(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator
George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere
in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Won’t let go: Grasshopper
hitchhikes on jeep” was originally published in the Sept. 18, 1975 edition of
The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)
During the months that I have been trying to write about
local happenings in Monroe County, I have witnessed many things.
I have watched many types of animals in their native surroundings,
and have had the opportunity to photograph several of these.
I have watched the black female panther feed and play with
her offspring and have placed certain foods nearby and watched her come almost
within touching distance to eat this and then slowly disappear as silently as
she had come.
I have seen the death struggle between two of nature’s
deadliest enemies: I watched the struggle to the death between a king snake and
a rattlesnake. I have watched nature balancing itself in its rawest form.
Trip into backwoods
And, too, I have seen the lighter moments when all things
seem to go as planned, as though everything happened for my amusement. One of
these was a recent Sunday afternoon when I decided to take a trip into the backwoods
to the north.
As I guided my jeep out of the driveway, I noticed a small
green grasshopper walking around on the jeep’s hood. I didn’t think much about
it at first because I knew he would blow off in the wind.
But to my surprise, he was still there 20 miles later. I
began to guess to myself when my passenger would leave.
I left the paved highway and turned down the dusty back
roads. I was sure that the grasshopper would tire of the dust and noise as the
jeep bumped and rattled over the rough, rocky roads.
Still there
Several times I would stop to make pictures and would be
away from the jeep for quite a long while. Each time I would bet myself that
when I returned, he would be gone. But, each time, there he was, perched on the
hood.
As I started the engine, he would move toward the front,
letting the air blow through his long feelers as though he was enjoying it.
When I stopped, he would move back toward the windshield into
a shady spot until the jeep began moving again.
This went on for several hours as we made our way in a giant
circle through the hills and began to head homeward.
Posing for picture
As the sun began to descend the horizon, I stopped one last time
and photographed my traveling companion. He sat as though he was posing for his
picture, never moving once I placed the camera within inches of his body.
As I pulled into the yard and stopped the jeep’s engine,
only then did my companion leave his place on the hood. With one giant hop, he
disappeared into the grass nearby.
As I watched him leave, I checked the mileage indicator, and
the grasshopper had ridden for nearly 70 miles and nearly six hours. Could be a
new world’s record for hitchhiking grasshoppers.
(Singleton, the author
of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of
79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime
resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances
Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in
Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a
U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand,
lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964
and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from
June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks
to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe
County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe
Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that
appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared
in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville
Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns
are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County
Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week
for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work
and memory alive.)
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