I recently had occasion to talk to two old friends about an event that happened to us close to 50 years ago.
The three of us were duck hunting with another friend named Terry, who suggested we go to a watershed lake not far away.
“I have permission to hunt there,” he said.
So, off we went, the four of us. The watershed lake was pretty big and had an island in the middle, with a row boat conveniently pulled up on the shore.
Two of us rowed to the island and threw out some decoys and two of us stayed on the shore.
After a while, a pickup pulled up and the driver - the foreman of the ranch that included the watershed lake - informed the two on the shore that they did not have permission to hunt there and would have to leave pronto.
The two on the island realized something was amiss, collected the decoys and rowed to shore.
While they were rowing, the two who were on the shore conspired to play a trick on them.
They related the conversation with the ranch foreman, but added that a game ranger and the county sheriff were on the way and the four of us were to wait for them at the gate.
Which we did. Nervously. For a long time. Finally, the two who’d been on the shore revealed the prank and we left, perhaps going to eat doughnuts or something but definitely not to return.
I talked to my two friends separately and we all agree that the events happened exactly as I described them.
And we all agreed that we were innocent parties and that it was the fourth person, Terry, who had claimed to have the non-existent permission to hunt.
But that’s all we agree on. - My memory is that Nelson and I were the two who had rowed to the island and that Big Richard and Terry stayed on the shore.
- Nelson remembered that he and Terry had rowed to the island and that Big Richard and I stayed on the shore. He further remembers that I was the one who came up with the prank about the game ranger and sheriff.
- Big Richard remembers that he and Nelson rowed to the island and that I stayed with Terry on the bank.
Sadly, two of the participants - Terry and Nelson - have died within the last six weeks, so we’ll never have a chance to compare all four stories and figure out who was where.
My memory of the event is crystalline, even to the point of remembering how Big Richard and Terry described their conversation with the foreman.
“He said we could fish here, but no hunting,” one of them said.
When I went to see Nelson just before he passed, this was one of the old memories that we talked about.
We’d had a lot of adventures and remembered them pretty much the same. Except this one.
His memory was as clear as mine - just different. And I do have to admit that the prank about the game ranger and sheriff is precisely the kind of thing I would come up with. In fact, I’d kind of like to take credit for it, except that would mean I’d have to admit that I had misremembered the story for all these years.
Richard usually had the best memory of all us, even down to remembering scores at particular points in ballgames. Normally, I’d give him the edge for accuracy, but, again, I have such clear recollections of being on that island.
I don’t suppose it much matters now, since the event gave us all a good story to tell and something to reminisce about years later.
But, dang. I’d really like to believe I have remembered my life correctly.