She wondered if the unrest and strife that had lately come to the little village of Cottonwoods was to involve her. And then she sighed, remembering that her father had founded this remotest border settlement of southern Utah and that he had left it to her. She owned all the ground and many of the cottages. Withersteen House was hers, and the great ranch, with its thousands of cattle, and the swiftest horses of the sage. To her belonged Amber Spring, the water which gave verdure and beauty to the village and made living possible on that wild purple upland waste. She could not escape being involved by whatever befell Cottonwoods.
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"The Adventures of Panama Red" was a good album.
DKDC
Too many sage lines to choose a favorite. And that's just chapter 1
The strange glow, the austere light which radiated from Tull's face, might have been a holy joy at the spiritual conception of exalted duty. But there was something more in him, barely hidden, a something personal and sinister, a deep of himself, an engulfing abyss. As his religious mood was fanatical and inexorable, so would his physical hate be merciless.
This one too:
"Easy--easy--I ain't interferin' yet," replied the rider. The tone of his voice had undergone a change. A different man had spoken. Where, in addressing Jane, he had been mild and gentle, now, with his first speech to Tull, he was dry, cool, biting. "I've lest stumbled onto a queer deal. Seven Mormons all packin' guns, an' a Gentile tied with a rope, an' a woman who swears by his honesty! Queer, ain't that?"
"Queer or not, it's none of your business," retorted Tull.
"Where I was raised a woman's word was law. I ain't quite outgrowed that yet."
Tull fumed between amaze and anger.
I've got the pre-Christmas funk.
I catch it every year right around the first of December and it goes away Christmas Eve. The symptoms are feeling blue, a bit of lethargy, not caring much about anything and the desire for strong drink.
It's seasonal and I've had it since I was twenty-five. Its root cause is the subtle end-of-year eval we do to our selves. "I should have done better, earned more money, gotten into better shape, bought a better car, yadda yadda yadda." It's a general miserable sort of unhappiness that probably isn't real, even though it sure feels like it is.
It has tapered off somewhat in the past few years as I've finally learned how to deal with it. I stopped beating myself up over the notion of "success". I'm alive and that's a pretty good thing. Everything else is gravy.
I no longer obsess over being able to buy everyone I give gifts to the coolest, neatest, spendyest gift I can find. Truth is, I was doing that more for myself than for them. It made ME feel good, even if the recipient didn't much like the gift, or felt bad because he of she couldn't do the same for me.
Three years ago I stopped most Christmas gift giving. The college and high school kids each get a card with a Starbucks or iTunes gift card. Everyone else gets a book, a bottle of wine or a gift card, depending on their circumstances. Most of the gift cards are $25. And I've told everyone that I no longer want any gifts. I don't need anything, and am approaching an age where downsizing looms, and I already have too damn much stuff to get rid of.
I'm pitching a few more bucks into the Salvation Army kettles this year instead of having a big Christmas party. The party was fun, but it took a day to prepare, a day for the party, and a day to clean up afterwards. Where's the fun in that? This year I'll have an open house on the 16th for those who can make it. Chili, cornbread and football. On Christmas I'll visit my parents, then head to the cabin for some winter r and r.
And I've set aside time each day during Advent for Scripture reading. Keep the eyes on the prize, ya know?
So have a funky Christmas! Embrace the funk!
I told my sons that since they voted for increased taxes they should apply at the foodstamp office for their Christmas gifts. My money went, and continues to go to Obama.
Elections have consequences.
Today, I shop for semi-autos and ammo. I might look like Santa but I shop like Ted Nugent.
Enjoying what we have is important. I can still make things, can still see the sun, walk the dogs and keep the house warm.
It's all good.
I can't get Tinsel Tits out of my mind.
Mamam hit an arrow to my heart when she coined the phrase "tinsel tits". I am in total bliss.
Titus - I've seen them. Never mind how. Awesome.
Haz, where did you see Tinsel Tits?
Troop, any Tinsel Tits pics out there?
Tinsel Tits
Tinsel Tits
Tinsel Tits
Yea! This is fun! I like that combination of words! WWWWEEEEEE!!!!!!
I love titty witty's.
Titties.
Tinsel Tits.
YEA- I am dancing around my office right now thinking of tinsel tits.
wooooooooooohooooooooo
I'm a bit younger than Haz, but I get that same feeling. Don't need much. Don't see much point in throwing gifts around.
Troop's an inspiration to tip all the service people. I don't meet that many but I'm going to slip 'em something extra this year.
I do have some young kids still, though, so it's fun to make a little splash on Christmas. Evidence of Santa and whatnot.
@ Haz
pre-Christmas funk.
I catch it every year right around the first of December and it goes away Christmas Eve. The symptoms are feeling blue, a bit of lethargy, not caring much about anything and the desire for strong drink.
Well. I just wrote a long emotional diatribe about how I feel the same way and then deleted it.... it amounts to....
Ditto.
If I start to feel that way this time of year, I listen to Frank Sinatra's version of the "Christmas Waltz".
I hope it works for youse guys the way it works for me.
Interesting - I don't get any of that, but then again, I make sure I watch the sunrise every morning and let some of the light hit my retinas - mmm, burning!
But seriously, I moved and got rid of tons of stuff. That was a very good thing to do. Sold some of it, gave some away, threw away some, hauled truck loads of metal to the recycling place and so on. I went through all the boards and chunks of wood I have accumulated and gave some to carvers, burned some, unloaded a mess of it onto my luthier brother Lex so he can make ukeleles and mandolins and otherwise lightened my load. My truck, however, is not a flatbed.
Now that I am unpacking things at my new abode I realize I still have too much stuff - dishes and towels and sheets and pots and pans I have done without for close to two years and you know what, when I rebuild the kitchen here I think I won't even include space for that crap. To the Goodwill! Be gone!
It is a cold frosty morning this morning - frost is so heavy it looks like snow. Did I mention I hate snow? Don't much like cold, either, but what are you going to do - it's winter. Time to plant walnuts.
I got up Monday morning. Took a dump. Flushed. Nothing. Panic. Went to Agway then Lowe's, came back with something called a Main Line Cleaner. Dumped a cup of it in the toilet. A slight improvement. Mess went down. Followed instructions and dumped another cup in at night, let it work overnight, next morning toilet flushed but barely. Gave up, called plumber who came that afternoon wrestled with the snake for a full hour finally gave up told me I needed a new toilet. Came Wednesday with helper, took them 41/2 hours! I kid you not to install new toilet because wooden floor rotted out at that spot and had to secure with lug nuts or something don't ask me I don't understand but I did understand final bill $700 for new toilet. Plumber pulled out of driveway started home I go into kitchen no flow out of kitchen faucet which had been low flow for years. Called plumber who turned around and came back told me faucet would have to be replaced and galvanized pipe under faucet which was now thoroughly blocked based on his turning off water to put in new toilet would have to be replaced small section of too. Came back Friday installed new faucet after cutting off length of blocked galvanized pipe and replacing that with wider pipe. Cost $475. Total to plumber and his helper $1175. And that was my Monday to Friday.
@Ricpic: you should learn to do that stuff yourself. There are YouTube videos out there made by professionals explaining how to do just about anything. Like it or not we're moving to a DIY world.
This weekend I'm putting in an outdoor electrical socket and installing overhead lights under the eaves for the outdoor bar.
I will be repairing a long list of things at my other house - plumbing, roofing, A/C, water damage, siding, and I don't know whatall. Actually, I do. The inspection report is quite detailed. I think I will hire a plumber to replace the water heater.
Yeah, I don't think I'd trust myself to put in a gas-fired water heater. I used to do that kinda thing on a small scale in the lab.
You're right, chick, but I'm hopeless.
I'm not gonna embarrass myself or you with all the manly repair things I can't do. Suffice it to say I woulda been better off as a troubadour in some minor French court in the provinces in the 17th century. A regular Miniver Cheevy, that's me.
You need to know five things to be a plumber:
1. Left hot.
2. Right cold.
3. Payday is Friday.
4. The boss is an asshole.
5. Shit don't flow uphill.
You need to know five things to be a plumber:
Do-it-yourself plumbers can also count on three trips to the hardware when it comes to projects involving toilets, pipes, fixtures or grout.
Plus whatever's being done will take longer and involve more work than originally thought.
Any time I tell my wife how long a project will take, she triples my estimate and is usually right.
That's true of programming, too, Windbag.
I do plumbing repairs, then when I find the extent of the problem, call a plumber.
The water heater I need to replace is electric. Last time it was replaced I was leaving for Italy that afternoon and I heard water gushing. Plumber came out and fixed it and I wasn't even late to the airport.
But having looked over the connections, the electrical stuff and the overflow requirements, I'll call the guy.
I hate working in crawlspaces, yet that's what I have in front of me for the next couple of weeks. Happy holidays indeed!
OK, but you all can't take away the pride and my feeling of accomplishment from a job well done.
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