Four Writers in a Yard Scene

When the weather around southeastern Colorado clears for a day and the heat slips up the thermometer, writers often gather for a chore day at one or another home. We have a blast, focusing all our energy on the yards, trees and gardens of other writers - even in January.

At 65 degrees today, it was a great day for gardening. Even the Bouncing Betties were out in their full glory looking for sunshine out from under the compost.

The morning started with Danielle and I going out for breakfast at our favorite truck stop. Nothing is better than steak and eggs at a truck stop. Those truckers may know nothing but the road and the best greasy spoon cafes' but they've got a lock down on breakfast. I had a rib-eye steak, cheesy potatoes and two eggs staring me down with wheat toast and coffee that will tie your shoes and make your shoe leather stand up another winter. Nothing like a rib-eye to remind you what a real man eats for breakfast.

Danielle and I hustled over just about every topic known to man (or woman) and a few more besides, including those untouchables, religion and politics. (We disagree on both.) We got our whites and blacks confused, added color and called them both gray, then tugged at the judgment line and danced around the issue of Christianity and Jew-ism. As is typical, we tussled it all over until we were laughing at the differences in our differences, and named a few of our next books.

We discussed a series of books I've written and talked about the demise of the Grizzly in one of them. A Department of Wildlife Deputy is forced to track down a Grizzly bear whose fourth trip down the mountain reveals his lack of fear of man. The Grizzly has acquired a taste for trash and isn't afraid to enter a housing development to find the trash. The Department of Wildlife Deputy realizes the Grizzly is a real danger to people and his continued treks down the valley have left the deputy no choice but to end the danger. As he sits on a rock, resting from his long hours of tracking time the Grizzly joins him, standing up to his full seven foot height, he faces the deputy.

As the deputy leaves the scene with the Grizzly, he realizes the value and purpose of the friendship they've developed over the years. The deputy acknowledges the importance of the random elements of their friendship and the differences between man and bear including their value system. The reality, clear focus of lonely, long efforts of finding a life mate become clear in the face of their friendship. The beauty is the understanding between them, that no matter what happened, the two of them felt the kinship of lonely displacement. Absence of one of them encourages the other to pursue a relationship he's been avoiding because of the weight of commitment.

With yet another contract pending, this series is rife with purpose and reader value. Danielle and I have decided I won't wait on another contract, if this one fails. I'll self-publish.

I came home and worked for several hours, taking a moment here and there to work on our book (we'll both be writing it) and she focused on hauling compost.

Danielle Simone raked leaves single handedly for most of the morning until the rest of us dug in and started helping her. She'd managed to get the cart filled up a couple of times before we all got into the swing of things. Lunch consisted of Jr. Whoppers and ice cream cones. Danielle was part way through her ice cream cone when she started choking. I rushed her to the Emergency room to find out her throat was scratched really badly from some unknown source (probably whatever had choked her) and the common consensus was that she'd swallowed a piece of ice, probably frozen milk from the ice cream mix. She survived.

The event was an unnecessary reminder that life is too short to waste a moment. We returned home to find her husband slightly concerned (he hadn't heard the whole story) and my son waiting to be taxied to guitar lessons.

Oris George showed up just before sunset to help us move some limbs he wanted for his fire, and promised to come back today to help my son, Kenton, Don and Danielle, Sean and I chop down some trees and finish clearing out a yard that seems to have captured the attention of the City Code Inspectors for our tiny community.

Charge!