How Hot is It?

This is an older post from Slim Randles, obviously written before the pandemic had us avoiding avoiding restaurants and diners like they were filled with rattlesnakes. But since it is hot, hot, hot here in Texas, the content definitely resonates. 

I hope everyone is safe and well. Keep wearing masks and keep social distancing. Support your local restaurants and diners by taking advantage of take-out and curb-side pick-up options, and don’t forget to tip the person who brings the food out. 

Okay, enough from me.

Have a refreshing glass of lemonade, and enjoy Slim’s little essay. 

“You know it has to be summer,” said Dud, “when you see lizards carrying canteens.”

There were nods of agreement going on around the round table at the Mule Barn coffee shop.

“Puts me in mind,” said Herb, “of that summer back in ’74. You remember that one?”

Everyone but Dud nodded. In 1974, Dud wasn’t yet a twinkle of his parents’ eyes.

“Fried an egg on the hood of Doc’s car, we did,” said Herb, grinning. “Sunny side up, right, Doc?”

“That’s right,” Doc said, “but I wish you had asked me first. See, you boys didn’t put any grease on the hood and I thought I’d never get all that egg off.”

“Didn’t taste so pretty good either,” said Steve. “Herb forgot the salt, and it just … well, it just didn’t taste much like an egg. Tasted like someone fried it up on a car hood. But I sure do remember it being hot that day.”

“How hot was it, Steve?” asked Dud.

“’Bout a hundred forty I’ll bet,” said our resident working cowboy with the walrus mustache.

“Never been that hot here,” said Dud.

“Talkin’ ‘bout the hood of that car,” Steve said.

In this group, the first liar doesn’t stand a chance.

“For me,” Herb said, “I’ll never forget when it got so hot that little kids dressed up like fire hydrants and sat still, hoping a dog’d come by.”

Brought to you by  “Ol’ Jimmy Dollar,” a children’s book by Slim Randles. LPDPress.com

 *** 2016 SPUR Book Awards, Western Writers of America ***
Finalist Western Storyteller, Illustrated Children’s Book: “Ol’ Jimmy Dollar” by Slim Randles and illustrated by Jerry Montoya

Slim Randles writes a nationally syndicated column, “Home Country” that is featured in 370 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, you might want to check out the book Home Country. It has some of the best of his offerings through the years.