On a cold November morning, Grandpa was once out in the woods gathering Pecans for the Thanksgiving stuffing he planned to make as it was his specialty. He had had his frayed Burlap sack chock full of nuts and was about ready to bring the haul back to the Wood Shed where he would spend the afternoon cracking and drying them. Well, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he realized he was being watched. Being a veteran in Guadacanal, he had acquired a sixth sense and new the feeling all too well. He froze immediately and turned around just as slow as he could with the 50 lbs of Pecans in the Brown Burlap Sack, not knowing what was after him. He turned a little more and a little more and right there, not more than 10 feet away, was the rare Red Wolf, standing with his head cocked to one side in curiosity. Grandpa knew the woods well so his instinct was not to run, besides the Red Wolf Posed no threat.
Grandpa then reached in his sack and pulled out a few Pecans and shelled them. He bent low and offered them to the Red Wolf. Cautiously, the Red Wolf took the Pecans and backed up with a slight leap, eyes still locked with Grandpas. Next thing you know, on the hill a few hundred yards away Grandpa spots a man with a giant beard running like a madman towards their direction. He hears the man call out, "Davis, Davis are you out there?" The Red Wolf immediately dropped the Pecans and by that time the man with the giant beard was underneath the Pecan tree where Grandpa gathered the Pecans.
"Hi, Ho stranger", the bearded man said. "I see you found Davis". Grandpa smiled and then offered the man and the wolf more Pecans. The man and Grandpa talked a bit and apparently they both were in the war and now the man lived in the woods. Grandpa offered the man and the wolf his Wood Shed for the night if he needed some shelter. So both men walked with the Red Wolf to the Wood Shed.
Grandpa said the odor of the man was not a bad smell, but an alluring one of fresh earth, leaves and wood smoke. Turns out, Grandpa forgot that he only had one bed in the Wood Shed and that all three of them would have to sleep in the same bed. Grandpa didn`t mind one bit. He was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off his back, and if he had to, the pants as well. They stayed up all night and shelled Pecans, talked, drank and all three fell asleep in the little straw filled cot that night.
The next morning we had the best Thanksgiving Stuffing I can remember. And the man with the Beard and Wolf, were gone and never to be seen again.
