Today I thought I would take a moment to compare our world's current state with the past. I hear people saying that the world has gone to hell,men and women are unsure of their sexuality or gender. Government's are corrupt and war is a real possibility. One faction is against the other and hatred along with its companion racism reign supreme in the darkest corners of both mindsets. Crime is a constant and people are killing one another all over the world in the name of this god or that diety. All seems lost if one is inclined to follow the news feeds or subscribe to the latest social media hype about building walls.

Let us analyze this for what it is worth. We all know that the once great Roman empire was wrought with sexual deviants who dressed like women and laid with their own sex. Murder was a spectator sport and war was a daily dealing for hundreds of years. China was invaded by Ghingus Khan to such an extent that a wall was built and 1 eighth of the regions population has his genes due to the volatile rapes occurring during his reign.

During the dark ages many groups or tribes were hunted to extinction and impaled on spears in the streets simply because they were different. Every nation in history has been invaded, overthrown, destroyed or restructured at one point or another. In my opinion the world has not changed at all we humans simply refuse to learn from our mistakes.
 On that note my readers must be aware that I agree we need a wall..... At the least a wall!!! to help ensure the invaders who are hell bent on taking what is not theirs can be stopped or at least slow the diseased and destructive lifelines that are plaguing our nation. I believe any government personell who stand against our constitution and refuse to work toward a solutions that better and benefit our nation should be removed. And I am certain that those who preach war are usually those who have never seen it and do not know what they are asking for. Also I believe that a nation divided is an easy target and we must look toward a future that mirrors our past here in the U.S.A. Principles and beliefs that benefit each and every household that work hard here on our own lands are the very fabric our great nation was built on. Hawk

Part four.... The huge cat leaps through the air landing with both front paws hard on the hunters body by the fire. With practiced perfection he sinks both giant canines into the hunter and shakes the limp form hard as he bites down with all his might. Suddenly the cat leaps straight into the air, a sharp and terrible pain shoots through his body like lightning and he sees the bloody dart sticking out of his own tawny hide. He looks all around in blind panic for the source of the weapon that has inflicted this mortal wound. As he falls to the ground he sees a blurry figure leap from a nearby tree and feels another sharp stab as the hunter sends the killing dart home. The cat fades away with an  audible growl fierce yet feeble he dies with the hunters grass stuffed bison coat still in his mouth.

The hunter is shaking uncontrollably as he approaches the downed giant. Not from cold nor fear but from adrenaline he has somehow slain the most feared animal in all the land. His decision to hide among the branches and leave his coat as a decoy should a predator show up has not only saved his life but will undoubtedly rise him to a level of unparalleled status once he returns to his home tribe. No hunter has killed a speartooth cat alone since the ancient times when men threw heavy spears and had no knowledge of the atlatl. The hunter touches the giant cat and says a prayer to creator for allowing him to win this fight. He says a prayer for the cat as well and asks the creator to welcome the spirit of the cat once it arrives in the skyworld. Skinning the cat will take most of the night but he need not worry about predators now even dead speartooth are avoided by other carnivores at all costs.............Part five tomorrow.

  Part three.......The longtooth cat has been hunting this area all its life. Over a period of many years he has learned that humans are mostly easy prey. As long as the stalk is silent and the kill swift there is not much chance of the human hunter coming out on top in a fight. Carefully the cat moves through the dense forest, every muscle taught as a bowstring under his perfectly camouflaged hide. He circles effortlessly downwind of a now dying fire trying to pick up the scent of the hunter he narrowly missed during the storm last night. Crouching low the fierce predator used the shadows of early evening to conceal his lithe form as he closes the distance to only a few yards and readies for the pounce and kill near the fire.

The hunter now dry from the fire  and well fed from a rabbit he killed with his atlatl  is having a hard time staying awake. It took most of the day to make some more darts to replace the ones he lost in the river and dry out his clothing. His eyes close for a moment and instantly dreams of a warm lodge and an even warmer wife fill his thoughts.

The cat smells the familiar scent of the hunter and quietly growls in participation of the kill to come, he raises from the shadows and leaps straight for the bison skin clad prey at the fires edge....... Part four tomorrow

Hunter part two....... The cold night air suddenly gave way to an even colder darker place as the hunter slammed into the deep river. As suddenly as he hit the water the strong current began carrying him swiftly away to the west twisting and turning him until he had no idea of his place on earth nor what direction would bring him to the surface. The same cold air that seemed so deadly as he fell the thirty feet to the rivers surface now gives life the hunter as he takes a long needed breath. He swims hard for the shoreline and is elated when his moccasins find purchase on dry land.

Smoked bison skin leather clothing sheds most water and snow for the hunter but the fall into the river soaked completely through. Digging into his warbag the hunter retrieves his bowdrill and begins searching the forest for dry tinder to make a lifegiving fire that will dry out his clothing and hopefully ward off any possible return of the giant maneating cat that nearly made a meal of him.   Part three tomorrow

     Hunter part one.........  Pitch black night surrounds the ancient hunter as he clings closer to the rock overhang trying to stay hidden from the danger stalking the night. Lightning cracks along the mountainside all around him lending bright light to the darkness every few moments. Raindrops turn the surface of the rock slick making it difficult to hold on in the stormy night as thunder echoes all around. Giant padded feet grate almost silently against the wet weathered stone only a few feet from the hunter. In a lightning flash he sees the longtoothed cat as it crouches for the killing blow. At the moment the cat leaps the hunter loses his grip and falls through the stormy night into the dark river below lightning illuminates the falling hunter to the cat for a moment then he is swallowed up by the night. Part two tomorrow...

Wind glides softly through the forest somehow reaching every part of the deepest reaches with minimal effort.Every branch on each tree is effected and starts a perfect swaying dance. As the winds ebb and flow so does the dance, the forest is alive all around me moving in a timeless crescendo of gyrating limbs. Far above the treetop

dance a red tailed hawk uses the same wind to ride a northbound thermal, he flaps his great wings once in a while covering great distances as he rides the wind. Above him a glittering jet streaks aceoss the sky leaving a trail in the clouds to announce its passing. My eyes search again for the hawk but he had disappeared among the great expanse of sky. All around me the forest slowly goes still as the winds subside and the dance ends among the branches. Far up the jet still scars the perfect sky with its push against nature I make a mental note to be more like the wind and the hawk and leave no scars across the sky as I move through life. Sometimes silence rings louder than a jet engine once we realize that we can move with the wind instead of against it. Hawk a/ho

Winter lays an icy grip upon the land. All the shadowed places are protecting drifts of snow that have fallen months ago. Along the forests edge there are leaves from the cottonwood and elm trees covering the ground. Each rust colored leaf was once a vibrant green that last summer waved in the warm summer breezes high in the now skeletal canopy. I wonder as I move silently through the forest if nature notices me. Does the forest notice the age around my eyes the ache in my bones or the loss of youthful exuberance I once possessed. Does the timeless seasonal change and constant shift in the wild places just move along without notice. The wind shifts suddenly and stirs the leaves at my feet. Underneath the dead leaves there is a small green blade of grass waiting patiently for the spring season to arrive. I smile to myself and feel something stir inside me. The small blade of grass reminds me that even among all the seemingly dead and decaying surroundings there is hope, there is life, there is purpose. I feel a quickened step a stirring of long ago memories from high lands and better times. I lay leaves back over the young shoot and resume my wanderings. Maybe with the spring rains and warmer weather I will return here and see how the grass has grown. Maybe nature will notice a change in me as I strive to return to the lands that make me feel alive and leave behind the decaying leaves of a far gone winter.

New year

The year has gone by quickly, every turn in the trail has had its trials and deadfalls. There are reasons for every trail chosen and mistakes that I have made. In hindsight I have few regrets, there are only memories good and bad. I am thankful for my family, my frinds and for the many people I have met along this years journey. I traveled thirty states this year and three countries. Sunsets and sunrises from the oceans to the great lakes and weathered storms both natural and human caused. I have learned who my true friends are and who were simply imposters pretending to be for their own personal gain.. I emerge from this past year a little wiser a little older a lot better than I had hoped. Looking into the future I foresee a great year, new beginnings, new adventures old ways revisited .The wild places will beckon, and I will answer the call with a quickened step and a lighter heart..

Bullets fly overhead as tracers light the path of deadly projectiles. Two men crouch behind a bullet riddled truck pulses quickened in the heat of battle. Both men signal to one another to move forward in the late evening gloom toward the source of The incoming fire. One is a battle tested veteran, the other a newby from some remote town in Idaho. Capitain Reynolds tells the greenhorn to stay low and move on his six, firing on any hostiles they encounter. Private Grant flies through the streets, eyes searching for enemies.Reynolds goes down so fast that Grant trips over him in full run. The fall surely saved his life, a barage of bullets and tracer rounds sails through empty space where he was standing seconds ago.Grant pulls the captain to safety behind a burned out personell carrier. He returns fire on the building across the street and sees two ostiles fall to his well aimed shots.He lies patiently as the gunfire subsides and waits for any sign of more bad guys. Years of now hunting in the Idaho wilds have honed his patience, and hunting skills. After what seems an eternity he spots movement along the rooftop acros the street. He aquires the target, breathes, releases slowly and squeezes the trigger. The man throws his hands upward and falls forward from the rooftop. Behind Grant he hears the Capitain moan, he looks at him surprised to see he is alive. "A ricochet off my hard skull."he says. I'm knocked silly, but gonna live. Private Grant saved Captain Reynolds and himself that day from certain death.. It was July forth two thousand three. Theyalso saved thousands of innocent lives through their service. Many of our heroes have fought, died, and sacrificed all for us.. God bless The U.S.A. Happy birthday tomorrow.. We will never forget.. We will always be the United States of America..

Days

I love the moment just before sunrise, the anticipation of new light always brings me to a heightened sense of awareness. The way rays of light reach across the entire sky just before the sun makes its grand entrance is awe inspiring. There is one thing for sure in this world and that is that the sun will rise in the east. Every day the bright orb makes its entrance into the sky and with the light comes another opportunity for those who wake to its brightness to begin anew. No matter where in the world we are or who we are the sun will announce a new chance, a new day, a new beginning. I have been fortunate to enjoy forty two years and eight months and four days of sunrises. That is fifteen thousand five hundred and eighty sunrises so far. I have been blessed with the gift of all these sunrises and they seem to me to be brighter with each rising. As I look toward my future and all it holds for me I embrace every climbing of every sun across broad expanse of sky. The days do seem to go by slowly when looking toward our future and all the mysteries waiting for us to enjoy every moment. Yet at the same time every day also flies by, in the blink of an eye fifteen thousand sunrises have become sunsets and we wonder how it has passed by so quickly. I cannot complain, I have found true love, love beyond the boundaries of sunrises and have two boys who are my greatest accomplishment,my greatest joy. I have walked and ridden many trails and traveled to many places. Yes I really do enjoy the prospect of a new sunrise. It is as if the creator is lighting up the sky just for me,it is his way of saying here comes another moment. Here comes another ray of brightness to remind you that I am here. No matter what the reason for the rising I will always long for its magical and faithful coming. And yes I do long for the future,with a quickened step and a faithful heart I live each day looking forward to the sunsets. Because with every sunset there is a sunrise just around the corner.