As I recollect the young man  had a nack fer doin things with his right hand holdin the hammer,  an then the next time ya seed him he had the hammer in his left hand doin the same thing as when he had it in his right.  Sumpin wuz bad wrong with what I wuz seein, but I cudn’t figger it out right then.  But either way, when he wuz hammerin an holdin the nail, he aint never dun hit the hand ner fingers what wuz holdin the nail.  So, how he dun it is still a big puzzlement ta me.

As he growed sum, folks got ta sort a faverin him ta git jobs dun an all.  Mostly cuz they liked ta watch him doin what normal folks wud do with one hand, only he cud do it with either hand an it wuz sorta fun ta watch an all.  He cud ride a bull what wuz in a pen an hold on perty tight an when the bull had him all figgered out an wuz bout ta twist him ta the right ta toss him off, he cud switch his holdin hand whilst in mid air an when that bull dun hit the ground knowin he wud fly right offn his back, he wud still be stayin on.  Then the bull got all twisted up in its head cuz it knowed he wuz holdin on with the right hand when he started ta jump, but when his feet hit the ground he dun had holt with the left hand.  Same with them hosses, they wud git all twisted up in the head fer the same thing,  an pert near ever time this young man wud win out over the animal he wuz ridin an the animal wud be toted off ta the factery fur makin inta eatin meat.

I dun heerd too he dun played a game where you took a stick an smacked a little ball around until the little ball fell inta a hole in the ground.  Sounds like a perty dum game ta me, but sum folks played it an he wuz one.  Anyway, he got perty gud at that too.  Most folks what play that game can hit the ball ok, but it sum times wud  go to the right when theys wuz tryin ta make it go straight or to the left sum.  An it worked the other ways  to  fer others.  Ifn theys wants the ball ta go ta the right sum, they wud hit it with the stick an it wud go ta the left quite a bit an mess them all up an they wud lose.

This man wud want the ball ta go ta the left, so he wud hold the stick and stand on the right side o that little ball and smack it hard with the stick an the ball wud go ta the left just like he wanted.  Then when he wanted the ball ta go ta the right, he wud hold the stick hard and fast an stand on the left side o that little ball and smack it , sendin the little thing just like he wanted ta the right.  Dangest thing ya ever cud see.  Corse I am just tellin ya what I heerd, cuz I aint never dun seed nobody play a game like that afor, but heerd he did and dun perty good at winnin an all.

What I kin say about his goin from holdin in the right hand an then holdin in the left is when he dun shoots his gun.  I aint never seed  nuttin like it afor or after.

We wuz shootin fer the big prize onest up near where older mountain men dun cashed theys plews when they had too many ta keep track of, an wuz still doin theys doins in the mountains an didn’t want ta carry all them plews with them.  The day wuz bright an sunny an we wuz all tryin ta do good at shootin little bird size balls of hardened clay, what sum body wuz throwin hard inta the air fer us.  We wuz usin our front stuff scatter guns an I might as well a been usin my long gun, cuz I kint kill no clay ball bein throwed like that.

This ol boy wuz knockin them there balls outn the air reglar like, an folks what wuz watchin, an sum what wuz shootin, wuz yellin fowl play an cheatin stuff at him fer doin what he wuz doin.  Corse I didn’t know no better so I just watched with both my eyes just amazed at what they wuz seein.

The man what wuz throwin the balls, wud wait till the shootin man wud say “Throw the bird, I’m ready ta kill it dead”!  Then the man wud throw it hard ta his right, iffn he wuz standin ta the left of the shootin man.  He wud throw it hard to the left if he wuz standin to the right of the shootin man.  But in ever case the shootin man had ta say, “Throw the bird, I’m ready ta kill it dead”, before he wud throw it.

Theys wuz a lot of us shootin fer the big prize that day, an ta say “Throw the bird, I’m ready ta kill it dead” wuz makin fer a perty long day an all.  So the throwin man settled fer the shooter ta jus say “Pull yer head out thrower man an throw it”!  That has been tradition since that day to this. An over a long speel of livin we all knowed things tend ta speed up with time an now I heerd most folks what shoot those little clay birds are down ta jus sayin “Pull”!  It means the same thing.

Sos I watch as this here man dun stands on the far left side of the shootin place an yells fer the thrower man ta throw that ball an out it goes just a flying hard.  The shooter man has the scatter gun held tight in his right shoulder and swings fast at the ball, an pulls the trigger with a bang and the bird blows all up ta smitherins.  Perty shot an kill.  Then, he duz what no other man kin do, he takes the scatter gun an switches over ta the left shoulder an gits hisself all settled in.  Then he yells a second time fer the thrower man ta throw the ball hard, which is promptly dun an agin he swings ta the ball an blows it outn the air real perty like.

The other shooters are yellin that ya gotta shoot ever shot frum the same shootin stance an no switchin, but the rules man he dun said ta quiet down an jus shoot best ya kin.  Jus cuz ya bein outshot by this man what kin switch like that  don’t mean they is any cheatin goin on.  An so the rest of that day we watched as ever time he stood up ta the next shootin spot, he wud shoot the clay bird outn the air first with the right shoulder holding the butt end of that scattergun, an next with the left.  An even tho the rules man said what he dun said, the other shooters wuz yellin fowl an usin lingo what wud a made a preecher frum east of the missip gather his flock an git outa there.  An corse the rules man paid no tention ta theys yellin.  I reckon too that theys yellin wuz makin them feel better bout theys own lack a shootin theys scatterguns as good as this here ol boy wuz shootin.

That didn’t bother this ol boy what wuz shootin good.  He wud jus turn round after shootin an blowin those clay birds outn the air with such ease, an smile a big ol smile like only he cud do.  He dun won that big ol prize that there day an all the shooters had ta admit he dun it hisself, even tho sum still think there shud be sumpin in the rules what says ya kint do that switchin stuff.

Sure nuff at the next rondeevoo, the talkin stick dun cummed out an Blair wuz called ta the fire light.  An after a little story tellin, much like this here story dun already said, the stick wuz raised an then lowered ta the top of each of his shoulders and these words wuz said, “Wherever mountain men shall meet, Blair, you shall be known as “Switch Back”!  An the crowd agreed and much yellen perceeded ta drown out the howls of the wolves, which also agreed.

Well that is how I seed it all cum bout, so since this here is my story, I reckon that is zackly how it wuz.

Bears Butt

June 19, 2011