Advice from the Coyote Brothers
This morning I found this note slipped under my kitchen door.
Mr. Reed, we are concerned about you. We do not see any little kids visiting your home. We have observed you live in a childless home. Can you honestly confess you’re not completely sure of what children are like, march yourself (if you have a strong stomach) to the nearest playground or schoolyard. Five minutes of observation will suffice. Then, as you go shrieking homeward in horror, you’ll be an expert.
A child does not have to be a perfect little angel, the way you were when you were young, faultless in every way.
Your concerned neighbors,
The Coyote brothers,
Elmer and Melvin
A note from Elmer coyote
Elmer Coyote has been kinda quiet the last few weeks. This is a note from him I found on my kitchen door this morning. Sounds to me like he’s learning a few things about life.
“Needless to say, the most obvious juxtaposition of opposites is simply a man and a woman. No one has ever begun to understand this relationship, and no one ever shall. Yet most of us are in awe of its mystery, its charm, its bliss and battling.”
Your neighbor, Elmer
When I was a kid
When I was a kid, movies cost a dime. Even so, back in those tough days when dimes were hard to come by, my friend Henry and I could somehow scrounge up two.
Sentiment
Sentiment can be saving old things.
Yet, as I see it and write it, the deepest and most worthy sentiment expresses itself in saving a thought. If this makes any sense at all, the best sentiment is saving a sentiment. It is forever cherishing some little guideline given us, as children, by someone older who loved us very much.
Mother’s kitchen range
Note: This photo was taken by Oris George of his wood-burning heating stove. Inside, behind the glass, the fire flashed and light flares through the glass and travels out through the room.
by Oris George
While doing dishes this morning, I listened to the snap and crackle of cedar wood burning in the wood-burning heating stove. My memory raced back to the years when I was a small boy at home. The sound of wood crackling and snapping in the stove brought back fond memories of mother’s large, grey Monarch kitchen range. That stove was always hungry. I could never keep the wood box full. I thought again this cold winter morning about that stove and how mother had to coax it into life each day. That friendly old stove dried out wet gloves and mittens in the winter. The warmth from that stove made home comfortable and safe. From its oven, came loaves of homemade bread, fluffy golden biscuits, cornbread, apple and cherry pies, baked ham, and turkey for holiday dinners. I miss my mother and that old stove on this cold winter morning.
A corncob fortune
As the years march along, I vividly recall the fun, and not-so-fun, times, my friend, Henry, and I spent from the third grade through the ninth grade. I’m working on a story that took place during the fall of 1941. We were eight years old. Neither one of us had any money. We put our heads together and decided to get rich!
Ol’ man Foster raised many hogs on his farm. He would drive a pickup loaded with ear corn into the hog pens and shovel the corn onto the ground. The hogs ate the corn and left the cobs. We came up with this bright idea of sacking the corncobs in burlap sacks. Mr. Foster agreed. He told us we could have all the corncobs we wanted. We loaded eight sacks at a time into the cart, hooked my mule, Red, to the cart and headed for town. Eight sacks of cobs piled high in that small cart didn’t leave much room for us. We sat high on the sacks. Down Greenwood Avenue we went, door- to- door.
We must have been a pitiful sight–two ragged boys, one red mule and a cart filled with burlap bags full of corncobs. I’ll say this, “Henry was a darn good salesman!” But then, what housewife could resist his smile? He was a charmer!
We sold the sacks of cobs for 10 cents each. I don’t remember how many sacks of cobs we sold that fall. The movie was 9 cents. We had money for show tickets at the Rex theater, popcorn, and, after the show, an Orange Crush at Brickle’s Texaco Station at the southeast corner of River Street and 9th.
Note from the Coyote Brothers
Last week’s blizzard dumped snow. Then along came a strong north wind which piled snow in deep drifts and left the ground bare in other spots.
This morning I found a note fastened to the kitchen door. It was from the Coyote Brothers, Elmer and Melvin.
The blizzard messed up life in the Coyote community. The north wind piled snow into large drifts. In places, the snow was so deep we couldn’t get out to hunt. We hunkered down to wait out the storm.
The morning dawned a brilliant day. Junior Coyote ventured out to look around. He came back to tell us he had seen you out in your yard and that you were having difficulty getting around in the snow. We told him we heard you recently acquired a new knee and that humans have trouble getting around on one leg.
Junior observed seven deer and a very large flock of wild turkeys and many cows eating the corn stalks in the field just south of your house.
We want to let you know it’s fun sharing the area with you.
Signed: Elmer and Melvin Coyote
It’s Merry Christmas Time
Christmas at the Oris George Mansion
Happy Thanksgiving
NOTE: Since Oris is still laid up (although healing quite nicely), we thought we’d share a Thanksgiving greeting from his daughter Marcia Lynn McClure — this is posted from her newsletter along with her promotion for Oris George’s book “Along the Back Roads of Yesterday” and one of her books too. Enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving!
From Marcia:
Oh, I hope that everyone enjoys Thanksgiving Day! And I hope you’re planning on stuffing yourself sick—and then stuffing yourself some more with Pumpkin Pie! I don’t care if it gives me indigestion (it’s the spices and middle age that do it)—I’m setting a whole pie aside just for me! I think I’ll cut into it for breakfast Thanksgiving morning and go from there! Ooo! My mouth is watering at the very thought of it!
As Thanksgiving dawns and fades, and as we start revving up for Christmas, I hope we can all steal a little time to truly relax, reflect and enjoy! I don’t know about you, but I always try to do too much and then end up worn out and too tired to really enjoy certain things. Thus, I’ve promised myself to make sure I take the time each and every evening to sit before the fireplace or Christmas tree and just relax, listen to my favorite carols and truly enjoy the beauty of the season.
Meanwhile, whatever your Thanksgiving plans are, relish them to the fullest! If you’re a Black Friday shopper, have fun—and if you’re not (like me) wrap, rest, or read and relish every moment!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Marcia Lynn McClure
The Perfect Gift for Grandparents!
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for a grand parent or great-grandparent, or any friend or relative between the ages of 65 and 145, we’ve got it! Now available for a limited time at www.marcialynnmcclure.com, Along the Back Roads of Yesterday is a compilation of humorous, nostalgic, real-life stories written by Marcia Lynn McClure’s father, Oris George! Told just the way Oris lived life as a boy, growing up in rural America during the great depression and WWII, Along the Back Roads of Yesterday will warm the hearts of anyone, especially those who remember when life was much different than it is today—when fresh eggs, raw milk and mule apples were a part of every day life, and fun was had using only imagination and mischief!
Visit www.marcialynnmcclure.com to order your copies of Along the Back Roads of Yesterday in time for Christmas gift-giving to those special people in your life who truly enjoy reminiscing on days gone by!
Excerpt:
Heck! I was almost eight years old and knew for sure-and-certain I could drive a mule to take eggs to Cathcarts’. All summer, I pestered Mom to ask Dad if he thought I was old enough to make the drive alone. I gave up on Mom’s asking and decided to ask him myself.
As I finished the last of my apple pie, Dad lit the kerosene lamp and placed it in the middle of the kitchen table. I looked up at him. “Dad, ain’t I old enough ta take the eggs ta Cathcarts?”
With his calloused right hand, he tossled my hair and said, “I think it’s about time ya took on some additional responsibility ’round here.”
The Chimney Sweep Charm will Sweep You Off Your Feet!
The printed softcover version of Marcia Lynn McClure’s new holiday romance, The Chimney Sweep Charm, is now available to order! Click here to order your printed copies of The Chimney Sweep Charm today! (*Copies begin shipping December 1st and check back on Thanksgiving Day for details on the e-book version’s availability!)
Believe it when we say, that nothing will add romance to your holiday season faster than The Chimney Sweep Charm! Order your copies now to be sure Santa has The Chimney Sweep Charm to tuck into your stocking on Christmas Eve!
“Crackle Glass” Contest Ends November 30th!
Don’t forget to drop in at www.marcialynnmcclure.com and enter the contest for three Yankee Candle Pinecone Crackle Glass Votives! November’s contest ends at midnight November 30th, so enter today!
Be sure to visit Marcia’s Blog!
