News from the Mountain

By CAROL GUNTER

Looked out our patio doors this morning and saw two chickens in the back yard and I do not own any chickens.

My first thought to be honest with you was just how good it would be for me to have some chicken and dumplings because I have been craving just that here lately. Was this an omen for me? I guess I didn’t take it for that as the chickens are still alive in our back yard and it’s after lunch. I settled for a ham and cheese sandwich as I consider myself a good neighbor and do not want what belongs to others.

I got to talk with Wayne Gunter and he and his family are doing okay. “Aubrey’s” aunt Nornia is doing somewhat better. Sure was glad to hear that.

Sympathy is extended from the Short Mountain community to Ralph Gunter and family in the passing of his brother Howard Gunter age “77”. He passed away Saturday, January 11th. His funeral was 12:00 noon Wednesday, January 15th at the Woodbury Funeral Home. Mr. Gunter was laid to rest in the Gunter-Grizzle Cemetery.

Promised you more about “Clyde” in this column. He is now practicing on a new song and he wants to debut this new song at the Gunter Reunion, August 31st of this year. Also, I am practicing on introducing his as quite a person of celebrity status at the reunion. Holding the mic no problem but getting tongue-tied could be a huge possibility for me as I do not like large audiences but wait just a minute. Maybe I can pull this off as we are not talking Yankee Stadium with multiple thousands of people in attendance - we are talking on a much, much smaller scale. There is a light at the end of this long tunnel I can see now.

Practicing on my brilliant introduction of Clyde will be a cake walk as I have got several months to rehearse and get it down pat before the big day. Sure hope he will start paying me a big salary as I’ve got a lot of smarts with all the talent I possess. You know people have told me laughter relieves a lot of stress in our lives - and believe me this kind of “hype” could only lead to a lot of that for everyone involved! Stay tuned as it could get even funnier than this.
My whole life I have heard about an incident at my daddy’s store that happened several decades ago. Of course, I will not divulge any names in the column about what happened. There might be I fear some kind of retaliation if I revealed too much information about them.

According to some people, a few maybe 1 or 2 of them, still alive today that witnessed this phenomenon. It seems at daddy’s store some people there that evening heard what they believed to be gravels being thrown on top of the store. Two gentlemen went outside to check on this and find out what was really going on. They saw a little green man go into daddy’s tobacco patch there in front of the store and disappear, and they didn’t go after him. I wouldn’t have been brave enough either. They might have been more of them hiding in that tobacco patch and you know when animals or maybe aliens get in a pack what could happen. They played it cautious.

Nothing good could possible have come from them going in there not knowing the danger that might have awaited them. You might be thinking these men were drinking and just hallucinating. They weren’t and they have hung on to this story about that little green man all these years. Now, someone has come forward and told me a relative of hers saw out his window in his yard two little green men that were motioning with their hands for him to come outside. Really who in their right mind would fall prey to that offer? The spottings of these little green people happened around the same time but in different locations. My thoughts are no alien spacecraft was ever found that these little fellows could have come here in.

What is really bothering me, too, just how many were there and are they still here and they just haven’t been spotted as they surely are a lot smarter with our or maybe their technology and they were up in arms about it.
Talked with my sister Fay this morning about all of this. She told me that she believed anything could come down off that mountain and I told her to stop talking like that as I was sitting at my desk at that time staring out the window at that mountain. I told her if I ever saw a little green man in our yard everyone in the surrounding counties would know about it from my screams of terror. I can scream loud as I have told you if it is called for as those little trick or treaters found out at our neighbors house on Halloween Night years ago, when that horse nudged me in the back that I told you about in the column.

Yes, this is good journalism of an unbelievable event that to a few - actually took place way back then so many, many years ago. Sure am hoping there may be a huge outpouring of sightings to tell me about from others if they have had close encounters from (these transplants/little green men) among us as “Aubrey” would say. Got to talk to Bernie about this. He’s quite a bit, really a lot, older than me and he seems to know a lot about things that happened at daddy’s store. I did ask Clyde (as he’s older than dirt he has told me) but he said he’s never seen a little green or purple or any other color man that he can remember.

Have to put out a disclaimer in closing on the matter of these little green men. The odds of the little green men at least, in my mind, of ever being here would be like my chances of winning the lottery when I have never bought a ticket - so I don’t think any reporters are needed.

If you have any news for the column, just give me a call at (615) 563-4429.

I am the Lord, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is impossible for me.
Jeremiah 32:27