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137 Gobble, Gobble 2011 Lauren Chapman Jones There’s฀a฀cabin฀back฀in฀the฀woods฀on฀my฀family’s฀land—back฀there฀on฀ the฀part฀that฀borders฀the฀sixty฀acres฀that฀my฀father฀sold฀to฀a฀real-estate฀ developer. ฀ The฀real-estate฀developer฀was฀g oing฀to฀build฀a฀h uge฀subdivision.฀He฀ got฀started฀on฀the฀other฀end฀over฀near฀the฀highway—as฀far฀away฀from฀the฀ border฀to฀our฀land฀as฀he฀c ould฀get—and฀he฀built฀and฀sold฀ab out฀twenty฀ houses.฀Upscale฀sorts.฀And฀he฀started฀feeling฀so฀good฀about฀what฀he฀was฀ doing฀and฀counting฀the฀money฀he฀was฀going฀to฀make฀that฀he฀went฀on฀and฀ cleared฀the฀rest฀of฀the฀land฀and฀put฀in฀the฀power฀and฀water฀and฀the฀roads฀ for฀the฀rest฀of฀the฀subdivision.฀Just฀gobbled฀up฀trees฀and฀hills฀and฀everything ฀that฀stood฀between฀those฀houses฀and฀our฀land. ฀ And฀then฀boom—the฀housing฀crisis฀hit,฀and฀nobody฀wanted฀to฀buy฀a฀ house.฀He฀went฀damn฀near฀b roke฀for฀about฀two฀years,฀still฀strutting฀and฀ talking฀all฀the฀while฀about฀how,฀when฀the฀market฀came฀back,฀he฀was฀going฀ to฀do฀this฀and฀g oing฀to฀do฀that.฀Well,฀the฀mar ket฀didn’t฀come฀back฀and฀ then฀he฀went฀sure฀nuf฀broke฀and฀the฀bank฀g ot฀the฀land,฀according฀to฀my฀ daddy.฀So฀it฀just฀sits฀there฀now฀like฀some฀kind฀of฀forgotten฀dream—roads,฀ power฀grids,฀and฀survey฀stakes฀overgrown฀with฀high฀grass฀and฀no฀sign฀of฀ people.฀It’s฀at฀least฀a฀buffer฀between฀the฀houses฀he฀did฀build฀and฀our฀land฀ or฀what฀remains฀of฀our฀land. Gobble,฀Gobble 138 ฀ And฀the฀turkeys฀love฀it.฀It’s฀perfect—close฀to฀our฀woods฀so฀they฀can฀ roost฀and฀nest฀and฀yet฀open฀enough฀for฀feeding฀and฀mating.฀And฀no฀people .฀The฀turkeys฀strut฀around฀like฀landowners.฀And฀in฀my฀way฀of฀seeing฀ the฀world,฀they฀do฀own฀it฀’cause฀the y฀were฀there฀before฀that฀st upid-ass฀ real-estate฀man฀gobbled฀it฀up.฀They฀were฀there฀even฀before฀Mama’s฀people฀ had฀the฀land. ฀ Well,฀that’s฀another฀story.฀As฀I฀was฀sa ying,฀there’s฀this฀cab in฀on฀the฀ land.฀It’s฀built฀of฀logs฀and฀according฀to฀family฀stories,฀my฀mother’s฀greatgrandfather ฀built฀it฀as฀a฀hunting฀lodge.฀Back฀in฀those฀days,฀there฀were฀no฀ subdivisions,฀no฀r eal-estate฀men,฀only฀farms฀and฀t owns,฀and฀the฀w oods฀ were฀everywhere—everybody’s฀backyard.฀They฀were฀full฀of฀game,฀and฀the฀ men฀would฀go฀out฀and฀h unt฀in฀o rder฀to฀supplement฀the฀f ood฀they฀got฀ from฀the฀cows฀and฀pigs฀and฀vegetables฀and฀the฀chickens฀they฀raised. ฀ You฀go฀in฀there฀and฀you฀can฀still฀see the old fireplace฀made฀out฀of฀stone.฀ Mother฀used฀to฀say฀that฀they฀dragged฀those฀rocks฀up฀from฀Sledge฀Creek฀ and฀used฀the฀creek฀water฀and฀sand฀to฀make฀the฀mortar.฀How฀she฀knew฀all฀ that฀I฀don’t฀know.฀Fact฀is฀I฀don’t฀know฀if฀it’s฀true฀or฀not.฀And฀I฀don’t฀much฀ care.฀It฀makes฀a฀nice฀story.฀I฀like฀to฀look฀at฀that฀old฀house฀and฀think฀about฀ all฀my฀ancestors฀coming฀there฀to฀hunt.฀The฀land฀is฀in฀my฀blood,฀and฀I฀hate฀ that฀my฀daddy฀sold฀out฀some฀of฀it฀to฀the฀subdivision฀man. ฀ The฀house฀is฀in฀remarkable฀shape฀for฀something฀so฀old.฀I฀think฀the฀logs฀ are฀something฀like฀cypress,฀so฀according฀to฀my฀daddy,฀they’re฀not฀going฀to฀ rot.฀And฀the฀roof฀beams฀are฀huge—they฀appear฀to฀be฀oak฀or฀something.฀ And฀the฀roof฀itself฀is฀shingled฀in฀cedar฀shakes฀according฀to฀my฀father.฀But฀ here฀and฀there฀you฀can฀see฀where฀people฀have฀repaired฀it—added฀chinking฀ to฀the฀walls,฀replaced฀shingles฀that฀blew฀off฀in฀a฀storm.฀It’s฀like฀every฀ body฀ who฀came฀he re฀participated฀in฀k eeping฀the฀house฀up ,฀and฀no w฀they’re฀ gone฀and฀all฀we฀can฀do฀is฀see฀where฀they’ve฀been. ฀ My฀brothers฀like฀to฀remind฀me฀that฀it฀was฀m y฀male฀ancestors฀that฀came฀ there฀to฀hunt฀and฀that฀the฀women฀stayed฀home฀and฀did฀the฀cooking. ฀ “And฀so฀what฀happened฀to฀you?”฀they’ll฀say—half฀kidding฀and฀half฀not฀ kidding.฀“You฀related฀to฀Annie฀Oakley฀some฀kind฀a฀way?” ฀ I฀tell฀’em,฀“Just฀’cause฀I฀can฀ou tshoot฀you฀don’t฀mean฀I’ m฀related฀to฀ Annie฀Oakley.฀Just฀about...

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