Coffee Percs

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

There’s always been a light shining out of the window from dark till dawn. After regular hours any passing rider might enter and help himself of the coffee pot warming on the kitchen stove.”

                      –Ernest Haycox  (Wipe Out the Brierlys)
 
Mornin’ to yuh, Pard.  Still got yur galoshes on I see.  Mercy, is this rain ever gonna let up!  Now, Pard, I didn’t stay stop, but let it rain a little here, an’ a little there, especially come August.  But then again, Pard, we don’t want none of them herrycanes that bring wind and rain.  
     Go ‘head, take off yur slicker an’ I’ll pour yuh some coffee.  Pure delight!  That’s yur joinin’ me this mornin’, an’ when yuh taste this brew yu’ll think the same.  Ahhh, good, hot, and black.  Don’t go mixin’ it none like them shysters who did that with the law.  That trial up there in New York was a sham.  Talk about twistin’ an’ twirlin’ the law and makin’ it for their own good.  Pard, there’s comin’ a day, not just for them, but for all of us.  “There’s a great day comin!…”  Sorry Pard, I didn’t mean for my singin’ to cause yuh to spurt out yur coffee.
     Pard, I was glancin’ at some things in the Good Book.  ‘Course those in that court don’t care much for it, but one day they’ll be wishin’ they had.  Go ahead, I’m not gonna sing, slurp down yur coffee.  But as I was sayin’, I was readin’ those Prophets, Micah and others, and my mercy, one of the reasons judgment was comin’ was the perversion of justice.  Why to do justly is one of the simple requirements the Lord done give us, not to use it for our own whims and agendas.  An’ that ol’ wise man, Solomon tolt us that it’s a joy to do justice, but those who do iniquity just better be watchin’ out.  See this issue ain’t about President Trump; it’s about the law, justice, an’ the American way.  The perversion of justice, well, it just paves the way for that “man of lawlessness” that is gonna bring havoc to this ol’ earth.
     But on the brighter side, we’ll enjoy our coffee this mornin’ and we’re a-knowin’ that behind it all the Lord is in control.  All the shenanigans by the judges and those behind the scenes ain’t got a fix on Him.  So we just keep right on goin’ our way, doin’ justly, lovin’ mercy, an’ walkin’ humbly with the Lord.  That’s all we can do, cayn’t do nothin’ else.  Trustin’ in the Lord is what we’ve got to be doin’ each and every minute of the day.  That goes for you too, when yuh go to mount, yuh do yur part by checkin’ yur cinch, then the Lord will help yuh stay in the saddle.
     Yeehaw, yuh be havin’ yurself a bustin’ good week!  Hang in there, an’ if’n yuh need to, hunker down durin’ the storm.
      Vaya con Dios.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

I heated up a canteen cup of coffee with a sterno tablet. I had to hover over it to keep the rain from drowning it out.”
                    –E.B. Sledge

Yippi-ki-yay, Pard, it’s Saturday.  Just wanted to let out a hoot ’cause the Lord done blessed us with another day together, and that the coffee is ready, hot, and ready to be guzzled.  I was readin’ ol’ Sledge’s quotation.  I’ve made coffee a few times over sterno, but more often over hexamine tablets.  I had a little tripod with a center disc large enough for a tablet.  My cup would fit nicely over it, and I could get one cup hot enough with one tablet.  I was just reading that they were banned last October.  Another good thing done away with ’cause of the fools out there.  Next they’ll be takin’ matches, ’cause they start fires.  “Course these modern matches, the light everywhere kind, don’t light everywhere.  Probably not enough phos’rus on the tip.
     Heard that the blueberries are ripe and ready for the pickin’.  Now if’n I could just go get the daughter and girls to pick me some, maybe even send the Missus to help, I could have me a blueberry pie, or blueberry muffins, or blueberry cake–well, yuh get the picture.  When I was a teenager, ‘back in the sixties blueberry pie was my favorite.  Mmmm, imagine that with a cup of this brew.  Wouldn’t that make the gizzard sit up with delight; might even get a howl from it.
     On a more serious note, I want to share something with yuh.  Maybe it’s more of a comical, stupid, foolish note, but behind it sits the lies of the pit.  The pope, in all his splendor and pseudo-glory has made a proclamation.  He said this on 60 Minutes, “We are all fundamentally good.  Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”  My, my, is he self-deluded or not?  The prophet of old, Jeremiah, said this, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)  Perhaps he should also take a look at Proverbs where the heart is described as foolish, perverse, wicked, proud, haughty, evil, and other such things.  Why even the sage Paul recognized that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

     Yelp, Pard, false prophets and deceivers are out there, don’t yuh be caught up in their sayin’s.  An’ the more they rattle an’ spout, the more they believe themselves.  These are those whom the Lord sends a strong delusion to.  Ahhh, sure nothin’ delutin’ ’bout this coffee, that’s for sure.  Pure deee—light!  Pard, yuh watch out for them fakers, seers, an’ the like.  They’ll try to steal the truth from yuh.  An’ don’t go ridin’ off without checkin’ yur cinch first–that’s another way yuh can be deluded, by fallin’ on yur noggin’.
         Vaya con Dios.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

The rain continued for the rest of the night and all the following day. It rattled into their tin plates while they ate, and diluted the hot black coffee they drank.”

                    –Ralph Compton  (The Western Trail)
 
Come on in, Pard.  At least the rain’s gone for a few days.  I’ve seen some rain in my time, but this is one of the best of ’em.  Just when yuh think it’s gonna stop, it starts right on in rainin’ again.  I don’t know how much we’ve had, but it has to be twenty-five inches plus in the past two weeks.  Should have a rain barrel set out.  I remember that Pappy always had one to catch the rain.  But yuh know, we’re complainers at heart, come this summer we’ll be complainin’ of how hot and dry it is and that we wish we’d have some rain.  We need to be in tune with the Lord that no matter the weather we can bring up a smile and take on the storm even if’n we do have to hunker down and endure it for a spell.
       Well, Pard, the coffee’s hot an’ ready for yur tonsil test.  See if’n it slides down or glides down.  I guarantee it’ll move down faster than a cup of molasses.  Take a swaller whilst I tell yuh a story I read ’bout that ol’ circuit-ridin’ preacher Robert Sheffey.  He was quite a character as were many of those dedicated men who went about preachin’ God’s Word to those on the outskirts of civilization.
       It seems that on one of his journeys he was called in to pray for a child who had been bitten by a rattlesnake.  He began to pray, “O Lord, we do thank Thee for rattlesnakes.  If it had not been for a rattlesnake they would never have called upon You.  Send a rattlesnake to bite Bill, and one to bite John, and send a great big one to bite the old man.”  It seems that they weren’t a God-fearin’ family an’ only called on the Preacher as a last resort.  But, yuh know something–the Lord works in mysterious ways.  Here the devil might have meant to take the life of the boy an’ it was used to bring the Preacher, prayer, and eventually possible conversion.  You’ve seen it, an’ I’ve seen it plenty of times where the Lord takes what is meant for evil and uses it for good.
       How ’bout that coffee?  I calls it “kitchen blend” ’cause its made up of some remains of some coffee I had.  Don’t be likin’ it too much, ’cause there’s no way it can be duplicated.  Not the best, but for sure not the worst I’ve had.  See, yuh never know what I might be brewin’.  One day it might be that special elixir Kona, another day Arbuckles or Community, an’ like today–kitchen blend.
       Pard, yuh be sayin’ a prayer for those in the military for today is Armed Forces Day.  Those folk sure do need our prayers, not only from the attacks that might come from and enemy, but from those within our country who want to make clowns of our military.  So, ‘nough said regardin’ that last week, yuh just be prayin’.  Oh, an’ keep yur guns ready and handy, for yuh never know….  Stay ridin’ true to the Lord, an’ checkin’ yur cinch when yuh mount.
          Vaya con Dios.

 

Coffee Percs

by Ira Paine, Posted on

He had finished the coffee and laid the cup on the table and he had his eyes on the scrolled brown pattern of the cup while he went through his thinking.”

                    –Ernest Haycox  (The Earthbreakers)
 
Mornin’ to yuh, Pard.  Yep, been doin’ a heap of deep-thinkin’ this week.  My land, when yuh think yuh’ve seen it all, then wham–yuh ain’t.  Yuh know the world used to be like the ol’ merry-go-round at the carnival, but now it’s more like the tilt-o-whirl.  It’s not only spinnin’, but it’s spinni’ this a-way and that a-way, and jerkin’ the daylights out of yuh at the same time.
       But let’s take a moment to savor the elixir before us.  Ahhh, good an’ strong.  Hopefully it’ll help us see straight after bein’ on this topsy-turvy world.  Hang on for what I’m ’bout to tell yuh will shake the bones of ol’ Baden-Powell.  With the advent of WOKE, there is no longer the Boy Scouts of America.  Yep, they’ve become ashamed of that name, for the reason of plain stupidity.  It will now be called, Scouting America.  How ’bout that?  Don’t that shake yur gizzard some?  WOKE, why don’t we really call it was it is–the lies of the devil.  
       I need another swaller after that to kinda settle the bile.  But here’s something else.  In the name of “culture” and WOKEISM, West Point will now be teaching all freshmen about the “evolution of cross-dressing in the military.”  Yuh think I’m jokin’?  Wish I were.  Yep they say they need to be teachin’ regardin’ “gender norms.”  My mercy, that’s easy enough–male and female.  That’s all there is about gender; they way God made them.  Yuh see, people are tryin’ to be little gods, and they’re gettin’ themselves and tryin’ to get others all confused.  But let me tell yuh something else about the current situation that we are seein’ in our fightin’ forces; those that are supposed to be defendin’ us.  
       Here we go…  Last year the Navy appointed a drag queen for help in recruitment in order to attract a “talented” and “diverse workforce.”  Yuh talk ’bout jumpin-frioles!  Thinkin’ to be wise they become fools.  Lord, help us through the jungles…!
       One thing for sure, keep yur heart right before the Lord, another is to ride straight, sit tall in the saddle.  An’ as ol’ Paul wrote, “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong…oh, and one more thing–don’t forget to check yur cinch ‘fore yuh mount up.
       Vaya con Dios.