From: snuhwolf@netscape.net   
      
   Wanderer wrote:   
   > "§ñühwö£f"  wrote in message news:jsd0lt$ns1$1@dont-email.me...   
   >>   
   >> Wanderer wrote:   
   >> > That's actually a good story, Snuh.  You should've posted it in the   
   >> > fur.stories section, but oh well...   
   >> >   
   >> Well thanks :) Not familiar with that forum/group...but since you   
   >> liked it   
   >> heres another...   
   >   
   > It's part of the alt.fur hierarchy on Critternet.  Not a bad story this   
   > time   
   > either, but it feels a bit rushed... especially once you get past the   
   > halfway point and the spelling goes to pieces.  A few minor problems and   
   > corrections as I proofread:   
   >   
   Well I bang these out in about half an hour or so. To me its more   
   important to "get it down" than to over think it. I have to shut off my   
   internal critic which is downright *abusive* just to make it happen. If   
   had an editor, they could clean it up for me afterwards. But until then   
   the important bit is just churning out the story :)   
      
      
   >>   
   >> -Star Party-   
   >>   
   >> I had decided to take a little camping trip to the Las Cienegas ranch to   
   >> enjoy the wonderful spring temps in the desert. I got to the park, which   
   >> had been purchased by  the Bureau of Land Management and set aside as a   
   >> state-managed park.   
   >   
   > Las Cienegas is a National Conservation Area, so it's run by the Bureau of   
   > Land Management (BLM), a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior.   
   >   
   I'm intimately familiar with the area since its about 30 miles from my   
   old hometown :)   
      
   >> Although it was also a historic working cattle ranch. There are a variety   
   >> of rather unique habitats that set it aside from the rest of southern   
   >> Arizona. For one thing; marshlands.   
   >> Driving to a ridge near the Winchester mountains, I found a nice little   
   >> primitive campsite and set up my tent. The sun was setting and I decided   
   >> to have a good run as wolf among the chaparral down back the way I'd   
   >> driven which would lead me to La Cienega creek. The creek area isn't your   
   >> typical mesquite bosque with giant old mesquite trees and a usually dry   
   >> riverbed. The creek is a permanent source of water flowing south to north   
   >> all the way through the park. Just on the other side of the creek, to the   
   >> west, was an area favored by groups who enjoyed the respite from the   
   >> light   
   >> pollution of Tucson. I noticed a couple of mini-vans parked in the   
   >> clearing so I sat on my haunches and watched them for a bit. The people   
   >> were milling about with red-lensed flashlights and star charts.   
   >> Occasionally one would point at an area of the sky and suggest that as a   
   >> starting point for their night's astronomical explorations.   
   >> Soon, three more mini-vans had arrived and more people began to set up   
   >> their various telescopes. Most were using computer-controlled Newtonian   
   >> reflectors, but there were a few refractors as well.   
   >> I crossed the creek and trotted up behind the wagon-train like circle of   
   >> vehicles. Hiding in the shadows, I heard them talk about their   
   >> astronomical targets for the evening.   
   >>   
   >> "We've only got an hour before the moon rises and spoils everything",   
   >> said   
   >> a rather chubby nerd who smelled of cheese puffs.   
   >>   
   >> "Oh I know, but it's only going to be a first quarter disk, so we can   
   >> just   
   >> turn the scopes towards the west for a while", said a girl with straight   
   >> lank hair, smelling like she'd lost her deodorant.   
   >>   
   >> I amused myself watching various of the desert insects bumble about   
   >> hunting for food. If the nerd-herd had known how many tarantulas and   
   >> scorpions were walking around they might have left. As it was, whenever   
   >> one of the fluorescent to me, scorpions got too close I'd flick it away.   
   >   
   > Um, scorpions fluoresce in black light -- UV.  Unless you're a were-bug, a   
   > were-chicken or a were-reindeer, you can't see UV.   
   >   
   I'd argue the point that "suspension of disbelief" is critical to   
   enjoying my stories :)   
   I did consider your point at the time I was writing though and since my   
   internal critic was in his straight jacket; forged ahead :)   
      
      
   >> A coyote walked up and stole a ham-like sandwich from an open cooler left   
   >> unattended behind one of the mini-vans. I chuckled silently to myself and   
   >> watched amusedly as the nerds tried to find m-109 in Ursa Major.   
   >   
   > Sorry, but I took Astronomy in college.  That's M109, M for Messier.  Yes,   
   > even for the group of galaxies instead of the single galaxy.   
   >   
   I used to go to these "star parties". But your point is taken.   
      
   >> With the help of the ones using the computer-controlled scopes, soon the   
   >> whole group were gazing contentedly at the spiral galaxy.   
   >> I looked towards the east and noticed the first shine from the moon over   
   >> the mountains. In a few more minutes, the star partiers had noticed it   
   >> too.   
   >>   
   >> Cheesy Puff boy looked upset; "Dammit, there's the moon. Why's it always   
   >> have to spoil a night's viewing?"   
   >>   
   >> "Well, we could always look at that instead", said the girl with the   
   >> heady   
   >> aroma.   
   >>   
   >> "Why bother? It's not like there's anything special about it."   
   >>   
   >> Of course I was surprised by Cheesy Puff's statement and couldn't abide   
   >> it. So I changed back and then walked up to discuss the moon with him.   
   >> Perhaps I could persuade him to see things differently?   
   >   
   > Clothing?  They could remember it for werewolf stories in ancient Rome, you   
   > should be able to remember it here.   
   >   
   Well....maybe I was wearing spandex shorts? I can fix it in the re-write ;)   
      
      
   >>   
   >> "How can you say it's not special? There must be some reason it's been in   
   >> so many poems. Plus we sent men there to walk on it." I smiled.   
   >>   
   >> He jumped a bit and probably figured I had come with one of the other   
   >> mini-van loads of sky watchers, as he didn't seem concerned that he   
   >> didn't   
   >> know me.   
   >>   
   >> "But it's been mapped and measured. We have a laser reflector and other   
   >> bits of early space exploration there. I'm not impressed", he sneered.   
   >>   
   >> I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it, "There's always more to be   
   >> discovered if you keep your mind open to new possibilities", I grinned.   
   >>   
   >> He looked a bit afraid, not that I wasn't used to that, and squirmed out   
   >> of my grasp. "Ow! Don't pinch, geeze!"   
   >>   
   >> I mumbled my apologies and strolled around casually chatting with the   
   >> nerds and gazing through various telescopes for a few more minutes.   
   >> Growing bored of them I decided to wander off and go chase some javelina.   
   >> As soon as I changed I smelled it on my paw; blood. It appeared that I'd   
   >> managed to scratch Cheesy Puff and draw a tiny bit of blood.   
   >>   
   >> Well, maybe now he'd have a better appreciation for the moon.   
   >>   
   >   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)