I continue to be captivated by the natural beauty of Southern Illinois in the fall! The cool temperatures and the proliferation of trees with their resplendent colors…will cause you too, ‘Pack up you troubles in your old kit bag…and smile, smile, smile!’ Of course adding to my good humor is the fact that the old 63 is almost upon me! I am humbled and happy to have made it this far… Life is best taken in moderation. I have found that it is better to speak less…and listen more… What seems to be an insurmountable problem in one year…may be meaningless in the next. Many problems work themselves out…if you will give them time.

My friend Jeff has written a book about his life and his Horatio Alger story of rags too riches. The book is entitled, Against All Odds. Having known Jeff for nearly 50 years…I can attest to the inspirational account of his life as a homeless youth on the streets of Chicago, Illinois too the owner of a successful business in the United Kingdom. I first met Jeff when he was a member of a hippie commune in Elkville, Illinois. We attended the same church and I was staying overnight at the commune. Jeff along with his soon to be foster father, Michael, were so kind too me and after breakfast they asked if I wanted to take a shower before our attending Sunday church service. Of course I did and they ushered me to the back yard where there was a little tin structure…with no door nor shower curtain. On the roof of the shower was a wash tub with a hose coming through the bottom of the tub and a valve to shut the water off or on. When I inquired as to the absent door they assured me that there was no worries as long as the corn was high in the field next to the back yard. It has been our family’s privilege to visit Jeff and Margo on several occasions during the past 10 years. I enjoyed attending an Opportunity meeting with Jeff when we were visiting York. I was moved to see him greet the over 100 attendees and go from person to person to shake their hand and to hear their story. The people were looking for someone to share with them an opportunity…and Jeff was there to help them attain their goals in life.

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Nothing made me happier when I was with Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale then to offer opportunity to those who customarily were marginalized. When I began in 1978 my department was basically a white man’s club. There was one woman in the foreman ranks and few African Americans throughout the department. Through the years, with the help of many people of good will, we were able to create the most diverse department in Plant and Service Operations…and according to then President Glenn Poshard…the most diverse department at the University. I was thrilled to be a bit player in a wonderful development that included several outstanding staff who were physically or intellectually challenged.

So you can not dream too big a dream…the sky is the limit! Take life a day at a time. Always stay focused on your dreams…with the knowledge that you will walk up many steep hills and down into many dark valleys. It is not the destination that is the value of a well lived life…it is the journey!

c

It was 48 degrees but it felt like 45. Chet’s mom had insisted that he put on his long underwear before he dressed in Halloween Costume. Chet told her that the Lost In Space Robot costume was very warm…but she was not convinced. So Chet complied with his mom’s wishes and he was just placing his Robot headgear on when he heard Porter’s mom honk her car horn. There in the 1957 Chevrolet convertible was Porter and his mom and Parker. Porter had his yellow slicker on and the yellow rain hood that accompanied it. He had pleaded with his mom that the Creature From the Black Lagoon…would not be wearing a rain slicker and a snap on hood. The Creature lived in the water…for crying out loud! Parker was dressed as Snow White and had an umbrella to ward off the rain. Porter prided himself on his knowledge of the Universal Studios Monsters. After all his cousin Billy had a collection of movie grade masks of; Frankenstein and Dracula and the Wolfman…and of course the Creature From the Black Lagoon…which he had borrowed for the big night! Parker mentioned that at least this was finally the real Halloween and not the dreams that they had experienced after visiting the Haunted House that the hayride took them too! Chet waved his Robot arms and uttered his favorite phrase, ‘That does not compute!’

The Halloween revelers had promised that they would stop by cousin Billy’s house for him to snap some polaroids of them. When they walked up to his door it was standing open and the cold rain was blowing into Billy’s living room. As they walked in a voice uttered forth from the bedroom and announced for them to make themselves at home and that they would be out in a minute… Chet observed that there was apple cider on the dining room table and several cups and a dipper to dip it from the punchbowl. As they sipped the cider out came Frankenstein and Dracula with somber and severe looks. Porter said, ‘Great costumes, Billy!’ The creepy creatures did not respond. Chet observed that the two horror figures that had joined them…were not wearing costumes…they were the real thing…

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Mrs. K called the role of the 3rd grade at Hillcrest School. Parker and Porter and Chet…did not answer, ‘Here!’ The local police went to Billy’s house and found it totally empty and without a stick of furniture. Porter’s mom and Billy’s aunt saw a note written in red ink in the corner of the dining room…’We are going to 2020…and we do not know if we will be able to come back…’

After my mom and dad divorced I took to accompanying my mother to the grocery store each week…for several years. I liked to help her and to, perhaps, pick-up a savory delight that my young palate craved. I also throughly enjoyed buying a 12 cent comic book. Actually they were a dime when I began but soon went up to the lofty price of 12 cents. I had to ask for the 12 cents…as I began collecting the precious magazines at the age of 5. Mom would tell me that we did not have money to burn and that she did not know if she had 12 cents for a comic book… After some significant cajoling and, at times begging, I was usually able to procure the dime or when they increased in price…the 12 cents. This, for me, was nirvana! I loved watching the actor, George Reeves, portray Superman on our 12 inch black and white TV. He could fly! Superman comics were my favorite! There was a new one each week! I endeavored to buy them all and add them to my increasingly growing collection. As the comic collecting years flew by…I took notice that there was a new type of comic in the wire comic book rack and it was a thicker and had additional adventures or protracted stories. These sold for a quarter. During my first and second and third attempt to lodge a quarter from mom’s grip…I was unsuccessful! But…I kept tying! I have never been a person who takes no for an answer…

Over the years of the 1960’s I branched out to Archie comics and Batman and The Flash…and even Spiderman. Periodically there were comics about my favorite vintage monsters, such as Frankenstein and Dracula and the Creature from the Black Lagoon…and I faithfully gathered them in to my home base. I recall having at least 100 rare, by today’s standards, comics before I moved from home at the tender age of 17. For the next 3 and 1/2 years I became preoccupied with keeping body and soul together and thought little of my prized collection. One day when I was visiting mom she told me that she had taken all of my comics out to the burning barrel and set them ablaze. She reminded me that she had cautioned me on more than one occasion to take them with me if I wanted them… I am certain that my comic book collection…in mint condition…would have been worth thousands of dollars at today’s prices… Instead they were lost to a Fire Sale!

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So I have began collecting a few of the old Superman comic books that sold for a dime or 12 cents. Jonathon started me on this habit by giving me an old Spiderman comic. I then purchased a Superman that originally sold for a dime…for $25… But, today I discovered that the Superman editons that sold for 12 cents can be purchased for less than $25…if you are willing to compromise on their physical condition. And so I was in the Comic Book Store this morning…thumbing through vintage 1550’s and 1960’s Superman editons…and I was transported back in time to 1962 and 1963…when neither I nor mom did not really know what would come of us as we embarked on a brave new world…but Superman was there to take care of us…

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October is whisking by too quickly! I was taking photos of the lovely leaves on the SIUC campus on Sunday…and when I returned to engage in some additional photography I noticed that the brilliant colors of the leaves and their abundance on the trees had already changed. Usually my birthday week, October 24th, is prime leaf peeping in Southern Illinois…but this year they are exhibiting their colors a bit early!

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Our surroundings are changing daily and more often than not we are oblivious to the change. We focus on the minutiae of life and fail to see the big picture. It is easy to ponder about what you do not have…and forget all the blessings that you possess! Have you ever been ill and suddenly your health improved? It seems that the birds sing sweeter and the sun shines more brilliantly on your path! As you look at your reflection in the mirror…do you see the aged countenance that is looking back at you…or do you see the young woman or man that you were?

We humans are living an extraordinary experience that we may not see completely due to our nose to the grindstone philosophy. When I was still working I was often engaged in inspecting the cleanliness of the over 200 buildings that our housekeeping department was responsible for on a daily basis. My habit was to look for dirt where the person who was maintaining the area…did not. Customarily I could find the dust on high flat surfaces, or behind doors, or areas that I had to stoop down to see. So often we are programed, much as the hamster on his wheel, to travel on the same well worn pathway and subsequently believe that this is our world. When in reality there is a universe of possibilities and wonders available for us if we just expose our senses and our minds to their beauty!

Life is fleeting! We believe that we will tear down our barns and build bigger ones…we are ready for the next vacation and holiday and family gathering… We put off until tomorrow the joy of the relationships that we have been given today. If there is a book you want to read…start reading… If there is a holiday that you want to take…start planning… Start pulling things out of your bucket list and enjoy the gift of life!

As much as is humanly possible..do what makes you happy! See the world with fresh eyes every morning. Look for the good in people and forget the bad. Hope for a better tomorrow and work toward that worthy goal!

Porter and Parker were discussing the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. Chet asked them if they had recovered from the hayride that would not end…yet? Chet went on to tell them that Buddy had not only not been to school for the past 3 days but that his mother had reported him missing to the police. You may recall that Buddy was Gomez the Shy Ghost, in Parker’s dream of Halloween that she had on the return hayride after the visit to the Haunted House. Buddy was a short and spunky character! He was either your best friend or he would fight you at the drop of a hat… Buddy loved bobbing for apples! He was the bobbing for apples champ last year at the all school Halloween Party!

The mystery centered around what had happened to Parker and Porter and Chet at the Haunted House on the night of October 7th? The hayride to the event had been fun and they all had laughed and told ghost stories and enjoyed the smoke that was wafting from Doc Irvin’s pipe. Doc enjoyed cherry tobacco and he seldom missed an opportunity to either load his pipe with more smoking material or he would repeatedly relight it, as it seemed to loose fire every few minutes..or he was cleaning it and subsequently running pipe cleaners through the mouthpiece of the instrument or busily scraping the bowl in order to release tars and tobacco residue. Doc was the picture of calm and assurance and Porter wonders if the pipe contributed to his placid demeanor? Chet believed that they had entered a time portal or time machine when they entered the House and that what they perceived as reality was morphed by their experience. Porter felt that they should chalk it up to a fright, primarily by the talking Orange Head, which at first glance looked like a pumpkin, but in reality was a human head that looked artificial! Not only because it could speak…but by the palpable eeriness of what it said! The Head spoke of war and destruction while assuring those listening that it was the only hope for the survival of the human race… Parker recalled that the room in the Haunted House began to spin when she listened to the talking orange head…and that she felt disconnected from reality! The next ting that she knew she and Chet and Porter were outside of the House and she was extremely relieved to be so. Both Parker and Porter asked Chet what he had meant when he said, ‘He’s here!’ Chet responded that his mom, Thelma, had been a woman of the scriptures and had spoke to him about the Bible every day. Thelma had told Chet that an end time for the world as they knew it…was coming… She spoke of an antichrist and the seven last plagues of the wrath of God…and she spoke of Armageddon… Chet said that when he heard the Orange Head speak…that he was reminded of all that his mom had warned him of!

Mrs. K called the class to attention and informed them that recess was over and that it was time to go back to work. All of the sudden an alarm began to ring loudly! The three knew that by the sound of the blaring bell…it was the bomb drill! They began to file out…single file…and kneel against the painted block walls of the connecting hall. Mrs. K told each of the class to place their hands over their head and that they were too…Duck and Cover! It was 1963…and last year, at about this time of year there had been the Cuban Missle Crisis…and their moms had cried…and their dad’s had built bomb shelters…and the kids wondered how covering their little heads with their little hands would save them from…The Bomb…

Porter woke up in is king size bed. He placed his feet on the floor and gingerly walked to the rest room. He thought about the strange dream that he had experienced and reminisced about Parker and Chet… Porter laughed when he considered that in 2 weeks he wold be 63 years old…as would both Parker and Chet during 2020…

The temperature dropped to 34 degrees last night. The frost was on the pumpkin this morning…as my mother would often say! MJ and I were looking at a miniature orange pumpkin at Aldi’s market, Saturday. We chose not to purchase the fall symbol of holidays and fun…and then we decided that we needed one after all. So, I went back to Aldi’s today and found only white miniature pumpkins… Now it is on our front porch. Our church had its’ first communal gathering, in 7 months, for communion Sunday. MJ and I participated by Zoom…but we thoroughly admired the intrepid souls who were physically present in 50 degree weather with a brisk wind blowing. As you may have guessed…the service was outside with metal folding chairs in the grass that is just off of our parking lot. Pastor Kerry’s brilliant white hair was blowing in the wind!

Our 2020 pandemic will most certainly come to an end…but not in 2020! Contrary to popular social norms and political beliefs, it is not a respecter of persons or positions. The powerful and those who have no voice…receive its’ recompense…without fear or favor! We humans want to worship an idol made of flesh and bone and blood. It is much easier to find a guru or master or intellectually and emotionally manipulative leader…than to focus our faith on an unseen God… I was bragging on a minister to my aunt Guelda, many years ago, and she wrinkled her nose and pronounced the individual that I was so taken with…as just a man! In my teenage understanding and life experience I thought that she was being much to dismissive…now I know better…

Being behind the scenes is instructive. When Dorothy and the Scarecrow and the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion saw the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain…they were enlightened! I have been privy to and a witness to the some of the most small minded and manipulative and exploitive machinations of leaders, many at high levels, and I have experienced more than one leader that led their followers according to their, ‘gut instincts,’ with the ensuing results of chaos and ruin to those who faithfully followed them… It pays to slow down and examine what is being told you, in the sheep’s clothing of truth, and discover the wolf…within…

AMC Theatres is enticing me! They have sent me another email informing me that I have a five dollars toward my next movie…and a free large popcorn and a large soft drink…if I partake by the end of October. I love going to the movies! It was and is one of my primary retirement goals! I want to go to the movies…I would like to attend every other day! We have a new movie theatre in our University Mall! I find the movies both relaxing and refreshing and a boost to my morale! But I am hiding from the devastation of the Coronavirus…

My life has slowed in retirement. I used to seek the best and the brightest journey or object of benefit for my family and myself. I sought to make more money and to exceed my wildest expectations for monetary reward! I hoped for increasingly more responsive positions and responsibilities that were commensurate with my abilities… I discovered that it was a fools errand. the Bible tells us to, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteous and all these other things shall be added unto you.’

I wonder if life is not about the dream of Capitalism…that every blessed person shall be rich…and more about that, ‘Every person shall love they neighbor as thyself…’

Jonathon and I are sitting on the screened in porch enjoying the fall breeze…we noticed that it is chilly! In fact I went back into the house and retrieved a sweater! I feel a little lighter due to receiving a haircut. I skipped it last month…and the gray hair fell on to my lap like goose feathers… I have a wonderful regular barber that I had not seen almost since the first of the year. As usual, she did a wonderful job, considering what she has to work with. However her nose was outside her face mask for the entire process. I nervously secured my mask several times during the shearing! Our next door neighbors have removed all of the chain link fence that surrounds their large yard. They also have cut down several trees that were in the yard and left the stumps at varying heights. The yard has a totally different look.

It seems like we have jumped from winter to fall and forgotten spring and summer. We just put the Christmas Tree away…and is is almost time to get it back out and decorate. Each day in fall is an adventure to me. I love to watch the trees change colors. People like me are called ‘Leaf Peepers’ in Maine…according the Mainers that we spoke with in Bath. There is the exhilarating feeling of the cool and crisp air and my visions of my October 24th birthday! Yes, my birthday is as big of a deal to me as it was when I was 5 years old. I am consistently amazed that I have achieved another lap around the sun…and had another year to relish the goodness of God to me! AMC Theatres, of which I am a charter member of the Stubs Club, a savings program based on ticket purchases and concession stand delights, just sent me an email that I have a free large popcorn and a free large soft drink available to me throughout the month of October…as their gift to me for my birthday! Now you may pooh pooh this gift but it has almost. $20 value. I am sure that I will not reap this birthday present this year as I have not attended a movie at the theatre since the pandemic began.

We find ourselves as active performers in, as the Chinese say, ‘Interesting Times!’ We seek answers and yet we do not always understand how to formulate our questions. Our social distancing and wearing of face masks and increased attention to hygiene is not a short exercise…it is a new normal! We are the people that the next generation will read about in their history books. I have read about the 1917 Spanish flu pandemic and wondered how the people of that horrible time felt? How did they deal with their tremendous losses…how did they adjust their lives to their new normal? How did the German people feel when Hitler, an obscure failed artist, ascend to the ultimate leadership of the German nation. How did it feel when the Jewish people were singled out and marked for abuse and punishment and ghettos and death… Were there many Germans who knew that what Hitler was doing was wrong and who wanted to speak out against the evil that they were witnessing…but they did not want to lose their job or their home…or their lives…

Our time to walk on terra firma is brief…if we live to be 100! We are day players on the stage of humanity. Once we leave this life…the amount of money that we made will be insignificant…the size of our homes will be forgotten as they return to entropy! But, I wonder if the small act of kindness toward another of the human family will be the permanent record of our accomplishments as we walk together back to Jerusalem…

It is a lovely 64 degrees today in Southern Illinois. The pleasant temperature along with an 11 mile per hour wind says Fall has arrived! I wrestled all morning trying to delete my old iCloud account…since I have been paying for both it and the new account that I got when I changed phones. It was just $2.99 per month…but it has been an uneccessay payment for over a year. Finally I succeeded and I feel like a victor that has vanquished a worthy foe!

Jackie DeShannon wrote the popular Pop song, ‘What the World Needs Now is Love.’ The song was released in 1965…and the need for love is still with us today. I listened to a radio program on the BBC last Sunday that had poetry from an Irish poet. He read one of his poems regarding a dispute over his wife’s beloved tree, in their backyard, receiving a complaint from their next door neighbors. The neighbors said that the shade cast by the tree was causing their tomato plants to not grow. The poem discussed that once you are involved in conflict…you are enveloped by it and it is difficult to see where love can apply…

Conflict seems to be the increasing norm of our culture and political life. The scorecards are always out and the point tallies are calculated each day as to who got the better of another…who had the best one liner that diminished their opponent…who won in the workplace and who lost! Have you ever considered that you can ultimately win by loosing? On many occassions in my life I have found that the best path was to defer to those who appeared to wish me ill… Often happiness and peace is inherent in understanding another’s aggression. During my years as a manger/administrator at Southern Illinois University@ Carbondale, I found that often conflict was born out of imaginations and misunderstandings. If you can find two people that are ready to fuss and tangle and insert a mutual feeling of love into the division…compromise and reconciliation is not far behind.

All to often we develop our opinions of each other through innuendos and half-truths and internal emotions that represent our battle with ourselves…rather than our relationships with others. Patience, along with common sense, is a lost virtue. Love in conflict is the primary ingredient of a long and happy marriage. To ask two human beings to live together until death does them part…is a big ask… Those married couples that tell you that they never have a disagreement…are just liars…or aliens from another planet. To live a happy and successful life you have to inculcate love in conflict.

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I have been watching the weekly documentary entitled, The Vow, on HBO. It is a fascinating account of intelligent and upwardly mobile men and women committing their lives to a cult. When some finally break away from the cult…it is a brutish emotional ordeal for them! They testify that they do not understand how they committed to such a oppressive culture where many of the women were branded with the initials of the cult leader, who they called Vanguard…and they were referred to as slaves that had to report their every move…including being required to obtain permission from their, assigned, master…before they could consume calories and thus had to report the calories to their master… Many of the women who were in the sub-group of NXIVM, a supposed self improvement group, called, The Vow, were branded with the initials of the cult leader, Keith Raniere, and were expected to have sex with him along with being required to do anything that their master required of them. When they received a text from their master, Raniere was the Grand Master of The Vow, they had to respond within one minute. These women were looking for self improvement and empowerment as women and were amazed that they fell for just the opposite in the cult that they became a part of.

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It is difficult to see the forest when you are in the middle of the trees! Conflict breeds more conflict and destruction. We of the human family are a bit like giant sponges. We absorb what we are exposed to…and some of it sticks! I have had the habit for the majority of my life of examining relationships with colleagues and others to ensure that I am following the Hippocratic standard of, ‘First Do No Harm.’ If I have the power to influence another person…I want to influence them for their edification and enrichment…not to serve my own purposes. When someone does you a wrong…it is a singular event if you return kindness to them…

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‘Not rendering evil for evil or reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.’ I Peter 3:9. KJV

The afternoon breezes are cool and inviting. Lately I have been walking the pathway around our campus lake on the campus of Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale. I have been reminded of the efficacy of this quiet sanctuary. As I traverse the familiar path of my youth…I am lost in the welcoming embrace of nature. The ducks are swimming languidly quacking…when necessary. The deer have become accustomed to foraging for food near and next to the few human animals that they encounter. I hear a sound in the underbrush and look to find squirrels playing an ambitious game of tag! I notice the little Christmas Tree…that will be decorated with ornaments that passers by place on her…in a couple of months. I peered though the growth and the trees to see the lake in a natural window of trees…it was azure blue and placid and serene…and not in a hurry and without worries. As is my custom I snapped some photos. I noticed later when I was reviewing them…that they appeared ethereal… The photos had a somewhat dream-like quality. They were a bit like looking through cheesecloth. The tall trees grow in the years that the human family is joyful and in the years when distress and pandemic and political strife seem to have upended the flows and rhythms of life as we know them.

Norah Jones the popular singer, plays and sings, live, each Thursday afternoon on the internet. When I tuned in she was singing Amazing Grace. This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I have found myself lately thinking…what else can go wrong? Our 2020 pandemic is almost assuredly going to be our 2020/2021 pandemic…our president says that he may not accept the will of the voters of the United States…that is unless he wins… The economy for millions of people across our planet is abysmal…and will not improve for many until the Corona virus is properly addressed. I have friends with significant health challenges…and I think about them and pray for them daily. An innocent black woman was killed in Louisville, Kentucky and only one of three officers that were involved in the killing was charged with wanton endangerment due to his firing into other apartments that the young woman was not in… Confusion and obfuscation and categorical lies are the smoke that envelops our presidential election…

But….the deer and the squirrels and the ducks and the trees and the lake…tell me that God is still in control of his creation! This is my favorite time of year. It is the time of reflection on the past and hope and change for the future. It is a time when I reminisce on the many challenges that I have faced…that I thought would pull me under for the last time. I remember not having enough money to pay the bills. When health scares in my family…devastated me. Success in employment opportunities…when I feared failure… Through all of those pitfalls…a Guardian Angel has watched over me…and now I am a happy old man…looking back…

‘Amazing grace

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind but now I see

‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relived

How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first belived

Through many dangers toils and snares we have already come

Twas grace hath brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home’

Chapter 1

It was a smoky morning in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Wallace had been up late reading Lovecraft Country. As he pondered the spectacular events contained in the narrative…he thought about it’s deeper message. He and his family had been traveling to Gatlinburg for over 40 years, and the supreme joys of the Great Smoky Mountains had never grown old to him! In fact each time that he visited…seemed like the first time! Now Wallace had been invited by the Gatlinburg chamber of commerce to investigate the abduction of Barry the black bear…who was a community favorite and lived at the Great Smoky National Park Welcoming Center. Barry had been a Park Star for over 20 years with his friendly demeanor and skill in woodcrafting and collegial conversation. Barry had a craftshop set-up just outside the Center and as he was crafting wooden black bears in his image…he would stop to answer questions from the tourist as well as his local friends. You know some black bears just have a way about them that you like them the moment that you lay eyes upon them! Barry was dressed in bib-overhauls and a flannel shirt with a Tilley hat placed on his large head. Barry had purchased his hat near Destin, Florida last winter when he had vacationed there. Oh yes…black bears enjoy their vacations!

Barry had indicated to his best friend, George, a field mouse, that he had not been feeling up-to-snuff, of which Barry liberally partook of as well as his vintage pipe from the Netherlands, and that he was going to take off a day to rest and enjoy some television shows that he had been meaning to watch on Netflix. George thought that Barry’s assertion that he needed a day off seemed somewhat suspicious…as Barry had never taken a day off in the 20 years that he had worked at the Welcoming Center. Barry had taken Monday off…but had not returned Tuesday… George went to his Den and knocked at the door and suddenly he heard a rattling in the leaves…when he turned to look it was Marvin the mole. Moles are extraordinarily near-sighted and Marvin had misplaced his glasses…which he regularly did. Marvin called out, ‘Is that you, Barry?’ George replied, ‘Have you lost your glasses again, Marvin? It is me, George, and I am looking for Barry.’ As they both entered Barry’s Den they noticed that there were still live embers in his fire place and that his pipe was on it’s pipe stand and was warm to the touch… ‘He has not been gone long,’ said Marvin.

Wallace had been called in to the investigation by Frank W. Fox, who was in charge of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and thus he convinced the chamber of commerces to call on the famous Wallace T. Brooks to investigate the preculiar case of Barry the black bear. Frank made his home in Cades Cove and did not enjoy disruption of his regular routine…unless he was doing the disrupting. Franks middle initial stood for Wild and he was not proud of that name unless you upset him. Frank had studied at the University of Tennessee @ Knoxville…and that significant dose of higher education was supposed to have taken all of the wild out of his nature. However…under certain circumstances…the animal emerged. Well, there was the time that Frank had been badgered by the Tennessee Bader Club for not wearing something orange as he sat watching the Tennessee Volunteers football game. In any event that is another story…as Frank will only spin the yarn after two or three Dirty, Grey Goose, martinis!

Wallace hailed from Southern Illinois and had extended family in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a dapper fellow and prided himself on his appearance! He purchased much of his clothing from Brooks Brothers and Blue Cobalt as well as LL Bean. Wallace often said that first impressions are the most important impressions that you will ever make! Wallace had been convinced to take the case by his aunt Abigail. Abigail had visited the Great Smoky Mountain Welcoming Center on many occasions and had a crush on Barry the black bear. She told her nephew that Barry had always been so friendly to her and that she had purchased a hand carved wooden black bear from him and that the likeness was remarkable! Abigail told Wallace that she had sat and listened to Barry’s stories…for hours…while she sucked on horehound candy… Periodically Barry would relight his vintage Dutch pipe and the cherry tobacco was to die for! As the fragrant smoke curled around his head…and the wood chips flew as he carved the wooden bears with his Swiss Army Knife…she fell in love.

Wallace knew that expedient action was the watchword for this case as he had to be back in Carbondale by Thanksgiving since it was the majored family celebration of the year and also Grandpa Brody’s 100th birthday! Thus he drove to the Welcoming Center and requested that George the field mouse and Marvin the mole and Frank the Fox join him in solving the case of Barry the Missing Black Bear…

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