A Coyote Story

 

A churchman called in the other night and our conversation ranged far and wide. He told me about his grandfather, wounded at the end of World War I and demobilized after the Armistice. On returning to the States he caught the train from New York (?) and found himself several days later in Valley Mills, Texas, late at night.

There was no one to pick him up so he decided to walk home, carrying his duffel, home being an earth floored house some 15 or more miles away. So off he went across country, and in the depth of the night became aware he was surrounded by coyotes, "They were all around him, he could hear them moving and he had his knife out. But he made it back to the earth floored house that was his home. Father, it wasn't that long ago."

No, it was not. Sometimes I take guests out to the fields and brush near my friend's range then, at dusk, we hunker down and I tell them to listen as the coyotes start to howl. What an eerie, unearthly sound. The wolf, they say, is their natural predator.

Cave Canem,

LSP

BUSTED!

 

A Tahoe screamed around the corner, sirens wailing in the morning heat, a bust in progress but no big deal, happens. Then more sirens, this thing's escalating and I stood up in the front office, aka "porch" to see the action.

Lo and behold, Old D drives by the house, going slow in his beat up Toyota, followed by three more Tahoes full of sound and fury. "Pull over, fella," I thought to myself, "Stop blocking the road and let the cops take out the meth dealer 'round the corner."

D duly turns the corner, pulls into his driveway and bang, the posse screeches to a halt and it's Glocks out, get away from the vehicle! D does this quietly and gets taken to jail, for he was the perpetrator. But what had he done?

Gotten into a crazy verbal with someone at a fast food joint? Accused a random stranger of being in danger of hellfire at the Brookshires? Delivered an end times Alex Jones rant at Tractor Supply before running out on the store with an unpaid bag of cat food? All likely scenarios, but no, it seems his crime was failing to register his vehicle and then failing to stop when the LEO son et lumière began. D was scared and freaked out, apparently.

He's been charged with evading arrest, $5000 bail, and I like the guy. Crazy? Yes. Dangerous? No. In need of help? Most definitely, and I offered to do what I could. In the meanwhile, real, dangerous, evil criminals walk free down the marbled corridors of power, to say nothing of this town's drug dealers.

Look. A Crook

That said, couldn't the above deal have been handled differently?  Especially in a place where people know each other? Well, there it is, and I file this tale of crime and punishment under Country Life in Texas.

Justice,

LSP

Operation Barn Sale #1

 

Lo and behold, Barn Sale #1: '08 Kubota Tractor, Shredder, Gooseneck Trailer, Headgate & Mini Chute, Air Compressor(s), Power Washer, Ear Tags, Complete Scaffold (wheeled), Tools,  Fence Panels (10 set deal, $80 bucks a panel my friend) and on.

So that was all good. But let's see what tomorrow brings, and remember that one man's trash is another one's treasure. "How much?" pause, "Make me an offer, I think your tractor needs that." Another pause, walk away, "Twenty Dollars!" Turn 'round, "No sir." Reflection, "$30, last offer." Sold. That was my pal, selling machine.

And on. So today was good, let's see what tomorrow  brings.

Cash is King,

LSP