As I write this a storm is brewing here in East Texas and I will have to close down my computer soon. When we have lightening, I have to unplug everything electronic because we frequently have an unwanted visitor come through the wire.
Since I don’t have time to write a blog this morning, I thought I would treat you to a piece from a wonderful writer, Slim Randles. He has written several books and is a syndicated columnist. He is also a cowboy and hangs out with his friends at the Mule Barn Think Tank where they solve world problems and trade stories. Enjoy….
Someday it would be interesting if social scientists would spend some of that grant money on finding out how some good things get started, as well as discovering sources of pestilence and plague.
It shouldn’t be all that difficult. The cookie thing wasn’t all that hard to figure out.
The cookie thing, we concluded, began with old Jasper Blankenship. He came down from his cabin at the diggin’s and brought with him an entire half pillowcase of cookies. He had found the recipe in one of those 30-year-old magazines he has up there, and since the snow was too deep to do anything else, he baked cookies.
Jasper walked into the Soup ‘R Market and handed a cookie to Annette. “We don’t often get to say how much we appreciate each other, Annette,” the old man said, “so here … have a cookie.”
She thanked him and talked about it for the rest of the day.
Jasper found Doc walking toward the Mule Barn and his daily cup of coffee and handed him a cookie, too.
“Doc … the way you took care of that … little problem of mine … well, I want you to know how much I appreciate it. Here, have a cookie.”
Before the day was over and Jasper headed back to the diggin’s, half the valley had been cookied, and the other half wished they had. Carla Martinez had been cookied and decided to carry on the tradition, so she whipped up a batch of biscochitos and began passing them out, along with compliments.
Herb Collins asked Maizie to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies, his particular favorite, and handed them out, along with compliments. Mickey Baker had store-bought cookies to hand out two nights later at the ticket booth at The Strand, where a Randolph Scott Western was playing for the first time in 60 years. Each cookie came with a compliment, too. This seems to be the most important element of Jasper’s new valley tradition.
Cookies and compliments. Not a bad way to say I love you.
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Slim Randles lives in New Mexico and his books are: Sun Dog Days
So the African Highveld isn’t the only place where the sky gets angry? Our summer afternoon storms have caused so much damage to our electronics that I’m neurotic. The minute I see my cat (who is terrifiec of them) scurry along teh passage to hide under teh bed, I switch of my laptop and unplug everything. When I see her again, even if it’s still raining, I know it’s safe to plug in again! Not all bad news though, as I got so frustrated having to stop wirting, I started writing by hand, and discovered that it’s amuch better way of writing my firts draft. By hand, in pencil. So the lightning & thunder can crash and boom as much as it likes!
Judy (South Africa)
Judy, thanks for visiting all the way from South Africa. I have a cat who is terrified of storms, too, and he hid so well for an hour this morning, I could not find him anywhere.
And you are right about how the writing can go well using the old fashioned implements. I like paper and pen sometimes.
We haven’t had rain in months. Very dry here in San Antonio. Loved the cookie story.
Carol, that was our first rain in over a month and other than a lot of lightening and thunder it wasn’t much to speak of. Less than a half-inch of rain.
I thought the cookie story was great, too. I really enjoy Slim’s homespun philosophy.