Debates And Grouse Hunting: Part 8

It’s my blog and my imagination and I can have my respected elder step out of the forest. So, there he was. His eyes twinkled. He always had a smile. He was so much older than me. Wiser, and a wise ass.

“You look troubled.”

“I watched the debate.”

“That was dumb.”

“I know. Now I’m worried. I’m starting to wonder how many American adults have to stop being adults before…”

“Before what?”

“Before I can’t prepare for Pompeii and I have to prepare for Rome. Hell, what can a guy do about the fall of Rome? That pretty much screwed everyone!”

He smiled, breathing in the forest smells. We both love nature.

“How’s the hunting?” He asked.

“Not bad.” I paused. “Actually, I haven’t seen a grouse… or anything else edible. I was hoping for grouse dinner. I think I’ll be eating pizza.” Now I was smiling too.

“And that’s not bad?”

“Nah, pizza’s OK.”

Just then I saw movement in the underbrush. A grouse? I brought my shotgun up slowly. My elder, there in spirit, watched. Smiling.

It wasn’t a grouse. It was a squirrel. I really wanted a grouse.

“What you want isn’t what’s here. But the squirrel is here.” He said.

It seemed so obvious. Take what the world provides, don’t expect it to provide what you demand. Squirrels taste ok. I drew a bead on the furry little critter. It was behind a bush. I couldn’t get a good shot. I’d have to wait until he was in the clear. The squirrel was working bit by bit toward a path. He was going to cross it.

Partially blocking the path was a big fallen log. It had fallen across the path and someone had cut a foot-wide cookie out of the log and rolled it aside. Wide enough for walking but not for an ATV. That’s the way I’d walked just an hour ago. Just above the log, a big tree limb jutted out into the cleared path. Someone had truncated it with a chainsaw. On the other side of the path was an adjacent limb. A two-foot leap or less. No problem for a squirrel. The ends of both limbs were clear of brush.

“You know what’ll happen next?”

“Yep, he’s going to go up that limb, hop across to the other limb, and then into the brush on the other side of the path. I’ll nail him when he’s on that limb. I’ll have a clear view.”

Just like I expected, the squirrel hopped on the limb. He started scampering into the clear view. I tensed.

Then the little bastard outsmarted me! He dropped to the ground, behind the log. I saw a flash of tail as he zipped across the gap in the log but there was no time to aim, and then he was behind the log again. Damn!

“You don’t know what is going to happen next.”

“Yeah, that little guy was slick.” I clicked the safety on and smiled. That’s hunting for ya. It’s full of surprises.

We both enjoyed the breeze. I watched in case the squirrel came back. He didn’t.

“You were worried about Rome?”

“Yeah, how do you adapt to the total collapse of an entire civilization? I mean I can stay away from Pompeii on the edge of Vesuvius. I can stay away from certain parts of Chicago on a Saturday night. But I can’t stay away from a people who no longer… wish… to be what they’ve been.”

“An age-old conundrum. Two choices and both are unpleasant.”

I swigged some water. The recent frost had killed the mosquitoes. It was a great day to be hunting. “Precisely.”

“It was a pretty ugly thing. The Visigoths burned Rome and the ‘Eternal City’ was no more. Civilization collapsed clear to Brittany. Western Rome was gone.”

“Yeah, it led to the dark ages and…”

Western Rome collapsed. Dredging through my pointy head I remembered that even though Western Rome went tits up, Eastern Rome carried on. It was the Eastern Roman Empire. Then it was called the Byzantine Empire. It held on until the Ottomans. It lasted clear to something like 1453. Depending on how you count, it lasted damn near a thousand years longer than the Roman Empire itself.

People in Rome saw their world end but Constantinople held on. It was in a strategic location. Hard to crush. With some caveats, they kept on being rich and stable; a hub of civilization. They had writing and aqueducts and trade and all that shit.

“There was another option.” It came to me like a revelation.

“You despair because people present situations where no choice works. Don’t let that happen.”

“I got totally rooked into it didn’t I?”

“I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out yourself. Then again, the squirrel had two options and figured it out. You only saw one.”

Damn, that’s why he’s a respected elder. Smart as a whip. A long life of experience. He was probably better at shooting grouse too.

“I was.” He read my mind. “But we both know it’s not about grouse. You can buy chicken at the store any time you want.”

“Or pizza.” I grinned.

He grinned too. And then the moment was gone. I was alone in the forest, as I had always been.

I provide the moment to you, for whatever worth it may have. When the press is lying to you and you begin to wonder if Americans can (or even want to) maintain America, here’s what you need to know:

“What you want isn’t what’s here. But the squirrel is here.”

“You don’t know what is going to happen next.”

“You despair because people present situations where no choice works. Don’t let that happen.”

That’s all you need to know. Now go for a hike and look at the pretty trees.

A.C.