When we’d cleaned up our mess and each had a cup of coffee in front of us, I began to tell him what had happened today.”
              –Lou Bradshaw (Agular)

“Ohhhh, along the trail that’s windin’ always upward, this troubled world…” sorry Pard, yuh caught me in a moment of jubilation.  With all the consternation out there, I’m gonna keep my heart focused on my faithful Lord.  
    Say, but get in here, I promise I won’t cut loose with my singin’ until yuh leave, unless yuh want to sing along with me.  I’ve got the coffee on, and it is stronger than black sorghum.  Just right to keep yur liver runnin’ smoothly, an’ don’t rile the gizzard either.
    Take a sip, for I’ve got somethin’ to talk to yuh about.  Yuh keep funnin’ me about always remindin’ yuh to check yur cinch.  Well, I was watchin’ that ol’ bronc-buster Stoney Burke the other night.  Right off, a cowpoke is ridin’ one of them cantankerous hosses, yuh know the kind.  All of a sudden things went bad for him, the horse fell an’ the rider went with it.  It ended up that the rider was killed.  Upon checkin’ the cause it was found that he had an’ old, torn cinch and it ripped apart with all the buckin’.  Now if that could happen in fiction why for shore it could in real life.  So don’t yuh be hawin’ at me when I go to remindin’ you!
    This ol’ world ain’t the same as it was when we was a growin’ up.  No, sure ain’t, an’ Pard I don’t believe it is goin’ to get any better.  My mercy, the lyin’, the riotin’, the thievin’ that’s happenin’.  It’s a wonder that the good Lord don’t holler down at us, “that’s enough.”  But yuh know, I think He has an’ we’ve done gone an’ ignored what He’s said.  Pard, it just don’t make sense, yuh see the reason for the strong coffee this mornin’, now?
    I know, yur headin’ out since the pot’s dry.  Well, yuh be careful.  Don’t be mountin’ any rank hosses, nor forgettin’ to watch where yuh step.  Yeah, I know there’s a lot to be rememberin’ about bein’ wary in this world, but best yuh don’t forget none of it.  Be alert, that ol’ slewfoot would jist like to knock yuh out of the saddle.
    Oh yeah, don’t forget to check that cinch! Ha!  “This troubled world is not my final home.” Yeehaw!
          Vaya con Dios,

I think it was that coffee of yours that saved my life.  You make mighty good coffee.”
              –Charles G. West (Hell Hath No Fury)

Come on, Pard, get in this kitchen or the “Gobble-uns ‘at gits you ef you don’t watch out!” as the ol’ bard, Jim Riley would tell us.  Sure don’t figure why people want to get skeered and play with the devil’s things.  It just don’t rightly make sense to me.  I get skeered enough when I see some of those faces on facebook.  Whoooeee, it’s enough to get the gizzard all riled.  Pard, want me to stay up in case I hear yuh a-screamin’ in the night?  My coffee might not save yur life, but it’ll take the worries away.
    Ahhh, how ’bout that.  Soothin’, scrumptious, delectable to the palate.  Breathe in that aroma as yuh take a sip.  Ain’t God good that He made such a calmin’ an’ tasty a thing as coffee.  Even with the elections comin’ up, it’s a good day to be alive.
    Ha, I saw somethin’ funny this week.  After I got over the fright of the picture, I read the context.  Old Hillary, who hates the Electoral College all of a sudden has found herself as a delegate to the Electoral College in New York.  Yuh know, somethin’s just make me shake my head.  ‘Course that don’t say too much ’bout them folk in New York.
    Me?  Nah, I’m not worryin’ none ’bout the election.  It will tell the course of our country; whether we sell our soul to the devil or continue with the good fight.  Either way, I’m in the Lord’s hands and as the ol’ song says, “I know my Lord’s gonna lead me out of this pilgrim land.”
    Yuh be careful if’n yuh have to go out this night.  Yes, I know the Lord will go with yuh, but He don’t expect yuh to be doin’ nothin’ foolish.  Yuh beware of the “gobble-uns,” or the “woke,” or any other such varmint out there.  Don’t be foolish for He for sure don’t expect yuh to not check yur cinch.
         Vaya con Dios.

He stared into his coffee.  He held on to the fragile cup as if it were a last strand connecting him to reality.”
              –Henry McLaughlin  (Journey to Riverbend)

Heard yur jinglebobs, so I have coffee in hand ready for yuh.  Pard, it’s not early, but it’s still dark.  Yuh know what that’s a sign of don’t yuh.  Winter?  Nah, it means soon they’re goin’ to mess with the clock and turn it back.  At least it will be natural time.  People always think they have a better idea, and well, sometimes they do, but there are things that are best left alone.
    Just look at that coffee yuh hold in yur hand.  Just fine the way it is, but there are some that want to mess with it, add all kinds of contrary things to it.  My mercy, the way the world is, it’s nice to have something that is real, simple, and brings delight.
    Been ponderin’ this week.  The Lord shore is good!  Even with the mess that the world and the devil throws our way, we can depend upon the goodness of the Lord to override it.  Ha, and I even had a good chuckle when some of those pseudo-smart liberals laughed at the President when he said that coyotes carry children across the border.  It shows how “woke” they are when they don’t know what a “coyote” is.  Hmmm, Pard, you do know it’s not the howlin’ kind, nor ol’ Wiley either?  Just thought I’d check.
    Let’s finish the pot.  Ha, an’ just when yuh think nothin’ good can come out of Seattle, here we sit drinkin’ some of Seattle’s Best.  Not bad, not bad…  It’ll get yuh movin’ this chilly mornin’.  Yuh best be takin’ care.  Say, have yuh checked yur cinch lately?  It’s not gettin’ worn is it?  

Once the coffee was done, he poured a cup and sat down at the dinner table in the kitchen.  He sipped it, feeling its warmth course down his gullet, enlivening his slow-to-respond body.”
              –L. C. Matthews (The Promise)

Ahhh, the coffee’s good this mornin’, sit yurself down Par, good to see yur heathly.  The missus and I’ve been on the trail an’ just home yesterday evenin’.  Nice to be sittin’ here this mornin’ tastin’ the good coffee with yuh.
    When I do my travelin’ I do some thinkin’.  The thoughts just sort of ramble through my head at times.  Well, one of the things I got to thinkin’ as I was see some pretty country was that in all my years of trails and travelin’ I shore have seen a mite of things.  I should sit myself and write them down.  But my mercy, how to start, where to start.  I’ve been coast to coast, from border to border.  Sorta like the ol’ song, “I’ve Been Everywhere…” but I’ll not go that far.  I’ve never been to Winnemucca, been close but not there, but I can remember probably the reddish sunset I’ve ever seen in Truth or Consequences.  Yes, the Lord has given me a few of His grand sights to see over the years.
    How’s the coffee this mornin’, Pard?  Strong enough fer yuh?  Why on the trail home, we stopped at one place to put our heads down  for the night.  They had coffee, an’ I use that term loosely.  After a taste, I reckon it was either dark water or “woke” coffee.  Yuh know, somethin’ that looks one way, pretends to be somethin’ but after yuh taste it yuh know it’s fake.
    Since I brought up sunsets, whoopti, that ol’ ball of fire was shinin’ bright as we came through Birmingham (that’s in Alabama, if’n yuh didn’t know).  I could see the trail, but for the life of me couldn’t see the signs.  I just had to follow my instincts.  Annie, tryin’ to help, looked at ol’ sol and then for several minutes afterward all she could see was pink balloons floating in her eyes.  Worried her a mite.  But here’s what I got from it.  The Bible says that Jesus will the light of heaven, we will abide in the city where the Lamb is the light.  Now, it also says that we shall see Him face to face, we shall look upon Him.  My, one of those mysteries.  I know that we will have a new body, that means new eyes as well.  It’s one of those things that makes me ponder the greatest of our Lord.  One of the things that makes me realize that I understand very little of His wonder and awe.
    Well, yuh ponder that some this week.  I’ll try an’ be back to normal–whatever that is.  See yuh next time, that is unless yuh forget to check yur cinch and fall off.
                          Vaya con Dios.