Mid-year thoughts

Some mid-year thoughts from an old and wretched mind …

We’ve managed to pass the mid mark of the calendar year, we survived the Fourth of July along with the hottest week on record around these parts.  And what do we have to show for all that effort?

We have two candidates for president, neither one of which is qualified for the office (even though one is already there), we have a supreme court that writes laws (think corporations as people), and we have an attorney general that sells guns to Mexican drug cartels because that will force us to discard the Second Amendment.

Man, oh man, we’ve been busy little bees, eh?

On the home front, I just got another short story published, this one scheduled to see the light of day in October’s issue of Epiphany.  The correct name of the magazine is Epiphany-epiphmag.com.  It seems there is another magazine out there that calls itself Epiphany Literary Journal. 

And, I just got word from my publisher (Bottom of the Hill Publishing) that “Out of the West … Tales of the American Frontier” is still selling.  I enjoy very much writing traditional western short stories.  I’ve had two published recently in Rope and Wire, and have started putting together an outline for a western novel.

Which brings up an interesting thought.  I also enjoy writing classic mysteries and crime stories.  The market for crime/mystery novels is very strong, but for crime/mystery short stories it is almost non-existent, while the market for western short stories is rather broad, the market for western novels is limited.  There’s a bit of a conundrum for you.

You figure it out.

We feed our horses a combination of grass and alfalfa, and use the part of the meals that are discarded (manure for those out of touch with the natural world) for mulch in the garden.  What is happening this year is interesting.  Seems the grass seeds are not fully digested, and I am growing an amazing amount of highly nutritious grass in with my corn, beans, peas, and tomatoes.  Can’t grow grass in the areas of the rancho set aside for lawns and such.

Strawberries and Jalapeños doing very well right now, grapes are struggling, and mama rabbit hasn’t brought us her new litter yet.

That’s about enough for right now.  As always, read good books and stay regular.