a soup for our lunches. She used old, dried, hard bread that had been cut into small pieces, mixed it with small pieces of smoked bacon, seasoning, an egg and some flour to hold it all together. Then she shaped it into balls. She had a pot of hot chicken broth simmering on her stove. So she just dropped these balls into the pot and let them cook. I was surprised as to how good that soup tasted. These people were so poor that they could not let anything go to waste.

I invited Karl to join me at the guesthouse that evening. He said he had a friend that he wanted me to meet. I knew what that met, so I was ready! He told me this guy was younger than the farmer I had just sucked and very good-looking.

As I walked back down the path toward the village, I thought about Karl and marveled that he was able to leave these mountains and work in the different places as a hotel clerk. I had wondered how Karl got out of the mountains and was able to get jobs working as a desk clerk Karl told me that he had to study for his job, took correspondent courses, then had to go to some city to be trained and take a test. He passed and was then certified to work at the front desk of hotels anywhere in Europe. He spoke Italian, German, Old Roman, English and some French. He was no dummy.

I have always felt that gay guys get kicked in their asses by the straight population. But over time, I now feel that gay guys are above average and have a natural intelligence. Gay guys are not a bunch of dummies. Look at Karl. All of the men in his village were still in the village and were so poor they could not get married and had to live with their family. Karl would let a placement service find him a job. He would work during the winters at some ski resort, then go back to his home and help his parents do their spring planting, logging and farming. In the summer he took a job at some seaside resort and worked for the season. Then he went back to his home and helped get the feed in for the animals. If you compare him to his friends, he was the intelligent one. I just think gay guys are smarter than the straight guys are. Of course, I know all of you agree with me. Right?

When I got back to the village I had nothing to do, so I went to the guesthouse where I had my room. I was sitting outside on a patio, nursing a glass of wine, when this rugged mountain man came over to me. He told me that he understood that I was a friend of Karl's. I told him yes and then I asked him to join me and have a glass of wine. He accepted! My guardian angel should have told me to avoid him, but he didn't. See, even angels fall down on their job at times.

This guy was about my age (27), maybe 6 foot tall, had a very muscular, hard body, good looking in that rugged mountain man way. He had a rough way about him, but most of those men had this rough action. These men were descendants of Roman Soldiers and were strong, hard working guys. Karl had told me to