How did your week go? As planned? Mine did for the most part, and today I have some real brain clarity, so I hope to get some work done on the book I’ve been writing. So glad when my friend, Slim Randles can take over the blog for a day when I’m super busy, and readers always enjoy spending time with the gang down at the Mule Barn Truck Stop.
Enjoy his offering today with Dewey taking center stage.
Some of the earlier knights of the coffee table arrived just before daylight, flipping their cups to the upright and fillable positions, and were joined quickly by Dewey, which is an unusual occurrence. Doc was the only one of us downwind from Dewey, and we watched to see if any fainting took place, but evidently Dewey had not yet begun his job of transferring soil nutrients from the dairies to people’s yards.
“How’s it going, Dewey?” Dud said. We all like Dewey.
“Finer’n frog hair, Dud. My shoulder’s in shape for a shovel and I’m sure gonna shovel…”
“Well, yes you are,” Doc said, quickly.
“Dewey’s an interesting name,” Dud said. “Was your mother … dewy eyed when you were born?”
“That’s D-E-W-Y. My name has the extra e in it. Actually, I was named for a famous man.”
We sipped over that one for a minute.
“Thomas E. Dewey!” shouted Doc. “Governor of New York. Candidate for President. Your mother was a Republican, right?”
“Uh, no … not him, I’m afraid.”
“I know …” said Steve. “Admiral Dewey. Whats-his-name … George. George Dewey of the Spanish-American War! Your dad was a fan of the Navy.”
“Well, not exactly,” Dewey said, although privately he thought that would’ve been a good guy to be named for.
“Well?” said Doc. “I’ve run out of Deweys. Who was it?”
“Melvil.”
“Who?”
“Melvil Dewey,” Dewey said. “You know … Dewey Decimal System? My mom was a librarian.”
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Go to your local library and check out some of my books. It’s free and most of the words are spelled correctly.
Thanks,
Slim
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’m always happy to have him share his wit and wisdom here. There’s also the book, Home Country. Check it out.
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.
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That’s all for today, folks. I hope you have a terrific weekend, and whatever you have planned I hope it involves good times with family and friends no matter how they spell their names. Be happy. Be safe.