Grizzly echos . . .
In the not so long ago,
.. in a corner of Wallowa county,
.... twixt the flow of Prairie Creek
...... and the alkali flat that turned into Enterprise.
A long tall dude
.. sometimes known as "factoid Ron...,"
.... built from the ground up, his own house of business,
...... an award-winning sausage factory.
Blue Willow Sausage
.. became notoriously well patronized
.... and even undertook to serve lunches,
...... sprawling across the porch and front lawn.
In one of Rons' fits of enthusiasm,
.. he undertook to establish an aspen stand
.... along the trickle in his front lawn,
..... to provide shade to his overflow crowds.
Low lying along a soggy trickle,
.. as Ron dug impressive planting holes,
.... he unearthed an intrigueing artifact...
...... a single soggy grizzly bear claw . . .
A single large straight claw
.. that started curling as it dried in open air.
.... Ron recognizing it's self-destruction,
...... re-immersed said mystery claw.
Ahhh but the mystery...
.. such a single disintegrating bit of history posed
.... for neither Ron nor most folks
...... were able to recognize said artifact.
Alas... Ron finally found
.. an itinerant wildlife biologist
.... with a penchant for artifacts and
...... factoids of bears, amongst other things.
Said claw, nearly intact,
.. straight and blond, suitable
.... for digging roots, chipmunks and squirrels,
...... far larger than a recurved black bear claw.
Ron's itinerant sketched said claw,
.. without exposing it to the drying air,
.... and set about carving a simulcrum
...... of local curl-leaf mountain mahogany.
A suitable medium
.. for a treasured artifact,
..... in memorium of wandering great bear,
...... at what is now known as TG's.
--r.anderson 8Feb2011
