Trail Magic!!!

So, Yesterday Morris the Cat and I took a short training hike. A fifteen mile loop from my house to Pine Level and back. Along the way we were talking about foraging for edible plants.  About 3 miles away from my house, on the return leg, Morris Spotted some ripe cactus fruit in someones front yard.

"Should we take some?" He asked.

I looked at the property, and spying a rebel flag proudly displayed, I decided it would be a bad Idea to just take it. " there's liable to be a shotgun blast if you do." I warned, pointing to the flagpole in the yard. "It would be better to ask first."

With that I told him to stay by the road so we don't alarm the inhabitants. I went to the side of the house and ended up startling the lady who lives there when she looked up and saw me round the corner. I was wearing all black and I had a military type backpack.

I stopped in place as she said "Lord, you scared the wits out of me!"

I wanted to assure her that I wasn't a criminal or miscreant, so I raised my hands in a calming gesture and apologized. "I'm sorry mam, I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that my friend and I were hiking along the road and we saw some cactus fruit in your front yard. My friend told me how they are good to eat. Would it be OK if we picked a couple of them?"

She made a sour face and shrugged. "It's alright with me." she said.

I thanked her and headed back to the front yard. When I saw Morris I gave him the thumbs up and we went to the cactus and picked 2 of the fruit off.

John began peeling the fruit with his knife, explaining how to eat the fruit when I suggested we move on first, so we didn't make the lady nervous. When we turned to depart, the woman came walking out to the front yard with two packs of crackers and two bottles of Gatorade.

My first impulse was to tell her we had plenty of food and that we were only about three miles away from my house. but on second thought, it seemed best to let her give us the food. It makes people feel good to help, and telling her the real situation might have made her feel foolish.

So I accepted the food and drink with many thanks and we went on our way.

As we left the yard the woman shouted, "Be careful, there are a lot of coyotes around here! I wouldn't camp in this area if I were you." I live just down the road. There are few if any coyotes around there. I think she was afraid that we would return later for more food, or to harm her in some way. It's hard to be completely charitable in a world like ours, especially when you are old and alone. However, the fact that she offered help to strangers says a lot about this woman and her kindness. I think I'll bake her a batch of oatmeal cookies and drop them off with a thank you note.

until next time,

Stupid