CT-249 CORNERSTONE TRAVELER NOV. 18 ‘14

A big hello to all my readers of this exciting and thought provoking bi-weekly newsletter, The CORNERSTONE tRAVELER. Also available onlne at cornerstonetraveler.com.

mid-Hudson Valley news: I was walking one night from the intersection of South Putt Corners Road and Rte. 299 and I noticed that the sidewalks from there to the middle of the Village of New Paltz are dangerous if not treacherous. I have to walk with a cane because of the injuries from a motorcycle accident and I have to keep my eyes of the sidewalk to avoid tripping because of the surface of the sidewalk. I can only imagine the plight of a person in a wheelchair. I am cognizant of this because I almost had to spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair because of the above mentioned motorcycle accident.
I think it would be prudent if the Village of New Paltz did something to repair these treacherous sidewalks before someone has a dibilating accident in a wheelchair or on a cane. The Village and the store front owner could be open to a serious civil law suit. It is something the Village board should seriously consider.
Another thing I want to warn people, more directly drivers of the god like attitude of the DMV. Of all the people in government (both State and Federal), the people at the DMV have to be the most callous, dispassionate and uncaring people I have ever had the unfortunate acquaintance with.
They have specific rules and fines that they had given themselves to impose on the unwitting driver. Fines and rules not enacted by elected representatives of New York State.
I am not going to give my problem with the DMV, but only to warn drivers of their god like attitude. God with a small “g”.

observations: I decided fro this newsletter under my observations section to write of the outright falsehoods, untruths and downright lies by the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, and O’Reilly of America under the Obama Presidency.
I found this online and everything printed here can be found at the links at the bottom of each. I firmly believe it shows a different Obama Presidency than what those above people would have you believe.

People have many perceptions of how the US economy or the country as a whole is doing in recent years. Depending on your political views, you may think the country is doing exceptionally well or on the verge of collapse.
Listed below are 14 objective facts without interjecting any opinion, about the State of America under the leadership of President Obama. Every statement is followed up with a source where you can verify these facts for yourself.

1. We’ve now had 63 straight months of economic expansion.

That’s right, for 63 consecutive months the US economy has gotten progressively better. That includes 54 consecutive months of private sector job growth. Forbes magazine, no fan of President Obama, crunched the numbers and demonstrated how the economic recovery under President Obama has been better in just about every measurable way than the recovery under President Reagan.

http://forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2014/09/obama-outperforms-reagan-on jobs-growth=and -investing/

2. We are currently enjoying the longest period of private sector job creation in American history.

Again this statistic comes from the Forbes Magazine article listed above. In fact, we have now has had 54 straight months of private sector job creation. This is the longest period of job creation since the Department of Labor has been keeping statistics. See the link below.

http://www.washingtonpost/blogs/fact-checker/2014/09/obamas-claim-that-businesses-are-in-the longest-uninterrupted-stretch-of-job-creation/

3. Unemployment has dropped from 10.1% in October of 2009 to 5.9% and projected to reach 5.4% by summer of 2015.

Not only has the unemployment rate dropped significantly, but since the recession ended, our economy has added over ten million new jobs. You can refer to the Forbes article above or check this article on Politics USA.

http://www.politicsusa.com/2014/09/jobs-report.html

4. The stock market continues to set new records since President Obama has been in office.

Since early 2009 there has been a steady trend in stock market growth. The Dow Jones industrial averages reached an all-time high of 17,908 in August 2014. Since most Americans have 401k retirements in the stock market, this stock market growth benefits millions of middle class Americans.

http:/www.macrotrends.net/1358/dow-jones-industrial-average-last-10-years

5. The Federal budget deficit is shrinking. It’s been reduced by two-thirds since 2009.

The 1.4 trillion federal budget deficit that Obama inherited in 2009 was in a large part due to the high rate of unemployment. When millions of people were put out of work in 2008 and 2009. It resulted in far less income taxes and less economic activity to generate federal revenue. As ten million people have been put back to work, there have been billions more tax dollars generated. As a result, the deficit has been shrinking each year. The 2014 deficit is projected to be around 500 billion, the smallest deficit since 2007 and roughly 1/3 of what it was in 2009.

http:/www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_deficit_chart.html

6. Under President Obama, spending has increased only 1.4% annually, the lowest rate since Eisenhower was president.

You may have heard critics say that President Obama is spending money wildly and running up our debt. According to this article from Forbes, Obama has increased spending by 1.4% annually, far less than President Reagan (8.7%) or George W, Bush (8.1%) in fact, Obama has increased spending less than any president since Eisenhower.

http:/www.forbes.com/nickungar/2102/05/24/who-is the smallest-government-spender-snice eisenhower-would you -believe-is barak-obama/

7. For 85% of American taxpayers, income taxes are lower now than just about any time in the previous 50 years.

After President Obama took office, thousands of Tea party members all over the country held rallies protesting Obama’s tax increases. At that time, President Obama had actually passed several tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Most of the Tea Partiers who were protesting had only seen their taxes decrease under Obama. Yet polls indicated that most Tea Party member wrongly believed their taxes had gone up.
In fact, the only people whose income taxes have gone up during Obama’s presidency are those making $400,000 per year or more. That’s less than 2% of the population. Today, for the vast majority of people, tax rates are exactly where they were when Obama first took office or lower. The article below from the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities explains this in greater detail.

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3151

8. Our dependence on foreign oil has shrunk due to record domestic oil production and improved fuel efficiency standards.

While some people claim that oil production has declined under President Obama, the truth is just the opposite. Oil production has reached record highs. The United States now produces so much oil that we deport more oil and gasoline than we import.

http:/www.indesmundi.com/g/g.aspx?c=us8&v=88

9. At least 7 million more Americans now have health insurance than before.

Depending on whose numbers you use, between 7 and 10 million Americans acquired health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act. Now that those 7 to 10 million Americans have insurance, the rest of us are no longer on the hook to pay for their health care when they get sick. This leaves the American people billions of dollars in the long run.

http:/www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/obamacare-helped-10-million-get insurance-gallup-finds-n78446

10. The Affordable Care Act has added years to the life of medicare.

The medicare trust fund had been on course to run out of money by the end of 2016. But due to cost savings from the Affordable Care Act and lower healthcare expenses, Medicare’s trust fund is now stable until the year 2030 without cutting benefits.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/medicare-social-security-headed-in-different-directions-1406564712

11. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act we are seeing the slowest rate of increase in healthcare costs since 1960.

Contrary to predictions from Republicans, health care costs have increased at a much slower pace since the passage of the ACA.

http:/www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/healthcostreport_final_noembargo_v2.pdf

12. We currently have fewer soldiers, sailors and airmen in war zones than any time in over 10 years.

With the end of the Iraq war and the steady withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, we have fewer people in war zones now than any time since 2002.

13. There have been zero successful attacks by al Queda on US soil since Obama became president.

Despite Dick Cheney’s claim that if voters elect a Democrat as president, we’ll be “hit again and hit hard” by al Queda, we have actually been far safer from terrorist attacks on US soil in recent years than we were under the previous president. There have been several unsuccessful attacks against the US under both presidents, but under Obama, al Queda has been largely unsuccessful in striking the US on our home soil.

http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_al-Queda_attacks

14. We now successfully catch and deport more illegal immigrants than ever before.

Despite the publicity from busloads of children who illegally entered the country, the numbers prove that President Obama has deported more illegal immigrants than any other president.

sports: The Giants are not doing so goos this season with five straight losses. They are now 3-7 in the NFC East.
The Jets won a stunner last week when they defeated the Steelers a top contender team. But the Jets are still 2-8 in the AFC East.
The Rangers are 7 points behind in the Atlantic division of the NHL with a record of
7-6-4 and 18 points
The Islanders are 3 point behind in the same division with 22 point and with a record of
11-6-0.
The Knicks have a record of 3-8 and are 51/2 points behind.
The Nets are 31/2 points behind with a record of 4-5.

other: As with all previous issues of this bi-weekly newsletter, everything printed here is either copyright protected or copyright pending.
The history of P&G’s follows this newsletter from about the mid 1930’s to almost the present.
Following this history is a short story I wrote a while ago called The SANCTUARY. I hope you like it.

Thank-you – Rik McGuire

History of P&G’s continued to the present

From 1925 – 1945 a number of diverse businesses occupied the building. These included Carols Clothing Store, Atkins Drug Store, Schaffert Real Estate Office, Marie Shop and Dicks Bar and Grill among others.
In 1947 Dicks Bar and Grill was purchased by two Lake Mohonk employees, Pat Cafferty and George Jayne. Legend has it that neither told their wives of their intention to purchase the business. They immediately changed the Grills name to Pat and Georges. Among it’s loyal customers it was simply P&G’s.
One of the best things to happen to P&G’s occurred in 1961. An ex Dodger player named Stormer Nickerson became a bartender. Stormy as he was affectionately known became something of a legend. His heart, quiet good humor and generous spirit made P&G’s the one place that welcomed all from the harsher outside world into a refuge for college students, business people, local characters and even for a while, in the 1960’s, bikers. According to one source. “They weren’t as rowdy a crew as you might expect because although he was quiet, Stormy commanded and got respect.” His professional baseball background made him a natural to pitch batting practice for the New Paltz College teams and he did so for a number of seasons. One college fraternity considered P&G’s their private domain. The scene of everything important, news, views, camaraderie and especially humor was always evident at P&G’s.
After the St. Helens volcano erupted and news reports discussed the possibility of ash fall out across the U.S., Stormy came to work to find the staff dressed in garbage bags and metal kitchen colanders on their heads. Since no ash was reported on anyone, Stormy reasoned the
attire had been affective by making everyone laugh their ash off.
In June 1991, after 30 years, Stormy retired from P&G’s. He died in June of 1994. From his casual humor that lingers, to his Chile recipe that is still served and the kind memories often repeated by his many friends, Stormy is still here.
In 1969 Edwin Beck bought P&G’s. His first weekend as owner was completely successful. The following weekend, however, the place was deserted. A disheartened Beck couldn’t understand what he had done to alienate everyone so quickly. He was relieved to learn it was simply a matter of poor timing. Everyone was away and wallowing in a farm in Bethel NY. A music festival or something.
Ed Beck never spent time worrying. He looked across Main Street and up Platekill Avenue, seeing thousands of thirsty college students who, for the most part remained on campus. Taking a good supply of liquid refreshment, Beck went to the campus and gave the students (all legal in those days) a new place to call home. He transformed P&G’s from a neighborhood bar into a local institution.
The face of Beck’s personality had much to do with the continued success of P&G’s, the place was fun. One oft quoted story about Beck concerns a young P&G’s enthusiast who wanted to be just like Beck when he grew up. It is reported that Beck in all humility replied. “Well you can’t do both.”
The name Pat and Georges was officially changed to P&G’s in the 1980’s by Ed Beck and his son Mike. In 1985, Mike bought out his fathers interest. In 1994, he undertook extensive renovations, making the building exterior appear as it did in 1900, when it was the Casino.

The SANCTUARY

The man driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee tuned left from the highway onto an unmarked road with maple and oak trees providing an arch to drive under. The first hundred yards of the unmarked road that was paved down with dirt and gravel then became a dual deep rutted rough track. Luke Bannerman knew the Jeep Grand Cherokee had sufficient ground clearance so the 4×4 would not bottom out on the high ground between the ruts in the dirt road. He knew one of the first jobs he had to do was at attach the plow to the Jeep Grand Cherokee and try to level the dirt road of the ruts. Then he would order several cubic yards of gravel that he would plow into what remained of the ruts and create a relatively smooth surface that could withstand the harsh winter of the Finger Lake region of New York State.
Luke Bannerman was a professor of Zoology at Cornel University in Ithaca New York. He had been teaching Zoology for ten years ever since he received his PhD in Zoology at the same school.
As the log cabin he had just purchased came into view, a smile beamed from his face as he surveyed the green turning to brown front lawn. His clear acreage around the cabin was an acre and a half. All of this was surrounded by maple, oak and evergreen trees and the shore of Lake .
He bought the cabin and land from the surviving wife and children of a New York City advertising executive at a very good price. It seems the deceased advertising executive, Ron Miller, liked the solitude, peace and quiet on the land and spent much of his free time there to escape the hustle and bustle of New York City. His wife and children did not share his enthusiasm for the country life and after he died, just wanted to be free of the property so they

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would not have to pay taxes, insurance and the grounds keeper. So they took what they could,
not that they were hurting for money in any way. Mr Miller left his family extremely comfortable. They just realized another hundred thousand dollars with the sale of the land on the
Finger Lakes.
The first thing that Luke did after purchase of the land was to buy a few hundred laminated signs from a local Home Depot that read:

PRIVATE PROPERTY
NO TRESPASSING
No Hunting, Fishing Trapping

He tacked one to almost every other tree that surrounded his property.
Luke Bannerman was not only a professor at Cornell University, he also published regularly in Science periodicals, most notably Zoology periodicals. The one article that caused the greatest buzz in the scientific community and in the public was when he expounded against pesticides to control the mosquito population. The same mosquitos that carried West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitice. He argued in his paper a far better solution was the use of nocturnal bats. He argued that one bat would devour three to five thousand insect mosquitos a night. Bats would be sufficient to control the mosquito population and wouldn’t require the use of pesticides that both humans and animals breathe. The same pesticides, he argued would creep and seep into the water supply and prove hazardous to humans and animals. He was naturally castigated by almost everyone, most notably the conservative radio talk show hosts who didn’t know squat about nature, but claimed they did.

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Did he care? Of course not. He just wanted people to be aware that there was a more
natural way of controlling those annoying mosquitos. In fact the first thing he did after purchasing the property was to erect bat houses all throughout his land.
After a few nights he found he could sit on his porch at night and not be bothered by those annoying mosquitos. He knew he had proved his synopsis to his satisfaction.
One morning when he had no classes and just stayed at the cabin, he went for a walk around his twenty plus acres of land. He saw a deer in a clearing of trees munching on nuts, herbs, berries and any other edible food that could be found. Then he looked to his right and saw a man with a rifle aim at the deer.
He immediately yelled at the man. “GET OUT OF HERE! HUNTING IS NOT ALLOWED ON MY PROPERTY.”
The hunter lowered his rifle and glared at Luke. “But…”
Luke shook his head. “No buts. I know you saw the signs that stated my property is private and trespassing is not allowed and also no hunting, trapping or fishing. Now get the hell off my property!” Luke yelled at the man.
Before the man sulked away, the deer loped to safety.
”Damn.” Luke thought to himself. “Am I going to have to patrol my property on a continual basis to keep those damn assholes off?”
Suddenly a Grey Wolf appeared at his side and looked up, expecting to be noticed. Luke reached down and patted the wolf on the head. “You saw that asshole, right my friend?”
The wolf nodded its’s shaggy head as if it understood Luke’s words. It seemed to Luke

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that the wolf understood his words completely. And Luke knew he had found a friend to protect
his property from those hunters who had a hard time reading anything with more than one or two syllables.
The wolf followed Luke as he walked back to his cabin. He was unconcerned because it looked to Luke that the wolf had accepted him as a protector of the forest. When they got to his cabin, Luke looked down to the wolf and said. “I don’t have much in my frig in regards to meat. So You will have to take what ever I can scrounge.”
The wolf only nodded its acceptance and waited on the front porch as Luke looked in the frig for food that would satisfy a wolf. He came out with about a pound of ground beef he had been saving for a meal of meatloaf that would have sufficed with many meatloaf sandwiches for lunches. The wolf looked at the proffered bowl of ground meat and at Luke, almost for permission and Luke naturally nodded. He watched as the wolf gobbled the ground beef hungrily.
“You need water to wash it down?” Luke asked the wolf. And the wolf looked up and seemingly nodded.
Luke went to the kitchen faucet and filled a bowl with water. He brought the bowl to the wolf and placed in on the floor near the bowl of ground beef.
The wolf looked at the now empty bowl of ground beef and to the bowl of water and finally to Luke with a questionable face. All Luke could do was to say. “Drink up buddy.” The wolf lapped the water from the bowl. To Luke it seemed that the wolf was extremely thirsty.
“Why?” Luke asked himself. “ The Lake is right there at the edge of my property.

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The wolf should have been able to satisfy it’s thirst at the lake.” Luke wondered to himself.
He decided to look over his land and at the lake. The wolf followed him as he walked throughout the twenty plus acres of his land, but the wolf seemed to hesitate as Luke neared the
waters edge. He saw a pair of duck blinds at either side of his property and the duck hunters in the blinds staring at the sky waiting for an unwitting duck to drop onto the lake where they could take careful aim at the slow moving duck in the water. One duck did swim in the lake and one of the hunters took aim at the duck with his shotgun, pulled the trigger and the duck perched into the water, dead. But not before several pellets from the shotgun peppered the plants and trees on Luke’s land. He knew immediately why the wolf shied away from the waters edge. It was afraid it would be peppered by shotgun pellets that either flew past the target or skipped on the lakes surface.
Luke turned to see the wolf cowering behind a tree in the forest.
“I understand your fear of the waters edge.” He explained to the wolf. “And it is a reasonable fear.”
The wolf suddenly turned and stared into the sky where a hawk was circling around an area, Luke knew to be a clearing in his forest. He knew immediately that the hawk was signaling him and his pet wolf. He walked silently to the clearing, the same clearing that a deer earlier had used to lunch at. He saw a doe and a fawn nibbling at the ground. When he looked around the clearing he saw the same hunter from before taking aim at the doe and fawn.
“HEY ASSHOLE! I THOUGHT I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT THIS IS PRIVATE PROPERTY AND YOU ARE TRESPASSING.” Luke yelled at the man.

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“But the previous owner allowed us to hunt here. Why won’t you?”
“Because I am not the previous owner. I am the new owner and I do not allow people to trespass on my private land and especially not to hunt.” Luke yelled.
“But….” The hunter replied sheepishly.
“Like I said before, no buts. And if I catch you here again I will call the county sheriff.”
The hunter chuckled. “The county sheriff is a hunting buddy.”
Luke scowled. “Then I will call New York State Trooper Rangers. These Rangers have greater regulatory authority over private land than the sheriff,”
The hunter sulked off, knowing he had been beaten. But was mindful of the wolf following him and he hurried that much faster out of the forest to his pickup.
The wolf came back to Luke with a shit eating grim and Luke knew he had seen the last of the hunter or so he hoped. But he was still concerned with the fact that the county sheriff was a hunting buddy of the hunter he and his wolf had chased off. He knew that he had his pet wolf around to patrol his property regularly. He didn’t like this idea because he knew a hunters bullet that missed the intended target could just as easily strike him down or strike his wolf.
He didn’t know what he could do to stop people from hunting illegally on his property. He knew if he contacted the State Trooper Rangers they wouldn’t do anything until there was more than just an irritated land owner. He was stumped. Little did he know that there were other animals on his property there to protect his land from hunters.
Suddenly, the hawk swooped down and alit on Luke’s shoulder. Luke winced with the sharp talons almost digging into his shoulder plus the hawk weighed at least ten pounds. He

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turned to look at the hawk on his right shoulder and came face to beak with his new found pet.
Luke reached into his jacket pocket for the crackers he always took with him when he walked in the woods around his cabin. He pulled the cellophane from the crackers and fed one to the hawk. The hawk gobbled the cracker and looked at Luke, expecting more. Luke sighed. “Okay. You can have the last one, but I don’t have anymore.” He said as he slipped the remaining cracker from the cellophane and fed it to the hawk. He crumpled the cellophane in his hand and placed it back in his jacket pocket.
The hawk leaped from his shoulder and flew in lazy circles above his head. Luke only shrugged and said to his wolf. “It’s time to head back.” The wolf nodded his shaggy face in agreement.
As they walked back to the cabin, Luke saw the hawk circle constantly above his head and the trees and follow Luke and the wolf to the cabin.
When they got to the cabin, Luke climbed the three steps to his porch followed by the wolf who leaped up to the porch in one bound. Luke wasn’t surprised because he knew that wolves had tremendous rear leg strength. In the meantime the hawk dove down to the porch and alit on the porch railing.
He looked at the wolf lying lazily on the porch and the hawk staring at him and he knew he had to go to the local butcher and feed store to purchase food for his new found pets.
“Listen.” He said not expecting the wolf or hawk to understand him, but spoke as if they could. “I’m going to the store and get meat and feed for the two of you. I shouldn’t be too long.” After he said this the wolf and hawk nodded as if they understood.

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Luke grabbed his keys, got into the Grand Cherokee and drove off to the nearest town.
He found the man who collected road kill for his pack of dogs and paid for a recently killed deer. He then went to a feed store and bought a twenty pound bag of bird feed for the hawk.
When he got back to his cabin, he pulled the deer carcass, wrapped in plastic from the back of his Jeep. The wolf leapt from the porch expecting a feast, but was hesitant when Luke unwrapped the plastic from the deer carcass.
Luke knew of the hesitation and said. “Go ahead buddy. It’s already dead.
The wolf sniffed the carcass and started to nibble and tear at the deer carcass.
As the wolf satisfied it’s hunger, Luke took the twenty pound bag of bird feed, poured it into a bowl with assorted nuts and fruits and gave it to the hawk. The hawk launched itself immediately at the bowl and gobbled everything in the bowl within ten minutes. Then flew away. In the air it circled lazily in ever widening circles searching. Luke saw this and knew he had two animals to protect his land from unwanted hunters or poachers.
He fell asleep that night, wondering what his role would be in protecting his land against unwanted intruders and hunters. He would learn of his role within a few days.
He woke the next morning to the howl of the wolf and the screech of the hawk. He quickly slipped on a pair of jeans and a sweat shirt, his boots with socks and rushed out of the cabin. He saw the wolf nod to him to follow its lead and he saw in the sky the hawk circling over one spot in his forest. He followed the wolf silently through the woods. He came to another clearing on his land where he saw three bucks, two does and a few fawns foraging on the forest floor. He looked around and saw two men with rifles raised to shoot at the deer. He saw a black

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bear charge through the forest growth at the two hunters.
The illegal hunters saw the black bear charge at them and they both released two rounds from their rifles, hitting the bear twice. But the bear kept charging at them and they scrambled
for their lives away from certain deaths at the claws of an enraged black bear.
Luke was stunned because he knew Black Bears were essentially docile to humans. He learned that there was another animal in his forest to protect the animals on his property. But he was at a loss to explain this.
The bear looked to be in extreme pain from the gun shots. Luke didn’t know what to do for the bear. He thought that if he could get the bear to follow him to his cabin, he could call a friend who was a vet who specialized in treating hurt and wounded wild animals. Dr. Spencer was used by the state DEC to treat wild animals in the need of urgent medical attention. How could he get the bear to follow him back to his cabin? He decided to use the wolf and the hawk to do what was needed. He called the wolf to him and when the wolf came to his side, Luke walked to the bear with the wolf by his side.
“I’m going home buddy, bring the big guy with us.” He said. He looked up to the sky and saw the hawk nod almost imperceptibly. He could only shrug and walk the trail to the cabin. As he started his walk, he heard the wolf yelp silently, but almost as a command. When he turned, he saw the bear amble painfully after him. Luke kept his pace slow, so as not to push the big black bear beyond it’s ability to keep up because of it’s injuries.
When he got to the cabin the black bear climbed the steps of his porch gingerly and laid down on the floor exhausted. The wolf lay down next to the bear to keep it company and the

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hawk perched itself on the porch railing, keeping a vigilant lookout. Meanwhile, Luke went inside and called Dr. Spencer and explained the situation.
Within an hour, Dr. Spencer was there with medical bag and other medical instruments in his van. He inspected the bears wounds, reached into his medical bag and took out a syringe and
a serum bottle. He filled the syringe with what was in the serum bottle and asked Luke to hold the bear while he injected it.
“What’s that ?” Luke asked pointing to the syringe.
“Just general anaesthesia. Enough to knock out this big bear, but not enough to do any severe damage. I need the bear knocked out so I can dig those bullets out. It will take about three hours. And by then the bear should be almost good.”
Three hours later, the bear woke groggily. Luke went into the cabin and made a big bowl of bird feed with nuts and berries and brought it out to the bear. The bear happily gobbled it down.
Before Luke went to bed, he saw the wolf, hawk and bear almost conversing among themselves. He went to sleep with a content thought of his new found friends. When he woke the next morning, the bear, wolf and hawk were gone. Probably patrolling the forest, he thought to himself.
He made himself a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs with toast. Then went outside to explore his land and maybe find his new found pets. As he walked the outer perimeter of his land he came across two sets of tracks in the soft dirt. One set he knew was a bobcat, native to the area. The other set, though cat like in nature, he was unsure of. It could have been a

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mountain lion. And he looked around apprehensively for any sign of the big cat. He knew instinctively that a mountain lion could be hiding anywhere and just waiting for the best time to
pounce on unwary prey.
Suddenly he saw the wolf and black bear appear at his side and was relieved he had some
protection from the still unseen mountain lion. He looked up into the sky and saw the hawk circling over head.
He reached down to pet the wolf and proceeded to continue his patrol of his property. He was happy when the wolf and black bear followed him and was surprised when a bobcat and mountain lion joined the troop. He was happy that he had a troop of animals to patrol his land. And it was apparent they would do a grand job patrolling his property of illegal trespassers and hunters. A hunter confronted by a wolf, bear, bobcat and mountain lion should have the shit scared of him or her.
When he finished the patrol of the outer perimeter of his property, he went back to his cabin to revel in the idea he had these animals to protect his land.
Whenever Luke went into the town and the local gin mill, he heard the same complaints about his property.
He could only smile when he heard. “The guy who owns that property has somehow trained wild animals to patrol and attack hunters.
Or
“That owner is a psycho.”
Or

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“I hope those wild animals attack him when he walks on his property in the woods.”
Luke could only sit back and smile at the comments of these hunters. He knew that
there were only three hunters that knew what he looked like and he never saw them in the gin mill or anywhere in town. He wasn’t sure if he should be bothered by this, but could only smile at the comments of the other would be hunters on his land.
Fall turned to winter and the winter was bitter cold because of the lake affect of the Great Lakes. The big black bear hibernated in a cave that Luke never found, but was pretty certain was on his land.
Luke constructed a shed where the wolf, bobcat and mountain lion could shield themselves from the cold. The hawk must have found a perch in a tree or cliff where it could shield itself from the elements of the winter. And again Luke had no idea where this perch was located.
He gave names to the pets. The wolf he called Kimo Sabe, the hawk, he called Screech. For the big black bear, he called Chewbaca. The Bobcat became Bob naturally and the mountain lion he called Tigger.
It wasn’t until May when he saw Chewbaca return from a long winters sleep. The bear appeared to have thinned just a little. He knew the bear would be back to its old self within a few days of eating. Luke made sure he had an adequate supply of bird feed with nuts and berries for the bear. He learned during the winter months that Kimo Sabe, Screech, Bob and Tigger were able to feed themselves adequately. He watched as the wolf brought down an injured deer with a broken front leg. Luke knew the deer would die in a few days from either starvation or exposure,

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so the wolf was not killing needlessly. Screech on the other hand was content to search for nuts and other edibles on the forest floor. Though Luke did feed the hawk on occasion, he learned
that Screech would rather find its own food in the forest.
Bob and Tigger were like Kimo Sabe. They would feed on animals that were dying or already dead.
In September of that year, Luke woke to an unusual September morning warmth. He put on jeans with a t-shirt and moccasins. He made a pot of coffee and went to sit in his front porch to enjoy the warmth of the day. Classes would be starting the following week and he decided he wanted to take advantage of the beautiful September day.
He sat on the bench of his porch facing the front lawn. He saw more than a dozen deer nibbling on what apples were available on his many apple trees.
He saw that the wolf had taken a position on the northern edge of his property. He saw that the black bear had taken a position on the southern edge of his property, keeping a vigilant lookout. The Bobcat and mountain lion took up positions on the two remaining edges of his property. And in the sky he saw Screech keeping an arial lookout.
All of his troop turned to the porch when they heard the door close to the cabin. They all nodded to him to make him aware that they were keeping a vigilant guard of the others in the forest.
Luke sat back on the bench, sipping his coffee and thinking. He knew that the number of deer using his land to feed themselves was increasing daily. He knew that the deer found the fruit on his trees to be satisfying and they needn’t worry about hunters because of Luke’s troop

14.

guarding the property. He thought that he might plant more apple trees along with pear trees and maybe a vegetable garden with green beans, snow peas and the like.
Luke was happy with the purchase of his cabin and the surrounding forest. At night he fell asleep to the chirps and squeaks of the bats gobbling mosquitos and other annoying insects.
He was happy, extremely happy All he needed was a woman who enjoyed his love of nature and of his animal sanctuary. He just had to be patient.

9:24 p.m.
11/2/08
@P&G’s