One of Those Many Callouts
It was the year 1963 and my husband, Hal, working for AT&T was transferred from Seattle, Washington to a brand-new facility, a Radio Communications center built in North Bend, at the base of the Cascade Mountains. The original crew of six technicians were a close-knit group and the callouts for trouble shooting during some nights were covered by them equally and fairly.
This night a callout came for my Hal, he answered, and I heard him say:” I will be on my way.”
Usually I got up too, when a call came during the night, if it sounded that it could be a long while, whatever the problem could be with equipment and may take longer, I would make coffee and something to eat for my Hal to take, to be prepared for a long night. All the transmitter and repeater huts were along the Cascade Mountain ridges and had to be maintained. A locked gate at the entrance was to keep unauthorized people out. When Hal got to the gate that would lead to the station called “Rattle Snake Ridge” he found the gate open, and a car parked by the gate. All six employees had two-way radios, they needed to communicate with one another, when out on a call to the different radio sites.
Hal contacted his buddy, Neal, recognizing his car to find out what was wrong with a piece of equipment and if he needed anything from the office, before Hal would start up the mountain. My Hal found out…NO… there was nothing wrong with any equipment. His buddy, Neal was out hunting that evening, shot a bear and had trouble securing and bringing this bear down the mountain to his car. Neal had a little flat bed, sat the bear on it, but had nothing to keep the bear on that “contraption.” He needed another person to keep the bear from falling off.
Hal helped his buddy secure the bear and used a flashlight to show them the path. Finally, they made it all the way down to the gate and got the bear secure into Neal’s car.
When my Hal came home, I got up to see that he was alright and when he told me this absurd, oh so funny story with vivid descriptions, we both started laughing. Neal, Hal’s buddy, always went hunting and foraging for food. He and his wife had nine children.
Too bad there were no phones yet, like we have now. A picture of all three of them, a dead bear, sitting on a board upright, Neal behind holding on to the bear and Hal walking in front pulling the board and holding the flashlight. Priceless!
Oh my! What a story! At first I was going to write about the unsung
heroes that keep our communications open night and day, in season and out of season. (Much like the faithful postman or postwoman who braves weather and dogs to deliver our mail.) And then, I realized this was a different sort of story. One about two fellows who could count on each other to help out when a situation calls. I laughed at the sight of the bear propped up on the back of a truck as two friends navigated the night in order to bring their “treasure” home. I hope that Ilona got a chance to savor some of that bear meat after all the worry and trouble to bring it out in the dark of night. I bet Ilona made a gourmet meal out of that bear meat! With just the right wine to accompany the unexpected meal. What a scene. What a life!
Thank you Sharon for your cute comment. Oh, NO I did not want any of that meat. I tried very hard to get accustomed to many thing here, but I drew the line at some of it. The wine, I would love, but the bear? NO Ilona
Good to have some limits. Bear meat= no!
I don’t think I have ever tasted bear. Not missing anything.
Now, ducks, that’s a different matter!