We support the U.N. credo for the elderly.
To add LIFE to the years that have been ADDED TO LIFE

Fish Oil Diet
An essential health requirement for everyone.

Earth Wise Farm Farm and Garden prudent diets.

Wildegeest
A search for last places, the E-book.

WILDEGEEST! A Search for Last Places

A Chin-Up book for those who have run Smack-Dab into the hard place)..

At age 86, "the man" and "bestfrienddog", the leading characters in this saga, traveled fifteen thousand miles in a half ton van with a cargo trailer converted to serve as kitchen and computer center. Their two month journey began in North Carolina, ended in Newfoundland, with an adventure-laden detour in between. Last October, just before "the man" and "bestfrienddog" reached ages ninety and ten, respectively, they completed a 6700 mile tour in the same rig, to the southern and northern outer reaches of the St. Lawrence River.

In the book, Wildegeest! A Search for Last Places, the narrator is identified only as "the man," frequently called to task by his imaginary friend, Ed, because of his "olde farte" meandering style. He is also critiqued by the spirit of Jonathan Swift, that wonderful teller of tall tales and satirist, who wrote Gulliver's Travels in a similar genre.

The man seeks to overcome loneliness by recalling past events that link with the present, and by creating imaginary tales which swirl in every direction. The book is a wild trip through time and space, loaded with meanings which challenge the reader at every twist and turn.

The book insists that joy of living is within reach of every normal, healthy person, regardless of age, and should not be regarded as the sole possession of the young. On the contrary, a properly motivated oldster is likely to find it the most rewarding part of his or her life - a time to think, a time to enjoy, a time to do, and a time to fully mature.

This is the story of one old man who refused the rocking chair, dodged the nets that Society deploys for the elderly, and set out on an odyssey that has so far given him eleven active, meaningful years. Each morning and evening he takes Theodore for walks on the beach to view the sunrise and sunset. He insists that "sunset should be as memorable as sunrise."

WILDEGEEST! As used herein, is meant to be a synonym for EXCELSIOR!, Alley-Oop!, Onward and Upward!, Upsey-Daisy!

The shades of night were falling fast! A banner with a strange device. EXCELSIOR! Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wildegeest! is a made-up name meaning upward and onward - life is not to be wasted - never give up. It is suggested as a battle cry for the "UNSEEN MAJORITY," persons in that segment of our society who have butted into the hard place - death of a partner, or other traumatic event - that suddenly destroys an established lifestyle, and leaves the person stranded like a beached whale.

Younger segments of our hard-edged society try not to see these rejects, a mind-set similar to discrimination, xenophobia, and prejudice, called "AGEISM."

Still, the author insists it is the comfortably entrenched "middle-aged group" who are most likely to need a contingency plan for dealing with terrifying, inevitable events that can suddenly isolate one of them from the rest of the uncaring world.

This book was written to show victims of AGEISM there remains a wonderful alternate universe for them to seek and explore. But the person must decide it is evil to waste a single moment of remaining years and must then undertake to build an even better life.
The author's "traumatic event" occurred when he was seventy-six. At first he depended heavily upon canine companionship and travel, but gradually realized that reliance on scenery can be unproductive. Instead, human contacts, nutrition, exercise, and writing were some of the elements that so far have added thirteen productive years to his life.

He credits Dora and Theodore for their active role in helping him survive the hard lonely places, and suggests that dogs who perform this special support role for elderly people be called, "bestfrienddogs." Much space is devoted to the importance and meaning of this special HUMAN/CANINE relationship.


Forward
This here roamin GMC wee-hickle-van has got pictures on the panels where windows oughta be, of Canada Geese in flight, captioned "WILDEGEEST", a name dreamed up by my daughter, Cindy.
Introduction
Pure chance left the last empty seat beside her on a Greyhound bus about to leave New York City. It was midnight of election day, Truman's victory in doubt. In Boston, she sent her mother a postcard, "Harry and I arrived safely," and then traveled to Concord, NH, to visit an aunt.
Chapter 1
WHOA! Gentle Cyber-Surfer, there's a carefully planned sequence to what follows, intended to ease you gently, logically into accounts of mind-blowing experiences, so sneak-a-peek at pictures before context is an absolute no-no. You might decide to drop out, and with the shortage of people who can read, we can't allow that, can we?
Chapter 2
Dora was eight when her favorite person vanished. Her grief could not be measured in human terms, but it was apparent she had suffered a cruel blow. How much did Dora understand about the nuclear family, of which she had been a part, and that it had imploded when the nucleus disappeared.
Chapter 3
How can the man imagine Ed as being so irascible, perturbable, prickly, eruptive, fractious, huffish, cantankerous and contentious, when much of Ed came from the man's close friend Larry, a bright, perceptive, gentle, considerate person. He suffered greatly as a result of military service in World War I.
Chapter 4
The man: "Good morning, Donnie, I guess I'm the only human who hasn't passed your obedience training course, so here I am, five years later, willing to try again to polish up the dog/man best friend relationship."
Chapter 5
"There is one essential point wherein a political liar differs from others of the faculty, that he ought to have but a short memory, which is necessary according to the various occasions he meets with every hour of differing...
Chapter 6
"Lawsy mercy me," sighs Ed. "That Chapter 5 leaves me deeply concerned about the man's sanity. It's bad enough that he imagines me, but when he talks to a horseradish, and flirts with a mother-of-vinegar, I begin to wonder."
Chapter 7
"Seems like th' olde farte hath dotardly slipt moorings and is drugging anchor onto a windw'rd shore," opines Ed. "A chapter ago he promised details on how to raise food to titillate a dawg's and imaginary people's appetites.
Chapter 8
After the 2130 hour CBC-Radio news there is an excellent program called "Ideas," which features some outstanding Canadian in person, or by means of knowledgeable commentary. Judged in toto, these people seem to represent the best that
Chapter 9
"How now, worthy Jonathan?" complains the man. "Here I was, ready, primed, and loaded with a barrel of platitudes, conventional wisdom, cliches, bromides, stereotypes, truisms, lieu communis (F) and locus commis (L), lauding the meaning and
Chapter 10
"A 'lifeline' for this 'search and rescue mission' must be designed to meet the special requirements of each individual," says the man. "The best kind is the one generated by your own psychic apparatus, without the help of others."
Chapter 11
"at-teN-----SHUN! OK YOUSE GUYS, drop yer cocks, put on your socks."shouts Sarge, "Formation ten minutes, rifles, field packs. Freezing? Well I got somepin'ill warm you up. But, ferget wot I larned you, it'ill shore as hell cool you."
Chapter 12
"What caused you to end up in Newfoundland?" That's a question the old-old man is frequently asked.
Epilogue
Linkages have been a frequent part of the Wildegeest! story. This is a special one, a veritable icing on the cake.