goodbye for now, John ...

   I just received a phone call a few minutes ago - the son of a good friend called to tell me of his dad's passing ...

   John turned 90 last September, and was a very good friend of mine for the last few years ...

   I met John while I camped every summer up in the Feather River Canyon ... John and his wife, Nancy, lived in the tiny (pop. 6, if you got technical) little settlement of Twain ... 

   John was retired from the railroad, and afterwards worked a few more years with a small company that was contracted to run some of the local campgrounds in the Plumas National Forest ...

   I liked John the moment I met him ... for one thing, he was old, and 'old' earns high esteem from me ... 
   
   as Richard Pryor once said, " you don't get to be old, bein' no fool - cemeteries are full of young, dumb people ! "   

   Sybil absolutely idolized John, for John was her adventure companion, the owner of the 'buggy' that led her to adventures up on the mountain ...   

 

Sybil and John return !

 

   Sybil would rush out my front door every morning as soon as the sun started to rise, and lie down with her eyes and ears trained on John's house - his house couldn't be seen from where we camped, about 1/2 mile away, and obscured by heavy forest, but somehow, she would know when he walked out to his shed to get his quad out ...

   she would just go nuts, jumping and flipping around, until me and John would finally stop our yakkin', and then the two of them would take off for an hour or so up the mountain ... John loved Sybil almost as much as I did, and the feeling was mutual ...

   I hope to see you again John, and I ain't far behind ya !

                 God Bless You, my friend,  

                               

John Sherck   1927 - 2017