As soon as the coffee was ready we filled our cups.  Then, we took deep swigs and mulled over our current situation.”
              –Tell Cotton (Confessions of a Gunfighter)

Glad yuh could join me, Pard.  Seems like forever since I sat down with yuh over a cup of coffee.  Listen, Pard, there’s strange things happening in the land.  My mercy, the devil is workin’ overtime, and I reckon it’ll get worse.
    There’s so much hate.  Hate like I’ve never seen before.  Why that one Mad Max, no not the movie, the woman, she looks like she has a case of the hydrophoby.  People can be mean, and full of so much hate that it just spews over into what they look like and say.
    More than ever we sure need the Word of God, not only in our hands to read, but in our hearts so that our soul can digest it and we can recall it when the times get tough.  If you look at things out there it is clear to see that there is a famine in the land.  People are starvin’, yet the Word of the Lord is right there for them to eat.  Guess they just don’t want to bother to take the time.  Instead they feed upon the hatred around them, they feed on lies of the world, they fed on amusements and entertainment, which is more of a diet of cotton candy than anything.
    Why, at least when yuh come by my place I have the pot on.  What yuh say, we finish it off?  Yuh be sure to move slow and easy, don’t be makin’ any rash actions, and durin’ yur busy day, don’t forget to check yur cinch.

There was a pot of stew and he ate hungrily, then ate from a stack of tortillas.  Then he sat down, looking at the moonlight’s refection on the dark water, listening to the night sounds and drinking coffee.”
              –Louis L’Amour  (The Burning Hills)

Whatcha lookin’ up in the sky for, Pard?  It ain’t gonna rain, though we surely need it.  I don’t reckon yur listenin’ for those heavenly hoofbeats either.  Just waitin’ for me to open the door an’ invite yuh in; well, if that’s all, get yurself in here.  The pot’s on the stove; I’ll get the cups.
    I been ponderin’, and after readin’ what that ol’ hombre L’Amour wrote I’m sure I’m right.  I don’t think, no, I’m positively positive that we don’t thank the Lord enough.  We don’t tell Him that we appreciate all that we have, and how grateful we are for His keepin’ and guidin’ us.  Why, just look at that cup in yur hand.  Be thankful for it, and be thankful that yuh can hold it.  Jist think, it yuh couldn’t hold it, or if yuh didn’t have it, how would yuh be drinkin’ yur coffee?
And there’s another thing–how thankful for yuh for the pot in which it was brewed, and for the coffee itself.  Ahhh, jist yuh take a sip now.
    Now, I know that we don’t have to be sittin’ ’round thankin’ the Lord about every little thing, but sometimes, it might jist do us a world of good if we would.  Remember that ol’ song we sang so much in church, “Count your blessin’s name them one by one…”? Here’s what I’m tellin’ yuh, Pard.  Take time an’ thank the good Lord for all His blessin’s to yuh.  
    We need to be thankin’ and a fightin’… fightin’ the good fight.  Thank the Lord for the opportunity He gave yuh to be fightin’ the fight of faith.  Whooee, now there’s somethin’ to be ponderin’!
    We’ll be headin’ on up to that eastern state of Maryland next week.  Plan on stoppin’ at a roundup in Louisiana if’n things goes as planned.  Now, you take seriously what I was a sayin’.  Thank the Lord that yuh remembered to tighten yur cinch; thank the Lord He put a cinch on that saddle or else yuh would be findin’ yurself layin’ on the ground somewhere.

He got up and walked slowly between us and threw the little bit of coffee he had left onto the fire, where it made a brief, sizzling sound.”
              –Clair Huffaker  (The Cowboy and the Cossack)

Mornin’ to yuh, Pard.  ‘Nother week is past and gone.  Just where does time go?  Yuh have a day, and poof, before yuh knows it, it’s mornin’ of the next day and what did yuh get done?  I’m beginnin’ to understand a little of what ol’ King Solomon was writin’ about in Ecclesiastes.  One day, before yuh know it, yur jist like that there sizzle in the fire of the last few drops of coffee that was left in the cup.  Pard, we got to make the days count, for the Lord is comin’ soon, and the days are evil.
    I was seein’ that I wasn’t welcome to go spend my money in San Francisco any longer.  Yep, they done declared me a terrorist at large.  Ain’t that a kicker?  We are sure a-seein’ and livin’ in a world like never before.  The Lord said it would wax worse and worse until He returned.  Why there is even a person runnin’ for President of these here United States that says a way to curb the population growth is for there to be more abortions.  My mercy!  Yes, we sure are in a sorry state.
    When yuh look at all the craziness it almost makes the coffee taste bad.  No, it wasn’t my brewin’ it’s the state of affairs.  Hmmm, I noticed it didn’t affect yur gizzard, none, yuh drank yur cup down to the last swaller.  I’ll get yuh a refill and we can get on with our chat.
    My, it’s hot and dry here.  A storm will come up and jist slide around this place.  In the spring the lake was full and the water was spillin’ over the top.  Now, they’re only allowin’ a trickle to come out.  That jist shows to go yuh, what I was a-talkin’ about.  Here today–gone tomorrow.  Poof, the hour is gone.  Jist like our time this mornin’.  Sorry, Pard, but it’s time for yuh to be gettin’ on down the trail.  We’ve done drank us a pot of coffee, and if’n yuh don’t get to movin’ yuh won’t get the chores of today done.  Where has our time gone this mornin’?    That’s a good reason to be doin’ for the Lord, and checkin’ that cinch.  With time flyin’ the way it is, yuh jist might forget.  
    Be seein’ yuh, and maybe next week I’ll perk yuh up.  Yuh be travelin’ with the Lord now–He’s our hope.

They sat at the hardwood kitchen table drinking coffee from blue tin cups, talking until dawn.”
              –Stephen Bly  (Stay Away From That City)

Mornin’ to yuh, Pard.  Shake the dust off yur boots, the floors been mopped.  My goodness, look at the calendar.  Not the picture, but the date.  The last day of August.  This year is shore flyin’ by fast.  We’re on the downhill slope now, why in a few days it’ll be fall.  Maybe already is at our house.  Did yuh notice all the leaves layin’ on the ground?  Shore need some rain but not like that one that Florida is goin’ to get.
    What are yuh doin’ lookin’ at that phone?  Calendar?  You have a calendar on yur phone?  My, does it lie like those weather things on the phone?  I means they are complete liars, so figure that the calendar might be lyin’ as well.  Maybe it isn’t really Saturday.  Ever think of that?  Maybe it isn’t really August 31 and that we have everything all mixed and messed up.  I know that the media will try and get yuh to believe almost anything, so why not one of those high-flautin’ phones?
    Whooeee, what is truth anymore?  They’re callin’ it “fake news,” guess they’re just afraid to say the word “lies.”  One thing for sure, that coffee is downright good, and that’s no lie.  It makes the ol’ gizzard light up and say howdy-do, this mornin’.  But, silliness aside, Pard, yuh be careful.  The world belongs to the “father of lies,” and it’ll do anything to make yuh stumble.  Why I heard an ol’ boy tell another to go ahead and ride across that river, bottom is solid.  My mercy, he got only a few yards out and hit quicksand.  Well, that’s the way it is out there anymore.  On the surface things might look bright and be filled with laughter and gaiety, but underneath it’ll suck you right under.  So yuh be testin’ the water first, and also be mindful of who yur listenin’ to.
    I can relate to ol’ Stephen Bly.  Why I can remember family and friends comin’ over an’ we’d sit and talk and when I was younger I’d just listen.  A person can learn quite a bit if he just sips his coffee and listens, especially to older folk.  Them times are close to bein’ gone now.  Too much other stuff, “liars”,” to listen to rather than to sit and talk about good times with the family or friends.
    Well, you listen to this!  The trail might look good, and it may be the one yuh have to take to get where yur goin’, but don’t yuh dare travel it until yuh first checked yur cinch.