Sometimes we all yearn for a simpler life. Okay, maybe you don’t, but there are a lot of us who do, including Steve, one of the guys from the Mule Barn Truck Stop where he hangs out with Slim Randles and friends. I always enjoy spending a bit of time reading the latest from this group.
Grab a cup of coffee and read on…
“Well that about tears it!” said Steve, twitching his walrus mustache. “How do they expect a guy to get by when they tell him what to do and to send money and re-up every dang thing in your billfold. It ain’t right!”
We hadn’t seen our favorite cowboy so worked up over something since the boss made him shoe the neighbor lady’s mule.
He still limps now and then when the weather turns cold.
Steve had been sipping coffee and slitting envelopes as he combined caffeine and mail. As usual.
“Are you going to ask him?” said Doc, turning to Herb.
“You’re closer to him than I am, Doc. I might have to raise my voice. Weakens a guy.”
Doc grinned. “Okay, Steve, what’s the problem?”
“Licenses. Every dang time you turn around some guy behind a counter tells you you have to buy a license. Runs a guy straight into the poorhouse. It does.
“Why, you have to have a license for your pickup, and for your dog, and I’ll bet if a guy got married, he’d need a license for that, too.”
“You got that right,” said Dud.
“Them HAM radio guys gotta have a license, too,” Steve said. “Once you buy a license, they give you all them numbers and letters, so your buddies in Thailand know it’s you. I’m tired of it. We need a simpler way to live.”
“Okay, Steve,” Doc said, “What do you suggest we do?”
Steve grinned. “Everybody get a horse. You don’t need a license for the horse. You can get on him and ride him everywhere you go. Works out just fine, in my thinking.”
Doc smiled. “I have to go to a conference in Boston, Steve. Any suggestions?”
“Well, Doc,” Steve said. “I believe if I were you, I’d saddle up and leave now.”
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Brought to you by Joe Collins, custom woodworker at the Old Mill Store in Wimberley, Texas. Stop in and say hi.
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Check out all of Slim’s award-winning books at www.slimrandles.com, and in better bookstores and bunkhouses throughout the free world.
All of the posts here are from his syndicated column, Home Country that is read in hundreds of newspapers across the country. I am always happy to have him share his wit and wisdom here.
Slim Randles is a veteran newspaperman, hunting guide, cowboy and dog musher. He was a feature writer and columnist for The Anchorage Daily News for 10 years and guided hunters in the Alaska Range and the Talkeetna Mountains. A resident of New Mexico now for more than 30 years, Randles is the prize-winning author of a dozen books, and is host of two podcasts and a television program.
What a wonderful picture of your Banjo. Sometimes I long for the simpler life of yesterdays. Maybe Steve has the answer!
Thanks for stopping by, Jan. This is one of my favorite pictures of my horse. I sure do miss seeing him in the mornings. And the evenings. And all the time in between. 🙂