Blacky and I decided to go to the one acre woods to see the fort built by my older brothers and male cousins. Girls were not allowed so I had to wait until they were working on the farm.
The woods were at the far end of the farm about fifty acres away.
As the crop was in we had to enter the field at the headland and walk straight back til the row ended. It was summer and the crop was corn. And corn can grow inches in a day and eventually up to fifteen feet. Blacky was seven inches tall and I was about three feet so it was like entering a jungle. Blacky meowed his dislike and looked at me in hopes that I would turn back. But I talked him into it.
Finally we reached the edge of the wood and entered. Even more like a jungle it had interlocking limbs, holes filled with water and covered with leaves. We persevered.
About 30 feet into the wood we saw the fort. It was made of upright logs and towered above us.
On the side there was a ladder at about a 45 degree angle. It was made of two poles with large flat steps. It was easy to climb. So climb we did. Blacky ran quickly up and I followed more slowly.
On three sides the poles extended another five feet but on the ladder side they did not. This ledge faced west toward the afternoon sun, peeping through the limbs and leaves of the thick growth of trees..
Blacky sat beside me and I opened our jar of water. He drank from the lid and I from the jar. We were hot so warm as it was, it tasted good. Then I opened our sandwich. It was salmon on bread. I gave him some salmon which he ate with great delicacy. I not so much.
As we sat and enjoyed our picnic, we watched the sun move through the trees, assisted by a light warm summers breeze. It created moving shapes on our eyes and on our bodies.
Then I lay down on an old sack that the boys had left there and napped. Blacky lay down beside me and purred his contentment.
Bodies at rest cool down even in summer heat, so eventually we decided it was time to move. Actually it was Blacky. My clock.
I gathered my things together and put them bag in my Huckleberry Finn pack and tied them back on the stick. We climbed down and made our way out of the woods and down the hot rows of corn.
Back to the headland. Turn right and back to the barn. Were the straw was waiting to offer up its late afternoon entertainment and to make sure we got back before the boys began their invasion of the fort.
It was a good afternoon, all in all.