He slouched over the fire and tipped the pot against his mouth, drinking with an acute thirst. Coffee ran down the seams of his jaw. He said, ‘Ah,’ in great relish and sponged the liquid from the tips of his moustache with sidewise motions of his tongue.”
–Ernest Haycox (Saddle and Ride)
Come on in, Pard, sit yurself down, I’ve just been ponderin’ whilst sippin’ my coffee. Been awhile since I’ve drank straight from the pot or pan; guess I’m what yu’d call sophisticated now. Big word for such a simple fella.
I quoted from that ol’ puncher Lou Bradshaw the other day ’bout the monsters bein’ set loose. I haven’t heard anything ’bout him in the last couple of years. Wonder if one of those monsters got him, or he succumbed to a pestilence or the elements. Most likely he’s crossed over the Great Divide. Sure hope he went peaceful; I’d hate if one of those monsters came ’round to snatch him.
Don’t be a-doubtin’ me, Pard. Those monsters are real. Why even ol’ Peter hisself spoke of them, saying the devil was like a lion seekin’ someone to devour. Pard, just hold yur cup for a minute and think, if’n that’s possible for yuh. How many have you known that some monster has grabbed an’ sent them down to perdition? Good folks, who at one time were doin’ the Lord’s work and they up an’ give in to the monsters that were chasin’ them. I read of Hugh Glass bein’ chawed on by that monster grizzly. That ol’ boy survived an ordeal like few others have been through, and yet, sad to say, some get a kitty scratch and go into fits like they had the hydrophoby.
Ahhh, good coffee, helps bring the memories back of days gone before. Pard, don’t get me wrong ’bout that kitty scratch. I reckon I know it could get infected and the lockjaw could set in, but mercies’ sake sometimes we are so feeble-kneed and whiny that a person would wonder. I have had the mountains on my mind a time or two, but I wouldn’t succumb to the jaws of the monster. Yep, back in the summer of ’15, the ol’ heart was smacked by a monster, but my faith was in the Lord, an’ He took care of me and has continued to do so.
Don’t get me goin’, Pard. I know that we all got to face that last enemy–Death. Why he stalks us all the time, and his cohort the devil are always lookin’ for ways to bring us down. He’s an outlaw for shore, but we know that Death has been defeated by the Lord Jesus Christ. How we come to face that outlaw, we don’t know. It may be a monster after us, or a storm, or pestilence, or a battle, or just plain wearin’ out, but one thing we do know is that the Lord is with us. Yuh need to lay hold of that for a fact!
Sorry, if I seem a little melancholy, but Pard we got to face those evil monsters out there. Some are after our family an’ it might be time to tote out the ol’ .44. Sayin’ that it’ll be a shame if yuh met yur demise by failin’ to check yur cinch. Yep, sometimes it ain’t the monsters that get us, but those little imps. Yuh, be careful this week, have yur weapons ready in case yur attacked–hang on to the faith!
Vaya con Dios.