My father’s Mississippi Delta farm was so remote that walking in any direction brought one closer to civilization. Large drainage canals crisscrossed the area, providing ideal habitat for creatures that would have been at home in the Jurassic Era: bullfrogs, catfish, moccasins, beavers, loggerhead turtles, fish eels, and alligators.
My boyhood best friend and mentor, Jaybird, told terrifying tales about the canals, hoping to keep us away from them. The old black man knew that if we got in trouble, we’d be too far out in the boondocks to get help in time. His stories about the canals’ alligators were the most frightening of all.
