Snakes and Snails and Puppydog Tails by Nexxie CONCLUSION Hoping it would provide a way out of the cave, Johnny ducked his head to enter the next passageway, shining his light on the floor ahead.  J.R. followed him and then Chris with Roy, holding J.R.'s flashlight, bringing up the rear.  The tunnel gradually grew smaller and Johnny could distinguish a slight breeze...which meant a possible way out.  He directed his thoughts toward figuring out how to traverse that vertical shaft if this tunnel didn't lead to an exit...or if the hole that let the breeze in was too small to let them out. The passageway grew wider ahead and seemed to end in a large cavern with a small opening at the back.  The opening was in the side of the wall about halfway up, and looked to be both accessible and large enough for them to enter. They entered the cavern  walking carefully on the rough surface as they crossed the large open space.  Several broken ledges made an uneven stairway to the opening in the opposite wall and the four men cautiously picked their way over fallen rock to begin the ascent. The opening proved to be the entrance to a low tunnel.  Chris, who didn't care for small dark places, became agitated as the walls seemed to close in.  The passageway seemed to shrink in size with each step, and soon they were on all fours, crawling toward the source of the breeze that teased them with visions of fresh air and sunlight. It's gonna take a piece of incredible luck for us not to have to backtrack all the way out, Johnny thought.  And I still don't know how to get past that vertical shaft. After a few minutes of crawling on the bumpy debris strewn floor of the tunnel, the ceiling rose enough for them to stand, but the walls narrowed alarmingly.  Once again it appeared to be a possible dead end for the foursome.  Johnny however, was determined to press onward as long as they could. Manuevering sideways to get past a jutting shelf in the wall, he began to have hope.  Once again a cool breeze stroked his face accompanied by the sound of rushing water, and then a filtered light penetrated from somewhere up ahead. The passageway turned abruptly to the left and then opened out onto a ledge. Just below a fall of water, fed by an underground stream that passed beneath them from deeper in the cave, cascaded twenty feet or so into a small pool. ************* Tammy Payne's house was noisy, messy and lots of fun, Jennifer decided.  Tammy's parents were a little flaky, but they let Tammy do whatever she wanted...pretty much.  Right now, she was recounting her latest date with Fred, a college boy home for the summer.  Tammy's parents didn't think he was too old; they liked Fred just fine. "Jen, are you paying attention?"  They were sitting companionably in Tammy's room that looked like it hadn't been straightened for months.  Clothes and magazines littered the rug and various stuffed animals peeked out from under the bed. "Yeah, Tam, but well, I'm just kind of down at the moment."  Jennifer gazed out the window from her seat on the old toy chest which was cleared moments ago by a sweep of Tam's hand, the clutter now resting in a loose pile on the floor. "Your mom again?  What did she do now?"  Tammy's mother seldom lectured her on anything and the other girl felt sorry for Jennifer DeSoto with her straitlaced parents. "She told me I can't ever go out with...with this guy I like."  Jennifer so far had kept her fixation on J.R. strictly to herself.  She didn't feel like undergoing the teasing her other friends received about their boyfriends.  Besides, it looked like he wasn't going to be her boyfriend at this rate. "Wow!  That sounds pretty final.  Who is this guy?  Why haven't you mentioned him before?  Are you holding out, Jen DeSoto?  Give, girl, give!"  Tammy leaned forward in antipation.  Jennifer was always the perfect goody two-shoes, only going out with boys her parents approved of and only to places where there were chaperones.  The thought that she had fallen for somebody unsuitable was really news. "Nobody...just a guy."  Jennifer regretted mentioning her dilemma as soon as the words left her mouth.  Now Tammy would spread the gossip all over the school and she would be teased mercilessly until she told. "You can't start something like that and just stop.  Be fair, Jen, I tell you EVERYTHING."  Tammy forced her mouth into a pathetic pout. Yeah, she thought, you tell everybody EVERYTHING, whether you should or not.  "Tammy, I don't want to tell anybody.  If my dad found out, or Chris, they would kill him...I mean me.  They would kill me." Oh, great, like she's gonna forget that slip.  "It's one of Chris' friends!" Tammy guessed.  "You're in love with an older guy.  Are you meeting him secretly?" "Geez! Tam, I'm not meeting him at all, and it isn't one of Chris' friends...Chris can't stand him," Jen admitted. "But he is older, right?"  Tammy noticed Jennifer had not corrected her on that score.  "How did you meet him?  Did he graduate with Chris?  How much older is he?" Jennifer decided to tell a little bit, enough to satisfy Tammy's curiosity without revealing details. "He's a couple years older.  No, he didn't graduate with Chris, and I'm not going to tell where I met him."  She smiled.  She would tell Tammy more, but if she seemed to be answering Tammy's questions instead of volunteering information, Tammy would believed she had wormed the answers out of her friend. "Well, what does he look like?  Is he rich?  What kind of car does he drive?  Where does he live?"  Tammy was on a roll. "Hmm, let's see.  He's over six feet tall, has dark hair, brown eyes and he's real serious.  No, he isn't rich.  He doesn't have a car, and he lives north of here, not in Carson."  Jennifer could see the wheels turning in Tammy's mind as she mentally crossed off names of all the guys she could rule out. "No car?"  Tammy picked up on what she considered the most vital information.  "How's he get around?  How are you going to go out with him anyway? I think your mom might be right!" "You don't know anything!"  Jennifer suddenly spat, angered with her friend's superficiality.  "He's sweet and shy and sensitive, and he thinks he's too old for me...and I know he's perfect for me.  I swear I'm going to marry him.  I swear it." Taken aback, Tammy exploded, "Marry him! You've got to be kidding!  Jennifer where is your mind?  You aren't even seventeen yet and your folks will split a gut if you don't go to college." Jennifer sank onto the side of Tammy's unmade bed, sliding with the comforter to the floor.  "I know," she agreed miserably, "but I would much rather be Mrs. J...his wife than get some stupid college education.  My mom never finished college and neither did dad, but they're doing fine and they love each other.  I don't know why they think that isn't good enough for me." "You've got it bad!"  Tammy said admiringly.  Love denied was so tragically beautiful.  She gave Jennifer a sympathetic smile.  "Does he feel the same way about you?" "N-no," she admitted, "he hardly seems to know I'm alive.  He's afraid of my dad and Chris, and Uncle Johnny..." she trailed off, conscious that she had said too much.  Tammy's met Uncle Johnny at our house a lot and even knows about his son, although she's never met J.R.  And never will, Jen thought stubbornly, Tammy is a flirt! Tammy was quick on the uptake and decided to quit while she was ahead.  She had a pretty good idea now anyway.  She thought over the clues.  He didn't go to school here, is tall, has black hair and brown eyes.  He's a couple years older, not rich, lives a little bit north and his name is Jay something.  And her Uncle Johnny would be upset too...No wonder Jen's parents would hit the roof.  She was in love with J.R. Gage. Wow! *************** Chris gave an audible sigh of relief.  He was glad to be out of that dark narrow passageway and didn't care who knew it.  He felt a hand pat his shoulder in encouragement and this time it wasn't his father's.  J.R. was glancing at him with a question in his eyes, and Chris knew it meant, "Now that we're outta there, are we really still friends, or is it back to square one?" Solemnly he took the hand from his shoulder and clasped it in an adjusted "brothers" handshake.  It was for real; no more jealousy or antagonism.  He was startled to see relief flood J.R.'s features before giving way to a lop-sided grin.  It never dawned on Chris that J.R. was so affected by his actions.   He returned the grin with one of his own. Finally both boys turned their attention to the new predicament---they were perched on this ledge like parakeets, and without the wings to fly off it.  "Hey, Uncle Johnny," Chris voiced the question all of them were thinking, "how are we getting down from here?"  It went without saying they wouldn't try going back through the cave. ************* Johnny looked in vain for any kind of hand or foothold around or beneath the ledge.  They truly appeared to be stranded.  It would be days before anyone found and rescued them, even though Joanne and Jennifer knew exactly where they made camp.  This place was pretty well hidden---he'd never found it, as many times as he and the DeSotos camped here.  No, they would have to find some way off this ledge. Roy and I could lower the two boys down by the rope and send them for help, Johnny thought, but only as a last resort.  It was Roy that found their way out.  Standing on the right side of the ledge, he chanced to look up.  There were indentations in the rockface about five feet above them that would serve as handholds if they went up the face of the bluff instead of down.  "Can you give me a boost?" he asked Johnny. Johnny immediately saw the possibility and started to cup his hands for Roy when J.R. thrust the rope in front of him. "The last guy won't get a 'boost', his son pointed out. The senior Gage nodded and handed Roy the rope, securing it around his middle.  His friend only shuddered a little at the memory of the last time he did that...an hour ago.  Dangling on the end of a rope like bait on a hook was not on Roy's list of favorite things to do. Roy stepped into Johnny's cupped hands and he heard his friend groan in pain as his injured arms flexed with the strain of Roy's weight.  Quickly he was able to reach a handhold and draw one knee into a depression before pulling himself farther up the rockface and onto a small outcropping. Once there he breathed a sigh of relief.  "After you get up this far it's an easy climb to the top," he informed the others.  "I'm gonna tie off this rope and head on up; there isn't room for all of us on this narrow ledge." Johnny nodded his understanding and indicated that Chris should go next.  Holding the rope, Chris stepped into Johnny's cupped hands and pulled himself up to the first handhold.  His dad was right, it was an easy climb after making the next ledge. J.R. didn't immediately follow the DeSoto's; he was staring at Johnny's arms. Johnny looked down at the bloody mess on his forearms.  There was neither light nor supplies to take care of them in the cave, and this was the first chance he had to look at the bruises and abrasions.  His arms resembled hamburger with a little mud mixed in...not a pretty sight at all.  Cleaning them up was gonna hurt almost as bad as when they got banged up in the first place. "That hurt as bad as it looks?" he asked his father. "Pretty close," Johnny admitted.  "The quicker we get back to the trail, the quicker we can get the First Aid kit out of Roy's pack.  So, son, you wanna get a move on?" "I was kind of figurin' on goin' last," his offspring informed him with a cocky grin, squinting a little in the bright sunlight of the ledge.  "So are you two going to join us, or have you grown to like that ledge?" Roy's voice drifted down from somewhere above them. "I'm comin', I'm comin'," Johnny called up to him.  "Keep your shirt on, will ya?" Stepping into J.R.'s cupped hands, Johnny realized just how badly his arms hurt when he began to pull himself up the side of the bluff.  He was grateful to reach the next ledge and relax his tired sore arms while he watched J.R. clamber up after him.  "You okay?" J.R. asked him as he untied the rope, folding it into long swags before securing it across his back in its previous position. "What's the matter, you don't think your old man can take it anymore?"  Johnny teased. "Don't say that!" J.R. said vehemently.  "What?"  Johnny was taken aback at his attitude. "I wish you would stop calling yourself my 'old man'."  J.R. was obviously upset.  "You're not old! You were just a kid when I was born and it...it makes me mad to hear you call yourself that.  I was ready to deck Chris for calling you old," he admitted. "J.R.," Johnny said in confusion, "I won't say it anymore if it bothers you.  It's just another way of saying 'dad'...I thought.  Is there some reason you don't like the term, other than what you already said?"  He sat down on the ledge...this might need hashed out privately. As he sat down beside his father, J.R. thought back to the hard times back in Kansas City.  His throat constricted tightly until he wasn't sure he could say the words.  "When I was a kid," he began, his head down as he struggled with angry memories, "the other boys in school would tease me a lot about being a...about not having a father around.  They would say that my dad was just some drunken Indian.  They would say really awful things about you...and they always called you my 'old man'.  I tried to remember what my mother said, how kind and good you were, but it got harder each time." Johnny felt as if he'd been belted in the stomach.  He didn't have a clue what to say this time, and just listened in silence as J.R. continued with words that cut like a knife. "It was the worst on open house nights at school.  All the other boys' dads showed up to see their kids' classroom and looked at their artwork.  The next day some of the boys would ask me why my 'old man' wasn't there, knowing the answer damn well.  I think I almost hated you then," he admitted. "My grandfather used those words too.  He used to tell me, 'Someday, brat, I'm gonna kill that old man of yours'.  I guess he wasn't kidding.  He did try."  J.R. swallowed and swiped at his eyes with the back of one hand.  "So, you see, I don't like hearing you called that...even by you."  As he looked at his son's face, Johnny could see the tears brimming behind J.R.'s brown eyes, eyes that were so very like his own.  "I promise," he said, "I will never, ever use those words again.  I hate that you had to endure that because of me.  I wish there was some way I could take those awful memories away from you.  But I swear you'll never again have to wonder why your father isn't there for you...because I will be.  I swear it."  Johnny was emphatic, the veins standing out in his neck as he considered the cruel taunts of the other children and J.R.'s valiant attempt to defend his absent self.  "I swear it," he said again. "It's okay, Dad," J.R. reassured him.  "It was over a long time ago now.  There are just a few words that bring it back, and 'old man' are a couple of them." "Hey, if you two are happy down there, we'll just go on, okay?"  Roy was getting impatient.  Now that they were on top of the bluff, it was pretty hot and he was anxious to get to the water in their packs. "We're coming!" Johnny called out. "Yeah, Junior, I seemed to have heard that a few minutes ago.  Is there a problem?" "Not anymore," J.R. smiled as he waved at the two standing about fifty or so feet above them.  "After you, Dad," he motioned to Johnny, who chuckled and began the ascent. It took only a half hour or so to get back down to the trail where the DeSoto's left their packs.  Before they started back to camp, Roy treated and bandgaged Johnny's sore arms, wincing in sympathy as he cleaned the abrasions and applied antiseptic.  He also gave him a couple aspirin to ease the pain. Back in camp, everyone relaxed for a while before digging into peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that Roy whipped together.  Apples and potato chips supplemented the makeshift lunch and appetites were satisfied for the moment. Johnny, his arms still throbbing, decided to lay down and nap for a while, activity for once offering no appeal.  Roy, too, was ready for some rest and retired to the tent.  Chris and J.R. walked back toward the lake, not in need of a nap, but not energetic either. Along the lakeshore, they found some flat stones that just begged to be skipped across the smooth surface of the water and soon there was a keen competition underway. "Nine!  Ha!" Chris cried, "beat that!" "Seven," J.R. said, "not too bad." "Hey, J.R.," Chris began, "was there some problem today down on the ledge?  I mean, Uncle Johnny sat down all of the sudden and looked like he was hurtin' pretty bad.  I was afraid he was injured worse than he let on."  Chris hunkered down in the shade beneath an oak tree a few feet from the shore.  He didn't want to pry, but he and his dad had become a little worried as they waited at the top of the bluff. "N-no," J.R. replied, wondering what to tell Chris.  Finally he decided to test their new friendship by telling him the truth.  Not able to look him in the eye, J.R. sat down beside Chris and stared at the ground as he repeated to Roy's son the gist of the conversation he and Johnny had on the ledge. "Oh, man," Chris said sadly as J.R. finished.  "I'm such a jerk.  I guess I never realized how hard it must be to grow up without a dad.  I even almost had two---mine and yours.  Your dad is pretty terrific, you know.  I...I wish you and I could have been friends growing up, like our fathers are now."  "Well," J.R. said thoughtfully, moved by Chris' admission and gratified by the praise of his father, "our dads didn't become friends until they were older than we are now.  It kind of looks like we have about a four or five year headstart on them, huh?" "Hey, that's true," Chris agreed happily, then sobered.  "But I'm leaving for San Diego to go to college in a couple weeks.  I think things might be on hold for a while." Picking up a small stone by his feet, J.R. tossed it toward the lake.  "I'll still be here," he said in a low voice.  Then squinting slightly, "How do you feel about going to college?  Are you excited?" Chris was quiet for a while.  He hadn't told anyone the truth so far, but he figured, J.R. earned that today, and he knew his new pal was pretty good at keeping secrets. "Look, this doesn't go beyond you and me, okay?"  At J.R.'s solemn nod, he continued.  "I really don't want to go to college.  I...if I could...what I really want is to go to Fire Academy.  Station 51 was like another family when I was growing up; I played on the engine, ate snacks in the kitchen and all the guys were my 'uncles', not just your dad---although he was more special than the others.  I don't even know what I want to do with a college education.  There just isn't anything I want to be besides a fireman." J.R. felt sorry for Chris, something he never imagined doing.  "Have you tried to tell your parents that?" "They would freak out!" Chris said, punctuating the statement by throwing a stone toward the lake with a force that was mute tribute to his pitching arm.  "They've saved for years to send me to college and its all they've talked about since I started high school.  I can't tell them...but maybe I can get away with just going for two years before going to the Academy." "It seems like wasting a lot of money if you don't plan to use the education.  Won't that hurt them more than knowing the truth now?"  J.R. looked doubtful at the wisdom of Chris' reticence. "I just can't tell them," Chris insisted.  "Promise me you won't say anything." "Of course, I promise," J.R. agreed.  "But I think you're selling your parents short.  I think you're making the wrong choice, and I think it's gonna hurt a whole lot more later." Chris hoped he had J.R.'s support in his choice of career, even if he didn't approve of his current course of action.  "I guess we'd better be getting back.  It's almost suppertime and our dads are gonna be hungry before I can get it cooked."  Chris stood and offered a hand to J.R., helping him to his feet. "They'll be hungry?" the younger Gage queried.  "I think I could eat a rhinoceros, horn and all right now.  You want some help with dinner?  I'm not too bad a cook when I try."  He dusted off the seat of his jeans and followed Chris back to the campsite. "Sure," Chris agreed, glad for the offer of assistance.  "I'm pretty hungry myself, and the more hands that help, the quicker supper will be done." ************** Like the changing of the guard, as soon as Chris and J.R. arrived back at camp, Roy and Johnny picked up their fishing gear and headed for the lake, leaving supper preparation to the two boys.  Roy was looking forward to this time alone with Johnny. Like Chris, Roy was curious about what took place on the ledge that afternoon.  In a halting voice, Johnny told him about the conversation, knowing it wouldn't be repeated without his permission.  Like Chris, also, Roy was chagrinned at the knowledge of J.R.'s mistreatment at the hands of his classmates. "I don't know what to say, Johnny," Roy said when his friend finished the tale.  "I was even jealous of the kid lately.  I was only concerned with my own feeling that I had lost my best friend.  I guess I never realized how much he needs you." "Roy, you know I'll always be your friend.  I've missed you too, though.  It's just that getting used to the whole fatherhood thing has taken time...I'm not sure yet that I have it down.  I feel that J.R. needs me to be there, and I need him with me.  I meant it when I said I would never let him down again."  Johnny stared at the lake as he felt a tug on the line and began reeling in the first fish of the evening. "I know you did, partner...you've never gone into anything just halfway.  If you've decided to be a father, you'll do everything that implies.  It's just too bad you couldn't have started nineteen years ago."  Roy cast out his line into the lake and began to slowly reel in the lure.  He stared unseeing at the water as he relived his own years as Chris' father, weeping inside for what his friend had missed. "Yeah," was all Johnny could reply.  There didn't seem to be anything else to say.  Roy understood, and that was enough. They fished in companionable silence for an hour or so, unwilling to break the mood, before darkness forced them to head back to camp, no longer able to see their lines. The aroma of cooked fish wafted through the air along the trail as the two men approached the campsite.  It was nice to have it all done for you, Johnny reflected, catching a glimpse of Chris DeSoto placing dinner on the folding table as he saw them come down the path. *************** "Chris, that was one fine meal," Johnny complemented his best friend's son as he rubbed his satisfied full stomach.  The campfire crackled merrily shooting sparks into the air and throwing the four men into alternating light and shadow as they relaxed lazy and replete. The fish, caught that morning, was cooked to perfection, its tender juicy flesh accompanied by side dishes of flaky baked potatoes and tender buttered baby carrots.  "No finer eating anywhere," Roy agreed.  His eyes were growing heavy as he sat mesmerized by the dancing flames. Chris gave a sideways glance at J.R.'s conspiratorial grin before acknowledging the comments with a, "Thanks, Uncle Johnny, Dad."  If it had been left up to his culinary skills, Chris reflected, the fish would have been undercooked and the potatoes burned.  Luckily J.R. stepped in to help and turned what could have been a disaster into a real treat.  Chris drastically revised his opinion about how much J.R. knew. After dinner was cleaned up, Chris moved his bedroll out of the tent and placed it beside J.R.'s.  For one thing, he wanted to show his sincerity in their newfound friendship, and for another, he didn't want Johnny and J.R. taking off on some adventure in the morning without him.  With a sigh, Roy stood up and followed suit. He wasn't going to be the only one sleeping in a tent. Johnny banked the fire before retiring for the night.  It was a much more pleasant evening tonight than last night, he thought as he crawled into the bedroll.  All in all, this was one memorable camping trip. ************ "Psst, Chris," J.R. shook his friend's shoulder as day began to break.  "DeSoto! are you awake?" "Huh, what?"  Chris sleepily eyed J.R.'s features leaning over him in the halflight just before dawn.  "Is it morning already?  What time is it?" "About five-thirty," was the reply. "That's nice." Chris turned over and closed his eyes.  There were limits to friendship, after all. "Psst. Hey, I'm goin' swimmin', DeSoto, ya wanna come?" "Swimming? This time of morning? Are you crazy?"  Chris couldn't imagine rolling out of bed that early, much less exposing his chilly flesh to even chillier water. "Well, I'll see you later then," J.R.'s tone held disappointment.  "I'm going back to see if I can find that waterfall and pool.  It looks like a neat swimming hole, cleaner than the lake too.  I'll see ya when I get back." "Wait," Chris yawned.   "I'll come.  We'd better find it though," he warned darkly. "I guess we'll all go," Johnny said from the path to the woodpile where he had gone to answer nature's call.  Johnny was awake shortly after J.R. and was watching his son fidget while he waited for the DeSotos to wake up.  Johnny could have told him that wouldn't happen naturally until after seven or so. "You won't," Roy informed him.  "You have to keep those bandages dry.  But I guess I'll go with them now that I'm awake.  You wanna make some coffee while we're gone, Junior?" "Roy!  I'm not gonna stay here while you guys go swimmin'.  If I can't go in the water, and I haven't said I won't, I can at least enjoy the hike."  Johnny pretended to pout, muttering his opinion of staying behind to make the coffee. The four men made their way up the trail in the early morning light listening for the sound of the waterfall as they neared the cave opening in the bluff. "Wait, I think I can hear it," Chris said pointing in a westerly direction, "over this way." They pushed and crashed their way through the underbrush until Chris' instinct proved true and they emerged in front of a deep clear pool, the sound of the waterfall leading them unerringly to its source. J.R. couldn't wait to get into the water and quickly stripped down to his boxers before easing off the nearest ledge into the pool. Roy was more keen to check out the waterfall while Chris circled the pool to see if he could spot the ledge they sat on yesterday.  It was almost impossible to see from below, but he located the outcropping that must have supported their ledge and the trail upward from there. Johnny removed his shoes and socks, rolled up his jeans and stuck his feet in the water.  The waterfall stirred up the pool just enough to cause a tickling current that massaged his bare feet.  This is the life, he sighed as he leaned back on the mossy ground near the water's edge, being careful to keep his arms dry. J.R. energetically explored the pool, diving every once in a while to examine the bottom before Chris joined him and they engaged in a "ducking fest".  Roy stood under the waterfall for as long as he could stand the cold shower before joining his son and J.R. in the pool.  He wondered idly how many others had discovered this place.  It was going to be a favorite spot from now on, he reflected.  There was no evidence of other campers or hikers in the area.  Perhaps they were the lone claimants to the site. Chris and J.R. swam over to the waterfall and dove beneath it, coming up in a perfectly secluded room created by rock walls on three sides and the waterfall in front.  This was a great place to hide, Chris thought.  "Jen would love this place," Chris commented.  He caught a quick secret smile on J.R.'s lips before the other boy shook his head and dove back below the cascade to emerge in the pool.  Chris hesitated, uneasy at the expression on J.R.'s face when Jennifer was mentioned.  He also remembered Jennifer's startled look a few weeks ago on the back deck when he brought up the subject of J.R. Gage.  Chris understood J.R. much better now, even liked him, but Jen was his little sister.  For now he would just keep an eye on the two of them. They stayed playing and laughing for over two hours before four chilled and very hungry men headed back to camp for breakfast and to pack up their gear.  They were reluctant to leave, but Joanne and the Fire Department wouldn't understand if they stayed another day. After a breakfast of bacon and eggs they loaded everything into the Rover, full of the adventures they had shared and sad to be leaving.  J.R. looked wistfully at the trail that led up to the "hawk's ridge" as he thought of it.  He had a yearning to see it again, but today there just wasn't time. I'll be back, he thought, before too long. THE END ************* Nexxie's comments: Thanks Ransbo and Livewyr7 for the ideas about camping and rainproof beds and for pointing out errors and inconsistencies, and to Janet for her advice and patience with this one. The round vertical shaft in the cave really does exist, although not in California...I imported it from the Midwest. send YOUR feedback to Nexxie. 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