Turkey Buzzards Come Calling by Terry Carroll
All four of his remaining siblings flew to Dawson Creek, B.C. for warm, welcoming family gatherings, a funeral service and a burial. In a grave overlooking a ridge with mountains in the distance, Keith was laid to rest in a coffin covered with wildflowers picked by grandkids and great-grandkids that morning on a country road near his pasture farm. For the gathering after the funeral service, he and his wife, Marilyn, had planned music and a menu headlined by his favourite foods like date squares and ice cream in cones, which he lauded for their environmental friendliness. Before he became too weak for emailing, he regularly wrote to his extended family. He liked to sign off ‘Joy be with you all’, a sentiment we hope to carry on now that death has had its dominion. Also, in July, I helped my younger brother, Alan, work West Elgin ground for soybeans. To move the disk and rotary harrows to another field, I drove his John Deere 7810 through a major dip in Carroll Line. On gravel at the bottom lay a small fawn as dead as dead could be. Turkey buzzards swooped in and pecked at its dappled fur. Nothing is much cuter than a fawn, or much uglier than a turkey buzzard. It seemed like an indignity to leave a baby deer on a lonely road where vultures had such easy access or where a vehicle could crush it. I stopped the four-wheel-drive tractor and laid the fawn in the grass, roadside. On my next trip, though, a vulture had moved it back onto the gravel, Mother Nature being her usual mysterious self. Keith loved to share YouTube video recommendations like the music of The Wailin’ Jennys, and Corb Lunn and the Hurtin’ Albertan, a band name old Hank Williams, who died under mysterious circumstances at the age of twenty-nine, would have cottoned onto. Another of Keith’s favourite shares was a Christian- themed tune delivered with generous twanging by Iris Dement: Let The Mystery Be. Not bad advice when Covie, Mr. Cancer or the turkey buzzards come calling, as they will, eventually, for all. Terry can be reached at terry@carrollgroup.ca
By days two and three, when I was mildly delirious from fever, a but- chered Simon & Garfunkel line came to mind. ‘Hello, Covie, my old friend.
You’ve come to talk to me again’. Four days earlier, this old friend who’s haunting the world had sneaked in through the side door, disguised as pneumonia when my lovely wife, Nancy, first made his acquaintance. I blame unmasking. We had been diligent scrubbers, maskers, disinfectors and vaccinators, but by March of this year, we had started appearing with naked noses and mouths in public places. It had seemed liberating until -- Covie knocked. For the first few days, all his hosts wanted to do was sleep. He was not about to let that happen. One of his gifts was a sore throat and cough so intense we could never get enough shuteye. With sleep would come healing, and healing isn’t his thing. However, in early July, this clever bad boy did not win in our home. Death would wait for another day. The same cannot be said for Mr. Cancer, who felled my brother, Keith, about two weeks later. He had been doing most things right health-wise, including an annual checkup for prostate cancer. But six months following his yearly examination, he not only had prostate cancer, but it had jumped to his bones. The medical team did their best, yet they could not stop Mr. Cancer from transforming him into the incredible shrinking man. Geoffrey Rae Managing Editor / Sales Geoff@villagerpublications.com • 519-495-7177 Copy Editor: Peter Bloch-Hansen Publisher: Barb Botten barb@villagerpublications.com Graphic Artist – Cathy Wood Photos, community events and article suggestions welcome. Please email hometown@villagerpublications.com. We look forward to hearing from you. oomers oomers B and EYOND B Copyright @ 2015 Villager Publications. All rights reserved. This magazine or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Publisher. Information presented has been compiled from sources believed to be accurate at the time of printing however the Publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
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Page 14 Boomers and Beyond – Elgin • Septembder 2024
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