Saturday, September 24, 2011

Desert Frogs

 One of my favorite delicacies is frog legs. Most folks assume that these tasty morsels are harvested only from swampy place like Louisiana or East Texas, but the best frog legs I have ever had came from the dry Chihuahuan desert.

The Rio Grande has an irrigation system that floods millions of acres of arid land for agricultural purposes. It also provides habitat for fish and other aquatic life. You just have to know how to find and catch them. My step father trained me in the art of “frog grabbing” when I was a teenager. I utilized my skills well into adulthood and also trained some of my friends in the basics of this art. I’ll tell you a little story about what happened one night when a frog hunt ended up being an international adventure.

 First of all, please note that the proper way to take frogs does not involve the use of those dangerous tools known as gigs. Gigs tend to wound the frogs and if there aren’t enough caught to make a meal; the injured ones usual die when released. Therefore, I consider the most humane way to harvest bull frogs is to grab them and put them in a burlap bag (tow sack) that is kept wet so the frogs remain healthy. That’s the way I was taught and I never went frog hunting with anyone that had a problem with that technique except one friend named Jimmie Hutchison. Jimmie had a problem with anything that wasn’t his idea, so in dealing with him I learned to the art leading a body to my desired conclusion and making them think it was their own idea. On this particular issue, something I said lead Jimmie to agree not to use gigs in order that the frogs not die, and go bad before we were ready to eat them. What a great idea!

 Jimmie Hutchison was, and still is my main hunting and fishing buddy. He is a unique person who has never really given a shit what other people think about him. Due to the fact that few people can stand to listen to Jimmie long enough to appreciate his superior wisdom, not many people like him. No matter how crass and vulgar Jimmie is, he will always be my friend. I think it may have something to do with the fact that he is four years older that I and bought booze for me when I was a minor. I was in kind of a captive apprenticeship with a world class know-it-all. Fortunately, for me, I used this as an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others.

  One morning in September of 1971, I got to Jimmie’s house before daylight and we loaded our shotguns and beer into his red 1969 Ford pickup. After a series of instructions, coughing, spitting, and scratching, Jimmie finally got behind the wheel and we headed east of El Paso to San Elizario and then on to the tamarisk bosque by the Rio Grande. Jimmie had taken his usual cologne shower – I guess he wanted to be prepared in case we ran into some women in the bosque – so I rode with the window down and listened to country music on KHEY until we reached a place Jimmie approved of.

 We hunted for about an hour in Jimmie’s designated hot spot, but it seemed that there were more birds flying on the Mexican side of the river so we waded across, shot a few dove and then waded back to the U.S. side. While hunting on the south side of the river we heard quite a few bull frogs and also heard some of them when we crossed back over to the U.S. side. I wanted to tell Jimmie that we should come back at night and catch frogs, but that would have been an inappropriate protocol. Instead I said,” There aren’t enough birds flying. Let’s just try to catch some frogs.”  JJ was silent, but then it started to get hot and he proceeded to let me know what a dumb ass I was and told me to get in the truck. “You can’t catch frogs in the day time. We’ll have to come back tonight.” So, we drove down the levee road for a while then started back to town.

 When we got back to the bosque that night there was a full moon and we were encouraged by all the low pitched, but loud mournful wailing of big frogs. We each grabbed a tow sack and a flashlight. The way we caught the frogs was to wade in the water and shine our lights into the weeds on the bank. Once a frog was spotted all you had to do was keep the light shining in its eyes and keep your hand behind the light so the frog saw nothing but the bright, hypnotizing light. When you got close enough to know you could grab the frog quickly enough that it wouldn’t jump before you got him, that’s exactly what you did. Some of the frogs were so big that the light had to be laid down for a moment so both hands could be used to get the critters into the tow sack.

 We weren’t catching as many frogs as we had hoped to so the decision was made to cross the river and try the Mexican ditches where we had hunted dove during the day. It was worth the effort because we had nearly filled our bags when we heard music and talking. I crawled up the side of the ditch and yelled at Jimmie to come on and let’s have a beer.

“Where”? He asked.

“There’s a cantina up here. The sign says Loma Blanca.”

 When we got to the door we kicked off our muddy boots and walked in. There were three Mexican guys at the bar who had been working in the fields that were as dirty as we were. They were wearing  huarache sandals.  I spoke loudly enough to be heard above the ranchera music, “Nos zapatos son sucios pero tenemos sed. Dos Cartas por favor.”

 “Si muchachos. Sientan. ¿Que hacen en la noche?

 Before the bartender could finish his invitation, Jimmie had already taken a seat and had his bare toes curled around the bottom rail of the bar stool.

“Casamos por ranas. ¿Le gustan ancas de ranas?”

“Seguro que si.”

 “Hey Jimmie. Are you hungry?”

 “Hell yes, I could eat a folded tarp, but it looks like all they have here is beer and tequila.”

 “We got two bags of frogs out there by the door.”

 “See if any of these guys know how to cook ‘em.”

 “Si tienen cocina, tenemos bastante ranas.”

 ”Tenemos cocina y tenemos hambre tambien.”

 We had two bottles of Carta Blanca and Jimmie had a shoot of tequila. Jimmie finally looked at me and said, “If they’ll cook ‘em we will clean ‘em. Again, JJ had a great idea.

‘¿Listo muchachos?”

“Si”

“Yeah, they’ll cook ‘em.”

 “Well, let’s get off our asses and start cleaning some frogs.”

 “Good idea Jimmie, let’s get after it.”

 When we got a handful of frogs ready, I walked behind the bar and followed my nose back to the kitchen where two big cast iron skillets, half full of manteca, sat bubbling hot on a propane stove. The bartender, Carlos, had prepared a bowl full of masa and red chili powder. Another bowl had some eggs in it. We had cut the frogs so the backs remained attached to the legs and when Carlos saw how we had prepared them he voiced his approval, “Muy bien.” He took one at a time, rolled it in the eggs then covered each with the corn meal mixture then dropped them into a skillet. The batter must have had beer or something in it because it puffed up to a light fragile texture with a good chili taste to it.

 Jimmie and I were content to drink free beer and tend to the frogs while our new friends ate. When we finished and sat back down at the bar for another cold beer, I heard a loud sizzling noise that meant our supper was hitting the hot lard.

 I’ve never tasted a finer meal than those frogs, beans, and fresh jalapenos. I ate a little too much and killed my buzz. I knew, however that it was time to start back but Jimmie looked like he was about to fall asleep. It was time for a little of that reverse psychology. Jimmie was married and I just wanted say something that would help him decide what we needed to do next.

 “Why don’t we just spend the night Jimmie? Your truck should be OK.”

 “What time is it? Shit! Quit fartin’ around let’s get home.”

 I said goodbye to our hosts then jogged to catch up with Jimmie. He was moving quickly toward the Rio Grande.

 The moon was almost directly overhead when we got to the south bank of the river and as were taking our boots off, I saw a green pickup on the north levee road. It was obvious that we were being watched by the Border Patrol. I nudged Jimmie and pointed at the truck.

 “It’s too late now. They’ve seen us. Let’s go.”

  After wading across the river and we stopped to put our boots back on. The Border Patrol vehicle pulled up behind us and two officers got out. When I stood up and turned around, I saw that one of them was a nice looking Mexican lady. Other than the inspection nurse at the Lago Blanco, Jimmie had never seen a woman in a uniform before. Maybe this is why he wore all that cologne.

 The lady asked to see our IDs and wanted to know what we were doing. Jimmie told her that we were just swimming, but I laughed and told the whole story including the location of Jimmie’s truck.

 “Is it that red Ford parked about a mile west of here by a big gate valve?”

 We told her it was and she told us to crawl into the back of her truck and she would take us down there.

 We were a little worried about where we were really being taken, but as soon as we got to Jimmies truck and the officers saw that the key worked, the male said, “Be careful going home. By the way, why didn’t you walk down here by the truck before crossing?”

 Jimmie smiled and said, “Too deep.”

 They looked at each and laughed then took off west bound.

 When we got to Jimmie’s house we turned on the faucet and started hosing each other off. In a minute Jimmie’s wife, Vivian, came out to see what was going on.

 “Oh, did y’all go fishing or something? It’s so late I was afraid you went to Juarez.”

 “Yeah”, Said Jimmie. “We went to Mexico and had frog legs. Ha!”

 As Vivian started back inside she said, “Jimmie, you smart ass, if you wake the baby up I’m going to kill you.”

 We didn’t say another word.

  I would like to suggest that the next time you get hungry for frog legs just wade on over to the Loma Blanca and have Carlos fix you up. But, don’t forget its BYOFrogs. Just to be on the safe side, bring enough frogs for four extra guys


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Another Photo

I just wanted to show off this photo taken with my phone. It's a double rainbow. I took it Tuesday on the Mescalero Apache Reservation.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Colorado

After returning home I got ready to go to Colorado Springs. My niece, Megan, was getting ready to receive here BS from UCCOS and the nursing school there. She got them just a day apart.
 There were three car loads of family from Arlington that made the trip. It was lots of fun. Other than the commencement exercises, the train ride through the Royal Gorge was my favorite part.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Sprring 2011

Sun Setting Behind the Capitan Mtns
                            Part I: Crossing the Sacramento Mountains

 Wednesday May 4th, 2011 I began another spring excursion west to the desert and the mountains. I took my time because, whenever it’s feasible, I prefer to travel with no set schedule and a flexible catalog of destinations. The only predetermined goal of this trip was to meet Bill Key in La Mesa, sometime within the next ten days, and go looking for the ghosts of Geronimo and Victorio.
 While some folks find comfort in organized and structured itineraries, others just have a need to wander from place to place by following their curiosity. I fall into the latter category finding comfort and peace as I drift and allow myself to explore both tangible and spiritual geographies. The soul needs to be set free now and then because it has a pliable, perhaps even an ethereal, landscape which changes along with our assessments of the world. After death, when the soul leaves its worldly vehicle, God makes all the decisions for us. While we are alive we should allow our souls to appreciate glimpses of the beauty that awaits us by experiencing and learning to love God’s Earth. Horizons are not only good for the health of the eye through which they are observed, but also provide images that allow our spirits to expand and grow. I’d trade the grand vistas from a mountain peak for the ground clutter of a town any time, so I do, as often as possible. In populated areas people gather in churches where, through the energy created by their collective faith, God opens portals to allow an unobstructed flow of worship and thus, the soul is strengthened and grows.
 The human condition is such that, at times, our emotions cause voids that damage our psyches. Unless the soul is allowed alter its shape, or geography, to fill these voids with positive energy there is usually suffering or disorientation which leads to substance abuse or other destructive behaviors.
Rock House in Ruidoso
 I will get back to my story now:
 I spent the first three days of this trip in the Lincoln County, NM area and slept at the little rock house in Ruidoso. Thursday evening I turned on the computer to find out if anything interesting was going on in the area. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the 2011 New Mexico History Conference was starting at the Ruidoso Convention Center the next morning.
I read about this annual event and found that it is moved around the state each year and is attended by authors and historians from around the country. All I had to do now was figure out how to get in the door and soak up some knowledge about one of my favorite topics. I got up early Friday morning determined to get in to the conference. I had no idea how I was going make it passed the front door but I got dressed and took off to do my best.
 The reception area was packed when I arrived fifteen minutes before the first discussion; I picked up a program and, while glancing through it, walked around greeting the scholarly looking folks as though I knew them. Then I saw a name I recognized. It was Arleen Gaba and she was to talk about John Prather. I had meet Arleen and her son Mike two years prior to this time and when I located them they recognized me. I just drifted into the first session with them and was able to participate in the discussions. After meeting a few more historians I just made my self at home and feel that I not only learned from but also contributed to the discussions. When I went back Saturday I felt right at home and had a great time. I met one writer who was so rich he owned a piece of art work done by Dana Bradley. It’s a drawing of Wyatt Earp and he actually bought it in Dodge City!
 Saturday night I called Bill and told him I would be at his place around noon Sunday but he told me of a place where we could meet for lunch. The reason for having lunch at this particular restaurant was that is located near I10 in the direction of the rifle range. Bill had three guns with him and after lunch we went shooting. Despite the spring winds and the fact that he had not fired a rifle in his fifteen years in Egypt, Bill did some excellent shooting. After we finished at the range we went to Bill’s place and visited with his wife Kathleen and our good friend Anthony Rodriquez.
 That evening we planned the next day’s expedition in hopes of locating the Cañon Alamosa. The reason for our curiosity about this place was the fact that Victorio had requested it for the location of his reservation but was turned down. We just wanted to see what was so special about this place that appeared to be out in the middle of nowhere. Another point of interest was the fact that Geronimo was born about ten miles north of this canyon and for decades the Warm Springs Apaches gravitated back to this area frequently.
Mimbres Pottery
There was one stop along the way at Geronimo Springs Museum. I am really glad we stopped because they had a great collection of Mimbres pottery that dated from 1000 to 1300 A.D. The photo shown is about a tenth of the display. I have loved these kinds of designs forever and found some shards of this pottery in Old Mexico in the mid 1970s.
 Our search for this ancient Spirit Place began by heading northwest from the museum near Elephant Butte Lake toward old sites of Winston and Cuchillo. About five miles after leaving I25 we left the marked road and used our compass in hopes of locating the old town of Monticello for a starting point.
__
We continued across miles of uninhabitable desert toward the San Mateo Mountains. At one point Bill asked, “Why would anyone want this rough desert area for a reservation?”
 “I don’t know Bill. Maybe there’s some water by the foothills of those mountains.”
 We drove another ten minutes and I noticed some old adobe ruins to my right. That’s when the road started an “S” turn left, then right and dropped down a steep – approximately 8% – grade. When we came out of the bottom of the “S” our entire field of vision filled with green. There were huge cottonwood trees that were hundreds of year’s old and irrigated fields of grass where cattle and horses grazed. The sudden change was refreshingly breath taking.
 “Wow! Look at this valley Bill.”
 “I know. Right out here in the middle of nowhere.”
 There was a fence on each side of the road and lots of signs posting the land as private property. The road was nothing more than the dry bed of an arroyo in the places where the stream ran underground. When the water resurfaced, the banks of the wash served as a road.
 We knew that the water came from a hot springs called Ojo Caliente. This was the home of the Warm Springs Apaches and Geronimo is believed to have been born near the head of the canyon.
 After we followed the intermittent stream bed for about ten miles we came to a spot where the water was too deep to cross. Next time, we are going to start from the north end of the canyon at Ojo Caliente and try to climb up to the top of the canyon walls to take some photographs.
 It was a great trip but I had to get back home and get ready to go to Meagan's graduations (2) in Colorado Springs. Just east of Roswell I saw the billboard pictured below. The folks in the southern part of New Mexico have had it with the transplanted West Coast and New York voters in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and their doing something about it. The best thing that could happen to New Mexico is for it to split into two states at I40. Las Cruces could be the capitol of South New Mexico and El Paso could be annexed as a  penal colony; I'm sure Texas wouldn't miss El Paso a bit.


Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cold Weather Stories




3 Weeks Before Storm
Ice Fishing in Texas

By 1981 my cousin Billy Gray, my close friend James Johnson and I had learned enough about striper fishing to land some fair size ones on a regular basis. Billy read somewhere that the really big ones, the record breakers, were mostly taken in very cold weather. I had a cabin at Lake Whitney in central Texas and several bait stores and restaurants in the area displayed pictures of the lake record. And sure enough there was snow on the ground behind the man proudly holding the 39 ½ pound monster.

Billy and I started watching the changes in the weather to make sure we would be ready if cold weather headed our way. The second week in December we got word of a cold front that was to hit on Sunday. Saturday we headed to the lake and got our parkas and fishing gear ready. We were up most of the night drinking beer and going over strategies and different scenarios to be sure we were prepared for most anything that could happen. After a case and a half of Coors we felt positive that we could handle anything. Nothing could go wrong.

We s loaded the boat and started for the lake just after daylight. The temperature was eighteen degrees and falling. Ideal weather for the lunkers!

After launching the boat we headed out of Cedar Creek and turned north toward the main body of the lake. After we had traveled about five miles from the boat ramp a breeze started blowing. The wind speed steadily increased to the point that the bow of the boat began to pitch as it rode up the oncoming waves and then slammed down and hit the water so hard the boat was sprayed and ice began to build up. After about half an inch accumulated on the windshield it was impossible to see through it so we had to sit on the seat backs and look over in order to avoid hitting tree stumps that were sticking up above the water.

The wind picked up even more and our faces and parkas began to accumulate ice. I looked over at Billy and saw that his beard was covered with ice as was the rest of him from the waste up. He must have felt my eyes on him because he turned and look at my frozen condition. Our eyes met and we simultaneously burst into wild, loud laughter.That's when I reallized the hairs in my nose had  tiny frozen needles that felt like cactus thorns poking me. It was great fun but as I sat on the back of the seat I didn’t pay attention to the fact that all of my weight was being supported by my arms and hands which were in turn supported by the plastic steering wheel. The wind increased and after dropping off one particularly large wave the frigid, brittle steering wheel snapped and I feel forward busting my lip on something. I still don’t know what I hit. I can just remember how good the warm blood felt running down my chin.

The wheel became so brittle from the cold that it broke clean away from the nut that was holding it on. There was a momentary loss of control and the boat drifted side ways and took a few big waves over the starboard gunwale so I turned the bilge pump on. Meanwhile Billy found a pair of vice grips in the tool box and handed them to me. I adjusted the tool and clamped it down on the wheel nut and regain some control of the boat.

I turned to Billy and asked, “Do you think we should head back to the ramp?”

“Why?”

“Because these pliers are so short I’m afraid if the water gets any rougher I won’t be able to miss the stumps.”

“Well let’s just get off the main part of the lake and try fishing in the shelter of Juniper Cove.”

“Sounds good. We’ll do it.”

The waves were harder to negotiate than I had anticipated. When we finally got the boat turned I noticed that ice was building up on the hull. It was like the wings of an airplane icing up. The boat was loosing its streamlined shape and began to flounder wildly. “We need to get this thing back to shore, Billy. It is getting heavier by the minute.”

"OK, go for it then”.

So I got back to the ramp as quickly sa I could.

As I eased the bow up to where it barely touched the bottom near the bank, the ice along the shore crunched like glass breaking, and Billy jumped off, ran to the truck and backed the trailer into the water. I slowly drove up on to the trailer while Billy walked out and snapped the winch line to the eye on the bow.

When we started turning the winch handle we could only move the boat up a few inches at a time. I stepped out of the boat on to the trailer and was able to see the problem. The entire hull of the boat, above the water line, had close to an inch of ice on it.

The only reason we were even able to get the boat on the trailer was that it was far enough in the water for it to maintain enough buoyancy to float some of the weight. After securing the bow to the rubber bumper below the trailer wench I pulled the boat and trailer out of the water with the truck and walked back to secure boat on to the trailer with side straps. As soon as I saw the trailer was almost dragging the ground and the axles were starting to bend I got a really sick feeling. The weight of that boat and the odd shape the hull had taken on made me wonder how we were able to make it all the way back safely. It was a miracle.

When we made it back to the cabin the temperature had dropped to twelve degrees and the wind was gusting to around 35 MPH. We parked the boat, secured the cabin and headed to the beer store. From there we would make one more stop to pick up some barbeque and then head home to Burleson so we could watch the Cowboy game.

At the beer store one of the locals hollered,”Hey Dennis. Did y'all see those two dumb asses out on the lake this morning?”

Billy coughed and said, "You mean in a boat?"

"Yes in a boat. Right down there in Cedar Creek by you house.

 With a straight face I replied, “No. You gotta be shitin’ me!”

When we got home the temperature had fallen to eight degrees and we discovered that the last person out of the house the day before hadn’t closed the door properly. It was wide open allowing the cold north wind to blow straight in. The house was freezing cold even though the heater was running. Also, two cats and a possum had decide to take refuge in my temporarily abandoned house.

It didn’t take long to run the uninvited critters out and we got the fireplace going just in time for the kick off. We proceeded to tie on a good buzz and watched the Cowboys whip the Redskins. It was a great game and a day to remember. James missed this fishing trip and I am sure he's glad he did.


  I remember once when Billy and I were talkings about things we had done he said, "There's no need to try to tell anyone about it. They wouldn't believe it!".

Maybe you will believe it:

I am so thankful no one got hurt or in trouble.





                           The Christmas Storm of '83

 In the last month of 1983 a freak storm hit Texas and temperatures stayed below freezing from Dec 21 until Dec 31. That was back before the weather guys had the technology needed to warn folks in advance about big storms. So, the National Weather Service and everyone else got a big surprise when snow blew in from the southwest. Meteorologists have since studied the “Christmas Storm of ‘83” and say that El Niño pushed moisture laden air across Mexico and northward into Texas. This air borne swamp then collided with a frigid air mass that was sliding down from Canada, across the central plains and right through the middle of The Lone Star State. This story took place during all this cold weather.

 James Johnson was still in his twenties when all this took place and I had been acquainted them him for just a few years. James and his wife Tonee married when they were very young so he started a family and became a responsible man at an early age. Consequently he skipped right over the “bullet proof” and “invisible” stage of his youth. When we first started hanging out together, he was still careful to avoid situations that might lead to loss of limb or life. He regressed, however, and caught on after a couple more years of our friendship. I’m afraid he may now remain “bullet proof” and “invisible” for the rest of his life.

 When all this bad weather started James and I were about half way between our homes in Burleson and a deer lease near Glen Cove which, by the way, is located right in the middle of The Lone Star State. The snow began and we were surprised but felt no need to turn back because we figured it would only snow a little and then melt the next day. We stayed on course and reached our destination around ten that night. However, the next morning it was still snowing and the temperature stayed below 30 degrees. We started gathering wood to take inside for the fireplace because the old abandoned house where we camped had twelve foot high ceilings and no insulation. We had to keep the fire going so our supplies, including the beer, wouldn’t freeze.

The third day the snow stopped but it began to get colder. James went out to start his dad’s El Camino which we had borrowed, but when he came back inside he had a worried look on his face and said “It won’t start; the battery’s dead.”

“Well,” I said, “I guess we’ll wait until it warms up and if it still won’t start I’ll walk out and find a phone so we can call some body.” James was my guest on this hunt and I wanted him to enjoy himself and trust me with the minor details.


It didn’t warm up the whole week so we spent our days gathering wood to keep the fire going. Also, James shot a deer in case we ran out of food. We cleaned the deer in an old shed behind the house and left it hanging to cool out for a few hours. When we went out to cut up the meat, it had already frozen solid as a rock. We had to use a hack saw to cut it into small pieces that could be stuffed in a big empty ice chest to keep the varmints off.

After we stashed the venison James went inside to check on the fire. I walked around the side of the old house and broke off an icicle that was about two feet long. I started in the door to show it to James and ran into him as he was coming out to get more wood.

“James, I’m going to stab you with this icicle and when it melts there won’t be no finger prints and no murder weapon.”

He looked up with his eyes wide open and simply said, “What-is-wrong-with-you? Can’t you see this is turning into a serious situation?”

“Well, I’d rather not think of it like that quite yet; we’ve still got over two cases of beer left.” Then I walked over to the fire and heaved that long piece of ice into the flames. It hissed and cracked and sputtered until the fire was nearly out. I looked at James and he just shook his head and hurried over to revive the fire. His face started to show the desperation he was feeling. He had an expression like you’d imagine being on the face of a person who was stranded in a blizzard with a maniac. I was worried about his concern over what I considered a minor inconvenience. He didn’t speak a word until later that afternoon, after he’d had two or three cans of beer. Finally he looked into my eyes and said, “What-is-wrong-with-you?” Then he stood up and started laughing so hard that I started laughing too. After that we began making the best of the situation. I assumed that James had suddenly realized the entertainment potential in our predicament. Part of the fun was the constant forays that were necessary to keep us stocked up on firewood. A few cotton tail rabbits also made it to our hearth. Canned chili and sardines get old after a while and a man needs a little fresh meat in the mix.

James and I had left home Sunday Dec 18 and Friday Dec 24 the sun rose and it was clear the rest of the day. Just after 1:00 PM I walked out to check the condition of the dirt road that ran by the old house where we were camping. Before I made it to the gate I heard a vehicle that turned out to be Paul Beth’s four wheel drive ford truck. Paul, his son Robert and Jimmie Hutchison were coming to our rescue. Jimmie had heard from the wives that James and I had gone hunting several days ago and so they decided to drive out and do a little hunting themselves. We were not able to start the El Camino so we toed it to a garage in Coleman and left it to be repaired.

The next day after lunch we headed back home. At this point our group was comprised of four drunken adults and one teenager in training. We couldn’t all ride up front with the heater, so we alternated riding in the cab of the truck and then in the camper shell which was packed with the weapons and gear from both trucks. The teenager in training was also considered part of the cargo protected by the camper shell and was not included in the rotation. The temperature was around 17 degrees in the camper so we fired up a radiant heater that was screwed to the top of a 20 gallon propane bottle. Some folks would describe our heater as a bomb with a lit fuse. Come to think of it, anyone not knowing better would probably view the overall picture as: five idiots speeding on icy roads in a pick-up truck not equipped with seat belts, but loaded with enough alcohol, tobacco and firearms to make Ralph Nadir scream. The setting would most accurately be described as the proverbial “accident looking for a place to happen!”

About twenty miles west of Eastland, TX on I20, Captain JJ Hutchison — see photo above— had taken the wheel. Jimmie had just watched a movie called Smokey and the Bandit and informed us that we were “east bound and down” at an average speed of around 65 MPH. I was riding shotgun and begging Capt. JJ to slow down when it happened. On an icy overpass, seventy five feet above the road below, the truck began to skid sideways. When the tires slid off the ice and made contact with dry pavement the truck flipped over and rolled once. The guardrail brought us to a jolting stop, in an upright position, when it lodged itself between the right front tire and the truck frame. The rail did what it was designed to do it prevented us from rolling down a steep hill. I rose up from the floor board where I had crouched to cover my head with my hands and pray while listening to the loud crashing sounds and feeling the frigid air rush in.

When I finally got a look outside I saw that Jimmie had been thrown over the steering wheel and was lying face down on the hood of the truck. The wind shield was completely gone and the door handles were broken off so I crawled out onto the hood, jumped down to the frozen ground and ran to the back of the camper fearing that the other guys had been crushed. It seemed like it took a long time to get back to where I could see Paul on the ground, unconscious, with his son trying to help him. The propane bottle had evidentially taken of like a rocket because was it laying a good fifty yards behind the truck. I reached into the camper to help James out and noticed that a chainsaw had flown from the stack of gear and was lodged where its blade had penetrated the wall right beside the spot where James’ head had been.

With all souls accounted for, I stepped out on the side of the highway and began waving my arms in hopes that someone would stop and help. The passengers in the few car cars that drove by stared at me with wide eyes and shocked expressions. It wasn’t until then that I looked down and discovered that the front of my parka was covered with blood. My left foot began to throb and I may have lost consciousness or gone into shock briefly because, the next thing I remember, I was on a stretcher being put into the back of an ambulance. We were all taken to the ER at the Eastland hospital.

Jimmie had to get his face stitched up, Robert was OK and Paul was on a bed beside me feeling just a little sore. While serving in Viet Nam, Paul had been through worse ordeals than this one, including being shot twice, so he wasn’t the least bit rattled.

James was standing by my side unhurt when a doctor came over to me and informed me that my left foot was crushed with at least eleven bones broken and he wasn’t qualified to work on it. Then he looked at my foot and said, “I guess I could set this little toe.” He then grabbed it and gave it a quick jerk which was quite startling. The doctor then went on to explain that I could not be given any pain medicine until after it was determined whether or not I had brain damage, but he would need to clean the glass out of my head wound and stitch it up to stop the bleeding. It sounded pretty bad so I said to James, “If it looks like I’m going to die just try to get a priest.” After I had finished my request to James I was reassured that Paul was back to normal because, in his Michigan accent, he bellowed, “Shut up Dennis. You’re not gonna die.” I began to feel much better after hearing Paul’s tender words of assurance. After the bleeding had been stopped James rode with me in another ambulance to Huguley Hospital in Fort Worth. The next morning I had surgery done on my foot which included the insertion of four stainless steel pins. I remained in the hospital a few days and the temperatures remained below freezing. Paul’s truck, which was totaled in the accident, had been towed to a wrecking yard in Eastland. Paul, Robert and Jimmie had to get a ride to home, but the next day they returned to Eastland in Jimmie’s truck to get all our stuff. They hauled it to Paul’s garage in Watauga. A couple days later James picked up the items which belonged to him and me. After James got everything home to Burleson he remembered the deer that was in the big ice chest. He opened it and found that the meat was still frozen solid.

So, there’s another cold weather survival story. Please learn from the mistakes of others and live a safe, boring life. Seriously, I am truly thankful no one got killed or in trouble back then.