Since I was in full recovery mode yesterday from an exhausting weekend, I didn’t even try to put a blog together. It probably wouldn’t have made any sense, anyway, because my brain and my body both were slogging through molasses. 🙂
Today is better, so I’m going to let Slim Randles entertain you.
First, I want to share a little about my weekend spent in Winnsboro where I lived for so many years and made so many good friends. I was able to see some of those good friends, as well as participate in the Festival of Books. That was an outdoor event, and unfortunately it got way too hot for me and my neurological problem, so I had to leave early.
But prior to that I had some wonderful chats with folks who stopped by the table. One of those was the mother of a young man who had been in my drama camp years ago when he was in elementary school. He was always shy and had a hard time speaking up. Or heaven forbid he should look out at the audience when he was doing lines from a show.
One day, after a few summers of camps, he simply transformed. He gained so much confidence as an actor and he often told me that it helped him in so many ways. He is now married with a family and his mother told me he is preaching sometimes at a local church.
I will always treasure this note he wrote me after one of the summer drama camps.
In addition to spending time with good friends, I also met other authors and shared in that mutual spirit of creativity. I sold a few books, and I bought a few books. Maybe coming out a little bit ahead, but an event like this is not about the money for me. It’s about being around people who love to read and people who love to write.
It’s always magical!
D.C. Gomez is one of the authors I met, and I was immediately intrigued by her books, especially the Cat Lady Special. “From Cat Lady to Arms Dealer.” I grabbed this book, as well as the second in the series, and have it here on my desk to read as soon as I can.
Now, here’s Slim. Enjoy!
When Harley Jacobsen came into Doc’s office the other day for his physical it was a treat for Doc.
Harley is one of Doc’s favorite people. Harley is a farmer. A 24/7 farmer. Ol’ Harley can make hair grow on a bald head and wheat grow on rocks. When he’d been thumped and bumped and listened to and pumped up and partially drained, Harley asked Doc for the verdict.
“Not bad at all for someone your age, Harley,” Doc said, grinning. “But you look tired. Take some time off and go fishing or take Gladys to the beach. ”
“Can’t right now, Doc,” Harley said. “Plowing summer fallow.”
“Well, how about later on?”
“There’s harvest you know, and the trees will have to be pruned before winter, and then the winter wheat will go in. Have to overhaul the wheel tractor this winter and by then it’ll be time to plant.”
“Harley, you need two weeks with nothing to do. Get someone to help with the farm and go do something fun.”
“I just can’t do it in two weeks, Doc,” Harley said. “Took 60 years of farming to get this tired.”
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Brought to you by the new paperback edition of Ol’ Max Evans, the First Thousand Years, by Slim Randles.
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 a dozen books, and is host of two podcasts and a television program.