It was that magic time of morning for those of us at the Mule Barn; the time when we’re so full of coffee we can’t walk, and it’s time to decide whether to order lunch there or go home. That’s when Bert walked in. Kinda limped in, actually. He made his way over and sat [...]
There are some who say Jim Albertson, our school principal, sometimes goes a bit too far, but when asked, they can’t really say why. Ask one of the students at the school about “Mr. A.” and they’ll tell you in a whisper that he’s everywhere … and knows everything. Just yesterday, one of the school’s [...]
When the heat of summer breaks, it’s a magic time. Here now is a chance to plan for Fall, for being afield with a gun or bow or boat or tent. For settling into a new school year. For getting the yard ready for the long cold sleep to come. The frantic time is just [...]
There is a payoff, Doc told us, for getting the aches and pains of old age. Doc should know. We have it on good authority that he is actually older than a flat, brown rock. “A payoff?” Steve said. Steve’s an old cowpuncher who has collected hurt places for a long time now. He kinda [...]
The hassled, red-faced man cruising the neighborhood Saturday morning in the pickup truck is good ol’ Bert, of course. It’s a Saturday in summer, which means only one thing in our part of the country — yard sales. That’s why the charming lady riding next to him, his wife, Maizie, was wearing a big grin. [...]
Days like this, said Doc, a guy has to get out and get his yard work done early, before it gets too hot. “So when does it get too hot for you, Doc?” “Oh, about three o’clock in the morning. Makes it a toss-up. Do you get up early without the benefit of coffee and [...]
When the world is hot and my skin is fried, scratching from the constant dry, let the clouds boil up, boil up high, and then shade the earth with the darkening sky and bring the secrets and the smell of rain. The coolness and the blessed rain, again. Our land is brown but blessed, stressed [...]
“One of these days,” said Pete, out behind the sale barn where he works, “I’m going to be elected emperor, and then, by smash, I’ll change everything around.” Now several of us from the Mule Barn coffee shop’s philosophy counter were out back there with Pete to look at an Angus bull that he thought [...]
