But in case you’re getting ready to jump up and down for joy, settle back into your favorite chair and relax. This is only a short visit. Recovery from the hip surgery has been slow, but I am happy with the progress so far. However, I still cannot sit in my office chair for very long so I’m not getting much work done.
That means blog posts will be few over the next couple of weeks.
Likewise, progress on my current book will take place in short spurts.
Very short spurts until I can comfortably sit in my office chair for more than fifteen minutes at spell.
Before my surgery I’d written a very rough ending to One More Time, the third book in the One Small Victory series. I’m glad that I did that because now when I come to my office I can work a little bit on smoothing out all the rough edges. Maybe I will get this book finished before another year passes. 🙂
I don’t know about you, but it’s kind of freaky that this year is already almost half gone. Back in January I thought I’d get this book knocked out with in a month or two. But you know what they say about those best laid plans.
Anyway, I’m always thankful for my good friend Slim Randles who shares his columns with me – and all of you. So I will leave you with his latest missive from the Mule Barn truck stop.
But first, some fun from another friend who sends me cute memes and cartoons on a regular basis. This one made me chuckle.
Now here’s Slim. Enjoy!
Doc hadn’t even finished loading his coffee with fake sugar before Steve piped up.
“I think it’s disgusting and weird and unnatural and it should be outlawed!” the tall cowboy said, coming to rest at the philosophy counter of the Mule Barn truck stop.
“Aw Steve,” said Doc, “the coffee isn’t that bad.”
“Coffee? Nay, I say unto you, Doc. It ain’t the coffee … it’s them Academy Awards on the television. You see them? All them good-looking women Scotch-taping themselves into those dresses so they almost stay on? Those weird guys they’re with who only shave on Tuesdays?”
“And this makes you angry?”
“Sure does, Doc. Those folks make a lot more money than I do and all they have to do is dress up and talk to those red carpet cameras.”
“Those were two months ago, Steve,” said Doc.
“I know,” Steve said, “I recorded them.”
“Well, Steve,” said Dud, “we can do just as good as they can. Stand up.”
Steve looked around and then stood slowly. Dud picked up a bottle of Tabasco sauce and, using it as a microphone, turned to the breakfast crowd in the Mule Barn.
“Good morning, folks, and we’re so happy you could join us here on KRUD this morning to welcome our list of celebrities. Oh, look, it’s Steve, the pride of farrier life and heavy anvils. Steve, wherever did you get that outfit?”
“Well,” said Steve, grinning, “it’s a creation of Levi Strauss, and please note the genuine brass rivets.”
“Give us a twirl there, cowboy.” And he did, to great applause.
“And your headwear today, Steve, that would be what … Stetson?”
“Yessir. A genuine John B. Stetson original. Five ex beaver fur felt.”
“The sweat stains?”
“Actually Dudley, those were added later. A genuine cow-pen fillip to offset the otherwise stunning look of my entire ensemble.”
“So as not to overwhelm the onlookers, I suppose?”
“Precisely. We don’t want ordinary people to think they’ll never achieve this look, you see.”
“An admirable pursuit,” Dud said.
“Noblesse oblige, I believe,” said Steve.
“Not until lunch,” said Loretta, topping off the coffee mugs. “Breakfast special is bacon and a short stack.”
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Don’t attend the Academy Awards ceremony without bringing an extra roll of Scotch tape. You could be a hero!
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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.