I was reading my Bible this morning and God sort of thumped me on the head…like he seems to have a habit of doing now and then. Genesis 1:1 says “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That sounds rather elementary and most people pass right over it without stopping. But if a per…
Here are some things I’ve learned since being adopted by my human parents.
We arrived home from the Western Writer’s convention in one piece, but totally exhausted. Our exhaustion, however, had little to do with the convention, which was well organized and well-run. The authors in attendance were gracious and willing to help folks who were looking for the room they were su…
Have you ever made plans and knew for certain that things were going to take place according to the way you had planned? Your plans were so perfect that it couldn’t take place any other way. The book you’d written, or photographs you had taken, were so remarkable that everyone would love them an…
Have you ever run across what should have been an easy fix, but no matter what you did, it seemed to refuse to be fixed. I had one of those experiences over the weekend. For some unforeseen reason, our kitchen sink stopped draining. Normally, a clogged sink is something relatively easy to fix, e…
Have you ever noticed how things seem to get better the harder you struggle? Take something as mundane as a glass of cold water. If you happen to be really hot and thirsty, that single glass of water might make you think it is the best glass of water bar none. Or a really good sandwich. If you are r…
Yesterday I was asked by a fan on Good Reads where I got my idea for my next book. I truthfully said I didn’t know. It was just there. That’s the way it has always been, from the time I was a small child to now.
I was the youngest of eight children. My older sister and brother got marri…
Bad Data
There’s a line out of Zane Grey’s novel “Riders Of the Purple Sage” that stuck with me when I first read the book some years ago. Lassiter is telling Jane Withersteen that the older he got, the stranger life seemed. I am finding that is certainly the case with me. Life, or pe…
While I’m a fairly easy guy to deal with on most things, I am not so easy to get along with on a few issues. I don’t like being told that I can’t go to the post office or store, or be given a long list of things I have to do in order to take the dog for a walk. And it doesn’t make much differenc…
I’m sitting in my recliner inside my living room, staring out the window during my self-imposed quarantine. No, I don’t have the virus and don’t expect to contact it anywhere in my small circle of friends. First of all, it’s kinda hard to contact or spread germs or viruses over the internet, and I…
The good news from California is that it isn’t raining today. That’s an odd thing to be saying about the state I’ve lived in all my life. As a child, I can remember honestly praying that it would rain, and being disappointed when it didn’t. On the few instances when it did, the first thing my two si…
I’m sure that most of us have heard, and more than likely repeated, the old axiom I’m having one of those days. We instantly know what the speaker means when we hear someone repeat those words. We have all experienced a day where nothing seems to go the way we had planned it, and certainly not h…
The apple tree Zachary planted in our back yard several years ago is telling us that spring is around the corner. And yes, I know they are forecasting another storm system moving into our area sometime this evening, dumping more rain in the valley and snow in the mountains. But still, the appl…
These plants are known as Datura Stramnonium, or more commonly called Jimsonweed or Angel's Trumpet. It is a summer annual broad leaf plant. All its parts, especially the seeds, contain alkaloids, and when ingested, are toxic to humans and livestock. The trouble is, they grow everywhere---along ro…
Okay, I believe I've reached the point that all red-blooded men hate...that they are getting older...maybe even over the hill and sliding down the other side, without any brakes to stop you. In my case, it was always the other guy, but never me. I guess I was like the character Al Capp created named…
About ten years ago we decided to have an in-ground swimming pool installed in our back yard. After taking several estimates, we hired El Dorado Pools out of Modesto to do the job. The finished product was everything we expected --- a large kidney-shaped lagoon affair with a waterfall and lagoon ben…
Adams Creek winds a path from the hills to the east of Oakdale, across fields and pasture land, where it intersects Orsi Road at the edge of town. From Orsi Road, it cuts a gash in the earth for approximately a city block where it meets with an underground syphon, to be piped across town. On an earl…
I woke to a chilly, foggy morning here in Oakdale. The damp air made me zip my jacket snugly around my neck while walking Molly. Funny how some dogs don't seem to mind damp, cold air or even a light rain, but when you show them a tub of warm bath water and a bottle of sweet smelling dog shampoo, the…
Okay, the trick-or-treaters are gone and the candle inside the jack o’ lantern has been blown out. You’ve picked up the scattered candy wrappers and tucked the little ones in bed. Time to snuggle next to the wife or husband with a hot cup of chocolate or coffee and watch a good Halloween movie. Righ…
Each of us form habits early in life. We learn quickly that certain behaviors will bring either a loving touch and smile from our parents, or it will quickly bring their wrath and displeasure. I grew up the youngest of eight children, and neither parent had time for childish fits of temper or …
