On grandpa’s property, about 100 yards from the entrance to the Lair of the Swamp King, there is a unique deer watch that we call, ‘The Pulpit’. It is a small hummock of tall evergreens (hemlock and balsam I think) that is only about 25 yards from a beaver pond. Prominently situated in the middle of this evergreen hummock is an old stump formation that looks like a pulpit. Hence, it’s name.
None of the other guys have ever met the preacher.
I did. Once.
A couple of years ago, it was my turn to visit the the secluded chapel for our late afternoon deer watches. It was late into the afternoon before I could make out the shape of the pulpit. I was trying to get their quietly so that I would not scare away any of the ‘congregation’. This meant I had to move slowly along the forest floor.
The afternoon quiet would have been perfect for an old school forest revival, but I noticed, as I approached closer to ‘The Pulpit’, that the choir and congregation were nowhere to be found. Perhaps, the services started after sundown.
Within minutes of setting up and leaning up against ‘The Pulpit’, I heard some splashing along the far side of the pond. Then, I heard a deep, gleeful grunting procession echo across the pond. I crept down to the pond’s edge and was surprised to see a large bull moose standing, knee-deep, in the water. He was looking towards the pulpit.
Thinking he would run back into the forest, I froze and waited. The moose continued to grunt his joyous sounding sermon for another couple of minutes. Then, he jumped out of the water onto the shore and shook vigorously. The moose, then, leaped back into the water and continued his dissertation from the glassy pond. He repeated this process several times and somewhere during the sermon I made myself comfortable on one of the forest’s earthy pews.
After about a half-hour, the preacher across the pond became silent and made his way back into a darkening forest. I was left to ponder about the message I had just heard.
I had a feeling I would never hear or see anything like that again. I waited and reflected beside the pond until the sun began to set. When I returned back to camp I told the guys what I had seen.
I left out the part about the earthy pew.
