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The Big Tornado Night in Stonewall.
Read moreAugust Sunlight This summer we have seen our usual hot sunshiny days of over 100F with the sun’s angles being sharp and anxious to inflict skin cancers. Just another proven fact we chose to ignore each summer. But even sunscreens can only provide limited help and I am one who can testify that skin cancers are not only a rude interruption to your life, they can be painful and deadly. That’s one reason my grandpa, J. T. Bullard, farming down on Goat Ridge, worked in a long sleeve shirt and wore a broadbrim hat. He was a farmer and knew how to cover up. I think they might call that wisdom.
Read moreThe Land I love – Where?
Read moreWhen I first moved to Allen in 1963 the news was there were "Haints" in the area. Yes, they were spotted around "Seed Tick Cemetery" and all around the South Canadian. Yes, Big Foot was alive and well in the Allen area. Some say that Big Foot sightings were a fact, that these creatures were what remained of a rare species of large "Indian Type" cave men. Or just some other form of "Big Foot." Another word for these creatures is "Haint." I don't know what a "haint" is but I first became aware of this word when I was in high school over at Stonewall. There was a very special place between Jesse and Fittstown where a beautiful cool energetic little stream worked its way through a section of very rough terrain. Some people called it Sheep Creek, even though there were other streams in the general area with the same name. The part with which I was familiar was located on the Bar X ranch. The foreman out there was an old cowboy named Gann. So, it was one pleasant day a small trio of boys which included me, Jackie Eden and one Jim Greenlee found ourselves lounging, diving in and enjoying this cool blue pool of water in what was called "The Haint Hole." I wondered why the name and Jim Greenlee, a little older than Jackie or me, said he knew. "Every night at midnight, when the moon was out, a headless Indian Chief rides his white (flying) horse out of the top of the nearby Buzzards Peak, makes a few passes around the little cone-shaped mountain and then rides, horse and all, into this hole of water - The Haint Hole." Jim went on to explain that although he had never witnessed this himself, he was prepared to do just that. See it! He also explained the beautiful clear-blue natural pool had no bottom. We decided to take action. We "borrowed" a long piece of new rope, over 100 feet. Plus a window weight. I had my Kodak 620 camera loaded with black and white film and on our selected night with a full moon we took up station at the Haint Hole. We camped and made our snacks and fixed our camp and beds. We climbed the Buzzard's Roost and I took pictures of the place. We swam and ate and waited forever in the lingering twilight for midnight. Oh yes, we checked the depth and found it to be 90 feet deep. It had a bottom! Jim was wrong on that.
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