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 If you didn’t know what time of the year it was,
or what the weather was like, you could tell simply by eavesdropping
at the philosophy counter of the Mule Barn coffee shop. Let’s give
it a try.
“Good to see you here, Doc,” said Herb Collins. “That warm water on
the battery trick work for you?”
“Thanks, Herb. Yep. I tried it this morning. What’s that you got
there?”
“Travel thingie. You know it’s more than 80 degrees in Guatemala …
right now?”
“Saw a deal on TV,” Dud said. “They’re water skiing in Florida. You
can go fishing down there all year round.”
“You going to Guatemala, Herb?” said Doc.
“Maybe. Been thinking about it. I don’t know much Spanish, though.”
“All you need to know,” said Dud, “is ‘Hace mucho calor,’ Herb.”
“What’s that mean?”
“Sure is hot!”
“I was just thinking yesterday,” said Doc, “of the unsung beauty of
sweat. You know, we take sweat for granted in summer. Heck, we even
dislike it and go swimming to wash it off.”
“That’s a fact,” Dud said. [to top of second
column] |
“But I think it would be kinda
fun to sweat right now. You know, just sit in a hot sun and bask
like an old lizard and sip iced tea…”
“… and wear dark glasses,” said Herb.
“ … and watch girls in bikinis,” said Dud.
They looked at him.
“Around here?”
“Well, no. I mean, Guatemala or Florida, you know.”
“Yeah,” said Herb. “Guatemala.”
About that time Loretta came up. “You boys want your coffees topped
off, or should I just turn the hose on you?”
They shoved their cups forward and grinned.
“Sale on snow shovels down at the hardware store,” said Doc.
“Heard that,” said Dud.
[Text from file received from
Slim Randles]
Brought to
you by Dogsled: A True Tale of the North, by Slim Randles. Available
at Amazon.com.
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