“Deep in the forest a call was sounding, and as often as he heard this call, mysteriously thrilling and luring, he felt compelled to turn his back upon the fire and the beaten earth around it, and to plunge into the forest, and on and on, he knew not where or why; nor did he wonder where or why, the call sounding imperiously, deep in the forest.”
— Jack London, The Call of the Wild
It’s hard to imagine what Jack London might have written about the calls of the wild emanating from our cabin.
Oh, there’ve been turkey gobbles — screeches, really, if you get too close. We’ve heard hoots, purrs, barks, croaks, and hisses , too. These cool summer night symphonies would have been Buck and London approved.
But, occasionally and just for fun, we’ve sent other calls off into the deep, deep woods, and we often wonder how the wild animals living there might be receiving them.
Recall, the magical cello duet Molly once enjoyed with a wild turkey. Or the times a pack of coyotes joined our campfire songs.
Do bears stop and wonder when Vinnie’s girlfriend Danni plays guitar or ukulele? Do the eagles cover tender fledgling eardrums when our family sings, “Stewball” while we roast our marshmallows around a roaring fire?
On Sunday, all creatures great and small must have marveled at the melodies wafting out from the cornfield that stretches from our cabin to the woods. There, unseen to human eye, stood the Honorable Judge Dee Dyer, blowing merrily from the bagpipe on his shoulder, “Scotland the Brave”.
At first, the dramatic music floated alone over the still stalks, a subtle rustling followed, and then appeared the proud-postured piper.
What must those wily bobcats thought of that?!
Enjoy this clip of the judge’s cornfield concert:
