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Slim Randles' Home Country
Change is in the air
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[September 17, 2011]
There is a time when the stars line up just right, when
the grass is at its peak in nourishment for the livestock, when the
shirts are all on sale down at the store. There is a time when men
and women know and have known, since dirt was young, that things are
going to happen. |
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It must have felt like that on Dec. 6, 1941, and on July 3,
1776. It sure felt that way to Dewey Decker as he walked along
down Lewis Creek. In his right hand was a splendid streamer fly, a
Bivisible with jungle cock eyes, tied for him by that genius of
piscatorial playthings and premeditated passion, Marvin Pincus.
Maybe it was just the time of year that made Dewey feel so...
ready. Ready for a girlfriend... a real one. A steady one. Ready for
a change in his life.
Would the woman be Emily Stickles from the county? Emily
Stickles, that safeguard of county officialdom, that defender of
bureaucratic brilliance. Emily of the incredible cheekbones. Emily,
who tried to get Marvin's Fly Tying Love Center killed.
Or was it just the change to fall? Could be.
You see down there along the creek? Yep. The kids are still
swimming in the swimming hole, but now they aren't staying in as
long as they used to. There's Doc and Bert, casting flies farther
downstream, hoping to catch something besides another idyllic
afternoon.
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Dewey counted his blessings as he went. After all, he knew he was
accident-prone and all thumbs. He could never be a mechanic or a
surgeon or a waiter. But he had found his niche in the fertilizer
business. His product is worth absolutely nothing if he should ruin
it. There is a constant free source of it at the dairy and the
feedlot. The only instrument approaching sharpness is his shovel,
and his only employees at the moment are earthworms, turning manure
into high-grade compost. They work for free.
He decided, right there as he walked along, to buy a new necktie
for meeting Emily. Blue, he thought. Life is good.
[Text from file received from Slim Randles]
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http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/Slim.html.
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