{"id":2825,"date":"2021-02-20T02:16:24","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T02:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.117.7.217\/unicdn\/?p=2825"},"modified":"2021-09-29T00:34:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T00:34:58","slug":"lookout-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/driftlessareamag.com\/unicdn\/2021\/02\/20\/lookout-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lookout! – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Stories From The Driftless
By Mike Byrne –

SHORT RECAP
A few more steps and I was out in the fields behind the farm buildings.\u00a0 Now I knew how bad the wind had become.\u00a0 It blew the snow so hard it stung my cheeks.\u00a0 I bent my head down, turned up my collar and trudged through the snow.\u00a0 It was already about five inches deep on the level ground, but drifts were much higher.\u00a0 When I stepped into one it went over my big army surplus boots, the snow packed into them and down to my ankles instantly.\u00a0 I regretted not wearing better gear for the journey.\u00a0 Several times I tried to skirt a drift, changing course to do so.\u00a0 Once I backtracked and plunged through because I knew it was the only way.\u00a0

I began to regret the journey altogether …<\/span>


I<\/span><\/strong><\/span> became so frustrated at these issues I forgot where I was going.\u00a0\u00a0 When I came to the edge of the woods, nothing looked familiar.\u00a0 How could this be so strange?\u00a0 Where was the path?\u00a0 Turning to the west I strained to see the silhouette of the farm buildings, but in the darkness there was nothing but blinding snow.\u00a0 And even the snow seemed confused.\u00a0 It was blowing in all directions, swirling and whipping me, penetrating around my neck and forcing its way in and around my gloves.\u00a0 My eyebrows held onto it.\u00a0 My mind began to leap ahead into some awful scenarios.\u00a0 Go back, it told me, you still can.\u00a0\u00a0

But the wind had something to say about that idea.\u00a0 Facing into it I heard it proclaim that it was too late.\u00a0 This wind was from Canada, and it stretched back a thousand miles.\u00a0 Every step into it would be a battle.\u00a0 Hearing the quiet of the deep woods in my mind, and the sound of snow on the lingering oak leaves, I realized it would get easier downhill out of the wind.\u00a0 I turned back east and plunged down over the bank.\u00a0 Not knowing where I was, I told myself it would be obvious at the bottom.\u00a0 I felt my penlight in my pocket, and laughed at myself for not getting new batteries in it.\u00a0

\"\"And then it happened so fast that there wasn\u2019t even a chance to worry about how to handle it.\u00a0 I stepped off some edge and fell sharply through raspberry canes and under story bushes, pitching forward into a small tree.\u00a0 It knocked the breath out of me.\u00a0 Now a grim reality loomed large.\u00a0 My penlight had disappeared and so had one boot and one glove.\u00a0 Refusing to panic, groping around me I found the glove, then the boot.\u00a0 Sitting in the snow putting on the boot, another cruel realization came to me.\u00a0 My ankle was badly twisted.\u00a0

There was a kind of silence in those woods all around me, but it was punctuated by my own heart pounding in my chest, and a voice in my head saying, Now you had better make smart choices from here on out or you might not live to see the other side of Christmas!

I decided to dig in right where I was.\u00a0 Scratching and clawing snow and leaves, I struggled to cover myself up as best I could and wait for daylight.\u00a0 I figured in the morning at least I could beeline it home.\u00a0 Hours passed, or so it seemed, but warmth never really came to soothe me.\u00a0 Suddenly I realized that sleepiness was the enemy.\u00a0 I knew you should never let yourself fall asleep when the danger of freezing was present.\u00a0

To fight sleep I began to dwell on all the mistakes I had made leading up to this event.\u00a0 Of course there were many.\u00a0 Somewhere between choosing to major in history in college and not selecting a Florida college in the first place, I realized the snow had stopped abruptly.\u00a0 And the wind had abated.\u00a0 As the clouds moved away a deeper chill settled into my bones.\u00a0 I prayed for a moon to help me see, but there was none.\u00a0 The waiting was very hard to endure, and as my ankle stopped hurting the threat of frostbite concerned me.\u00a0

It occurred to me that the Amish get up early to milk the cows, but would that be true on Christmas Day?\u00a0 Again the voice in my head began to counsel me.\u00a0 It begged me to call for help.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t convince myself that anyone could hear.\u00a0 No other houses were as close as the Amish, and they were fast asleep…except for one three-legged dog, perhaps?\u00a0 I decided to try.\u00a0 I twisted around to what I thought was West.\u00a0 Summoning all the voice I ever had, reaching deep in my soul for another decibel, I bellowed, \u201cLOOKOUT!\u201d\u00a0

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I bellowed again and again and again.\u00a0 And then I listened … and far away, almost indiscernible, I thought I heard him answer.\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/div>\n


I bellowed once more.\u00a0 This time I knew he heard me because he really lit up.\u00a0 He was pretty crippled as far as the snow was concerned.\u00a0 But he was sounding the alarm!\u00a0

In the Amish house a candle was lit, and a window opened, and a voice yelled out the window, \u201cKeep Quiet!\u201d\u00a0 But Lookout wouldn\u2019t shut up.\u00a0 He left the warmth of the hay-pile and limped through the snow.\u00a0 He went across the field until he hit a big snowdrift.\u00a0 He could not get past that drift.\u00a0 Returning to the house, he barked again.\u00a0 And the window opened, and a voice commanded, \u201cKEEP QUIET!\u201d\u00a0

The poor little dog was beside himself.\u00a0 What could be done?\u00a0 At last he hit upon a plan.\u00a0 He turned to his old friend, loyal all that year, a friend who had the power to get through the snow…Lookout appealed to the old sow.\u00a0 He barked at her, he growled, probably even bit her feet to get her to move.\u00a0 She grunted and stood up.\u00a0 He forced her out into the pen.\u00a0 She stood there and shook off the sleep, wondering if this was a coyote alert.\u00a0 Tiny hated coyote.\u00a0\u00a0

Meanwhile, down in the woods, I was not hearing Lookout anymore.\u00a0 So I yelled again a few times.\u00a0 Lookout answered.\u00a0 And Tiny grunted.\u00a0

Lookout grabbed her front leg and tugged.\u00a0 Tiny understood.\u00a0 She reared back a bit, and lunged at the gate she\u2019d never dared to challenge before.\u00a0 With a loud crash the wood splintered and melted away in the face of her massive weight.\u00a0 She crossed the field like a great snowplow, and the three-legged rescuer tried to stay with her to walk where she made the path, baying all the way.\u00a0 In the Amish house a lantern was lit.\u00a0 Someone came downstairs.\u00a0 Soon they came outside carrying the lantern.\u00a0

I heard the baying getting closer.\u00a0 I knew they were coming to find me.\u00a0 I cried, I laughed, I yelled and struggled to my feet.\u00a0 That little big-mouthed pup had saved the day!\u00a0 Soon the pig came crashing through the underbrush like a Sherman tank, and a few moments later Lookout burst upon the scene baying and barking and carrying on like only an excited Beagle can.\u00a0 I scooped him up in my arms, stuffed him in my coat, all the while whining and nibbling my chin.\u00a0

Then I heard yelling up above me, and a lantern glowed in the darkness.\u00a0 It was Jake, and he soon made it down to help me.\u00a0 He walked and finally carried me back up to their house.\u00a0 When we entered the kitchen, all the kids were up.\u00a0 In the lantern light their faces were warm and glowing, and Jake said, \u201cNow get Santa Claus a chair, he fell off the roof trying to get down the chimney!\u201d\u00a0

After a while, they let Lookout in and he fell asleep in my lap as I sat by the fire.\u00a0 For the dog and me, the circle had become complete.\u00a0 It was the best Christmas I\u2019d ever had. <\/span>

<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\n
\n
\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n