....back on the Trail with John Henry and Jack Long.....

                    After over an hour digging and yankin' at Grover, who was buried up to his neck by some Comanches who didn't care for him & Edmond Pierce passing though their land...would of taken a lot less time if this big old Negro was a bit smaller. Then out of the blue he came up with his 10 inch Bowie Knife,  that he some how concealed from those Indians. Henry was just a soon get down the trail, but now with Grover free we had an extra hand when we found some work. Grover didn't have much to say on the subject, since this was the second time we saved his big Black Ass.....

        We packed up the next day and headed South, our original route before we got distracted with Grover. But none the less we were still in good shape. Now coming to a river bed to water the horses, out of the blue Grover declares he has to go after Pierce so that he can get the money and some important belongings that he got away with. This set me back a bit, along with Henry coming up quick behind him ready to put him face down with the fishes. I got Henry calmed down, along with myself who was wondering how he thought it all right to leave on his own, when we just agreed that he would stay on until the next job was done. 
       Grover was no dummy, even along with his mishaps that weren't all together his fault. It just might of been our fault for getting him out of those jams. But all things considered you couldn't help liking the guy, after all his six foot six inch frame that took up a large door way, I gave him a chance to explain why we should let him out of our sights, which to tell ya the truth, he could be a mile down the trail and we could still see him. 
      Well he made us a counter offer. If we came with him, he could make it worth our trouble, not liking to use that term right here, but how much 'trouble' could we get into with a guy as big as Horse standing up.
       He preceded to explain the reason that he even wondered why he got back with Pierce. When we got him out of that jam in that one horse town of Cody Wyoming. He said he headed back east, but not to get in touch with Pierce, but to make sure his family was all right, with the word of some War might take place, mostly in the South. He said he was about half way there, when he came upon a Wagon Train, heading West with the hoard of good intentioned Easterners trying to fine a new life.
       Of course he told us he had no intentions of hooking up with them, until he got to the last wagon, and who should he have seen but Mr. Edmond Pierce himself! He couldn't believe his eyes! 
       After settling in for the night , Piece had a chance to explain to Grover how he decided to join this set of Wagons on their next trip West. He told them that the Ship building business hadn't gone on to his expectations, and when another wealthy Englishman offered to buy the business. He took that as a sign for new adventures, with no knowledge of course of how the Shipping business would flourish in the coming years.
        
       Now Pierce was telling Grover of the Idea that Gold had been discovered out West, and that there was still time to get in on the spoils. He offered Grover a chance in a life time to go with him, and be not just his protection, but would split everything fifty-fifty, no matter who discovered it first.
      Pierce enticed him with  a large nugget that the man that bought his business and gave to him as part payment.The man told him that there was much more to be had, And he had gotten enough to come back and start something that he always has loved growing up on the coast of England.
       Edmond continued to explain to Grover that they could be rich, and told him he would give him an advance worthy of his help. Grover said he would sleep on it, and let him know in the morning.
      The next morning came and the rest is the fact  that he took his offer, and also taking that handsome advance that Pierce convinced him that he would keep it safe. That was the last time that Grover had laid his eyes on such a large  amount of money, and now wants us to go with him to get back what is rightfully his! 

      I looked right at him straight in the eyes, Grover nodded, I did back to him, and then at Henry to get an O.K. Henry just dropped his head, shook it once then mumbled something like  'oh, what the Hell' and turn and mounted Butter Cup, started out, turned around and yelled back 'well are ya coming or not...?!!'

     All in all, it didn't sound like such a bad deal since we were looking for work as well...and how much trouble could we get into going West with the three of us well seasoned to trouble as it were.....

     





 
       
      

...Back on the Trail out West with Henry & Jack, up to their neck with Grover...and more...

   

          I should clarify that as Grover being up to his neck, buried in the sand from some Comanche's that didn't take to him or his boss, Edmond Pierce , who were traveling to California, from Boston where Pierce owned a ship building company. Grover, a quite large black man, worked for him, but left on his own to discover on his own what the West might bring him since the south was out of the question. Jack and Henry had saved him once before from a dubious situation in a small town they stumbled upon while making their way back to Colorado for more work. Now they find him in another situation, brought on by him hooking back up with Pierce on his quest for fortune and fame. 
      They got as far as a little North of Colorado, in the foothills of Wyoming when they were attacked by a tribe of Comanche's, taking all their supplies and then burying Grover up to his neck, since they have never seen such a Black man, and were superstitious and didn't think it wise to kill him quickly. Edmond Pierce, for some reason was able to escape through their confusion with dealing with Grover.

      Coming through the thicket, trying to find a good place to camp for the night, Henry and I spotted something we never expected to ever see in our lifetimes. there was a head in the ground! Coming closer we could see it was Grover! We had last seen him after we were able to get him away from what could have been a terrible  mess between him and  angry mob. The next day we headed South, and at a split in the trail, Grover bid us farewell, saying he was heading back East. 
      Now here we are saving his ass again, which certainly would have ended in his death. I began digging around his neck slowly at first, then thought better to go a little faster just to make sure he'd be able to live through this. Henry took care of the horse's, and began to get started making camp. Soon he had some coffee, and settled in on an old stump to watch the progress with me and Grover. I didn't say any thing, knowing he just doesn't like to get envoled  in any other situations that don't directly concern him. I was fine with that even if Grover found it particularly peculiar.
      
     I think it brought him back to when he and his family were making the trip out here, and the time they got to the Mississippi where they had made camp and Henry went out for some food and returned with a young girl, who he had just saved from a horrible encounter with four Mountain men. They had just killed her young husband, when Henry spotted them in the firelight. Henry waited his chance when they got separated, he then eliminated the problem, which led him no choice but to bring the girl back with him to camp. His parents surprised at his return with what was suppose to be a hunt for food, instead arrives with her and some food from what she and her husband had.
    The next day with all of what happened, behind them, and a fresh start to go upstream to the Barge that would take them across the River and start the journey West.

       Once they got to the other side, everything seemed like it was back to normal, under the circumstances. The girl was named Lilly, and was from Connecticut. Her and her husband both dreamed of a better life out West, after hearing about it from families that had relatives that made the trip. They were the lucky ones, so it didn't sound so bad when they told of the open Prairies, just begging to have a large ranch built there, for a large family and all the livestock that you could handle.
      Lilly soon fit in helping out and what had happened soon became a distant memory. Henry was quite content with their new 'Family'. He was about the same age as Lilly, so they got along well.  
      It wasn't too long before they came upon the Great Plains Desert. They had to make the choice of when and who should cross it. At times only part of the Party would go, but that was when it was with a Wagon Train. This was as far as Henry's father made it when he first went out to scout what the journey would entail. They made camp, good enough for a long stay, hoping for a sign to lead them further. It came the next day, when a small Wagon Train pulled up to their camp, and asked....'How far ya all going..?'


      We'll see next time how far and how well they'll make it over the roughest part of their trip and find out what is in store for them.


 
      

....Why Lizards, and how there became part of my Life...

                
         I've been here in Florida now for the past ten years, and it still amazes me of how some things are so different here. The obvious of course is the weather, then there's the flat landscape& the roads that crisscross it since it's so much easier to do with this type of landscape. 
       Why then is it so hard to get a Rail System build on this near perfect setting....? Also why is there not a system in place, where solar energy is the dominate source  ALL the electricity in this..the 'Sunshine State'...?!  Well I think we all know the answer to that one. But I'm not here to discuss politics, not even after the disastrous results of this last election, where anything over 50% is not the majority  and we have to have more than 60% to win over the amendment. Again I'm not here to discuss politics, especially when I haven't registers yet...as an Independent. Surely not a Republican .  So no I didn't Vote, but would have been even more pissed off if I did..so I can't win for trying. 
        I just finished an article that went over the fact that 'things' happen for a reason, good or bad, so I'm going to suggest that not only Florida will come out of this mess, someday...but those Fat-cat Republicans will meet their justified ends.

      Now as I was saying before I got rudely interrupted by Politics, I was going to mention how it came to be the title of my blog..watchinglizardsonthewall.blogspot.com  Well before I moved here I lived at a house where I had my own room & access to the outer back porch. I had my desk set up facing the brick wall that was the surface for the outside wall of the house. Well before I knew it there were these friendly little Lizards crawling all over it and around the whole surrounding area. It gave me quite pause to stop and observe them in their natural habitat. It also gave me the time to think things over in my head. Some just silly thoughts and some serious revelations......I decided to try and capture both in writing them down..! 
       ........... A blog was born.........
  
     This is an article I found in the paper today, and thought I should share it with everyone so that maybe it would help in understanding my role here in my new home.....then again I know most of you know me well enough to understand how I got a little more.......  'Off the Wall'.................

        Faced with competition from an invading species, a type of Lizards in Florida took just 20 generations...about 15 years...to evolve feet better to climb trees, a new studies says.
     Biologists have long believed that evolution could occur rapidly among some species facing sudden, intense competition. In 1995, as part of an unrelated study, researchers introduced a foreign species of brown anole Lizards to three islands off the coast of Florida that were already green anole Lizards. Were know to move to higher perches after an invasion of brown ones.
     To test the rapid-evolution theory, researchers returned to the island 15 years later and examined the feet of the green Lizards......which had as predicted, relocated to higher perches. they had found that the Lizards had developed larger and stickier toe pads, a characteristic not shared by green Lizards on nearby island that had not been populated with brown Lizards.
       The ability to evolve rapidly could be a boon to species threatened with climate change, suggested the researchers, who published their study in the journal 'Science'. Other species that have shown an ability to do so include Darwin's finches in the Galapagos islands, which evolved smaller beaks just 22 years after the arrival of a competitive species, according to a Princeton study from 2006.
                        ..article by Douglas Quenqua,  New York Times...