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Anyone who knows Bob Fisher must be shocked to hear of this misfortune. Undoubtedly the first time something like this has happened to him! Chris Hobbs Shawnee, KS [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert Fisher" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 5:28 PM Subject: Good Samaritan experience at Schell Osage CA > Gary Johnson and I were the beneficiaries of aid from a Good Samaritan on > Wednesday afternoon. In retrospect, the situation from which he rescued us > could have had very serious -- possibly fatal -- consequences for me. > > We were at the extreme west end of the Schell Osage CA. There is a parking > lot there, which adjoins a field on the other side of which I have > sometimes heard Sedge Wrens at this time of year. The field was bare of > vegetation Wednesday. Tire tracks led along the west side of it on what > appeared to be firm ground. There was no sign prohibiting access. We drove > in along the tire tracks without depressing the ground significantly. We > assumed that the rest of the field was also firm ground. Instead of > backing out, we turned around by driving forward into the field, then > turning. The maneuver worked fine for a while. We got completely turned > around and began to head out. Then we got stuck. > > Although we had 4-wheel drive, it is useless when all four wheels are > spinning. We soon began to dig ourselves in. We definitely were hopelessly > stuck. > > Gary called AARP on his cell phone. AARP evidently has a motorist service. > Whoever answered the phone said she could do nothing without the names of > intersecting streets or a GPS coordinate. All I knew was that we had come > in from the west on County RA (which stands for "Refuge Access."). I knew > that Schell Osage CA is partly in Vernon County and partly in St. Clair > County. I thought we were probably in Vernon County, but I wasn't sure. We > had no idea how to give the AARP lady the kind of directions upon which > she was insisting. > > At this point, Gary asked me, "How far are we from the headquarters?" > > "About a mile," I replied. We later learned it was about three miles. My > cardiologist has advised that I not walk significant distances outside > unless the temperature is above forty degrees and below eighty degrees. It > was 2:00 p.m. and in the nineties. The road was unshaded. Nevertheless, I > grabbed a plastic bottle with about 3 ounces of water in it, and we > started out. > > Gary went ahead, and I followed at my usual slow pace. After he had gone > about a quarter of a mile, I noticed a red pickup truck coming toward us. > Gary waved. The truck stopped and appeared to be turning around to leave. > Gary kept waving, as did I from the greater distance. Finally, the truck > came toward us. > > The driver, dressed in dark blue overalls, was Roy Schlud, a retired > Claycomo auto worker, who lives in Schell City and runs 25 head of cattle > on some acreage that he owns. He drove us to the headquarters. > > We arrived at the headquarters just as a young MDC employee was also > arriving on a tractor. I said, "Just what we need to pull us out!" > > "We're no allowed to pull anyone out," the young man replied. " It's a > safety issue. You're on your own." (For those who are familiar with the > parable of the Good Samaritan, the AARP representative and MDC employee > played the roles of the Priest and the Levite in this story. As to the > safety issue, MDC has evidently determined that it is safer to let dumb > birders like me collapse in the hot sun than it is to pull their vehicles > out of the mud). > > We considered throwing ourselves on the mercy of the refuge manager, but > Roy said it would be futile. "He'll just give you a ticket," Roy advised. > "You'd best come home with me, and we'll find someone to pull you out." > > Roy then drove us to his home in Schell City, and his wife gave each of us > tall glasses of ice water. I called AAA, and they put us in touch with > wrecker in Nevada. He said he had someone else to pull out first, but he'd > be along in about an hour. > > Roy continued to offer us his hospitality. He showed us his Blue and Gold > Macaw and his five dogs. He told us about his 22 cows and three bulls and > that he was going to sell two of the bulls because the calves they sired > were so large he needed to pay the vet to deliver them. He described the > two ponds on his acreage, which he has stocked with fish. We also learned > why he was at Schell Osage CA that afternoon. Some years ago, some hogs > had escaped near the refuge and become feral. Roy was looking for signs of > them. Apparently, it is lawful to shoot the hogs at any time of year, and > folks like Roy have been keeping the wild population down by hunting them. > Eventually, it got to be about 3:30 p.m.; and I had not eaten more than a > few nuts and raisins since breakfast. Roy drove us to a place in Schell > City, where I got a sandwich. Then he took us back to his home again. > > Finally, the tow truck arrived at downtown Schell City (if it can be > called that) and phoned. Roy drove us to meet him. He then drove us back > to Schell-Osage CA and led the tow truck to the parking lot where are car > was mired. The tow truck driver wisely refused to leave the parking area > with his tow truck. Therefore, he attempted to run a cable from his truck > to our car. The cable would not reach. Pretty soon, there was Roy, getting > chains out of his truck. The tow truck also had chains, which were > attached to the cable, then to the car. Finally, the tow truck pulled us > out. There was no way we would have been extracted without a tow truck! > > Thinking back on the experience, had Roy not come along and offered to > help it could have been very serious for me. I not only have a heart > condition but my mobility is considerably hampered by Post Polio Syndrome. > I can no longer walk the whole bicycle loop at Weston Bend. Indeed, when I > walked to the yellow bench (a little less than a mile) and back during > morning hours this May, I was totally exhausted by the time I made it back > to my car. And that was on a day when the temperature was in the > seventies; the path was mostly shaded; I was well fed beforehand, and I > had plenty of water with me. I shudder to think what might have happened > had I tried to walk three miles in the sun when the temperature was in the > nineties; I had only 3 ounces of water and I had not eaten since > breakfast! Nor would Gary have been there to tell me to sit in the shade > until he brought help. He went on ahead thinking he had only a mile to go. > It would have been at least two hours before he might have returned with > help. And what if the refuge manager had told him to get a tow truck from > Nevada? The more I think about it, the more I shudder. > > I told Roy that after he died, if St. Peter gave him any trouble, he > should tell him what he did for us! > > (BTW, if you have been thinking how dumb we are as you read the foregoing, > please be assured that the same thought has already occurred to both of us > many times.) > > There is a saying that God is kind to drunks and little children. I can > attest that He is also kind to some dumb birders, and He sometimes uses > angels like Roy Schlud to do it. > > Bob Fisher > Independence, Missouri > [log in to unmask] > __________________________________________________ > ########################################################### > * Audubon Society of Missouri's * > * Wild Bird Discussion Forum * > *---------------------------------------------------------* > * To subscribe or unsubscribe, click here: * > * https://po.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mobirds-l&A=1 * > *---------------------------------------------------------* > * To access the list archives, click here: * > * http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html * > * * > * To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web * > * Site: http://mobirds.org * > ########################################################### > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: > 269.11.4/936 - Release Date: 8/4/2007 2:42 PM > > __________________________________________________ ########################################################### * Audubon Society of Missouri's * * Wild Bird Discussion Forum * *---------------------------------------------------------* * To subscribe or unsubscribe, click here: * * https://po.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mobirds-l&A=1 * *---------------------------------------------------------* * To access the list archives, click here: * * http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html * * * * To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web * * Site: http://mobirds.org * ###########################################################