Bayou Renaissance Man

 

We gathered at the Obligatory Cow Reference for breakfast, nominally at 8 am, but stretching a point for those who were late getting out of bed.  I enjoyed their Western omelet with hash browns, all topped with a generous helping of chile verde, accompanied by sourdough toast and blackberry jam.  My diet is going to be so shot by the end of Blogorado...

We drove out to the farm after breakfast, and spent the morning catching up with each other's news while more arrivals rolled in.  I napped during the afternoon, and by the time I got back to the farm for supper, there were about a dozen of us.  We feasted on lasagna with garlic bread, helpfully accompanied by this year's crop of barn kittens, who were anxious to demonstrate to us that lasagna was, indeed, cat food - just look!  Let us prove it to you!  They're a cute bunch, all bounce and purrs and claws.

Farmgirl introduced Miss D. and I to a very handy gadget:  the Milwaukee M18 Inflator.

It's a heavy-duty tire inflator:  the Farm Family uses it for cars, pickup trucks and farm equipment, and find it very useful.  It may be "too much gun" for occasional use with small cars and urban vehicles, and it's not cheap, but it did a great job of reinflating our SUV's tires and spare wheel very quickly (the change in altitude and temperature dropping their pressure by at least 5 psi overnight).  Even better, you can tell it what pressure you want, and it inflates to that level automatically, eliminating constant checking.  We were seriously impressed, and are thinking of buying one (or its smaller, lower-cost brother, also highly rated by customers) for ourselves.

Saturday morning we'll gather at the Obligatory Cow Reference for our usual breakfast, then it's out to the farm again.  I'm sure the kittens are looking forward to mugging us for half our food once more.  They're cute.

Peter

 

We had a safe journey to our destination in southern Colorado.  There's a new hotel in town, a normal modern traveler's hotel/motel configuration, but light years ahead of the old fleapits that had been the only available accommodation ever since we started gathering here more than a decade ago.  We gratefully booked a room, complete with modern, comfortable beds, and enjoyed the best night's sleep we've ever had here.  Let's hear it for progress!

Our local restaurant hangout, that we habitually refer to as the Obligatory Cow Reference (a play on its name), has undergone a makeover since we were last here.  The interior is now modernized, with a dark color scheme that none of us particularly like;  but the food is as always, and plenty of it.  The few of us who arrived yesterday had supper there last night, and we'll be gathering for breakfast in a short while.  I'm looking forward to their breakfast burritos, and chicken fried steak smothered in their chile verde, and flapjacks the size of cartwheels.  You'll gather that food is a major feature of our get-togethers.  Don't come to Blogorado if you're dieting!

It looks like this year's gathering will be smaller than usual, as various other demands on their time and money have forced a number of our regulars to regretfully bow out of Blogorado 2023.  That's OK, though.  We'll be gathering at the Farm Family residence later today, chasing this year's crop of barn kittens (and trying to avoid the temptation to take another one home with us), and catching up on a year's worth of gossip and fun and games.  I'll keep you posted.

Thank you to all who prayed for traveling mercies for us.  The trip was smooth and trouble-free.  Let's hope the rest of our travels are in the same vein.

More tomorrow.

Peter

 

Yesterday we attended the memorial service for our friend Bob.  It was held in a community hall in a very small Colorado farming community, attended by several dozen family and friends.  It was a simple ceremony, nothing special in the liturgical sense, but all of us who knew and loved Bob had the chance to remember him together, and celebrate all he meant to us.  Several of his former law enforcement colleagues also attended, in uniform.  It was good to see one older man, of Bob's and my vintage, wearing a well-worn 1911-style pistol in a drop holster as his duty weapon.  From the shine on the grip and grip safety, it had been well-used for a long time, and I'm sure he can wield it as effectively (or more so) than any modern "plastic fantastic".  Jeff Cooper would have been happy to see it.

A fair number of Blogorado regulars came out here for the occasion, and offered love and support to Bob's wife and daughter.  As always with our crowd, everybody brought food;  and the local farming community seems to operate on the same principle that "Food is love.  Eat!  Eat!"  At one point, when a late arrival texted to ask whether he should bring anything, the response was to threaten them with bodily harm if they brought any more food.  I think the family will be eating the leftovers for several weeks yet!

It snowed yesterday, seemingly heavily to those of us from non-snowy climates, but dismissed as "nothing to worry about" by those who experience it more regularly.  Driving back to our hotel from the farm yesterday evening, in the gathering gloom, was an interesting experience for me as a driver.  I asked Miss D., who learned to drive in Alaska, to give me pointers as I drove, because I'm very much a novice at driving on snow and ice.  I may have given her a few white-knuckle moments, but generally there were no problems, and we made it back to the hotel unscathed.  I learned the hard way to double (or more) my braking distance, because traction on slippery snow isn't what I expected.  Fortunately, on country roads with no other traffic in sight, I learned that lesson the easy way.  (Also, traction on dirt farm roads is, oddly enough, better in the snow than on tarred roads - the dirt doesn't freeze over as much as snow melting on tarmac, meaning there's less ice to worry about.)

We'll be heading for home today, along with most of our crowd, after another delicious breakfast at the Obligatory Cow Reference.  Please keep us in your prayers for traveling mercies.  I hope normal blogging will resume tomorrow.

Peter

 

Miss D. and I, and many of the usual suspects from our annual Blogorado gatherings, made it safely to southern Colorado yesterday to prepare for Bob's memorial service this afternoon.

It was an uneventful journey, but a strong headwind wrought havoc with our vehicle's fuel consumption.  Only halfway there, I had to stop to refuel, as the gas gauge was dropping like the proverbial stone.  I couldn't figure it out, until I got out at the gas station and had to fight the wind to fill the tank.  It must have been gusting well over 30 mph, and the car had been driving straight into the wind all the way.  When we turned north at Amarillo, the wind was now on our left side, and the vehicle was buffeted for the next few hours until we arrived.  Not fun.

A funeral or memorial service is seldom a light-hearted affair, and Bob's is no exception.  His family are clearly feeling his loss very greatly, which is entirely understandable.  Nevertheless, I can't help feeling that he's still very much alive, both in his wife and children, and in all of us who've gathered here.  To a very great extent, Bob helped to make Blogorado the fun, rejuvenating gathering it's become for all of us;  and his spirit lives on in everyone who's been part of it.  I felt his presence strongly as we gathered at the farmhouse yesterday afternoon.  If there's an afterlife, as the Good Book promises us, I hope to see him there;  but even if there isn't, he's still very much alive in each of us who remembers him and honors his example.  That's a legacy of which anyone can be proud.

Miss D. and I took the opportunity to stop at a local store to buy warmer clothing than we can usually find around our home.  Colorado being a lot colder and snowier than north Texas, they stock the "good stuff" here.  I was sorry to see that the current ammunition drought has struck here, too.  The store normally has a long shelving unit filled with ammo for various firearms that farmers and ranchers find useful.  This time, it was reduced to a single six-foot shelving unit, very sparsely populated.  The staff said they hadn't had an ammo shipment in weeks, as this store is at the end of their parent company's supply chain in this state, so all the good stuff gets siphoned off before the truck gets here.  I may have to ship ammo supplies to the Farm Family to keep them going.

This morning we'll gather at the Obligatory Cow Reference (our name for a local eatery that has a cow in its name) for a hearty breakfast.  I think I hear their breakfast burrito with huevos rancheros and green chile sauce calling my name!  The memorial service will be held this afternoon, after which we'll gather at the farm again for a less formal send-off.

Peter

 

A valued friend died a few days ago.  Miss D. and I are still absorbing his loss, remembering his warmth and laughter and fellowship, saddened at the thought that we won't share them again - at least, not in this life.

Nevertheless, I refuse to get downcast or despondent at losing Bob.  He was a man among men, who lived his life on his terms, and spat in the eye of anyone who tried to force him to do otherwise.  He was a good man all around.  I'm not going to be sad that he's died, as we all must, sooner or later.  Instead, I'm going to be glad that he lived, and that I was privileged to call him and his family my friends for over a decade.

Bob was a farmer in a state where farming was always a precarious existence.  There, you wrestle your living from the soil the hard way.  No highly fertile soil, no abundant water, no balmy weather . . . just hard work and worry, day in and day out, never knowing whether each year would be boom or bust.

Bob also worked as a sheriff's deputy back in the day, to help his community and to help make ends meet.  According to those who knew him back then, he was one of the "good cops":  hell on wheels to ne'er-do-wells, but compassionate and helpful to those who needed it, and with the wisdom to judge when each attitude was appropriate.  He was what the old-timers call a "peace officer" instead of a "law enforcement officer".  Would that we still had more of them around!  His daughter continues in the family tradition, working for the same sheriff's office.

Bob enjoyed firearms and shooting, and every year he and his family hosted our Blogorado gathering where we celebrated both.  I enjoyed those times, yarning about everything under the sun, sharing good food and drink in vast quantities, sitting around the fire in the chilly evenings and sharing the fellowship.  There were also phone conversations now and then, sharing ideas, arranging meetups, and generally catching up on each other's news.  I spoke with him two or three times in the last few weeks of his life, making various arrangements, and now I'm glad I did.

Like me, Bob lived through a heart attack, but his was much worse than mine.  He only just survived it, and it left his health in a precarious state.  He knew his days were numbered, but simply shrugged his shoulders and got on with life.  We understood each other in that way.  When you're a cardiac survivor, you take life one day at a time, because you don't know when your heart will decide it's time for another round with the Grim Reaper.  We talked about that sometimes, and were mutually grateful for each extra day we've been given.

Bob's funeral will be held next week.  Miss D. and I will be attending, not to mourn his death, but to celebrate his life.  We're richer for having known him, and we'll always cherish his memory.  If the Good Book speaks truly, I hope we'll see him one day - in the right place, too!  Bob wasn't a believer, but I am, and I've said my prayers for his soul.  God grant that they helped him over the threshold of the Pearly Gates.

Others among Bob's friends have also written about their memories of him.  Lawdog's comments are here, and JB's are here.  Go read, and enjoy Bob vicariously through them.

Peter

 

We're having a great time at Blogorado - so much so that I haven't had time or inclination to blog!  We're a smaller group this year, because a number of our regulars live in states that would force them to quarantine themselves (thanks to COVID-19 regulations) when they got back, and that would disrupt their jobs and their income;  so, sadly, they can only be with us in spirit this year.  That's OK.  We've kept their places warm for next year.

We've done very little shooting thus far.  For most of us, 2020 has been a very bad year, and we badly need to sit back, relax and cheer ourselves up in the company of our "tribe", as we refer to ourselves.  So far, that's meant a lot of good food, and much sitting around and chatting, catching up with each other's news.  Many of us will head for our impromptu shooting range on Saturday morning, to make up for lost rounds.  (Some have already been shooting at a local prairie dog colony near our hosts' farmhouse, to the detriment of the rodent population.)

A commenter noted earlier, "Just to be clear - you're meeting at a secret location with other bloggers but you don't necessarily want your readers to know where it is. That about right?"  Yes, but not exactly.  From its beginning back in 2009, Blogorado has been an invitation-only event.  We started as a small group of bloggers who all knew each other, either in meatspace and/or cyberspace, and the parents of the lady who had the idea for Blogorado agreed that a group like that were welcome to use their farm for the gathering.  However, a number of our readers wanted to come as well, without being invited - and that was a no-no for the Farm Family, partly for reasons of privacy, partly because of legal liability issues.  If you have a lot of people firing thousands of rounds over a weekend in close proximity to each other, accidents can happen.  The FarmFam trust those of us whom they know are well-trained and experienced with firearms not to make such mistakes, but they can't be sure that others are as safe.  Therefore, at the request of our hosts, we don't reveal the exact location of Blogorado, to avoid such complications.

Another complication this year has been the extreme drought that's ravaging the southern Plains states.  The ground is tinder-dry, and fire is an extreme hazard - so much so that FarmFam have a pickup on standby at our shooting range, with a large tank of water in the back, just in case a ricochet might start a grass fire.  (That's happened twice at previous Blogorado gatherings, so we're well aware of the danger.)  In current conditions, a grass fire could get out of hand in no time at all, so the water will help put it out before things get difficult.  Local firefighters have no sympathy at all for idiots who start fires, accidentally or otherwise!  The air is already laden with smoke and particulates from the big wildfires ranging in and west of the Rocky Mountains - you can't see blue sky at all, only a dingy gray-white haze overhead.  It makes breathing difficult sometimes.  Given that very visible warning, we're all being extremely careful.

In a short while, we'll gather for breakfast at our usual hangout, the Obligatory Cow Reference (a restaurant dubbed that by one of our number some years ago, because of its name);  then it's off to the shooting range to burn up large quantities of ammunition (without, of course, doing the same to the range itself!).  I probably won't put up another blog post today, but I'll see about tomorrow.  Miss D. and I will be heading for Amarillo on Sunday, to meet up with friend, fellow blogger and fellow author Alma Boykin for a long-overdue rendezvous.  We should be back home on Monday, and regular blogging will resume (God willing) on Tuesday.

Take care, y'all, and say a prayer for us for traveling mercies.  Thanks.

Peter

 

Miss D. and I are traveling to Secret Blogger Rendezvous in Colorado today, where we'll spend the Columbus Day weekend participating in our annual Blogorado gathering.  (You can read more about previous get-togethers by clicking here.)

We've already done our shopping at Fischers in Muenster, TX, where we stocked up on bratwurst, bockwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad (served warm), onion and smoked Cheddar cheese, and other goodies.  We're bringing enough with us for everyone to enjoy for supper one night.  Due to the current ammunition shortage, we're bringing less ammo than we normally would;  I've restricted us to only 2,000 rounds.  (Yes, it's good to have a well-stocked ammo stash for this sort of thing!)  Some we'll shoot this weekend, and some will be donated to a local FFA chapter, because the kids have trouble finding (let alone affording) ammo at times like these, for their regular get-togethers.  (Note to urban liberals:  yes, of course shooting is a part of FFA activities in rural areas!  You were expecting maybe tiddlywinks?)

Blogging will be sparse until we return.  I'll try to post one article each day, describing what we've been doing, but don't worry if I miss a day - it'll simply mean we've been having too much fun, and keeping too busy, to post!  Normal blogging should resume next week on Tuesday, October 13th.  Meanwhile, please keep us in your prayers for traveling safety.

Peter

Yesterday (Monday) saw the end of our gathering for this year.  Some folks had to leave on Sunday, due to work commitments, but the rest of us gathered for a final breakfast at the Obligatory Cow Reference before heading out in all directions.  I tackled their Western Omelet, which was as delicious as everything else on their menu.  Their breakfasts are a highlight of our get-togethers, and I don't think I've ever heard anyone complain about their quantity or quality.

Miss D. and I headed south to Amarillo, where we met up with Alma Boykin and Old NFO for lunch.  As always, it was a pleasure to see Alma again.  She's good people.  After the meal, we continued south, through heavier traffic than we're used to on US Highway 287;  perhaps the Columbus Day long weekend had proved more popular than usual for a last pre-winter vacation.

We were followed southward by Ambulance Driver, who stayed at Blogorado for a few hours longer to get in some more testing on a firearm he's reviewing.  He's now on his way home to Louisiana, and occupying our guest room for the night.  The cats are overjoyed to have us home again, but not sure about this stranger who arrived shortly after we did.  One can almost see their minds working - are we planning to go away again, leaving them at the mercy of yet another temporary daddy or mommy?  They'll get over it.

Normal blogging will resume today.  Thanks for your patience while I was on the road.  It was good to see old friends and recharge my batteries.

Peter

Another fine, sunny day, with temperatures in the 70's, much nicer than when we arrived!  We gathered for our usual breakfast at the Obligatory Cow Reference.  (To explain its name:  the restaurant isn't actually called that, of course, but has a cow-related name.  Early in our Blogorado history, someone remarked that it was like an obligatory cow reference in a town that was, after all, founded towards the end of the great cattle drive period of Old West history.  The name stuck.)  I treated myself to their breakfast tacos and a short stack of flapjacks, which I couldn't finish - they were very large flapjacks indeed!

One of the reasons I like coming to Blogorado is that one is surrounded by bloggers of every ilk, most with a shared interest in firearms.  It's a great place to share views, exchange ideas, help with publicity for each other's books, and so on.  I found that again yesterday, when I was struck by an idea for a new Walt Ames western novel.  I've already got the next three plotted out in some detail, but this idea will probably change the next two, one in minor ways, the other very much.  I'll noodle on it over the next few months.  Anyway, the idea was sufficiently interesting for me to leave the others to have fun on the shooting range, while I headed back to the hotel to make notes for future reference.

Much fun was had bringing down the ramshackle old barn before which the happy couple had exchanged vows yesterday.  It's been derelict and falling down for years, and FarmDad decided that since he had all these muscular strong geriatric old men around, we might as well help him get rid of it.  A chain was duly wrapped around a couple of uprights and fastened to a pickup truck, which slowly reversed until they snapped.  It took several tries to remove enough supports, but eventually the old barn collapsed sideways with lots of creaking and groaning.  FarmDad will set fire to the remains as soon as there's been enough rain and/or snow to make it safe to burn, without creating a larger fire hazard.

Yesterday evening was our last supper together for a while.  Jeff made a very tasty chili, while a local lady produced three large pans of oven-baked enchiladas.  We stuffed ourselves, as usual.  Miss D. and I are afraid of what our bathroom scale will reveal when we weigh ourselves back home.  If we've put on less than five pounds apiece, I'll be very surprised!

This morning (Monday) we'll gather for a final breakfast, then go our separate ways.  Miss D. and I hope to be home by late afternoon.  Regular blogging should resume tomorrow.  Please say a prayer for us for safe travels.

Peter

We kicked off Saturday, as usual, with breakfast at the Obligatory Cow Reference.  I renewed my acquaintance with their chicken-fried steak, topped with a generous helping of their spicy chili verde.  Accompanied by cottage fries and a couple of eggs, it was delicious.

We headed out to the farm, where a couple of hours was spent preparing for the wedding celebration that afternoon.  Two of our long-term associates have decided to tie the knot, using another of our members to officiate.  FarmDad has welded together an entrance arch for the bride out of wheels from antique farm implements (which are apparently worth quite a lot of money to collectors, but he refuses to sell them, because he has "projects" in mind).  That done, the group headed to the shooting range, where much fun was had by all concerned.

The wedding took place in late afternoon, and was lovely.  The bride and groom are of the less conventional sort, so they made up their own wedding vows, which were original, moving, and sometimes very entertaining.  The ceremony over, lots of hugs and kisses were exchanged, and we adjourned to the barn, where the grills were fired up.  Every year we all contribute to buy an entire cow, which is traditionally named "Sir Loin".  T-bone steaks of enormous size were duly grilled, while FarmMom deployed pans of her famous garlic mashed potatoes.  We struggled to eat our way through the food, but we're a motivated bunch, so we eventually triumphed.

One of the fascinating things about belonging to such an eclectic group is the number of conversations on various and sundry topics that can be overheard by just wandering around.  Yesterday evening, as an example, there was a discussion on the merits (or otherwise) of a particular firearm;  the raising and breeding of cattle;  prospects for farmers in this part of the world after a pretty miserable growing season and a very poor harvest;  the political situation in the USA;  the trials and tribulations of emergency medical responders and fire departments (complete with "it happened to me!" real-life stories, some hair-raising, others funny);  and a conversation about books and copyright law, and dealing with plagiarism.

We were both pretty tired, so we left mid-evening to return to our hotel room and get to bed.  Tomorrow should be more of the same, God willing.

Some thought-provoking reading for you, gleaned from surfing the Web in the small hours of the morning when my back would let me sleep no longer:

• Hoax Marks the Spot & the Rush to Fudge
• The coming next American Civil War
• We're in a permanent coup
• Survey Reveals ‘Alarming’ Civic Literacy Crisis Among College Graduates
• San Francisco, Hostage to the Homeless

Peter

The cold snap left very cold temperatures in its wake.  When I got up yesterday (Friday) morning, the thermometer read a balmy 9 degrees Fahrenheit!  Needless to say, with that sort of cold, nobody did anything too strenuous on Friday.  We waited for the warmth to return.  We spent the day at the FarmFamily residence, eating, drinking and batting the breeze.

Two of our number are getting married at this year's Blogorado.  Farmdad has assembled a triumphal arch for them, with the aid of a number of old steel wagon wheels and his trusty welding torch.  It was moved into place next to an old, tumbledown barn yesterday, and other preparations were made.  Later this afternoon the Big Moment will be celebrated by all of us.  Farmdad's also laid in a few antique weapons (a double-barreled shotgun, a Winchester rifle, and a Springfield rifle, all 19th-century) to serve as props;  and he has a white-painted Mossberg shotgun, so we can officially designate it as the "wedding shotgun" for a shotgun wedding!

The abundance of German food we provided was devoured with gusto yesterday evening.  It was the right meal for a chilly evening;  German sausage, potato salad and sauerkraut have a very warming effect.  We'll have to do that again, one of these years.

Today's going to be warmer, so after our usual communal breakfast at the local hostelry known, by Blogorado tradition, as the Obligatory Cow Reference, we're going to head out to the shooting range on Farmdad's property and convert a large number of dollars into spent brass, loud noises and muzzle smoke.  It should be a lot of fun.

Peter

We had an interesting drive from North Texas to Colorado yesterday.  The massive Arctic weather front that dropped temperatures by over 60 degrees Fahrenheit in Colorado yesterday had moved well into Texas.  Miss D. and I ran into it just outside Chilicothe, where she took this amazing picture while I was driving.  It isn't wide enough to tell the whole story.  (Clickit to biggit.)




Those are four massive roll clouds in close formation, extending from one horizon to the other in an otherwise clear sky, as far as the eye could see. We were just under the first of them when she took that image.  When we left home, the temperature was a humid 79 degrees.  Within moments of hitting the cold front, demarcated by those roll clouds, the thermometer plummeted by 30 degrees.  Last night we were well below freezing . . . not a happy contrast with home!

We stopped in Amarillo, along with Old NFO and aepilotjim, to have lunch with Alma Boykin, who's always a joy to be with.  At her recommendation, we visited Thai Arawan, which served us a tasty meal.  After filling our vehicle's tank as well as our own, we headed north to Colorado.  That leg of the trip got a lot colder;  temperatures were below freezing by the time we arrived at our destination.  We had decided to wait to buy some warmer clothing until we got there, because what's sold in our home area to deal with north Texas cold doesn't do an adequate job in still colder climes.  Miss D. bought a winter hood and some gloves, while I was lucky enough to find a heavy-duty Carhartt hoodie big enough to fit over my back brace (which I wore for the journey).  It won't be adequate for serious cold, but it'll be fine for daytime temperatures down to freezing point.  For colder weather, I packed a parka.

We dropped our luggage at our hotel (which in local terms means a rather nondescript motel, without much in the way of creature comforts - there are no "name-brand" hotels at all in town), and headed for our Blogorado rendezvous at a farm half an hour outside town.  FarmDad, FarmMom and FarmDaughter were there to greet us with hugs and warm words, as were several other early arrivals.  More people trickled in as it got dark and the fires were lit in the barn.  There's a bumper crop of new farm kittens this year (at least a dozen of them), and they're unusually friendly, so most of us were kept busy scritching and stroking them, keeping them out of the fires (which they'd never encountered before), and generally enjoying their antics.  The fires, built in sort-of-kind-of chimeneas home-made by Farmdad with a welding torch out of old vehicle wheel hubs, were a great cat success.  Several kittens, after testing the hot metal curiously, settled down to sleep as close to the warmth as they could get. (No, we're not taking another kitten home with us.  One Ashbutt is enough for now!)

Last night's supper was beef pot roast with vegetables, accompanied by boiled and shredded lobster brought by one of the visitors.  It was a great start to what's normally a very filling weekend, with an over-abundance of outstanding food served over the duration.  Tonight (Friday) Miss D. and I, assisted by some of the others, will lay on a German-style meal with all the trimmings.  That's going to be fun.

I'll post again (or try to) tomorrow morning about today's events.

Peter

Miss D. and I left this morning on our journey to Colorado, where we'll join a group of fellow bloggers, writers and shooting enthusiasts for our annual Blogorado gathering.

We're not looking forward to the weather!  Yesterday the temperature at our destination dropped by almost 60 degrees (Fahrenheit), and tonight it's supposed to be in the teens.  In contrast, here in north Texas we've had days in the mid- to upper 80's for the past week or two, and pleasantly (but not excessively) cool nights.  We're not packing our open-toed sandals for Colorado, but rather warm shoes, heavy jackets, gloves and other anti-shivering devices.

We normally spend our days out on a shooting range established by our hosts on part of their farm.  I suspect there'll be less of that this year, particularly for Thursday and Friday, because the wind whistling down the grasslands from the Arctic Circle and Canada is enough to freeze bits that you really don't want frozen.  If things warm up enough, we'll get some shooting in on Saturday or Sunday.

We've already packed two coolers with all the food we bought the other day.  We'll be cooking supper for the gathering on Friday night, with the eager assistance of several other visitors.  I think a good German meal will drive away the early winter collywobbles very nicely.

Blogging will be sparse for a few days.  I'll try to post a daily update on how things are going, but there won't be more than that.  We'll be back home by Monday evening, God willing, so normal service will be resumed on Tuesday.

Say a prayer for us for traveling mercies, if you're so inclined.

Peter

Our annual Blogorado gathering is coming up next weekend, and Miss D. and I have volunteered to provide supper on Friday night.  We therefore hit the road to Muenster, TX this morning, to Fischer's Meat Market, which I've mentioned in these pages before.  It's a truly magnificent German-style meat market, which breeds its own cattle, slaughters them itself, and processes the meat to produce all sorts of delectable goodies.

We probably shocked the counter staff by ordering so much.  Thirty-odd bratwurst, thirty-odd bockwurst, eight pounds of coarse-ground peasant-style Braunschweiger, twelve pounds of German potato salad (the kind you eat warm), six pounds of sauerkraut, several pounds of onion and smoked cheddar cheese, two pounds of German herbed mustard, a jar of dilled garlic cloves, a little of this, a little of that . . .  The total came to just under two hundred and fifty dollars, which we gladly paid.  This sort of quality simply can't be had for love or money except at a traditional German operation like this, and whilst we don't go to Fischer's often, when we do, we don't begrudge the money we spend.

The shopping's now been decanted into three separate fridges and freezers.  Wednesday evening we'll put it all into a couple of cooler boxes, along with ice, and that should keep it safe until Friday afternoon, when we'll start cooking.  This should be a meal to remember!

Peter

Sunday saw our last breakfast with the tribe this year.  It was sad to have to say goodbye to everybody, but we're already looking forward to doing it all again next year.  We really have become one big extended family over the years, and all of us enjoy our adopted brothers and sisters.

Miss D. and I headed for the Rocky Mountains after breakfast.  We're in Cañon City, just outside the Royal Gorge, site of one of the most famous railway wars of the Old West.  We'll take the train through the Gorge this morning, to get a visual feel for the area, because I'll be writing about it in a few years, in what I plan to be the fifth novel in the Ames Archives series.  (One has to plan several books ahead, so that the volumes dovetail in time and space and follow a logical sequence.)  I'm told the ride is spectacular, so we're looking forward to it.

After our morning excursion, we're planning to drive through the Wet Mountain Valley, where Walt (in Volume 2 of the series, "Rocky Mountain Retribution") acquired a horse ranch (which he'll be expanding and stocking with brood mares in Volume 3 of the series, "Gold on the Hoof", currently being written).  I want to see Westcliffe and (particularly) Silver Cliff, site of a very large silver mining operation in the early 1880's, as I'm planning to have those operations have a major impact on Walt's operations in the area.  It was a time of great financial skullduggery, with the ordinary miners and farmers of the area often treated as so much collateral damage as the money men sought to put one over on each other.  It makes most Wall Street operations today look positively civilized by comparison.

We'll overnight in Cañon City for one more night, then head south for Cimarron, NM, one of the great boom towns of the 1870's.  Notorious gunfighter Clay Allison was only one of the "big names" who held sway there.  Lucien Maxwell's original Maxwell House was there, and for a while it was quite the place.  I'd like to show Miss D. some of the history in the area, which almost defies belief, but really happened.  We'll head homeward on Wednesday, having learned enough to keep me busy for months.  I'll probably have to make one or two follow-up research trips to nail down specific details, but I've got enough to be going along with for now.

I'll put up one or two more articles for timed release during today.  Normal blogging should resume on Thursday, the good Lord willin' an' the crick don't rise.

Peter

Saturday was much colder than Friday, so everyone arrived for breakfast dressed warmly.  More people arrived yesterday evening, so the group was pretty much all there, amid much squeee-ing at the sight of the one-and-a-half-year-old son of one couple (who stole everyone's heart with his infectious smiles and giggling.  Shy, he ain't!).  I decided to go with a more western breakfast, and had steak and eggs with all the trimmings.  Delicious!  I may go with the breakfast burrito on Sunday - I have to gas up the car anyway, as we're leaving after breakfast, so that will lend a little more gas to our travels.  Miss D. may not approve.

Some of our diehard shooters went out to the range yesterday, but about half the group stayed at the farmhouse, bundled up against the chill, enjoying each other's company.  There's a large groundhog den not far away.  They're perennial pests, always fair targets for anyone wanting a go at them.  I'm told some of our number attempted to thin out the local population.  Unfortunately, due to the blustery, variable wind and the vagaries of relatively low-velocity .22LR rimfire ammunition, the pesky critters were threatened more by close-range showers of dirt than by actual hits!  I'm sure they were duly grateful (and annoyed).

I took a ride out to the so-called Black Hole, a very deep swimming hole below the Two Buttes Dam.




Back in the late 1800's, this was part of a free-flowing stream, which would have been used by cattlemen and horsemen to water their animals when traveling from east to west or vice versa across southern Colorado.  I'm planning on having my protagonist, Walt Ames, use it for that purpose in a future book.  It's said to be very deep in parts, several hundred feet at least, although other parts are shallower.  Kids enjoy diving off the cliffs overlooking the waterhole (see here for one video of them having fun);  but sometimes they miss and hit the rocks, or hit the water wrong, have all the breath driven out of their bodies, and don't come up again (which happened to a friend of the Farm Family some years ago).  The place has a mixed reputation for fun and doom . . . not very comforting!

Sunday will be our last breakfast at Blogorado 2018.  After the meal, Miss D. and I will be heading for the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, where we'll spend a couple of days researching the railroad war over the Royal Gorge route.  One of my Western series will be devoted to this fascinating period of history, which involved some of the most famous gunfighters and lawmen in the Old West.  We plan to take the train through the Gorge, to see it for ourselves, and visit museums and other places of interest in the area.  After that, we'll drive through the Wet Mountain Valley, where my protagonist owned a horse ranch.  It was the site of a silver strike in the late 1870's, which developed into the Silver Cliff Mine.  Walt Ames will be heavily involved in this, too.  Finally, we'll head home via Cimarron, NM, to see one of the most (in)famous cowboy towns of the Old West.  Those who've read my novel "Rocky Mountain Retribution" will recall that Walt Ames has already passed through there.

It's been a fun trip so far, and I've learned a lot.  Look for it all to be used in future novels.

Peter

Breakfast at the Obligatory Cow Reference was as tasty as everyone remembered.  Unfortunately, this year the owner had forgotten to hire extra help, so the lone waitress on duty had to cope with all her regular customers plus an invasion of a score or so of hungry bloggers and shooters.  She was run off her feet, but did her best.  We all tipped generously, so I'm sure she scored a couple of hundred extra dollars to soothe her shattered nerves!  I had the huevos rancheros I mentioned yesterday, and they were delicious.  This morning, I may be wrong, but I think I faintly hear one of their humongous breakfast burritos calling my name . . .

A number of us hit the local shops after breakfast, to stock up on necessities.  Flats of water were in high demand, due to the dehydration caused to many of us by being at unexpectedly high altitudes.  Sodas, snacks and other goodies followed.  I'm sure local shopkeepers don't know what our gathering's all about, but I daresay we bring tens of thousands of dollars into the local economy every year, what with a couple of dozen hotel rooms, meals, stocking up the farm for our fun and games out there, fuel for our vehicles, and so on.  Certainly, no-one seems to complain!

Yesterday was warm and breezy, perfect for setup day at the range.  A crew loaded themselves and our newly fashioned shooting benches onto a farm pickup and its outsized trailer, and chugged off in that direction while the rest of us loaded more bits and pieces into more vehicles.  We spent a while setting up everything.  The wind had picked up, so the new hi-tech expanding cover bought to provide shade for cooking was instead threatening to act as a sail and remove itself from the location once and for all.  We tried tying it down, but the wind was just too strong, so in the end the cover had to come off.  We're going to try ghillie netting on the frame this morning, to see if that'll provide shade without the sail effect.

A number of our members have become pretty expert photographers over the past few years.  One of the features of this year's gathering has been the number of high-end cameras, their owners stalking subjects around the farm and looking out for that perfect picture.  None of us mind, particularly, provided that privacy is preserved and the photographers don't publish or release pictures of those in sensitive occupations, or for whom privacy is important.  Of course, in a group like this, that's clearly understood, so it's not much of a problem.

The local fauna are out in force.  We all received a texted warning en route that a herd of deer had been spotted on the approach road to the farm, and to observe caution as we drove it.  I haven't come across them yet, but others have.  There have been a few vehicle-versus-deer encounters in past Blogorados, and none of us want to repeat them.  I almost ran into the rear end of an enormous bird yesterday afternoon while driving back to town.  It was black, with white markings on its wings, and took off from the drainage ditch next to the road carrying something in its claws.  FarmDad says it was probably a vulture, but that there are a couple of local hawk and eagle species that can also grow as large.  Whatever it was, its wingspan was greater than the width of our new-to-us SUV, and I think I missed it by no more than a few feet as it rose lazily above the hood, wings beating slowly and steadily.  Impressive, even if it was a bit heart-stopping from a driver's point of view!

I had another interesting vehicle experience on this trip.  On Thursday night, driving back to our hotel, we were informed by the car's warning system that a tire's air pressure was low, and required attention.  They all looked and tested OK, so we drove back, and I took it into a local tire shop yesterday morning.  They explained, smiling, that we'd just risen in elevation by a few thousand feet, and the lower air pressure here might have produced that result.  Sure enough, when I topped up all the tires, the problem magically went away.  I'll have to see whether anything changes when we drive home again.  (I also had them check the spare, beneath the vehicle, and found it seriously underinflated - by about 2/3rds - despite the assurances of the dealer and service department, when we bought the car, that they'd checked all the tire pressures and everything was OK.  I'm going to have a come-to-Jesus conversation with them about that when we get back.)

It's almost time to head for the Obligatory Cow Reference for today's communal breakfast;  then it's wash, rinse, repeat for another day of fun and games.  It's forecast to be a lot cooler and windier today than yesterday, but that's no problem.  If it's not suitable for shooting, there's lots of food and drink at the farm, a huge workshop with a chimenea-style fireplace fashioned from old wheel hubs welded together, and lots of comfortable chairs.  (There are also a dozen-plus farm cats and kittens, who wait in ambush for all these strange two-legged visitors to drop food, or put down their plates in an unwary, unguarded instant.  They also try to get onto the serving tables, leading to much abuse and swatting at them as they leap clear, only to try again seconds later.  I swear they've already started to put on weight since we arrived!)

Peter

Miss D. and I arrived in Colorado yesterday afternoon, to check in with the gathering crowd of writers, bloggers and shooters at our annual Blogorado gathering.  It was great to exchange hugs and greetings with old friends, and make a couple of new ones, as we rendezvoused at the farm HQ.  The chatter was ceaseless as we caught up on each other's news, inquired after those who hadn't yet arrived, and giggled over inanities.

There's a fine crop of kittens at the farm this year (you'll remember, it's where we got Ashbutt a couple of years ago).  These aren't tame at all, and avoid contact - but once supper was served, they became a whole lot more interested in the paper plates on our laps.  As we finished, we put them down on the barn floor for the kittens to clean.  At one point, I counted five kittens paw-deep in one plate, all licking vigorously to make sure they vacuumed up whatever was available.  They would even tolerate the odd stroke or two, focused as they were on the more important things in life.  Some of them made determined, repeated efforts to get onto the tables where the food was being served, and had to be shooed off at frequent intervals.  I somehow doubt any will be tame enough to go home with attendees this year, but we'll still enjoy the heck out of them.

Inevitably, since we're all shooters, a certain amount of "show-and-tell" marked our gathering.  New toys were displayed, fondled and enthused over;  manufacturers and models were compared;  and arrangements made to try each other's new toys at the shooting range over the next couple of days.  I don't know what the round count will be by the time we finish, but I guarantee it'll be in at least the thousands, and probably in five figures.  That's the way of it at Blogorado.

(A quick word of explanation.  Blogorado is invitation-only;  it was set up that way right from the start.  Attendance is limited to those known to a reasonable number of those who formed part of the original group, who receive the "family" seal of approval;  and even then, FarmMom must individually agree to each new person who the rest of us would like to invite.  I and several others have problems every year with others, including complete strangers, who demand to know where we're meeting so that they can turn up too.  I'm sorry, but that ain't gonna happen.  Blogorado will remain a pretty intimate family gathering, so to speak, and will never be open to all comers.  That's the way it was set up, and that's the way it'll stay.)

This morning we'll gather for breakfast at the local café known to all and sundry as the Obligatory Cow Reference.  Farmgirl has to warn them every year of the date of our arrival, so they can stock up on food and hire extra staff to cope.  I'm sure we make a significant contribution to their annual profits during our get-togethers!  On the other hand, we don't object, because they give us a private room (which we've been known to overflow sometimes).  Their food is delicious, and there's always plenty of it.  I'm thinking this is a good morning for huevos rancheros smothered in green chili, served with a tortilla, beans, toast on the side, and all the trimmings.  My mouth's already watering at the thought!

Blogging may be sparse over the next couple of days.  We'll be heading out on Sunday to continue our research for the next few Ames books.

Peter

Miss D. and I are heading out for a ten-day research trip for my next Western novel, the third in the "Ames Archives" series.  We'll be covering large areas of West Texas, Colorado and New Mexico, checking historic locations, following the routes that horse herds and cavalry patrols would have used, and generally making sure I have the terrain properly scouted out before I begin writing.  That's important if one wants to be convincing.  Louis L'Amour was a great example in that regard, and I try to emulate his accuracy.

We're going to Blogorado, our annual gathering of gun-bloggers and friends, as part of the trip.  Many of us are also writers and authors, so it's very much a business gathering in that respect, exchanging news of what we're working on right now, the state of the market, and so on.  It also helps with publicity for forthcoming books, of course.  All that makes the trip tax-deductible, which is very useful.

I'm going to try to put up a couple of blog posts every day, mostly writing them in the evenings in our hotel rooms.  If I can't manage it some days, bear with me, please, and visit the bloggers in my sidebar.  They're pretty good, too!  Say a prayer for traveling mercies for us, if you're so inclined.

Peter

Thank you very much to everybody who donated in support of Andi's medical treatment for a stroke.  We set a target of $25,000, and by yesterday (the deadline for contributions to qualify for our gun raffle) we'd raised over $18,500 - about 74% of our goal.  The fundraiser will continue, but without prizes, so if you're feeling generous, we'd still like to reach $25K for Andi (shown below with her husband and sons).




For every $10 donated, donors were given one 'ticket' in a drawing for the prizes.  $50 got 6 tickets, $100 got 12, and so on.  Yesterday, winners were drawn using a random number generator (and yes, it really was random, because I didn't get a prize, dammit!).  The full list may be found over at Old NFO's place.

Congratulations to all the winners.  The first name drawn will choose his/her preferred prize;  then the next name will do likewise;  and so on down the list until everyone's made their selection.  Firearms will be shipped to a dealer of the winner's choice, for transfer according to US law and local regulations.

Thank you all again for your support.  $18K+ will pay for a lot of therapy, and Andi's going to need it all.  You've made her, and her family's, Christmas a whole lot merrier than it would otherwise have been!

Peter