Photo by Bill Stokes
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, in his efforts to get the most out of the visit he and Phyllis are making to the central sand country thought it would be nice to show Phyllis a natural spring that was a favorite feature of property where he had a family cabin for over 40 years.
He could find that spring with his eyes closed, right!
Wrong!
The trail to the spring had been obliterated by 40 years of tree and weed growth, and on a cloudy day he and Phyllis stumbled from one deer trail to another until they ended up in the creek bottom.
Now, nobody, except for a rare, demented trout fisherman, ventures into a Wisconsin creek bottom in the summer. They are jungles of brush and weeds and vines, virtually impassable. Even the “dumb” animals know this and avoid them.
Unfortunately, it seemed the keeper and Phyllis were fighting their way through the miserable creek bottom jungle by going in circles.
An exasperated Phyllis finally pulled out her ever-ready telephone with its compass feature and demanded a “south” route that ultimately got the two of them back out to the road—soaking wet, disheveled, and aching from having twisted through countless windfalls and vine traps.
For his next guiding feature, the keeper hopes to show Phyllis his old deer stand. It will keep them mostly on high ground.
Photo by Bill Stokes