Once upon a time there was a very young groundhog named Jack. Sometimes he was called a woodchuck for that is another name for a groundhog. He was born in the spring time some years ago at a place called Stone Arabia. His life began in a burrow in the ground, just as with all groundhogs. After a while he became old enough to emerge from the burrow. However he was small and the burrow was partly blocked by something hard. He said to his mother: “What is this hard thing I’m trying to crawl over?” His mother replied: “Why that is a round head stone”. The mother woodchuck said that there were lots more to crawl over after that one. His burrow was a very long one. When he got a little further along, he stubbed his toe on something sharp. He said: “What is that?” His mother replied: “That is a slate ledge I dug around it to get down where we would be safe and below the winter frost.” Little Jack said: “What is slate mother?” She replied: “Slate is another kind of stone.” After what seemed like an endless journey, little Jack came out into the bright light of day. The only trouble was that he was up against something high and so steep that he couldn’t possibly see over or climb over either. “Mother what is that?” “Well Jack that is a limestone ledge. You see there are three kinds of stone in Stone Arabia.” Mother told Jack that some of his woodchuck ancestors said that all of this stone was how Stone Arabia got its name. Others said it had nothing to do with it.
Little Jack the Woodchuck ate lots of green grass. He was nearly as large as his mother before he ever saw any others of his kind except his own family and the residents of the burrow next door. They all looked quite the same except some were older and larger. There was nothing unusual about his kinfolks that he could notice. Then one day a strange woodchuck came from down on the river flats. Poor little Jack could not help but wonder why this relative looked so much different than the chucks here in Stone Arabia. The Great Woodchuck Creator has to make a special species of woodchucks for Stone Arabia. Mother Chuck asked if they had any idea why they had given him that name. She said: “Jack you are the youngest generation of those special Stone Arabia woodchucks. Your exact species name is Woodchuckeus Jackhammerus. The difference between you and Uncle Hiram is that you have the special jackhammer shaped nose to work among the stones and he does not.
Now Jack may live to be a very old woodchuck if he does not get into the wrong person’s garden. However all his life he will be surrounded by those obstacles called stones in an area called Stone Arabia.
Written several years ago but rediscovered December 2009
