Harley Horsager fourth son of John Horsager

I am not really a grandchild of John Horsager, however I was young enough to feel like it. All my older siblings seemed like parents to me. I would like to tell you some of what I remember about the summers on the lookout tower with Hazel and Buddy.
First I will tell you about the nights of the bear. The first night was a calm night and Bryan and I slept in the tent under the lookout tower. In the morning Bryan said he thought he heard a bear out side the tent in the night. Buddy said “it was probably a porcupine”. The next night was a stormy night and we slept up in the lookout tower with Hazel and Buddy. In the morning we looked out of the tower down at the tent. There was a big gash in the tent and one of our duffel bags was torn and on the ground. Obviously a bear had been looking for food.
The next night we obviously didn't sleep in the tent. It was a calm night but the people were not calm. Henry set the alarm for 4 a.m.. He had his shotgun ready with bird.shot. Sure enough the bear came around again. Henry shot him in the rear end and he really made noise. We always joked that he was probably still running!
The following day Buddy built a wooden structure around the tent so we would be protected. We call it our “bear-a-caid”!
I also remember the chipmunks I tamed. We nicknamed them Tom, Dick, and Harry. We had lots of time so I would sit very still and the chipmunks would come to me and I would feed them peanuts out of my hand. I even got Dick to eat honey out of a spoon.
I remember walking down to the Creek to get drinking water. It was only one fourth mile but it seemed like about 20. I worried about bears but I am sure they were more afraid than we were.
There were many more memories however I won't bore you with them.
What I' remember most is how good Hazel and Buddy were to us. Those summers were as close to heaven as I can imagine.