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Show THE ZEPHYR/DECEMBER 2003-JANUARY 2004 morning, collected the traps, drove out of there with nothing to show for it except one large mouse, Peromyscus eremicus, in the back seat, who had, I hoped, made himself anestina wad of cotton I'd stuffed into the trap. A long cold day followed, piloting a three-shift car in slick snow. Made it out of Death Valley, but got stuck on the pass into Tonopah. A pickup came along, pushed me to the top. Found food and coffee in Tonopah, went on until dark, made , P| >of POWE PAN COLDWCLL a camp somewhere south of Carson City. Another bitter night, but not much wind. The moon came up, spreading cold light on brush and snow adding to the misery of almost continual PN fr, Cae) The REALTOR who knows what's REALLY going on in Moab.” shivering. I did doze, waking often. Once, waking, I sensed something different next to my cold feet. Slight heat radiating from a live body? I didn't know, but something new down there, for sure. I raised the edge of the bag, moonlight flooded in. A kangaroo rat sat on the fabric, perfectly still, looking outward into the desert, but its big black eye must have taken me in too. A few long moments passed, long enough for me to feel a quick gladness: Lg y YOU SHOULD SEE ME another being, a furry mammal, sharing my shelter. Wonderful furriness! Then it was gone. I don't remember thinking up theories as to why it had moved in on me. Nor do I try to figure it out now. One could speculate..Go ahead. I'm satisfied to simply recall that gladness LUGE!!! </ that made the desert cold more endurable. Or reasonable? I don't know, it was a happening, on the ground, two bodies. Can you stay still for one more walk? A pitch black night in Glen Helen, Yellow Springs, Ohio. There had been a lot of palaver in the meeting room, about outdoor education. I had thrown what I judged to be a sizeable stone into the discussion, saying I didn't believe in = outdoor education. A hyperbolic statement, inviting discussion, spirited disagreement, anything to break the crust of sanctity. My stone turned out to be a tiny pebble, its ripples dying in a perfect silence. Someone waded in, deftly swerved past the question. I sat back, waited for the meeting to end. Maybe I'd drop in at the Trail Tavern, forget the whole scene. But it wasn't over; there was an announcement of various night time activities. I chose the nature walk, joined nine or ten people hunched together in the warm Ohio darkness, waiting for our leader who arrived promptly and said, "I'm not going to say a word." He disappeared in the night. We followed, gropingly. Nobody had a flashlight, nobody had a clue. We followed each other in single file, saying not one word, our feet searching for the trail, stumbling over a root occasionally, learning ARCHES to pick up our feet. We soon fell into the spirit of the thing. How do I know that? Well, one just does. Language is not confined to the world of words. We felt the uphill slant of the land, the down dips. No owl hooted, there was no thunk of flying squirrel on sycamore trunk, no flutter of a bat. Faint rustlings of leaves, smell of the riverside, river's talking to itself, the suddenly REALTY 150 E. Center St. Moab. UT 84532 BUS: 435.259.5693 800.634.0770 RES: 259.5852 judypowers@moabutah.com (Each office is independently owned and operated) strange sounds of our clothing, and our footsteps. These were the only clues. It was a long walk. Our leader brought us back to our starting place. And disappeared. : E Mail Your Feedback Comments: If youd like to send us some Feedback via e mail we can be reached at: cczephyr@frontiernet.net CELEBRATING TEN YEARS OF COMMUNITY RADIO SAPS MENA 89.7 & 970.858.3636 westskydan@aol.com WT Ge Be te aes) 2 106.1 AND LISTEN ON-LINE WORLDWIDE: WWW.KZMU.ORG LOOK TO THE SKIES! METEOR SHOWERS! | REQUEST LINE: 259.4897 eee Dec 17-26: BOOKS BY MARTIN Ursids MURIE : a oming in LOSING SOLITUDE: COWTOWN. WIND SWEPT: CORPORATION 4 CONTEMPORARY WESTERN. DEVELOPERS INVADE A HOMESTEAD PUBLISHING (AVAILABLE ON AMAZON) sinDWATCHERs & A BIKER FROM MONTANA TANGLE WITH EXTREMISTS IN MEDICINE BOW, WYOMING. (AVAILABLE ON AMAZON) HOMESTEAD BURT'S ART cae ih es MELE MES ee IS THE FUTURE OF THE (ILLUSTRATED) FORESTS? THEY TURN ACTIVIST PACKRAT BOOKS FOR QUICKEST RECEIPT OF ANY OF THE FIVE BOOKS, CONTACT PACKRAT BOOKS: sagehen@westelcom.com | PAGE9 | INSISTENT PUB... WAY: ENVIRONMENTALISTS LABELED "TERRORISTS," KEEP A CHUGGIN’ ON THE QUEBEC/NEW YORK BORDER...PACKRAT BOOKS RED TREE MOUSE CHRONICLES: forest ANIMALS ON ASSIGNMENT; WHAT October: CERIOUSLY 80 pages of activist critique b MARTIN MURIE |