He blew the steaming black coffee awhile, then tentatively touched the rim of the cup to his lips.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Time It Never Rained)
Say, Pard, yuh havin’ trouble gettin’ off yur mount and waddlin’ into the kitchen? My, my, my I can tell yuh didn’t mess around this Thanksgivin’. Was it hard to eat with a mask on? Jist had to throw that idiocy in; I didn’t see one mask at the Lake and all the campsites were full. We had a grand time at the Lake, but the silly county went an’ placed a burned ban on–at Thanksgivin’ time. Despite that, we had us a nice time. Plenty of coffee an’ plenty of fixin’s that the wife made for the camp, an’ I’m still workin’ on the pie.
I didn’t see if there were any houses in Oregon or California raided for havin’ too many people. ‘Course, I don’t look at the news much. Too much lyin’ for me. Why, I’m a-thinkin’ that journalists now lead the pack in the lyin’ category ahead of the lawyers, politicians, and weather forecasters.
Pard, that’s coffee sent to me from a former student who’s now in Okinawa. Japanese roasted–how ’bout that? Not bad…especially if I make it strong enough. I was tryin’ to read what kind it was but all I could see were stick figures.
I was doin’ some ponderin’ and it bothered me some. No, not the ponderin’ the thought. We have a special day set aside in which we are to be thankful. Interestin’ how there has to be a special day to be remindin’ folks to be thankful. In fact, I’m thinkin’ and believin’ that we should be practicin’ our gratitude every day. We should have an attitude of gratitude, and that there’s a fact! Some out there probably were a-frettin’ instead of a thankin’. Well, I’m a-thinkin’ that if’n we did more thankin’ there would be less frettin’. I’m jist tellin’ yuh.
What’s that? Yur goin’ to waddle off an’ hibernate? Ha, ha, Pard. Say yuh need a boost up? Let me be tellin’ yuh one more thing before yuh head out this mornin’. “Christmas Time’s a Comin'”! And, Pard, with that added girth from Thanksgivin’ yuh best be sure an’ check that cinch.
Vaya con Dios.