A Jersey Devil Christmas
"Let's play with Baby Paul!"
Christmas day. Staying at my sister's place in New Jersey, with her three little girls. Bonnie, Azarin, and Piper love their cousin, Paul Matthew; they basically can't get enoguh of him. They were having fun playing and winding him up.
"What's that on your shirt?" Bonnie looked at my dark blue T-shirt.
"Oh. That's the Mothman. He flies around a town in West Virginia."
Bonnie squinted at it. "He's not scary."
"Well, good. He's actually a pretty nice guy."
"Can we go out and look for the Jersey Devil?" Azarin asked. "Last time you were here, you said you would."
"Sure, if it's okay with your mom. Get your shoes on."
With Bonnie and Azarin trailing along, I walked out into the forest area behind their house. We were going east. I'd looked at it online earlier from above, and it was a large, triangle-shaped area with the large part of the triange to the north. We moved a few yards into the trees.
"Does the Jersey Devil live here?" Azarin asked.
"The Jersey Devil lives everywhere in New Jersey, apparently," I said. "It's possible, I guess. Plenty of things do live here, birds and mammals."
"What if we get lost" Bonnie asked.
"Bonnie, don't worry. I can still see the house from here."
We kept walking. I found a fallen stick that had been stepped on, probably by a deer. I showed Bonnie and Azarin.
"That's cool," said Azarin, mildly the more adventurous of the two.
"I can shwo you how to track later, if you like," I said. "Teach you about how to follow animals in the woods."
"Yeah!"
We walked south for a while, into the narrower space of the triangle. At one point, a crow cawed nearby us, and took off, flying away.
"What was that?" said Bonnie, alarmed.
"That was a crow," I said. "Don't worry; they're harmless."
"But it could ahev been the Jersey Devil!" said Azarin. "Do they make that noise?"
"Well, nobody knows."
"So maybe we found it!"
"Well, maybe." I smiled. It was atrting to rain.
"Can we go back inside now?" asked Bonnie. "You said you'd teach us how to make pickles."
Christmas day. Staying at my sister's place in New Jersey, with her three little girls. Bonnie, Azarin, and Piper love their cousin, Paul Matthew; they basically can't get enoguh of him. They were having fun playing and winding him up.
"What's that on your shirt?" Bonnie looked at my dark blue T-shirt.
"Oh. That's the Mothman. He flies around a town in West Virginia."
Bonnie squinted at it. "He's not scary."
"Well, good. He's actually a pretty nice guy."
"Can we go out and look for the Jersey Devil?" Azarin asked. "Last time you were here, you said you would."
"Sure, if it's okay with your mom. Get your shoes on."
With Bonnie and Azarin trailing along, I walked out into the forest area behind their house. We were going east. I'd looked at it online earlier from above, and it was a large, triangle-shaped area with the large part of the triange to the north. We moved a few yards into the trees.
"Does the Jersey Devil live here?" Azarin asked.
"The Jersey Devil lives everywhere in New Jersey, apparently," I said. "It's possible, I guess. Plenty of things do live here, birds and mammals."
"What if we get lost" Bonnie asked.
"Bonnie, don't worry. I can still see the house from here."
We kept walking. I found a fallen stick that had been stepped on, probably by a deer. I showed Bonnie and Azarin.
"That's cool," said Azarin, mildly the more adventurous of the two.
"I can shwo you how to track later, if you like," I said. "Teach you about how to follow animals in the woods."
"Yeah!"
We walked south for a while, into the narrower space of the triangle. At one point, a crow cawed nearby us, and took off, flying away.
"What was that?" said Bonnie, alarmed.
"That was a crow," I said. "Don't worry; they're harmless."
"But it could ahev been the Jersey Devil!" said Azarin. "Do they make that noise?"
"Well, nobody knows."
"So maybe we found it!"
"Well, maybe." I smiled. It was atrting to rain.
"Can we go back inside now?" asked Bonnie. "You said you'd teach us how to make pickles."