This is what happens if you do not write your pages first thing in the morning. Life intervenes. It’s 2 PM and I just poured a fresh cup of coffee. I’ve been cleaning the house and just have one bathroom to go.
I was up early: the dogs were ready for their walk by 6:15 AM. By 7 AM, I was ready to get started on the day, but I decided to indulge in what I consider a luxury: reading a book with my first cup of coffee. In my single days, I couldn’t wait for Saturday mornings. I would get up early, make a pot of coffee, put it in a carafe and bring it to bed with me. Then, I would drink coffee and read. Pure pleasure.
So, that’s what I did this morning except I sat outside since my husband was still in bed along with our lab. It was a might on the chilly side but I lasted for a bit along with Zuzu. Reading In the Shadow of Wounded Knee reminded me that I had Dee Brown‘s The American West on my shelf. And, I was ready for more Western history, even though there isn’t much I haven’t at least touched on. But, Brown’s book, with photos edited by his late colleague Martin F. Schmitt, promised good stories. (NB: just went to Wikipedia and discovered the Mr. Brown is also late.) By the time I sat down at the computer, I was ready to work and spent the morning doing a few things. I was planning to write about the book.
I love its organization: chronological but also topical. Rather than trying to tell everyone’s story at once, they narrow in on sharply detailed vignettes of Western life. I feel like I have some knowledge of how to rope a calf now that I didn’t have before reading their chapter on cowboys. Quite a feat driving 3500 head of cattle from Texas to Kansas.
Their description of a man and his horse who had been trampled by a stampede was gruesome but compelling. The West, it seemed, offered multiple horrible ways to die. Maybe that’s why, when they got paid, cowboys went looking for booze and women rather than hearth and home. Spend it before you get shot by an arrow or trampled by a longhorn steer or shot by a poker player.
I’m hoping to have an hour to sit by the fire and read. It’s pouring outside and we’re home. I added at least another book to the basket of books.
My coffee is just about done. I should also work on the VITALNews so I may put an hour or so into that. We’re having weekend guests and I’m making supper on Saturday night: cranberry barbecue chicken in the crockpot, roasted sweet potatoes, salad from the green house, cole slaw with apples and walnuts, and a chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Yum! And easy to make.
