5/10/07 'PETRIFIED'

I AM TELLING THIS STORY--THIS GREAT EVENT--MY NAME IS 'HOMER'--I AM 81 YEARS OLD--BORN AND MATURED IN A SMALL COMMUNITY OF ABOUT 300 POPULATION--IN WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA --ABOUT 4 MILES EAST OF THE SABINE RIVER--THIS WAS HIGH LAND ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL--CLOSER TO THE SABINE RIVER WAS LOW LAND OF COURSE--KNOWN AS THE 'BOTTOM LAND'--

I HAD A GREAT INTEREST IN PETRIFIED WOOD--AND IN THIS AREA THERE WERE MANY SMALL AND LARGE PIECES OF PETRIFIED WOOD TO BE FOUND--THESE PIECES WERE NOT ALWAYS EASY TO FIND --BUT THEY WERE THERE--AS MANY THINK BECAUSE OF THE GREAT GLACIER OF EONS PAST--

I HAD A HUGE COLLECTION OF THIS UNUSUAL ROCK WOOD--BUT I STILL WANTED MORE--ONE DAY AS I WALKED TOWARD THE WOODS--I SAW AN UNUSUAL 50 FOOT WIDE OPENING IN THE EDGE OF THE TREES--OF COURSE I WENT TO SEE THIS--AS I LOOKED DOWN THE TRAIL THIS OPENING LED TO--I COULD SEE A BIT OF SUNLIGHT ABOUT ONE MILE AWAY--OF COURSE I STARTED TO WALK DOWN THIS TRAIL--IMMEDIATELY IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE TRAIL WAS GETTING MORE NARROW THE FURTHER I WENT--

AS I NEARED THE SUNLIGHT OPENING--THE TRAIL WAS SO NARROW THAT I HAD TO PUNCH MY WAY THROUGH SOME VINES THAT HAD THORNS ON THEM--OF COURSE SCRATCHING ME ENOUGH TO CAUSE A BIT OF BLEEDING--

SUDDENLY I STEPPED THROUGH THE SMALL SUNLIT OPENING--STUNNED BEYOND BELIEF--I SAW PETRIFIED WOOD SCATTERED 'ABOUT' AS FAR AS I COULD SEE--SOME LOGS STANDING AND MOST OF THEM FALLEN ON THE GROUND--EVERYTHING I COULD SEE FAR INTO THE DISTANCE WAS NOTHING BUT PETRIFIED WOOD IN ALL SHAPES AND FORMS AND COLORS--MY BLEEDING HAD STOPPED AND I FOUND I WAS IN A PEACEFUL AND CONTENT MOOD--SUCH THAT I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE--

I ALWAYS CARRIED A SMALL NOTE BOOK AND PENCIL--I SAT ON ONE OF THE PETRIFIED LOGS AND WROTE ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED TO ME --ESPECIALLY THE PEACEFUL MOOD--AND WHAT I WAS NOW LOOKING AT AND EXPLORING ALL THAT I COULD--

WHEN I FINISHED MY 'NOTES'--I PUT THEM IN A HOLE IN ONE OF THE LOGS -THAT WAS ANGLED UPWARDS --SO NO RAIN WOULD REACH IT--ABOUT 3 FEET INTO THE LOG--

I COULD NOT HELP MYSELF--I CONTINUED TO WALK AND EXPLORE FOR MILES INTO THIS TOTALLY PETRIFIED LANDSCAPE--

IF YOU ARE READING THIS --YOU HAVE FOUND MY NOTEBOOK AND THIS UNUSUAL LOCATION--

I DECIDED TO NEVER RETURN HOME--YOU WILL HAVE TO MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION AS TO WHAT TO DO--

THINK ABOUT IT SERIOUSLY AND TRY TO NOT MAKE A MISTAKE--PERSONALLY I SURELY DID NOT MAKE A MISTAKE------THIS EVENT HAS LEFT ME TOTALLY PETRIFIED----------

WRITTEN BY OTIS ENGLISH