He sipped the coffee and found it bitter; it had been heating too long. But it was coffee, and that was the stuff of life around most cowcamps he had ever stayed in.”
–Elmer Kelton (The Good Old Boys)
Pard, there’s some truth in that sayin’ above. I heard an ol’ boy say the other day that folks often get so busy with life and the toils of life that they forget to live. Hmpf, I see yuh made yurself at home, grabbed a cup, an’ filled it from the pot. Well, that’s what it’s there for. But what I’m a-sayin’ is that life is meant to be lived an’ enjoyed as the good Lord intended. Sure there’s bad spots, but just like travelin’ down the road, there’s good, smooth roads, but then once in a while a pothole is there an’ sometimes it jist can’t be avoided.
Go ‘head drink up; that’s good coffee. Now as good as coffee is, an’ as much as I enjoy it, I’ve had some bad coffee in my day an’ I’m not talkin’ ’bout cinos. Whooee, let me tell yuh, I have had some coffee so weak it would best be used as dishwater an’ I’ve had it scorched–burnt and thick. I sure do like my coffee strong, but I’m not carin’ much for scorched coffee.
Folks go ’round life sorta the same way. They either don’t enjoy it, they live it weekly (pun intended). Others are jist plain ol’ sourpusses, while some jist want to have an excuse to git their gizzard all riled up. I figure that some folks are happy unless life treats them bitter and they show their happiness by bein’ grumpy or loud or obnoxious.
Pard, it’s only been ten days into the New Year and I’ll tell yuh, there’s a lot of stuff goin’ on, much of it is downright stupidity. Besides that new mayor of New York City, and few other scoundrels around the country I read that the governor of New York declared January Muslim American Heritage Month. My mercy! One of the audacious things she’s done is to illuminate green on Friday night the World Trade Center lights to celebrate Muslim culture. Talk ’bout a slap in the face. Then there’s those Somalis who are claimin’ that the Foundin’ Fathers were of Somali descent. Sometime’s Pard, all I can do is shake my head. Sorta of like drinkin’ scorched coffee.
Well, Pard, I’m not goin’ to be a-steppin’ on my lower lip. Get yur cloggin’ boots on an’ join me since we’re in the kitchen. “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, down in my heart.” Come on Pard, or are yuh a-waitin’ for the next verse. Well, let’s get it goin’, hold tight to yur cup, yuh don’t want to spill any coffee on the floor. “If the devil doesn’t like it, he can sit on a tack, sit on a tack, sit on a tack.” Yeehaw, the joy of the Lord is our strength. Yuh be havin’ a good week, don’t take any wooden nickels, and be a-checkin’ yur cinch.
Vaya con Dios.