Author: Edward Guenther
Uploaded: November 11th, 2011
“Let’s go to the bay,” Davy would say. “Naw,” I’d respond. “Croquet?” “Golf?” “Swimming?” all receiving the same fate.
“Then what do you want to do? He would ask. I’d say, “Let’s go down to the bay!” Davy would laugh heartily and with accusation, then we’d head out. The closest route was over number 9 green, under the myrtle tree, past number 1 green, across the “ball field” and down the short, dirt, logging road that brother Bobby had made. When he made that road he had fallen a great giant Douglas fir and what do you suppose had lived in the top of it but a family of field mice. They must have lived 200 feet in the air! I wondered why anything would live so high and I even questioned my own eyesight when I saw that nest on the ground. By the time I fetched Davy the mice were gone. I don’t think he really believed they had lived way up there.
Anyway this short windy road put you right on the bay. We built rafts, fished, and explored every nook and cranny for 2 miles. Nobody really lived along the bay then and it hasn’t changed much even now. You can still see it all if you start at the north end below the Glasgow store and walk south on the shoreline. One time Davy and I challenged each other to the highest climb on 75 foot cliffs. I don’t remember who won but that night at 3:oo in the morning I seemed to itch awful bad: I just couldn’t sleep! I finally rolled over to see Davy trying to sleep with only his knees and head touching the bed. Oh, he hurt bad! It was a case of old fashioned poison oak! I shouldn’t have laughed so hard but the end result was Battleship the rest of the night. I don’t expect you to believe this, but we had a game where he only missed 3 times and I 4 times; he just beat me by one shot!
Anyway, so we were on the bay looking for adventure. Davy and I were crazy for wild adventures! Like that time Johnny caught 160 fish, Davy 150, Donny 30, and I only caught10, all in the same night on the bay. Nobody would eat those perch, though, so we’d throw them back. Johnny and Davy followed the tide out after dark to get that record: 350 fish in one night! And I had my part in it, even if I was the first to quit. Why, I never could catch much. You’d never believe my Alaskan fish stories, but that’s another story.
Well, so Davy and I spotted this tree that had fallen into the bay. It was a tall tree and was intact right to a pinpoint, minus the branches, as it reached out over the muddiest mud flat of the bay. “Hey, Davy, let’s see who can get a rock furthest out on that.” “Naw.” “Oh, come on! Don’t be a chicken.” “I don’t want to. You’ll shake the branch.” “I won’t shake the branch.” “You’ll shake the branch.” “I won’t.” “You will.” “I won’t. You first. Here’s a rock.” Davy never could resist my persuasive arguments, so it was settled.
Now I meant every word I said, but Davy pulled something of a dirty trick that I wasn’t ready for. He walked right to the skinny part of that log on the end and laid his rock down with a self assured laugh. I’m not saying he cheated but it sure went against the unspoken rules and then there was that little smug laugh!
I now claim temporary insanity, since that’s so popular these days, but the thing is, I shook that log. Sure I was ashamed almost instantly but the result was Davy teetered forward, then backwards, then fell with his stomach right on the log. Next he flipped over and fell flat in the mud.
Some of you might be chuckling a little at this point, but I wasn’t. That log had broken off branch stubs all over it and Davy more or less lost the front of his hide. I dug him out of the mud but it was years before he ever trusted me again. I learned a lesson. The lesson sunk in deeper the day of the big bike race when I ended up in the ditch saying, “I would have stopped for you,” only to hear Davy’s words sting the truth, “No, you wouldn’t.”
When the day finally came that Davy trusted me again I knew I’d never risk losing it a second time, or with anyone else if I could help it. So, even though Davy was in jeopardy on the bay, it was me on the bike race.