He drank his coffee black.  The heat of it jolted him a little, it pulled him out of a deep hole.”
              –Ernest Haycox (Trouble Shooter)

Turned a little chilly, so get yurself inside this house.  The coffee’s hot, be careful yuh don’t burn yur tongue.  Just sip it easy and slow.  Yuh feelin’ haggard from bein’ all cooped up ’cause of this ol’ virus.  It reminds me of that winter up near Chugwater where my ol’ pardner Miles spent the time in a lineshack.  Oftentimes he was in there by his lonesome, couldn’t get out for the blizzard was sweepin’ through and the wolves were at his door a-howlin’, but that’s another story.
    What’s that?  What was Jesus doin’ the Saturday after the crucifixion? Well, that crucifixion was a horrible thing, I reckon He just laid there relaxin’ from all the loss of blood and turmoil.  Sorry, I didn’t mean to make yuh snort yur coffee.  I just said that to get yur attention.  I can tell yuh for a fact what He was doin’.  Now don’t look so surpised, He was doin’ what He always did–He went about His Father’s business.
    Now as for specifics, that I can’t help yuh with for it was all done in the spirit realm.  There’s plenty of conjectures and speculations.  Since He was dead, I would imagine He would go to the place of the dead; call it Sheol, Hades, or Hell.  There were many there waitin’ for Him to come.  I wondered who greeted Him first?  Perhaps His ol’ friend Abraham.  Hmmm, now don’t spill yur coffee a second time; but since He was loaded with sin, did He have to go to the tormented side first, shed all that sin off take the keys then unlock the celldoor for those in the Paradise side to go to their home in heaven?
    We don’t know, the Lord has good reason for us not to know and not to see in the spirit realm.  Ha, why pard, we have a hard time dealin’ with life here on earth, just yuh look at all the foolishness goin’ on.  Some of us can’t even drink coffee without spillin’ it, an’ a certain someone will forget to check their cinch from time to time.
                       Vaya con Dios, Pard,

He crossed to the fire and squatted there, taking up the coffee-pot, blackened from many fires, to fill his cup.”
                 –Louis L’Amour (The Quick and the Dead)

    Gather in here ’round the table.  The wife reminded me of a song for us to sing, so let’s get to it.  Let’s just “Yippi-yi your troubles away…”  What’s the matter, don’t know it?  Oh, it’s my singin’ that bothers yuh.  I see, yuh don’t won’t yur liver to get all in a stew.  Listen, I’ve heard myself sing, and to my a-thinkin’ I’m not half bad.  Guess that means I’m not half good, and I don’t go ’round cuttin’ loose in public.  How ’bout some coffee instead?  I’ve made it strong enough that it’ll coat yuh all the way down.
    So yur not gettin’ out much are yuh?  The missus and I went out for some grub the other day and I want yuh to know I never seen the like.  I couldn’t tell the good guys from the banditos.  Yuh had to get close and fix yur eyeballs close to theirs, but then some hollered “social distancin’!”  Mercy, I don’t want to get close to them yahoos nohow.  I did spy one fellow slippin’ by down an aisle.  I asked someone who that masked man was and they just shrugged their shoulders.  I did notice he was packin’ two guns and what looked like silver bullets in his gunbelt.
    How’s the coffee today?  Hard to beat good coffee, that’s for sure.  I helped put another one of the good ones under the sod yesterday.  The mother of some of my former students passed on through the portals of glory and I had the honor of sayin’ a few words over her and to the family.  Sure hopin’ some of these younguns get themselves straightened out and heedin’ the advice of their elders.  ‘Course us older folk need to be teachin’ them straight from the Bible with no gee-hawin’.  
    Say, how’d yuh get that knot alongside yur head?  Yuh didn’t forget to check yur cinch did yuh?  Somethin’ about yur boots.  Yuh better not be scratchin’ up my wife’s floor with yur spurs.  Oh, yuh took a lick to yur noggin’ ’cause yuh tracked mud in the kitchen.  That’s not good, that’s right up there with not checkin’ yur cinch.  Sure prayin’ the good Lord walks close beside yuh this week.

When I had eaten the bacon I sat back with a cup of coffee in my hand, leaning against the trunk of a ponderosa, and studied my situation.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (Passin’ Through)

In the graylight of the mornin’ it is very still, with only a few birds chirpin’ as I’m sittin’ on my back deck, coffee in hand, waitin’ for yuh to show up, Pard.  Just spendin’ some time ponderin’ while waitin’.  Pard, yuh ever stop to wonder how much time we spend just waitin’? Guess it helps teach us patience.
    I haven’t done too much a studyin’ on this here China virus.  I do know that it’s caused a lot of heehawin’ and of course the media has to have their hoorawin’ as well.  I’m looking out at the woods, lookin’ to see which trees around have the best leaves in case we run out of paper. Plenty of oak, gum, and maple, so I should be all right.
    Saw where a several of those young snips were smartin’ off again.  Yep, you guessed it Pard, the Millennials and Generation Z told the police that they were not goin’ to let the virus destroy their partyin’.  Besides bein’ obnoxious, arrogant, and selfish they represent a society that will be left behind when the Lord comes like a “thief in the night.”
    So, in the midst of all the uproar, I reckon I’ll just trust in the Lord and enjoy my coffee.  Doin’ some writin’ on a new novel.  Hmmm, from the looks of the pot, I’d say it’s time to brew up a new batch.
    You be safe an’ stay at home.  One thing that does for yuh, yuh won’t have to be a wonderin’ if’n yuh checked yur cinch or not.

Sudden like, the pot erupted spewing coffee from its spout.  He lifted it from the fire for a moment to let it settle some, then attached it back on the hook to boil a little longer.  After pouring a little water from his cup down the spout to help settle the grounds, he nodded at me.”
               –D.C. Adkisson (Trouble at Gregory Gulch)

“I’ve got the corooonaavirus blues…”  Oh, sorry, Pard, didn’t notice yuh standin’ at the door.  Yuh want to know what that howlin’ was?  That was just me singin’ the blues–the coronavirus blues.  No use bein’ down in the jaws over it, don’t want to be steppin’ on my lower lip.
    Coffee’s ready, set yurself down an’ I’ll bring yuh a cup.  Did I wash my hands?  Now don’t yuh get to irritatin’ me.  Talk about irritatin’… did yuh see where smart-alek kids are goin’ through the produce section in stores and spittin’ on the food?  Someone needs to grab holt of them and dab some of that superglue on their lips, that will shore ‘nough stop their spittin’, but reckon that wouldn’t work as they’d have to snort their food through their nose.  There’s enough fear out there that stupidity don’t need to be tossed on top of it.
    Coffee’s good, the Lord is watchin’ over us, and with the storm yesterday, I found that the roof don’t leak.  Listen – the Lord expects us to be people of faith and common sense.  We aren’t to by hyper/super spiritual, and we don’t run ’round like the infamous “Chicken Little.”
Read Proverbs to find out what a fool is, then look at the news and yu’ll see plenty of them actin’ and spoutin’ out their nonsense.
    ‘Bout time to head back out to that cruel world.  Keep yur distance from folk out there, especially the fools.  And don’t become one yurself by not checkin’ yur cinch.