Page 21 - Alabama 811 Magazine 2018 Issue 4

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e and Dtllard ralled ln the flzsl plant, why would you have to ~‘Wlng the paddle at the turtle tn an
[Em alltgatar turtles. a lanat rape tn the boat? ettott ta eantttnee htm ta swttn north,
[Some f}<‘:lk.s ealled 'I:m And m the “and Flam who mm when tn the mtelst or a tntghty swtng,
tagger eaels. All l knew I d dt Y I d d 1'1l~ reet sltpped uut trotn under lutn and
lot sure was that they were btg old ‘ ‘“‘ “P "“ “ " “ “P” “‘“““ ““ out of the hoat he fell. worse yet, he tell
, throw tt wtthout falllng out of the boat? .
turtle. you <1 .ee ~Wlmm|ng around tn tnto tlte nver where the aiurcmcnllunsd
the saltne RN21’ tn southwest Atkansas. And tn the tlttrd plate, lfyou could, alhgator turtle wao.
3‘.eerneel nbvluu~ to a 10 year old boy why tn tlte name of romtnon sense MW folks know about km “Hang
at you would not wantto catch one would anybody wantto rateh the V I A d 1 d ‘h
and espeetally nat pet one of them. I world's htggest alltgatur turtle in the °“ M 2“ Hi‘ I ’‘’,"'§‘ “(V B Eh
had already shook hands wtth lots of flzsIpIt1C(‘7 “““°““ ° ° " ‘ ’ °’ “ “ “ “
. — folks around Pos~um Hollcx ta tlus
four-fingnmd oleler rolle. around tlte
. W1 1 ,. Dtd l tnentton that tt wt1~ Dlllald that day wtll tell you Dtllarel Fnrks was the
rttter. u ewe were putttng Dtllard . 1 5 _h ‘h d I V ‘k [7 M‘ ‘h
01 d ml ‘mom W“ m the “my um aokcld furlt te lartat mpcd 1A3 he b;gS‘n trlk rganl Cl|f\‘\:‘h onhwa :;r‘t’ ‘ a e
01 d guy Mung on M bank SM [0 my twtr tng tte tape aruun Ih ea , at wa e a o a er an t e er.
whtle adtusttng his cap with two angers ‘2;°°‘u“;‘ E’°“‘1’1’f‘!_‘l’°“‘ 1"°5“" “’ mg“ well the turtle dtd finally ga on about
and a nub, that tr ’’cm2 of them uld ““ “‘ h ‘L‘’'’‘ ' hm” ‘_° :‘“L“}:‘‘‘$1“ “’ whatever turtles do, the boat dtd eutne
laggetheaels ever bll you, they wouldn't ‘W “I” E °“‘ “° ° ‘°”‘“ “'h‘°“VV to rest an the bank near where Dtllard
tutn loose 'ttl tt thundered " I looked if?“ ‘_‘"3““‘kW"‘b"";;"‘i“5 5"“ 2 stepped off the water onto dzy land. we
up and sure enough, there wasn't a L}“F{5°”‘ * I °‘d ‘E "'f “U ‘f‘ ""“*‘ gdf“ pulled the huat on the bank and walked
rlauel tn tlte sky. l reasaned even then h L “’P“ ““ “I P“ “ 3 “°““ ‘ the short dtstanee ta hts hau.e through
that nxpeulsncc samettrnes preeeeled "519 "“‘‘‘:f“ ““ “"‘,$"‘°’ ”“:PP'“5 the woods. The anly wund~ lleazd were
wtsdorn. “m ‘ ~"“ ° “’“°“ ‘ “"‘“’*’ the buds, the ucczulonal barking of a
“eh We m an hum“ of Dmmpfi flat He b2gr1n:o swttn away, pulltng the aqI1l|rrI:l‘,(arlld the aqlXl.~.}Ilrldg(1i)f Dlllt1xld's
bullom boat flnatlng aawn the xlvsr Euaéflfier um» DIM“ ft“ I113’-fa: lW°d°°°b‘ *“PP"‘5 “P “" “W” "‘ “°
toward hls hnum. We were thmwlng a “d "’ ‘:““’P“ ““ ‘:" “£7 ‘E “‘ E“ ‘'3' °‘’ ”'
ltne tn the water from ttme Io ttrue, hut ‘"‘Vm°‘“ ‘°’ ‘°l‘°P‘ ““ f:‘°l*:‘“5l wtthout bmakmg strtde or tumtng
mostly Dlllard was potnttng out the ““> '“g ;{“’° "‘*.$““E‘{"$ “ “‘ ‘S.;l“ d aruund, Dillard said tu me in tr to malee
plaees where he had caughlloe sacks $P* "3 h ‘PlP‘“g " ‘;‘Y 1‘““° d‘ 1"‘ sense uiwlmlhad tust happened, ”Nuw
full of rtsh on other suoh trtps. ‘PPC I at out: mm = ~ “PFC ““‘ let thts be a lesson ta 'ou "
lug old turtle tn the face. Appazunlly, ’
l was tust lytng there ltstentng ta unroplng a turtle ts rnore trntattng than "W}1lE}Ilna~Dn7" l asleeel.
hts gre2ll~tnnn.~,watdlll1g squttrel. mplng a turtle so, the turtle stoppeel
runntng araund on the bank tlunklng .wttntntng away tront the boat and 3*‘ °“’PPf“'k‘“"‘“‘ “}:‘f“"“_“‘l‘i“ 59"‘
to ntyselt that we ought to be talktttg swam dlrvxlly tn the eltrerttun of the W’: ‘° "1? "‘“l‘“d‘ ,ED“Y“,‘ 9 1
about hunttng lnstzad of it‘.-htng rause of hi~ u-rttattun Now, l dldn'l “"‘P “M” > “P ‘° ' , °“ ‘ “V” ‘“°“’
today, when Dtllard, tn a hushed but hear tnuste playtng, hut lhaye a greater “ 1”“ ’°P“1“‘,,"j;“;“"“5 V“: d‘’“'‘ d
urgent voice satd to me, "Cet tny lartat appreetatton for the ”]aws” theme song $3: f° ‘“‘° "d “ ";“ “Tl “E “d” /
rope, rye sputteel the worlers htggest ‘ ‘“ mm‘ “’°‘"‘ “" ° °‘ "3
flmgammnk ,, Tlmlblg old alltgatur ntrtle seemed toward hame lnudeled stlently. Dtllatd
tntent an eattng the boat one blle at a was a very wtse rnan Expcrlsncc was
well of count, l got the rope But tn the ttrne. Dtllard holleted, "ctve me the definitely nut \‘viI~tI:d on httn. .
so years .tnee the great turtle stghttng padellel Ctlvc me the paeldler" He began
I've been made to wonder a few thtngs
2015 Issued thorn. an . 19