a little something to think about: a piece of oceanfront property at Sea Ranch.

Tom really hates those hats, too (those little knit caps with Nordic trim and dingle dangles.) He says that of all the ones he's seen here, he's never seen a single one where the dingle dangles were tied under the chin. He wishes the dingle dangles were made lots longer so people who wear them could trip and fall off the cliff. Plus he's never ever seen anyone in Norway wearing one, so the Nordic attribution may be incorrect.
p.s. Tom's anger management class starts this Thurs. evening.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Maybe the lady was wearing the tacky hat so the hunters wouldn't mistake her for wildlife. (No self respecting deer would wear one of those.)

Sally said...

Sea Ranch sounds mighty fine, Linda.
Katy, hunting makes me sick. The wild turkeys we saw when we first got here seem to be hiding very well now.

Oh and I cracked up about Tom's reaction to those hats. My drawing didn't do the look justice, because she had very pale skin, and a white puffy snowsuit, and had gotten rather puffy herself.

Is he Norwegian?

Linda Davick said...

Yes, he's Norwegian (well, his grandfather came over from Davik.) If you ever meet Tom, don't bring up the subject of Norway unless you have 6 or 7 hours. Especially not if it's dark–-you'll have to watch a slide show (11 carousels worth).

Sally said...

Linda,"catch yourself a cod. Take out the bones, skin it, salt it, and hang it out to dry for several weeks until it hardens and smells like a dumpster. Then, bring it inside and soak it in lye for several days." Know the name for this?

Anonymous said...

lutefisk: the Scandinavian delicacy which means, literally, "cod soaked in plutonium"