My Journey Into My Past

  From the vast north woods of Canada come strange and eerie tales that sent chills down the spines of the voyageurs and courier du bois, as they sat around the campfires in the dead of the night.   Many legends came with them from Europe, and more came from the indigenous people in this harsh new land. The west was home to Wendigo and Vaheela, and the east was more familiar with Le Loup Garou.   The Loup Garou legends were tied to the stories of the European werewolf, tweaked a bit to fit the French-Canadian Catholics.   Le Loup Garou is considered to be a cursed man who was guilty of not being a good Christian.   Morality and good Catholic practices kept this curse away.    The curse could be lifted by shedding of blood.   There are stories of Le Loup Garou that have migrated to the French settlements of southeast lower Michigan, and is said this creature has been sighted on Dog Lady Island in Lake Erie.   Another frequently told tale cit...

  Uncle Phil was a real Cowboy from the Wild West. He loved to tell Cowboy stories. One time he was on a cattle -round-up in Montana.   All the Cowboys ate tomatoes except him and another guy. All those Cowboys died. True story? It could be….   Uncle Herman, John and a few of his siblings flew up to Uncle Phil & Aunt Clara’s ranch (the stone house & barn). Uncle Phil rounded up the cows from the pasture so Uncle Herman could land his plane. John said there lots of “cow-pies” squished when they landed.   Uncle Phil loved to go squirrel hunting and he would get Aunt Clara to fix the “catch of the day” for dinner. Yum?   Uncle Phil never needed a permit or season to shoot a deer. He just hunted right there on his property. Aunt Elaine got her first buck there in 1964. Once Phil was packing up deer meat for Uncle Herman to take home. The police pulled into the yard to bring a phone message. Apparently, they didn’t have a phone. He and Uncle H...