85 Quoth the Raven, “Gimme Your Lunch”

The story I am about to tell is true only the name has been changed to protect the raven. One of the things that lighten your day as a faller is being able to enjoy the wildlife that lives in the forest. Even though many of the creatures that make the forest their home, remain hidden during the daytime, there were blue jays that would come begging for a handout, and flying squirrels in abundance swooping from tree to tree. The evidence of bear were quite common and maybe even an otter from time to time.

To keep from misplacing my gear or accidentally dropping a tree on it, I would generally stuff my rain gear, if it weren’t raining, along with my lunch bucket and my extra wedges and sledge in a hollow stump or log to keep them safe.

What highlighted my experience however this particular fall was a raven, Old Pesky. At first I quite enjoyed seeing Old Pesky come flying in, if I imitated his call he would stop, slowly circle and answer me. In fact, it didn’t seem to matter where I was. It got so that every morning on or around ten o’clock he would spot me and come swooping down on his own. The flattery of his attention quickly turned to frustration when I had to search for my gear and especially my lunch bucket before I could eat my lunch.

Frustration finally turned to anger on the morning when Old Pesky finally figured out how to unsnap the clasps to my lunch bucket and eat my lunch. He wasn’t stupid, as he knew what was healthy and he would only eat the sandwich. He always left the apple and desert, not that I shouldn’t be grateful for his generosity, but it fell far short of quenching my hunger pangs and left me famished by suppertime.

This type of pesky behavior called for action on my part, but what to do short of shooting him but still modify his aberrant behavior presented a problem. When the answer came to me it was simple enough, just a small nail placed through the stop on each of the clasps would keep them from being snapped open and would do the trick.

Quite smug with the brilliance of my idea I went to the hollow log where my lunch was stowed the following morning only to find the lunch box laying already open on the ground, the sandwich gone, and no bird in sight. This called for some serious action on my part if I was to ever eat lunch again.

It finally came to me that the only remedy was to replace the nails with a small wire, that is, run it through the clasps and then twist the two ends together. The next day with my new design in place I could hardly wait to get to where my gear was stowed at lunchtime, to see it I had truly won the battle. Well there was my lunch box lying on the ground with all of my gear scattered around, and the leather shoulder strap that I carried my lunch with all chewed to pieces, but the lunch box was still shut tight. Yes it finally worked, but Old Pesky did not give up easily. It seems that in his frustration he had been dragging it every which way.

Well I think I won the battle but it was many mornings before Old Pesky finally gave up in frustration and quit chewing on my lunch box strap in the hope of somehow yanking it open. Not all battles in life are won but even a small victory is sometimes sweet.