“Life is the Saturday that always comes, yet never quite makes it.” Gene Shepherd, quote, WOR radio, Birdman travelling on the Jersey turnpike on the way to Greenwich Village in 1962. The Saturday that Wacko Wally, $Bill and Hal and Al experienced at Babes Goose Farm near Cairo Illinois in the mid 70′s more than made it. Wacko Wally was upset when he observed Hal and Al, two hit men for the Chicago mob, making their breakfast in the motel next door, heating an egg on a bunsen burner. Wacko also became nervous when he observed two sawed off ten gauge shotguns as their weapons of choice leaning against the motel wall. Later in the goose blind, Wacko appeared in a WWII camo outfit, with a camo cap right out of an Army surplus store in Cairo. $Bill looked like the Beau Brummel of the sporting world. A flight of greater Canadian honkers appeared from the north. Wacko got ready and loaded up. Hal (7’2″) and Al (5') were hunkered down in the adjacent blind. As the geese set their wings into Wackos blind, he lowered his 3″ Belgium Browning auto loader, and Wacko layed 3 rounds into the group. The air filled with an amazing assortment of paper wadding and shell fragments, that drifted over to Hal and Als blind. Hal took 5 shots, highly illegal, and layed out 4 honkers. Al lifted up a hidden Thompson machine gun from a camouflaged violin case, and destroyed 6 more. $Bill checked Wackos box of shells. It had a tag on one that mentioned a garage sale in 1957. Not a feather came down, only a bundle of wadding and paper from the huge explosion. Wacko, years later was seen as the MC at a Ducks Unlimited banquet, with a dead green head mallard, hanging out the front of his fly. An amazing number signed up for DU memberships that night. From Travels With $ Bill, to be continued.
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