[Marxism] The Cattle Guard

["Hunter Gray" <hunterbadbear@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a short but quite optimistic report on my so-called medical
condition and my fight against the most lethal form of SLE Lupus.  On our
walks into the hills which begin just above our far up home, I am now seeing
old-friend geographical vistas that, even a few months ago, I never thought
I'd ever see again.

A very few days ago, I had my regular med appointment and, simultaneously,
was fighting off the same cold that had hit Eldri very hard, and Maria and
Josie as well.  To play safe, the doc quite temporarily increased my
Prednisone -- a short term increase.   Even now that hasn't had time to kick
in -- it doesn't affect colds anyway -- and very significantly I by myself
completely fought off the cold which, because of my presumed loss of
immunity, should have immediately struck me very hard indeed.  But, to
reiterate, I threw  off the cold.  [Eldri is still quite ill, Maria better,
and Josie with Cameron is now hunting deer on the Wyoming border.]

Yesterday, Maria and I and Hunter [Shelty] walked much further than usual --
to the Cattle Guard.  Early this morning, we went much further than that --
'way, 'way up.  It is extremely steep turf at every point.  My brand new
Size 16 Lowa Trekker Extra Mountain Boots are doing a wonderful job.

The medic of the other day said I looked "Much healthier."  When I went to
get a very nice [our third] dog from the pro-animal county shelter [a branch
of the sheriff's department], I asked -- almost for the first time in my
life -- if they had a senior discount.  They do [thirty bucks off seventy or
so] but the very nice lady raised an eyebrow and said, "You really do have
to be at least 60."  Maria and Josie were grinning and when I indicated I
was 70, I was carded via my driver's license for the first time since I was
38.  Anyway.  In addition to our faithful Shelty and a black Siberian Husky,
we now also have an Australian Sheep Dog mix which the animal shelter had
hopefully kept since June 11.  Maria, who with others in the family, walks
dogs there weekly on a volunteer basis, reported that this gentle pooch in
which she had a very special interest could not be kept much longer.  We
acted fast and obviously successfully.

So we are now walking much more frequently and further and further.  While
it's true the SLE [and the consequent diabetes] are capable of anything, we
may well be seeing something very positive occur.

One of the landmarks  up in our hills is the Cattle Guard. [Not to be
confused with a simple barbed wire cattle gate.]  This Cattle Guard is on an
obscure Bureau of Land Management road ["road" is a generous
characterization.]  The Cattle Guard [a  constructed break in a barbed wire
fence] is a rectangular gulch about six feet long and a couple of feet deep
and maybe four feet wide.  It has, across it, seven or so medium size steel
rails -- separated from each other by a few inches.  People and trucks can
cross easily enough, horses and mules have to be led.  Cattle will never
cross it.

I want Eldri to come with us at least that far.  She works very hard around
the house -- with the help of all -- but she isn't sure she can get up that
high in the hills.  So, even though my real forte is nonfiction and fiction,
I am working on a Song to Eldri:  Oh Come With Me To The Cattle Guard.

Best - Hunter Bear


HUNTER GRAY  [HUNTER BEAR]   Micmac /St. Francis Abenaki/St. Regis Mohawk
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by Na´shdo´i´ba´i´
and Ohkwari'

In our Gray Hole, the ghosts often dance in the junipers and sage, on the
game trails, in the tributary canyons with the thick red maples, and on the
high windy ridges -- and they dance from within the very essence of our own
inner being. They do this especially when the bright night moon shines down
on the clean white snow that covers the valley and its surroundings.  Then
it is as bright as day -- but in an always soft and mysterious and
remembering way. [Hunter Bear]













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