Come on in. I’ve got coffee on.’ They seated themselves and she put out a tray of doughnuts and filled their cups.”
–Louis L’Amour (Conagher)
Cup’s on the table, I’ll bring the pot in a second. Say, what happened to yur fingers, Pard? Firecrackers! Listen, yur not suppose to hold them in yur hand after yuh light them, don’t yuh know that? Fast fuse, yeah, right. At least they’re all still there, an’ that one’s yur trigger finger. Don’t be wantin’ to lose that one.
We didn’t have firecrackers in Colorado, but in the summer time when we went to Oklahoma, Dad would always buy some. He wouldn’t let me hold them, I had to place them on the ground, or put ’em under a can. He’d then give me his cigarette an’ I would light the fuse and rush away. BOOM! Fun times, for sure.
Drink up, those fingers on yur left hand ain’t hurt none. Coffee’s good…it’ll get yuh ready for all the doin’s of the 4th of July. My, lookin’ at yur fingers it gets me to thinkin’ ’bout how folks just play around with firecrackers, and some use dynamite thinkin’ that nothin’ can happen to them. If’n they’re not careful, they might find that they’re holdin’ on to some with a fast fuse. Boom, and the fingers are gone.
See, people have a tendency to get complacent, or like a kid think they know it all. Complacency, bein’ too comfortable, and the fuse burns faster than they thought and there is an explosion. The kid thinks he knows it all, plays around with booze, drugs, sex, and the like an’ then all of a sudden, the fuse burns fast and there is an explosion.
What? My coffee is makin’ yur gizzard explode? Nonsense, drink down another cup, and it’ll even out. My mercy, yuh whine just like those young’uns out there. Goin’ be grillin’ today, enjoyin’ the family, and bein’ thankful for this great country despite all the antagonists. My cup is full, no, not the coffee cup, I done drank all of it.
Be on yur way Pard, and be careful with those firecrackers. Now I mean it, if’n yuh ain’t careful yuh might forget to check yur cinch and then it wouldn’t be only yur fingers that are messed up.