Preface

Like all good things, none of them last forever. I guess that can apply to the bad also; or is bad a relative term. A lot bad, might be replaced with just a wee-bit bad or maybe, a whole lot worse than before. It is something to consider. In my case, I always felt my divorce would have been a lot different; very much a tear-down, drag-em out fight; but it was not. We talked, rather she talked and I listened. It might have been a lot worse. In the end, we were still talking, more so, I asked her to pay my few bills. I told her to use my half of the house to pay them and in a year or two I would be back so to take your time selling it. It was not a lot of money anyhow, we had split the stocks and cash already. For me it was the failure in our relationship that bugged the Hell out of me.

Sandy never cheated but I knew there was no use in trying to reconcile things between us. If it had got to the point of her asking for a divorce, that was the only thing to do. We went to a lawyer, signed some papers and I put the few things I wanted into storage and took a hike; or rather, started my healing. Not certain where I would end up but, hunting, fishing and living free and easy under the sun seemed a right good thing for me then. I headed towards Macon and stopped for the night. West was Alabama, South, Florida. Where route 80 hits route 96 found me a man’s retreat; actually, it was an all-inclusive hunting and fishing lodge. Amex or Visa, it was a hard choice to make but the words they were saying made my mind up to sign in. Actually there were several reasons. First, they said I could stay as long as I cared to, $2,500 the first week, $1,750 each the next three and if I stayed longer, Mary Lou thought I might never want to leave; she was probably correct in that assumption.

The second reason was the simple fact ‘She’ listened to what I wanted and got off her high-horse telling me ‘but this is what everbody wants’. I pointed to my nice, blue RV. “I don’t plan to live in your nice, new lodge, so I’m not paying for it. I brought my own guns and ammo, med kits, sleeping bag and three hundred assorted MREs. I do want some real food, a ton of water, a guide, tent, blankets, ground sheets, pillows, a string of horses and pack-mules plus feed and tack for them. I’ll will still pay you what you ask but, do it my way.”

“Your not just some ‘Yankee’ then?”

“Sort of, but for the last 10 years I have lived South of the Line.”(Mason-Dixon Line)

“After Mary Lou was about to protest, some silver-haired angel placed her hand on her shoulder and said: “I’ll take you, but you’ve got to agree on some conditions? OK?” I just stared at her. “Excuse my daughter Mister!” Hard to believe this was her daughter; they looked more like sisters.

“Hey, look up to my face for a start.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Good start. It’s $10,000 for each month, in advance, no refunds. Second, we’ll be having another guide along. Thirdy, we come back here each month or after any game as heavy as the mules can carry; I suspect we will take about 15 mules incuding rides we can switch off. Prepare for a month out max. Meat usually will be salted or smoked in the field. Fourth, anything I say, you listen to me and do what I say, we clear on that? Lastly, my Sis will be coming along and neither of us are going with you to be entertainment, you got that?”

“I just have a few things to say. My wife and I just went through a recent divorce. I wish I had met you a few years ago, too. I need to enjoy the outdoors, hunt, fish, camp and am not looking for ‘entertainment or companions’. So, Hell yeah, I got it! Treat me as you want to be treated!”

Mary Lou took my AMEX, handed me a receipt for $10,000 and gave me the lecture about how bodies might never be found down here if ‘SOMEBODY’ took advantage of her daughters.

“It will take a few days to get the mules and gear here. We should leave by the first of the month to keep it simple.”

I handed her the Amex again, saying: “We need a lot of stuff, take another $3,500, consider it a tip for ‘Fric and Frac’ seeing they never told me their real names.”

That gave us 4 plus days to get ready. I called out: “Hey you two, we can head into town for some shopping, if you keep it reasonable, the ‘Old Man Here’ is paying the first $1,000 for each of you. For that you need to cook dinner each night.”

I learned on the way into town, my ‘two near-angels’ names were Samantha and Tabitha; 19 and 17. The camp was about all they had from their Ex father, I should say all that Mary Lou had. If location was important, then the camp was in the right spot. The payment in-advance was now very understandable, they needed the cash. Wild boar, Bear and any number of ‘Beasties’ would be a tough match for most ‘tourists’ coming to these parts.

I added a few things after getting some nodding heads in-agreement. A base station or two, several hand-held walkie-talkies and some really good med kits. I had the guns for me but added a Remington R-25 in 308 caliber and a 10 mm Glock 17-15 in the clip (A 44 Magnum had too much recoil) for each of them. Boars have very thick skulls and it is bad when several come at you at once.

Not sure what it was but I think both had tears in their eyes. We were after boar but with three of us not much would get past us. Next good waterproof boots, various weight socks, a portable GPS, several great compass, maps, flares and orange and camo outerwear and various scent packs completed our shopping day. We stopped in for food on the way back. Our relatonship seemed to change, and changed for the better; I thought. Shopping costs way exceeded our named budget. Hey! Who cares?

When we got back Mary Lou gave me a hit on the arm when I handed her maps, base stations and the walkie-talkies. Later, she came into the RV and hit me again. “If you keep treating them like you did today, there will be no living with them,”

“Hey, they will be cooking dinner every night. I think I got the better end of the deal. Besides, they will be much safer now. I got to protect my investment, them girls are expensive, let alone think what those mules would cost.”

She just shook her head. “I better not tell them what you just said!”

Then exactly on day two, I took charge. “Lessons for today, we will all shoot, both rifles and handguns, all will use everything we would take with us.”

The morning outing was not too bad. When we did it again at 5:30 pm there were some grumps. When 9:30 pm came around a small mutiny had started. “You think the ‘Big, Bad, B’s’(Bears, boars and beasties) will only come around in the daylight. Why do you suppose I have an Infared scope on one of my rifles. You girls practice much shooting at night? Oh! You have wolves here, do you?” That ended their complaining. Mary Lou just patted my arm this time and nodded.

“Wild Boar don’t roam around alone. They are pack animals and the safest place to be is up in a treestand, or in a big old tree.” Climbing 101 took most of the next day. I was not the one following orders now. this was for survival. “There is a reason, girls, why our rifles have a sling and it is not to leave them on the ground while climbing up a tree.”

The next day Mary Lou gave me a bit of insight on her daughters. It must have been difficult times on all of them. Yet, they say ‘hard times’ ... err ‘What do they say about hard times? Beats me! If you were to ask me, I would say they were all ‘over their heads’. But ‘What did I know?’ Don’t answer that. My life was not exactly an example of a bed of roses. A man does exactly what he wants, no? There is little time if any for reflection on how it is received by others. Hence the divorce.