| Mike C., Bryce, Mark, Jas, Hoffsis and I went with Virgil to gather firewood. We rode in the back of his rickety old truck
with its sides chained on so that they swayed on every turn. It broke down once (throttle fell off the carb).
We finally made it through the cane fields into grazing grounds. It was now drizzling, but that didn't stop Virgil.
He got out his chainsaw and went to work. We carried the logs to a pile as he cut them. As we did this, the truck
started rolling down a hill, smashed through a stump and was stopped by a second. Virgil just stopped, looked then went right on sawing.
Mark and Bryce headed back down the road to a phone about 4 miles back. Jas, who was drunk, stayed in the truck while the rest of us walked the other direction, up,
to get a tow truck from the ranch. We cut through ravines, along cow paths and sometimes through dense brush to get to the road.
It was a gentle slope, but still 8 miles going up and I developed charlie horses, so I got further and further behind.
I ended up walking by myself surrounded by hundreds of baying cattle. It was still drizzling and getting colder.
We finally got to the ranch house and got hold of the tow truck. The driver was Swedish-Hawaiian. By the time we got back to the truck to
wench it out it was dark. Sean arrived in a PC truck. Virgil determined to drive the truck back. So Bryce hung
out a window holding a flashlight (crash broke the lights) and the rest of us followed behind in Sean's vehicle. Virg's
old beater had a terrific shimmy, but made it back. We were late for supper but they saved some for us. I never ate so much so fast in my life
- had triple helpings of everything. |
