CT - 200                               CORNERSTONE TRAVELER                                           JAN.  8 ‘13

 

Hi everyone and welcome to another exciting and thought provoking issue of this

bi-weekly newsletter, The CORNERSTONE TRAVELER.  Just a reminder that this newsletter can be found on the web at cornerstonetraveler.com.

I hope and trust that everyone had a happy and safe New Years.  I know I did though I spent it at home.

mid-Hudson Valley

news:   It seems that every winter the sidewalks in New Paltz are treacherous to walk upon because they are rarely or barely cleared of snow and ice.  This is especially true when you have to navigate on these sidewalks with a cane, as I am forced to do.  If only the owners of the shops and stores would put a little more effort in clearing the walkways in front of their stores or shops.  I wonder who would be at fault if a person takes a bone crunching slip on the sidewalk.  The shop/store owner or the village of New Paltz.

I had an idea on how to avert this potential problem and maybe lawsuit.  I may have written about it in an earlier issue of this newsletter.

I see the Village DPW placing 55 gallon drums of sand at strategic distances up and down Main Street.  The shop/store owners would be required to spread this sand in front of their businesses.

I know there would be a problem with residents complaining about not having this sand for the sidewalks in front of their residences on side streets.  But at least the heavily trafficked sidewalks on Main Street would be relatively safe to walk on.

This is just a thought that the village DPW might consider.

my political commentary:

There was a lot of blather from conservative pundits on radio and TV about the redistribution of wealth.  They don’t think it fair that the wealthy should share at all.  Yet these same pundits conveniently forget on how the wealthy became wealthy.  It was the trickle up economics where the poor blue collar and middle class bought the products and services that made many of the wealthy, wealthy.  I’m referring to people like Ray Kroh (McDonalds), Dave Thomas (Wendy’s), Colonel Sanders (KFC), the Walton family (Walmart), Romney (Staples).  Even the late Steve Jobs (Apple) with Apple’s introduction of the Iphone used mainly by teens of the lower and middle classes.  I have read that the Iphone accounts for 90% of Apple sales.  Then there is the CEO of Black and Decker who thought nothing of laying off a high percentage of the Black and Decker workforce.  Then a few months later files for personal bankruptcy.  When the laid off black and Decker workers learned that the CEO could keep his chauffeur driven limo, his mansion with pool and even his yacht during and after the bankruptcy proceeding, they were to say the least, put off, pissed as hell.  They take a cut in pay with unemployment benefits, yet the CEO can spend and spend to the point of bankruptcy and not lose anything of value.  He even kept his high paying position as CEO of Black and Decker.

Unlike what Reagan tried to foster on the American people.  The wealth does not trickle down, but defies the law of gravity and trickles up.

sports:

Well the season for the New York football teams is over for this year and the season.  So now I will be writing of the Knicks and the Nets in the NBA.  The hockey season was almost defunct because of the lockout by the owners and the ongoing contract discussions.  But the player and owners agreed to a contract this past Sunday.  The season will start later this month and the regular season will continue until late May.

other:

As with all previous issues of this newsletter, everything written here is either copyright protected or copyright pending.

The history of P&G’s follows this newsletter.  It is the history of the building of P&G’s from when it was first constructed in 1900 to about the mid 1930’s

Following this history of P&G’s is the second part of the long short story I wrote called The BOOK.  The first part of this story appeared in CT-197 of this newsletter.  For those waiting for the second part, it is here in this newsletter.

Thank-you  – Rik McGuire

The History of P&G’s from the Beginning

Travel back more than a century to the spring of 1900 as builder John H. Hasbrouck and his men construct a 50′ by 28′ building on the site of the current P&G’s Restaurant.  Look around and begin to imagine.

The first floor features a fountain with water softly falling into a cobblestone basin.  The exotic effect is enhanced with darting goldfish and blooming water lilies.  Palms set liberally throughout the room, provide an air of privacy for those seated at the groups of small tables.  Patrons, dressed in their finest, sit chatting, sometimes courting and enjoying the establishments fine refreshments.

The upper story is a promenade, opened to a full view of sunset over the Shawangunk Mountains.  Live music gently eases you from afternoon into evening.  Welcome to the ambiance and hospitality of the Casino.

The Casino’s owner, Mr Steen, had correctly envisioned the areas many tourists, summer boarders and trolley passengers stopping to enjoy the unique features of his establishment.  The terminal station for the trolley line from Highland is located just across Main Street.  It is said that Steen patterned the Casino after the famous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs.

On June 1, 1900 the Casino was officially opened.  That evening “a large number of people enjoyed the ice cream, music and the lovely mountains views.”  according to the New Paltz Independent newspaper.  Music was provided by a band which included a piano and several other instruments.  The Casino soon became famous for Saturday night dances held on the second floor of the open pavilion.  It was decorated with flowers and vines suspended from the rafters.  The crowds were so large that special late trolley cars were run to accommodate the guests and take the orchestra back to Poughkeepsie.

The electric power shut down at midnight.  According to Independent writer Delia Shaw “…the time of closing and the departure of the last trolley (run by electricity) had to be reckoned with, but as was often the case, several folks ‘Missed the Last Trolley’… seems between intermissions the  fellows would walk their girls down the street where numerous straw thatched summer houses were located on the banks of the Wallkill River and they were so preoccupied with making love by the light of the silvery moon that they forgot everything.”  Shaw continued.  “Saturday Nights In New Paltz Became A Legend!  There was not a single hitching post available, nor an inch of space under any of the sheds of the five local hotels.  The Casino drew people from surrounding towns and they came via hay loads and 4 seated carriages, while some men even walked and carried their dancing shoes.  ‘Little Larry,’ the shoeshine fellow, did a landslide business on Sat. Nights!  As did all the merchants and the stores open ‘til 9 p.m.”

By 1921 the Casino had changed hands and names, becoming the Blue Crane Inn.  Ads of the era read.

The big Night at the Blue Crane Inn

Dancing Every Wednesday and Saturday Evenings

In the Chinese Hall-Good Jazzy Music.

The cornerstone of nightlife in New Paltz continued to thrive.

In 1925, after 28 Years of service, the Highland to New Paltz trolley company folded.  The demise of the trolley business and the affordability of the automobile meant peoples outings were no longer confined to the trolley’s narrow corridor.  They could drive to any village hotel, restaurant, or scenic spot that caught their fancy.  Indeed, New Paltz and the Blue Crane Inn lost their captive audience.  The Inn, however, continued to accommodate people well into the 1930’s.  Other establishments came and went until 1947 when it became Pat and Georges and ultimately was nicknamed the P&G’s that welcomes everybody.

The present according to The BOOK

Cliff stayed at his townhouse in Boston for over two months, working almost tirelessly on compiling his notes.  He slept four or five hours each night and only left the townhouse to buy groceries and other essentials or he would spend every morning at a local Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts for a much needed boost of caffeine with a double or even quad espresso.  He went to the university to check in with the Archeology Department Chairman and his sabbatical.   He decided it wouldn’t be wise to tell anyone of his find of the fabled Book.  He wanted to have everything written and ready for conjecture and criticism when he finally released what he had learned from The BOOK.

He was certain that there would be many who would wonder of The BOOK’s authenticity and even it’s relevance to history and the present.

He knew religious leaders throughout the world would come down on him hard with criticism condemning The BOOK as heretical and blasphemous.  He couldn’t be concerned because he knew that what was written in The BOOK would diminish their standing as religious leaders.  Like he should care.  All he wanted to do was finish the compiling the numerous notebooks he had accumulated and then go back to the church in the Pyrenees.

It would be a lot easier this time because he knew when he had to go, Marcellus had arranged for the peasants in the village at the base of the Pyrenees to take him by horse drawn carriage to the church so he wouldn’t, as he had previously, have to trudge for two months through the Pyrenees to find the church that held The BOOK.  He wouldn’t need to walk because of the previously arranged transportation.

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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He said goodbye to everyone he knew when he knew he had to go to the church.  They all wondered what he had discovered in the Pyrenees that intrigued him so much.  He only smiled when questioned then shook his head.  “I can’t really reveal to you what I have learned until I have finished.”   He said.

It was especially hard to say goodbye to his love interest, Jessie.  He really wanted to marry her and would when his studies of The BOOK were completed.  He didn’t know why she remained loyal to him because he had been away for so long and was about to go away again.  But she insisted she would be waiting for him.

He didn’t have much in his grant money, so he took the cheapest flight to Spain.  It was a long twelve hour flight from Bostons Logan airport to LaGuardia to London and finally to Madrid.  He found whatever transportation he could to the base of the Pyrenees.  He found the village at the base where he would be taken by horse drawn carriage to the church at the peak of the mountain.

But before the villagers took him to the church, he was given a feast and a place to stay for a few nights and where he could bathe.

The villagers thought that much of him because they knew he was reading the fabled book that they only whispered about among themselves.  Even the patriarch of the local church was there at the carriage to shake his hand and wish him well.

It was a half days ride up the rough trail to the church.  They had left at sunrise and were

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at the doors of the church by noon.  The trail was rough and steep.  There were times when Cliff

had to hold his breath as the carriage wheels neared a precipitous drop of hundreds or even thousands of feet.

When they finally arrived at the front door of the church, he breathed a sigh of relief and was met by Marcellus who welcomed Cliff enthusiastically.

“I knew you would return, but I didn’t expect you so soon.”  Marcellus said.

Cliff could only smile.  “There is something about The BOOK that intrigues me greatly.”

“And that is?”  Marcellus asked.

Cliff could only smile again and nod. “There has been speculation of a First Civilization of man before the modern homo sapiens arrived.  And I have wondered if maybe they wrote The BOOK.  What do you think?”

Marcellus just nodded his head.  “I know who you are talking about.  And yes there has been speculation of their influence with The BOOK, but there is no definitive evidence of these early peoples, if they exist or existed.  So,  I can’t give you a definite answer.  Just follow me to the dinning room and we’ll have a lite lunch and discuss this further privately.”

“Sounds like a plan.”  Cliff agreed.

In the dinning room they had a lite lunch of finger sandwiches of meat and cheese.  Cliff thought the mini sandwiches to be delicious especially with the offered horseradish mayo.  There was also iced espresso which Cliff downed cup after cup.

All during this lite lunch, he and Marcellus discussed the First Civilization beings.  Marcellus explained that the knowledge of these people had been born at the time of  Charlemagne, a European

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Emperor, who brought what was a new civilization to Europe.  Charlemagne was a thoughtful ruler who thought deeply of these early, pre homo sapien peoples.

“But we know very little of these peoples?”  Cliff asked.

Marcellus smiled.  “Actually they were written about in the Bible and were called Nephilims or the Holy Ones.  But they were only mentioned once in the entire Bible, in Genesis 6:4.  It has been speculated that instead of another name of God, Moses used Nephilim just once.  Others speculated that Moses was referring to those magical beings from the sea.”

“Can they still live and exist?”  Cliff asked.

Marcellus laughed.  “If they do, they keep themselves well hidden from prying eyes.  I am under the impression that they will expose themselves when they think the time is right.”

It was Cliff’s turn to laugh.  “Yeah.  The supposed apocalypse of the winter solstice, 2012.”

“You know much of that future day?  Don’t you?”

Cliff nodded.  “I’ve written a few articles in Archeology magazines and other like minded magazines of my thoughts of this date.”

Marcellus smiled.  “I know because I have read everything you have ever published.”

“How?”  Cliff asked.

Marcellus looked up to the ceiling and pointed.  “God and The BOOK.”

“You know,  I Have studied this future date quite extensively from the early Mayans to Nostradamus to modern day soothsayers.  It seems no one can see past this date of the Winter Solstice, 2012 and I believe it to be as the Mayans speculate it will be the dawn of a new age.”

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Cliff explained almost professorially as if he were lecturing at the university. “Or it could be that the Mayans just didn’t create a new calendar.  So it won’t be an apocalypse.  Just as if we in the western world didn’t create another calendar for the new year after December 31.”  Cliff explained

Marcellus nodded.  “Yes.  I have read everything you have published and I agree.  It

will be the dawn of a new age.”

Cliff took a sip of his espresso and said.  “A Mayan high priest or prophet thought a god like deity will appear before the people of earth and cast judgement on us all.”

Marcellus had to smile.  “That prophet was correct.  God will cast judgement on us all and God is not pleased that we worship greed.  I believe there will be a drastic shift in the poles of earths society.  Many people will suffer when they learn that their greed is counter to the will of God.”

Cliff finished his last finger sandwich, swallowed and said.  “Then you believe as I do that there won’t be an apocalyptic end, but rather an apocalyptic change in the values of the peoples of the earth.  That the wealthy in earth who essentially control everything with their wealth, will find themselves at the bottom looking up at the skilled craftsmen who build and construct our world with their skills.”

“Yes that seems to be a reasonable explanation of this future date.  But it could very well happen over a course of days, months or years.  So it will not be a sudden change , but gradual, over time.”  Marcellus explained.

“We agree.”  Cliff said as he rose from the table.  “I take it that my room is the same as before?”  He asked.  “I need to relax after the long and grueling trip here, especially the last

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six hours.”

“Of course.”  Marcellus said.  “You can find your way?”

“Of course.”  Cliff said as he left the dinning room with his duffle bag of clothes.  But before he left, he gave Marcellus a ring binder of the notes he accumulated from his first visit and printed from his lap top.

“You might want to review what I have written so far.  And you can offer some

suggestions or changes.”  Cliff explained.

“I will read them tonight after we have had dinner and I will give you my critique

tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds good to me.”  Cliff said as he prepared to climb the stairs to his room.  “I’ll see you for dinner.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cliff got to his room and was pleased to find a fire in the fireplace.  The room was warm enough that he could strip down to his shorts and t-shirt and lay on his bed to rest.  He started to doze almost immediately, he was that tired.

He woke two hours later, feeling completely refreshed.  He went to the bathroom to splash water on his face and comb his hair.  He then walked down the stairs in his jeans, flannel shirt and knee high moccasins where he was met by a smiling Marcellus.

“I read what you have written of The BOOK, while you rested and I am impressed with

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your insight into the meaning and value of The BOOK.”

“And?”  Cliff prodded.

“You should of written of the Nephilim and of their influence.”   Marcellus instructed.

“How?  There is nothing written about them except for once in the Bible and a few novels.  What more could I write because there is not much out there about them?  I only learned of the Nephilim in my first year of undergraduate school.  Previously I just refereed to them as the First Civilization”

Marcellus waved for Cliff to sit down.  “You might stress that the Nephilim or Holy Ones

are a precursor to the human civilization and they could very well help God judge us, if they still

exist.

Cliff nodded.  “I could.  But what I write would be pure speculation and nothing more.

Very few people would take what I will write seriously.  In fact they could very well condemn

everything I write as fanciful theories and nothing more.”

Marcellus nodded.  “Yes.  You are probably correct, but you must write of The BOOK and you will because you have already written it according to The BOOK.

“So you know I will write more of these people, the Holy Ones, because it is written in The BOOK?”

Marcellus smiled.  “Yes.  Because it has already been written.  You only have to fulfil your obligation to The BOOK.”

“And if I don’t?”

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“You will.  Trust me, because The BOOK has already written that you will.”

Cliff stood back, rubbed his chin and thought.  “Are you trying to tell me that my actions are like the pre-destination of the mid nineteenth century religious preachers.  That everyone is pre-destined to be who they are because of the will of God?  I hope not.  Because I rejected that theory when I was in high school.  So am I predestined to write of these people, the Holy Ones?”

Marcellus shook his head.  “Of course not.  You are not pre-destined to do anything.  But

you will write of the Holy Ones because it is your nature to do so and The BOOK is cognizant of

this.  Trust me.”

They had a lite dinner and after he finished, Cliff went directly to the library without

asking permission from Marcellus.  Marcellus could only smile when he saw Cliff enter the

library with determination.

Cliff went through the library door and saw the ancient leather bound Book on the dais

where he had left it many months earlier.

Cliff walked deliberately behind the dais to read The BOOK.  He opened the cover and on the first page, in long hand and calligraphic like script was written:

The Present as it is Today!!!

He turned  the page and started to read.

Cliff read the thoughts of the western leaders who were trying to come to grips with the

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terrorist threat.  They all seemed to understand that they could arrest all of the known terrorists known by the intelligence agencies and fill the country’s prisons to overfilling, but there still would be a terrorist threat.

After about ten pages he started to read the thoughts of terrorists.  He learned that many if not most were frustrated that their views on the world at large were essentially ignored by the leaders of many mid-Eastern country’s like Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and a host of others.  They thought that they could make a powerful statement if they attacked a strong nation like the United States, hence 9/11.  The thinking was the best way to get attention was to cause murder and mayhem very much like Timothy McVeigh at Oklahoma city.  Or groups like the White Aryan Surpremists killing those they thought thwarted their aims or the newly resurfaced Neo-Nazis.  They all thought the same that murder and mayhem will give them the recognition they so deserved and desired.

Cliff had to close The BOOK because his eyes were so tired and he needed to sleep and

have a fresh go in the morning.

He knew he woke before dawn the following morning because the sun had not broken the eastern horizon.  He went to the bath, had a long hot shower.  He showered then dried himself off and dressed, then thought of what he had read the previous day and wondered when he opened The BOOK in the morning, would it be the same?

He went down the stairs dressed in his usual jeans, flannel shirt and knee high moccasins with a heavy jacket because he thought he needed to walk around the castle and think about

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what he had read the previous day.  He stopped in the dinning room, spoke with Marcellus briefly and had an extra large cup of espresso.  He then left the castle to roam around the grounds outside the walls to collect his thoughts about what he had read the previous day.  As he walked and observed the castle walls, the gardens and vineyard, he wondered what more The BOOK would reveal of the Present.

He walked longer than he had planned because though it was somewhat chilly in the high

mountain air, he was very comfortable in his heavy jacket.

He finally decided he had to get back inside the castle and read.  He hoped he would be able to read for four hours as he looked at his watch and noted it was only 1:00 p.m.  He thought

that if he read the four hours, he would have an hour to rest in his room before dinner time.

Though he knew dinner would be served any time he desired, but thought it better to have dinner at a time to better accommodate Marcellus, as he was the teacher of The BOOK.

He went to the fifteen foot door and wondered how he could open it without help from the inside.  When he got to the door and was prepared to knock to announce his presence, the door opened with a smiling Marcellus welcoming him inside.

“How did you know?”  Cliff asked

Marcellus looked to the ceiling of the night time sky.  “God.”  Was all he said.

Cliff nodded as he went to the library.  “I’m going to read for another three or four hours then go upstairs to rest.  Just come for me when dinner is ready.”

“Of course.”  Marcellus said.

When Cliff got to the seat behind the dais he sat down, he opened the ancient leather

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bound Book to the first page and read the thoughts of American politicians on both sides of the patrician aisle.

His first impressions of the thoughts of these political big wigs was that they seemed more interested in what was good for the party and what was good for America was a secondary concern.  It didn’t seem to matter which party, the good of the party was the top most concern.  Though the Republicans were most driven by what was good for the Republican party, that was their top concern.  This was most relevant after they had lost both houses in Congress and the Presidency when Clinton first became president.

Then he started to read the thoughts of the common people and how they listened to

radio talk even if they suspected or knew that the radio talk show hosts were lying to the

listening public, but they listened anyway.  As Goebbels once said: If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth.

He closed his eyes after he closed The BOOK and let himself doze while seated behind the dais.  His eyes were that strained from reading and his copious note taking.

When he opened them and reopened The BOOK, he read the thoughts of many televangelists.  And the hidden thoughts of these televangelists made him realize that if Jesus ever appeared before them He Jesus, would be ignored or blasted as a religious heretic or worse.  They knew from reading of the Bible that Jesus hated greed and taught that money did not gain entrance to heaven if you were rich and greedy.  He knew that Jesus saw how greed affected the society.  Cliff knew the present day televangelists couldn’t be bothered with worry of the under privileged as long as they, the poor contributed to their television ministry.

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The reading of the thoughts of these televangelists caused Cliff to tire and he knew he needed to go to his room and rest, more importantly rest his eyes.

He bid Marcellus good night before he climbed the stairs to his room.  He noted that a fire was blazing in the fireplace, giving off enough heat the he could strip down and take a warm, or even scalding shower.  After he finished with the shower, he dried himself off slipped into the warm caress of his bed, but he couldn’t sleep because his mind was on the recent thoughts of present day people in The BOOK.  As he thought of this, his mind wandered to the First Civilization of Earth.  Those beings who brought science and thought to the new emerging homo sapiens.

His last thoughts before he lapsed into sleep was who these beings were and where they

were or if they became extinct. And if so, how did they become extinct?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

He met Marcellus the next morning in the dinning room and he had a couple slices of toast with butter and jelly with his usual espresso.  They talked for almost two hours.  They discussed the First Civilization that pre-dated “modern man”.  And they both wondered who these people, beings were and where they went.

Cliff explained to Marcellus how maps of Antarctica were found that predated any exploration of the vast continent.  And that these maps showed a rocky shore line of Antarctica that had to be tens of thousand years old.  And considering no known explorer ever made it to Antarctica before 1820 , it was wondered who designed these maps.  He also explained that there were maps of the oceans

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with latitude and longitude markings century’s before modern man devised such markings on maps .  And how the prime meridian , now through England went through Giza, Egypt.

He also explained how the current Mayans, Incas and African peoples described a people emerging from the sea in flowing robes and taught them science and thought.  He told of a

Chinese philosopher and thinker who described these beings and he wrote his thoughts 2700

years earlier, this thinker, Lau-tzu wrote:

The Ancient Masters were subtle, mysterious

profound, responsive.

The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable

But it is unfathomable, all we can do is describe,

their appearance

Watchful. Like men crossing a winter stream, Alert like

men aware of danger

Courteous, like visiting guests, Yielding, like ice about

to melt.

Simple like uncarved blocks of wood

“Many scholars of the ancient world attributed these beings to be from the legendary Atlantis that disappeared those many years ago.”  Cliff told Marcellus, who just nodded.

Both Cliff and Marcellus wondered if Atlantis had existed and produced this First Civilization or the Holy Ones described in the Bible.  They were unsure because there was no evidence anywhere that Atlantis existed except for the almost identical pyramid shapes that were constructed around the world by primitive peoples.

These pyramids by the primitive peoples were not definite proof that Atlantis once exited, but the ancient myths of Kings coming from the sea to teach the peoples was only more fodder of these

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Holy Ones.

“I guess I can only learn of these people if I read the final chapter in The BOOK, the

future, as it will be written.”  Cliff said with a sigh.

“Do you really want to risk that?”  Marcellus asked.  “Remember what I told you of others

who have read the future and how they had to be hospitalized because they read of their own

deaths?”

Cliff waved his hand.  “I have that covered.  If I see my name anywhere, I will skip to the next page.  Or maybe I will close The BOOK and wait for what more is written and I have to read.”

“If you are comfortable with that then I won’t persuade you against it.”  Marcellus said.

Cliff looked up from his espresso.  “You read where I was to come here and read The BOOK.  So you know more than you are willing to say, such as my future death.”

Marcellus only shook his head.   “No.  I have only read to the point when you would arrive and write about what you have learned from The BOOK.”

“”That’s it?  Nothing more?”  Cliff implored.

Marcellus looked down to the table.  “Sorry.  I can’t read further because I feared for you.”

“Why??”  Cliff asked.  “I already almost died twice.  The first when I crashed my

motorcycle and the second when I had small cell lung cancer in the third stage.  So I guess I am

prepared to die.”

Marcellus shook his head.  “No.  I fear what you will learn of the future and how it will affect

you and   your new bride.”

Cliff looked up from his espresso.  “You know Jessie and I plan to marry?”

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“Of course.  It was written in The BOOK.

“Then The BOOK must be accurate  because I plan on marrying Jessie when I get

back to Boston, within the next week or so.”

“When will you comeback to read the third and final chapter of The BOOK.”   Marcellus asked hopefully.

“After the honeymoon and we have established ourselves in a house near Boston.  By then she will know how I discovered something of great archeological and historical significance.

And I am sure she will wish me well when I return here to read the final chapter of The BOOK.”

“Only if you are so certain?” Marcellus reminded him.

“I am.”

9:28 p.m.

2/1/10

@P&G’s