A Guide for Staying Safe- Not!

Well, it’s Wednesday again, and here’s Slim Randles with another bit of fun with Windy Wilson. If the social limitations of the current pandemic are starting wear down your coping skills, you have nothing on good ol’ Windy. He of the fractured English and limited social graces that make the guys down at the Mule-Barn Truck Stop wish they’d stayed home when he shows up.

Me? I’m kinda glad he shows up to make me laugh a little. Goodness knows, we need plenty of reasons to laugh in these challenging times. After you read the offering from Slim, let me know in the comments how you’re coping and where you are finding a little joy in your days.

In the meantime, grab one of these scrumptious cupcakes to enjoy with your beverage of choice – chocolate even goes good with a sweet red wine, just saying…

No one will admit knowing how Windy got permission to use the police car. All we know is, he did, and some dumb @#$% showed him how to work the loudspeaker.
“Now you folks’r prolly wonderin’ who it is drivin’ ‘round makin’ sure ever-body is bein’ safe today. Yep, it’s me, Windy Wilson, behind this year mask in the cop car.
“The more ‘sperienced amongst us want to remind you to wash your hands, wear your mask, and stay away from them rock concerts, okay? Too many people. Ain’t safe.”

Windy turned right to go around the block. His voice faded a bit, but that was okay, because we’d been kinda wishing for that off and on for years. But it’s amazing how smart an old cowboy and camp cook can get when he has an audience.

“And …” he continued as he passed the drug store …”when we get all back to where it’s okay to visit with each other and go back to school and ever-thin’, I have a tip for you. If you do perambulate yourself off to a rock concert, take along some hearin’ protection, ‘cuz them guys’ll blow out yer eardrums iffen you don’t.

Why, don’t know for shore if I mentioned it before, but I went to a rock concert my ownself and saw that Starvin’ Chickens band. You talk about loud? Took me the best part of two days to stop throbbin.’

“And that reminderizes me of the time me ‘n ol’ Alberene Soapstone … you know, the Lewis Crick songstress?

Yep, the very same one’s singin’ up at the Sip ‘n Slump nightclub in the city. ‘Course, not sure if folks can go in there to listen at her ‘til this coronary virus gets straightened up, but … hey, there! Doc is that you divin’ into that doorway with the mask on? Why, folks, here’s a guy who knows his way around your pesky virus. Why, I recomember the time me ‘n Doc ….”

Some communities just have radio and television for entertainment.


Brought to you in honor of the police officers and firefighters who put their lives and health on the line for us each day. Thank you.

Check out all of Slim’s award-winning books at his Goodreads Page and in better bookstores and bunkhouses throughout the free world.

All of the posts here are from his syndicated column, Home Country that is read in hundreds of newspapers across the country. I am always happy to have him share his wit and wisdom here.

Slim Randles is a veteran newspaperman, hunting guide, cowboy and dog musher. He was a feature writer and columnist for The Anchorage Daily News for 10 years and guided hunters in the Alaska Range and the Talkeetna Mountains. A resident of New Mexico now for more than 30 years, Randles is the prize-winning author of over a dozen books. He’s also the host of two podcasts and a television program.

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