Slim Randles is here as today’s Wednesday’s Guest. I guess there is lots of snow and cold winds where the Mule Barn Truck Stop is located. It’s sunny and a little warm here in my corner of NE Texas, so I don’t know whether to have a cup of coffee with the guys or iced tea. Decisions, decisions. Whatever I decide, it will go well with a cookie or two. Help yourself. I’m sharing.
Now here’s Slim. Enjoy…
It happened when two unfamiliar truck drivers came in the Mule Barn and took seats at the Round Table. Not that we wouldn’t have invited them to sit down, if they’d asked. Hey, we’re friendly guys.
Usually we’re at the counter … you know … the Philosophy Counter. But this morning, due to nasty weather, the numbers of the world dilemma think tank experienced some overflow. But there were still two seats left at the Round Table until those truckers came in and flipped over their coffee mugs.
We all exchanged names and then got down to business. Monkey business, of course. No one was shocked when Doc kicked it off.
“Chipper’s gone to ground,” he said.
“Hibernation, Doc?”
“Yep. Curled right up there in his little bed and corked off. I slipped a little pillow under his head and covered him with a baby blanket. He didn’t even move or snore or anything.”
We stole glances at the two newcomers to see if they were going to ask. They decided to ride it out a little longer and just wonder about Chipper, Doc’s imaginary squirrel.
“Has he recovered from the kidnapping yet?” asked Dud.
“Technically,” Doc said, “it was a blatant squirrel napping, complete with ransom. I was so glad to get him back unharmed, I’m afraid I almost overdosed the little guy with nuts.”
“Hibernation’s a good thing for Chipper,” continued our local doctor. “Sure saves money on Squirrel Chow.”
Those two new truckers will have something to chew over for the next hundred miles or so. We don’t charge for this, you know.
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Slim Randles writes a nationally syndicated column, “Home Country” that is featured in 380 newspapers across the country. He is also the author of a number of books including Saddle Up: A Cowboy Guide to Writing. That title, and others, are published by LPD Press. If you enjoy his columns here on the blog, you might want to check out the book Home Country. It features some of the best of the columns he has shared here with us, as well as the 4 million readers of the newspapers where his columns appear.
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Before I go I just want to mention that today is the last day of the promotion for Evelyn Evolving. My publisher made it free for a few days at all Amazon outlets, so this is your chance to get it if you haven’t already. 
Can’t help but love little Chipper! Thanks for the chuckles this morning.
We are all having a lot of fun with Chipper. I like the way Doc and the guys played out the story for the truckers. I could just see them doing that.