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This excerpt is from book 4 in the Crow’s Lake series, titled THE CROWS.

PROLOGUE

In the late 1890’s eighteen-year-old Vern Johnson set out for the gold fields hoping to find enough gold to buy himself the ranch he had always dreamed of owning.  Long before he reached the gold fields, he encountered Pappy Adams who was in dire straits and, but for the ministering’s of Vern, would surely have perished out there on a deserted mountain trail. 

As fortuitous as that was for Pappy it was even more so for Vern because Pappy had 17 years of experience in the gold fields and had already found an abundance of gold.  During the process of his recuperation, Pappy and Vern became the best of friends and full-time partners, sharing their findings equally.

Flashing forward 10 years we find our hero, Vern, now owning that dreamed-about ranch and prospering nicely.  His ranch contains 5.5 sections totaling 3520 acres.  Not large by any stretch of the imagination, but far more than he had ever dreamed of owning and own it he did, lock, stock and barrel. Free & clear. He didn’t owe anybody one red cent. 

The ranch boasted one of the largest, most sturdily built homes in all of the west.  Built from field stones picked up from the rocky terrain of the surrounding area, this two-story house was designed to withstand the attacks of the native Americans prevalent in the region in the mid 1800’s.

By the time Vern came to own the ranch the Indian troubles were a thing of the past, but the design of the house still made it one of the most desirable in the region.… and the land was even more desirable. 

There were numerous streams running through the property making water for the animals always there for the taking.  Up in one of the higher pastures there was even a small spring-fed lake, approximately 15 acres in size and very deep. All in all, there was never any fear of a water shortage, even during the driest of times.

Editor’s note: If you’d be interested in visiting the Amazon pages of these authors, please go to Amazon at the locations shown below.

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #520

About: Integrity

Quoting unknown:
“You either have it,
…or you don’t.”

I’ve been posting excerpts from our 7 book CROW’S LAKE series lately, but I thought I’d give ya’all a break from that for a while, so I’ve decided to share the following with you instead.

CUTTING OFF YOUR NOSE, TO SPITE YOUR FACE

Sometimes I wonder about people who get upset and start ranting and raving about something that seems to be important to them at that particular time.  What do you suppose they think the next day when they find out that everything they were saying was wrong?

I’m one of those guys who worry about saying something stupid that I might regret.  Once you throw it out there, you can never take it back, you know?  And it seems that almost always, after I cool back down, I’m damn glad that I kept my mouth shut instead of blowing up and saying something stupid.

It’s the same thing when it comes to arguing with my sweetie… I don’t…  When you’re mad, you’re much more likely to say something stupid.  Yes, you can always apologize for it, but you can’t take it back and she ain’t never going to forget that you said it.  NEVER!  Not only that, but the next time and every time after that when you upset her again, she’s probably going to bring it up again. 

Yes, there were likely lots of things I could have said, (really wanted to say) but a friend once said to me, “one punch leads to another and soon you have a full-blown fight.”  I ask you, who among us can say that they ever really and truly won a fight? 

I prefer to bite my tongue, simmer down and live to love another day.  I believe the following poem sums up this little dissertation.  

ARGUMENTS
©By: R.L.King
From the book Memories & Time ©2017

She said. “You’re yelling at me,” but it didn’t seem to matter,
still he kept on yelling, as she got madder and madder.

Saying, “Go yell at someone else,” she headed for the door.
He hesitated for a moment and then he yelled some more.

The door slammed behind her, as she headed who knows where,
but wherever she was going, she knew he’d not be there.

Arguments often happen and making up can be such fun,
but when hurtful things ring out, the bell can’t be un-rung.

Slowly his chances faded, to get back into her good grace
and a look of exasperation,,, came upon his face.

This story will continue, though the relationship will likely fold,
but predicting a woman’s thoughts, never would I be so bold.

Life goes on around us.  Join in, if you will.
It’s a never ending journey.  Always, it seems, …uphill.

*********

I had four Gramps use’ta say ditty’s that seemed to be appropriate for this posting and I couldn’t settle on just one, so I’m posting all of them.

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #215

About: Fighting

“When there’s a fight loomin,
most times the smartest thing to do,
is to sit down    ….an SHUT UP! ”

*********

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #221

About: Anger:
“Sharp tongues…
leave unpardonably deep gashes.”

*********

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #276

About: Common Sense

“It’s near impossible
to have an intelligent discussion
with someone who’s already pissed off.”

*********

  Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #318

About: Arguing

 “A week from now, will it even matter?”

*********

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’d be interested in checking out the Amazon pages of either of  the authors of this site, please go to the locations shown below. Kindle versions of their books are available at only 99 cents.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

Sorry about that, it looks like I screwed up and posted the same item twice.  I trashed the second one to post this excerpt from book 3 in the Crow’s Lake series, titled BEFORE THE CROWS FLY

PROLOGUE

It’s well past the days of the gold rush, but there are still prospectors and Pappy is one of the more successful ones.  He hasn’t become a millionaire, but by his standards he’s a wealthy man.  Doesn’t matter.  He has nothing to spend it on and no desire to live the kind of life that his wealth could afford him, so he just keeps right on digging. 

His is a simple life.  Long as there is stew in his pot and wood for his fire, he’s a happy camper.  And the gold just keeps accumulating.   Truth be known, he’s not sure just what his many pouches of gold are worth, but he knows it’s going to take more than one trip to get it all hauled to the assay office.  He was dreading that first trip.  Soon as he hauled in that first load, everyone within 100 miles would think that he’d hit the mother lode.  He wasn’t lookin forward to the problems that could bring.

His place was well hidden, but there ain’t no damn way you can keep it a secret once you haul in that first load.  He’d contemplated getting himself a partner or two to help hold off the riff-raff that would come his way once word got out.  Trouble with that idea was there ain’t no damn way you can trust a partner, let alone two of them when there’s that much gold involved.

He’d been worrying on those concerns for several years now as he kept on digging and stashing more and more gold in his various hiding places.  He hadn’t figured on keeping it all in one place, just in case some damn jasper got lucky enough to find his stash.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you’d be interested in purchasing this book or any of the 20 books by these authors, please go to their pages on Amazon at the locations shown below. Kindle versions are available at only 99 cents.

http://www.amazon.com/author/richard-lee-king/

Amazon.com: Donna Hale Chandler: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle

Gramps use’ta say
©R.L.King2012 #521

About: Success

Quoting unknown:
“No matter what you’re doing,
the more you do it,  
the better you get at it.”

I’m not a bad cook.  Really, I am not.  I’m also not a particularly good cook.  It’s not something I enjoy doing.  I cook so we can eat – and we truly do like to eat.  The main problem with cooking is that you really should stay in the kitchen while you have items on the stove.  I can still hear my mother saying, “You can’t cook from the living room.  Get your hind end back into the kitchen before you burn the house down.

My mother now has passed on.  I’m retired and I’ve never burned down the house.  BUT I have exploded a few eggs.  Have you ever put eggs on to boil and then gotten busy elsewhere in the house?  I have (a perfect example of trying to cook from the living room).  When you hear the explosion, you will be back in the kitchen in a flash.

You see, when the water boils away, the eggs will explode.  Yes, they will.  The lid will fly up into the air and eggs shells and over cooked eggs pieces will go EVERWHERE.  You will be cleaning eggs remnants from cupboards, the ceiling, and of course the stove for several weeks.

I’m sure you’re wondering how I know this or you may have correctly guessed that I have actually experienced this explosion first hand.  To make life extra interesting, I have done this not once, not even twice, but THREE TIMES I have rushed to the scene of exploding eggs. 

Moral of the story:  Listen to your mother.

********

Gram use’ta say