(One of Riley’s first meeting with dad. Dad was putting together his bicycle)
(The family at Pinnacle Peak Patio two weeks ago during mom and dad’s fall visit!)
Daddy’s birthday was yesterday. He is so special.
If you know him, you know he can only be described by being larger than life. He is a story-teller, a lover of photography, an engineer, a Sunday School teacher, a singer, a guitar player, a song writer, a wonderful father and grandfather, and the handyman of all handymen.
Each year, I like to share one of his stories with you… Enjoy!
**********************************************************************************************************************
The Wild Animal with Two-Heads Adventure with Marion Allen White.
Hunting with Mr. Marion Allen White, my father-in-law was always an adventure.
Down on his lease near Pearsall, Texas, we occasionally hunted some deer, but mostly javelina pigs, doves and an occasional Blue quail. This particular morning, we were up early before sunrise with the gals: Mrs. White, Mary, Sue, Margaret, and Marion beginning the preparation of a scrumptious breakfast with scrambled eggs, spicy Mexican sausage, fresh squeezed orange juice and pancakes with honey to be enjoyed after the early morning-sunrise hunt.
This particular day, we were hunting the north 300 yard oat-field for deer. Arriving well before sunrise, we scrambled up into the short deer blind in the dark as quietly as possible and wiped away the sleep from our eyes; we prepared ourselves for the hunt.
But the deer never came, several hours later we finally understood the why. A south-Texas wildcat, a cross between a cougar and lynx cat, slinked across the far end of the open field. The deer will not remain in any area with a cat.
So now what. Well, you never know what will come on in and perhaps we could get a shot at a javelina pig. Good eating if it is a smaller one. About the time we were going to give up, here appeared a large flock of turkeys floating gently to the center of the field. Marion quietly asked, “do you have any 80-grain in your kit for your 243 Winchester?”
Finding just one 80-grain bullet, I loaded the
Winchester rifle. Marion put down his monster 25-06, and picked up his small, back up rifle, a 222 Winchester. The 222 is known for its ultra-high velocity, over 3,580 feet per second (40-grain), with a relatively small, hollow point bullet.
On the count of three, we both fired at the same instant. And the smokeless powder and tremendous sound of the two high powered rifles echoed in the small deer blind. Surprising, we had knocked down two of the large Rio Grande turkeys, and by the time we climbed out of the blind, the other turkeys had completely disappeared as if in a wisp of smoke. We walked down to the center of the field with the dead turkeys, we tied a couple of legs of the turkeys together to make them easy to carry and placed them next to the blind, and we climbed back in. You just never know what else might come out at the last moment near sunrise.
Swinging my 243 down the fence line to the south, through the scope I saw a most uncommon sight. Here was an animal with four legs running down the way. But wait, it had two heads and wings which were flopping all over the place.
Oh my; it was those two turkeys with their legs tied together, and we had not killed either one. We peeled out of the blind, and chased down the three-legged turkey. They made a wonderful dinner for the family following.
Oh my gosh! I taught 3rd grade in Pearsall TX for the first three years of my career. It is so rare to find someone familiar with it! 🙂