2014 Space Blogacy

five things I will never forget

May 12, 2014 Prompt: List five things you will never forget by filling in this sentence:

1.
I'll never forget the time I saw a forest service worker beaten by a Grey Squirrel. It was rib-holding -funny to hear the commotion even before I saw it. To a young hillbilly girl, ya. It was a knee slapping time. The rangers were always being transferred and this one was as green as they came. “Green” back then meant “inexperienced. Now “green” is on a whole other political mindset. I will leave that for another time.
I never knew a grown man could scream like a girl. The tough old squirrel had enough of our robbing his winter catches. His high-pitched chatter was unmistakable. I knew he owned about two acres of prime seed cone producing real estate and from the raucous I could reason that somebody was getting bombed. A 250’ Sugar Pine tree stood within his territory. Green cones can be deadly from that height.
One look from my dad told me to silence my laughter. The Ranger was my Dad’s boss. It was after hours and he was out doing the same thing we, and half the town was doing, getting cones.
2.
I will never forget the next time I went back to that Sugar Pine tree, there was a wide tin band with a sharp edges nailed all around the tree. I got angry and tried to remove it. My dad stopped me.

3
I will NEVER forget the next time I saw that Sugar Pine tree. On the ground nearby, was a wooden box with a white skull and cross bones painted on all sides.
4
I will never forget the day Dad came home and said, “Pack the car, I have been transferred to Wrangell, Alaska.
5
I will never forget the day I brought my children to my Oregon childhood mountain cabin. (Ten years later)
We visited the tree. And to my broken heart, not a bird or squirrel or bug made a single sound.