Читать книгу Grandfather's Journal - C.W. Hanes - Страница 4

“Grandpa, how long has this land been in the family? I know you have been living here since you were born, and your father built it in 1867, but I don’t know any more than that.”

“Jacob, this land has been in the family since 1774.” He told me that he added on to the house in 1907 and made a few changes, but these changes couldn’t be detected by anyone from just looking at the house. “Your Grandma and I are the only ones left that know of these changes. One day you will know about these changes if you listen to me. It will all be revealed in due time, when the time is right and not before. There is a time for everything; have patience, Jacob, the time will come for you.” I knew he was right but sometimes it’s just hard to wait.

Anyway, it was time to go back home and I had to get ready for school. I had to study for my SAT test; I wanted a high score so I could get a scholarship at a good university. It was important for me to get one because Mom couldn’t afford to pay for my tuition.

The days flew by over the next few months and it was March before I knew it, time to go and visit Dad’s grave again. I left early this morning to pick up Grandfather so we would have more time together this year. The weather was closer to normal – it was about forty-seven degrees today. When we drove up to the cemetery, everything was the same as every other year. It was seventy degrees around Dad’s grave. “Grandpa, do you remember last summer when we went down into the cave?”

“Yeah, son, I remember.”

“Remember how warm the water got inside the cave?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it possible that a warm stream runs underneath Dad’s gravesite?”

“That’s good thinking, Jacob, that is a very good possibility. The tunnels we were in last summer, who knows how far they run. We aren’t that far from Red River, only six or seven hundred yards as the crow flies.” When we got back in the truck to head home, I noticed steam coming up around Dad’s headstone. That must be the reason why. What else could it be, and how could I find out – or should I? So many questions were running through my head I didn’t know which way was up.

I believed Grandfather knew a whole lot more than he was letting me in on. He wasn’t going to tell me more than I was ready for. You’ve heard the old expression that you don’t feed a baby meat, you feed it milk. You can only feed it what it’s ready for. The same is true about the words we speak; you can’t explain things to someone if they aren’t ready to understand it yet. They may have ears, but they can’t perceive what you are saying, or they have eyes and still are not able to see what is going on around them. Grandfather was very wise, and I trusted his judgment in what he wanted to share with me. He knew what I was ready for and what I wasn’t ready for and I was okay with that.

After I let Grandfather out at the house, I drove back home to spend a little time with Mom before school started. I knew she knew more about what was going on than she was saying. Mom was letting Grandfather teach me all he could about life and how it should be lived, although she did teach me a lot of things that he couldn’t teach me from a woman’s point of view. I just wish I could understand it as easy as I do the things Grandfather had taught me.

Two more months of school to go and I would be out of high school. It didn’t seem possible it was almost time to graduate. I studied extremely hard the next few weeks hoping to keep up a 3.5-grade average. Boy, was I surprised when I ended up with a 4.0 Man, what a shock!

I finally got my SAT score and was shocked and amazed at the results; it was higher than I thought possible. I thought they must have gotten my results mixed up with someone else’s, but they told me it was correct. That is okay with me because now I have several colleges offering me scholarships, but I wasn’t going too far from home. I had too much to learn from Grandfather to move far away just yet.

Graduation day was almost here, and they wanted me to give the valedictorian speech for our senior class. I wasn’t sure what to write about but, with Mom’s and Grandfather’s help, I figured it out. Tonight is the night I give my speech – I hope I’m ready.

The auditorium was full; there must have been five hundred or more people there. When I got up on stage, I asked if I could have my mother and my grandparents could join me. I had Mom sit on my left because that is the side that is closest to my heart. I had my grandparents sit behind me to my right because they always stand behind me backing me up with my decisions. I asked Grandfather if he would stand with me tonight as I gave my speech. I had just a few minutes to talk to our class and the people that were there. When he stood up and walked over, everyone in the auditorium stood and applauded, I didn’t think they would ever stop.

I asked Grandfather if he would play his flute with me and continue when I started reading. We played together for about five minutes then I laid my flute down and started reading.

“Today is a new day for us; it is a time that we will be going our separate ways. Most of us have been in class together since the first grade, but after today that will all change. Some of us will go on to college and some will not. That doesn’t mean that some aren’t as smart as the ones that do, by no means. They, they just have a different path to travel down. The Class of 1974 must remember our friends and our family that sacrificed time and money to help us get to this day. My Grandfather taught me that today is all we really have; there is no promise of tomorrow. Today is a present from GOD. The reason we call it the present is because it is a gift from GOD. What each one of us must do is seize each and every day that GOD gives us to make the most of what He has given us to work with. Because Today is Tomorrow’s Yesterday at hand, and it is up to us to make the most of every day. Life is very short; it’s like unto the frost on a cold winter morning, it’s there early in the morning but when the sun climbs high up in the sky it vanishes without a trace. I ask that each one hearing my voice will live every day as if it were the only day that GOD gave you to live. Live it with compassion for others. Reach out to others that need a helping hand, pick them up off the ground and dust them off when you see them stumble and help them on their way. You may be the only person that sees them stumble. You never know what is going on in their lives you could be saving their life. To the Class of ‘74 and all that can hear me, I pray that GOD is with you and bless you in all that you set out to do and may you all accomplish peace, joy, and love in your lives. We made it, we graduate tonight our lives are just beginning, seize the day my friends; seize the day. Thank you all for listening so intently. Goodnight.”

I picked up my flute and then Grandfather and I stepped away from the podium. I hoped my speech was taken to heart by everyone, along with my Grandfather playing in the background.

They handed our diplomas to us and congratulated us on our accomplishments. The night was over; it was time to start planning for the summer and to pick the college I was going to attend.

It was my eighteenth birthday and I could hardly wait to be with Grandfather. What were we going to do today and what would be the new clue this year? Grandfather phoned me last night and told me not to come until noon today. He had a couple of things to do before he would be ready for me. When I entered the drive, it was twelve o’clock straight up. When Grandfather said noon that is exactly what he meant not a minute before or a minute after. He was standing in front of the barn when I drove up.

“Hello Grandpa, what’s the schedule for today?” He handed me a leather bag with beadwork and fringe on it and asked me to open it. I pulled out a pipe; the bowl was carved out of black rock to look like the head of a wolf. The stem had carvings of bear, deer, turkey, fox, and beaver. There were words carved in a spiral around the stem under each animal. It was the most beautiful pipe I had ever seen.

“Lets’ go for a walk, Jacob.”

“OKAY, Grandpa, where are we going?”

“Today we’re going to go to the top of the mountain, there is a ledge overlooking Red River with a circle of stone where I will teach you how to use this pipe.”

Grandfather led the way to the top. He had never shown me this route before. I thought I had been all over that mountain and thought I knew every foot of it, as many times as Grandfather had taken me out in the forest. This path was hidden; you could walk right by it and never know it was there. I don’t know how many times I walked past it and never found it. It was between two big overcup oak trees with honeysuckle growing between them next to a rock bluff. Looking between the trees, all you could see were three huge rocks but, once you stepped past the trees and rounded the boulders behind them, there was a path and steps that were carved into the mountain leading to the top. When we got to the top, the ledge was about fifty feet wide and about seventy-five feet long. It had an overhang twelve to thirteen feet above it. It was impossible to see from the river, but you could see for miles all around. It had a spectacular view of the mountains and the valleys. The way the Red River twisted and snaked through the valley was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. We sat down beside the circle of stones and Grandfather built a fire as we unpacked our gear. I watched him take his pipe and hold it up and give thanks to GOD for this day and for the many blessings He had bestowed upon our family. Then he began filling it with tobacco and held the bowl of the pipe over the fire and said, “Let us be one with all things that are good.” Then he took a twig from the fire, lit the pipe, took a couple of puffs from it, and handed it to me. “Jacob, close your eyes and take a deep breath through your nose, then let it out through your mouth and relax.

“Then take the pipe and take two short puffs, holding the smoke in your mouth for as long as possible, then blow it out of your mouth slowly. This is only done when you are becoming one with all things. This is not smoked for fun. Besides, you know I don’t believe in smoking. This is the only time you will ever see me smoke because it isn’t good for your health. Now, what did you feel when you did what I asked you to do?”

“I felt very peaceful and full filled; like a bird up against the sky with the wind blowing across my face. Grandpa, I felt freedom almost as if I were a part of everything in the universe.”

“That’s good, Jacob, you are becoming aware of the greater purpose of what life is about. Life is short; we rush around to get to places that we really don’t want to be. People take life for granted like they will live forever, always looking to make more money for things they don’t need. It’s okay to make money but it shouldn’t be the driving force that keeps you going. It should be for the greater good of our lives helping others when it’s possible. To do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. Jesus said greater LOVE has no man than to lay down his life for a friend. These are the things that are truly important. I hope you understood the things I just said to you, Jacob. If you can enjoy each day that GOD gives you then you will have a full life.”

“It’s time to go back to the house. Before we leave, though, here is the clue for your eighteenth birthday.

“The forty-eight warriors and the twenty-eight Angels watch the fire that burns in the middle of the room. Although fire burns through these rocks, they are cool to the touch and it protects my journal.”

As we started back down the mountain, I noticed that the forest seemed to be listening to Grandfather and me as we talked. The animals were appearing and disappearing from behind the trees and the rocks. We stopped about halfway down and sat for a little while. I watched and listened to Grandfather talking to the animals. I observed a bear bring over her cub as if to introduce her cub to Grandfather and me. He told me to look into her eyes and that I would know the bear and her cub. For a moment I could feel her heart beating and the warmth she felt for her cub. Grandfather said that if you will look into the eyes of any animal, you will know them and their family. After we rested for a while we walked on down to the mountain to the sweat lodge. “Grandpa, do we have time to sit inside the sweat lodge today for a couple of hours”?

“Sure, we do, there is always time for meditation.” We built a fire to heat up the rocks to take inside of the lodge. It took about an hour to get the lodge hot enough. It was the first time we had meditated in several months. It was nice to sit in there with the temperature about 120 degrees, pouring water over the rocks and watching the steam rise up. I meditated on the day and all the clues Grandfather had given me over the past five years, trying to figure out what the clues were for. I knew he had a journal about an event that happened to him in 1897 but that was all I knew. He said if it was meant for me to know about it and to solve it then I would, with GOD’s help. We sat in there for an hour and then it was time to go and see how Grandma was doing. Grandma had supper ready for us, as usual. She had to be the best cook of anyone around. She could cook about anything.

Even though it was the end of May, it was still a little cool at night. After supper, we sat in front of the fireplace and built a small fire just to take the chill off the living room. They had a beautiful fireplace in the living room; built with a loose rock look that went up to the ceiling. It had bookshelves on both sides from the floor to the ceiling. There must have had at least a thousand books on each side of the fireplace. I asked them, “How many of these books have you read?” and they said, “All of them.” Grandfather said, “Son, all the knowledge you need is in these books. If you read and study them, you can learn anything you want to know.”

“Remember knowledge is power, the power to help you change things to make a better tomorrow for yourself and the people around you. I can only hope that you will read and learn everything that you can to help you out in this life.

“It is bedtime now we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”

It was five a.m. when Grandfather came in and woke me up. As I came out of my room, I could smell the bacon and eggs Grandmother was preparing for breakfast and, as I started down the stairs, I could also smell the biscuits and gravy. She sure knew how to cook!

We sat down at the table and Grandfather said grace before we could eat. I never saw Grandfather eat without first thanking GOD for all he had given us. After we finished, we put our dishes away in the sink before we went on our journey for the day. “Grandpa, what are we going to do today?”

“Jacob, we’re going to scout out the woods and the creeks on the mountain, looking for things that shouldn’t be there.”

We grabbed our backpacks and put food and water in them, enough to last for the day.

We walked along the trail beside the river, but the forest seemed quieter today than normal. I asked Grandfather, “Why is it so quiet in the woods this morning?” He told me there is a storm coming our way and that we would have to find shelter, but we still had a few hours before it hit. We walked up the first creek, zigzagging back and forth, making our way to the top of the mountain. As we walked, we came upon a round rock that was about four feet across with a square hole cut into the center of it. “Grandpa, is this what I think it is?” I asked.

“Yes, it is. It’s a hand-carved wheel off an old two-wheel cart. It has been there for several hundred years. Your great-great-grandfather found it. This creek leads to the top of the mountain, but it splits into three branches halfway up. All this is written down in my journal.”

My Grandfather shared many things with me about which path to follow and where they lead. He said, “One day this will be passed on to you when you find my journal, as I had to do from my Dad; as he did from his Dad. This is the way the journal has been handed down for three generations.

“It’s time to find shelter now before the storm hits. There’s a place not too far from here. It looks like it’s going to be a bad one, so let’s get going, Jacob.” We headed back toward the house, but we were going up. It took about thirty minutes to get where we were going. I had never seen this place: It was a room was cut about twenty-four feet back into the mountain and thirty feet wide and the ceiling was twelve feet high. It had a log front that looked like an old fort; the logs ran up and down. Blackberry vines and honeysuckle covered most of the front making it almost impossible to see unless you knew where it was. We got there just in time, too. We had just enough time to gather some dry wood and get it inside when the rain hit. We watched the hail come down ranging in size from a golf ball to a baseball. The wind was blowing so hard the rain looked like it was coming down sideways. The thunder was almost deafening, and the lightning was blinding if you were looking out when it struck. It lasted for the better part of three hours before it let up, it must have rained seven inches or more. When it stopped, the sun came out and the clouds moved on south. We started back home to make sure that Grandmother was okay. When we got home, she was coming out of the storm cellar. Thank GOD she was fine.

After supper, we sat at the kitchen table and talked about the storm, thanking GOD that there wasn’t any damage to the house or the barns. Before you knew it, it was time for bed and another exciting day spent with Grandfather was to be written down in my journal.

The summer went by faster than normal, but I learned a lot from Grandfather, as usual. It was time to go back home and register for college.

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in. I thought about engineering or becoming a doctor. So, I took all the courses I needed that were relative to both subjects, along with a couple of classes on philosophy and Native American history. I thought I had to study a lot in high school, but college was ten times as much studying. I started classes at 9:00 in the morning and my last class was over at 4:00 in the afternoon; then I would study until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning. I couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving break. Boy, could I use it and was I ever thankful when it arrived.

Mom and I went to Grandfather’s on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in order to help Grandmother prepare for Thanksgiving Day. It was just going to be the four of us this year, but it would be great being with the people I love more than anything on this earth. Grandfather and I killed a couple of wild turkeys with our bows and arrows the day before Thanksgiving. Turkey couldn’t get any fresher than that. We cut it up in strips and deep-fried it. I believe it was the best turkey I have ever eaten in my entire life. After dinner, Grandfather and I went for a long walk along Red River, stopping and skipping stones from time to time. Not much was said for the first hour or two, and then Grandfather stopped and turned toward me and asked me how my studies were going. Grandfather reminded me that life is short, and that today is all you really have, that there is no promise of tomorrow. This moment we are living is a gift from GOD and to treasure it and to seize each day He gives us. “Look at all GOD has given us that we take for granted. Not even stopping long enough to kneel on our knees and say thank you, Lord GOD, for all the many blessings and the people you have guided into our life.” Grandfather showed me the fish traps that were still visible in the river that the Indians had built hundreds of years ago. He knew how to use them, and he taught me how to build them and to use them.

“They placed rocks on top of each other making the shape of a ‘V’ in order to funnel the fish into a narrow stream and they would net the fish when they swam through or spear them. It’s amazing at how simple it looks, but it takes a long time to build one and build it right.” It was getting late, so it was time to turn around and go back to the house. Mom and Grandma were sitting on the back porch waiting for us when we returned.

We went inside and threw a couple of logs on the fire to get warm. It was extremely cold this year, colder than normal for this time of year. Their fireplace in the den was made of river rock of all colors, white, brown, red, and black.

The black rocks were placed together to create the image of a black bear, the red rocks shaped the image of a red fox, the brown took on the appearance of a twelve-point buck deer, and the white that of a wolf. After a closer look, I found that Grandpa’s name was carved into the rocks of the fox, Dad’s name was carved into the bear, and my Great-Grandfather’s name was carved into the deer. I didn’t recognize the name carved into the white wolf: “Catharine.”

I asked Grandpa, “Who is Catharine?”

Grandpa replied: “You will find out someday when the time is right”. The last image was of the bald eagle; it was made from black and white rocks with my name carved into it.

The mouth of the fireplace was about six feet wide and big enough to stand up in. There were bookshelves of solid mahogany on both sides, supported by solid rock pillars with words carved into each one from the ceiling to the floor. The Pillar on the left had “In The Beginning (HA-WI-NA-DI-TL-V) (AD-AL-EN-IS-GV)”, the Pillar on the right had “Was The Word (GE-SE-I) (DI-KA-NE-IS-DI). (AD-AL-EN-IS-GV)”, Across the Mantle said, “The Great Spirit (Ye-ho-wa-ah)”, on the hearth was written Jesus Wept (JSI) (A-TLO-YA-S-DI). The shelves were twelve feet tall and the room was thirty feet wide with the fireplace taking up twelve feet of the center of the wall leaving nine feet on either side of the fireplace. There must have been over a thousand books sitting on the shelves. Grandfather had every kind of book you could imagine in several different languages.

Grandfather had books on philosophy, poetry, mathematics, the history of different cultures, literature, science, biology, anatomy, and many other subjects. Some of them were first editions dating back to the mid-seventeen hundred. He even had some of them signed by the authors like Hemingway, Longfellow, Thomas Edison, and so many others I can’t name them all. Their home was like walking back into time; one, two, even three hundred years. It was incredible.

It was getting close to midnight when we turned in for the night. Grandfather and I had to get up early the next morning to do some simple repairs on the sweat lodge and the smokehouse to get them ready for use. The smokehouse was built two-thirds of the way into the ground; it served as a root cellar as well as a smokehouse. It was built out of river rock-like almost everything else around here. The roof was split wood shingles made from a hickory tree and the inside walls were lined with hickory. The floor was a flat rock with a fire pit built in the middle of the room; it was seven feet in diameter and about three feet deep. We had to split the wood for replacement shingles for the roof and then shave them by hand so that they fit properly. Grandfather still did everything by hand, the old-fashioned way by most people’s standards, but I thought it was perfect.

After church Sunday morning, it was time for Mom and me to head back home. I had to get back into the groove of things and get ready for school to start in two days; it was the last semester. I really had to buckle down this spring and study hard because everyone expected me to have a 3.5 or greater average by the year’s end, when school let out for the summer. It was another busy semester studying until late hours in the morning doing the best I could to learn as much as I could before summer.

My favorite class was Native American history. I loved our teacher, who was probably one of the best. Her name was (Gi-ta-ya u-ne-gv tsi-s-qua) in Cherokee (Cherrie White Dove). She looked like an angel to me with her long dark brown hair that draped to the middle of her back. Her brown skin gave her the look of a tan year-round; I believe she was two-thirds Cherokee. She always smelled like lilacs. It was very evident that she loved teaching. Her face glowed with love and excitement when she taught. She had the most beautiful brown eyes I have ever seen in my life; they held you captive when you looked into them. I think every boy in the class was in love with her. I know I most certainly was. I would stay after class when I could and talk to her about my Grandfather and the things he shared with me about the Native American ways. I brought my flute with me on the last day of class and showed it to her; she asked me if I could play. I told her my Grandfather taught me how to play. Then she asked me if I would play her a tune. I played her the tune my Grandfather taught me to play; I must have played for her for an hour. She really did like it and told me she knew this tune and she asked me if I knew what it was called. I told her it was called “The Spirit Dances within Me.” Cherrie’s family was getting together in July and she asked me if I would be willing to come and play for her family. I told her it would be a privilege to, but only if I could bring my Grandfather and he could play with me. She agreed that it would be okay for him to accompany me. I was glad school was finally over; I was looking forward to my birthday and getting another clue from Grandpa to find his journal that he had hidden.

It was four days before my birthday when Grandpa called and asked me to come over early. He wanted to know if I could come over tomorrow. “Yes, of course, I can, Grandpa.” I could hardly wait to find out why he wanted to come over a few days early; let alone what the new clue would be. I got up early the next morning to leave for Grandfather’s house with my flute and peace pipe and, of course, my journal with all the clues he had already given me. It was about five in the morning when I arrived at Grandfather’s.

“Good morning, Grandpa. Why are we getting such an early start? It’s usually the day before or on my birthday when we get together.”

Grandfather told me that this summer was going to be different than most. He said I would be meeting a girl and some very special people; this would be a turning point in my life!