Snow Trails: Christmas Blizzard

Mother Nature gave us a Christmas gift that whitened up our outdoor wonderland, will probably test a few snow-shoveling hearts today and slow down travel to an as-needed basis for a day or two.

Received an e-mail from a Southeast Colorado neighbor/writer/friend in Lamar this morning about his snow coverage.  Oris George always tells a good story, and this one is no less descriptive or real than those in his new book, Along the Back Roads of Yesterday. This e-mail is a must-share!  As is his book - a great gift for your last-minute buying.

 “Mother Nature zapped us a good one! …about 12 inches of new snow last night, drifts 3 to 5 feet…  In places the cows are eating corn stalks, etc. that are on completely bare ground.  Snow drifted onto the back porch, three feet deep!

I opened the kitchen door at 4:30 this morning…  Much to my sleep-eyed surprise, our border collie who was supposed to be in her doghouse, came bounding into the kitchen, acting all smart! Her pen had drifted full and she had walked out over a 6 foot drift. With this knee just recovering from a replacement, I could hardly walk in the drifts.  (In my advanced age I am becoming a sissy.)

I have not a clue how I am going to clean the snow out of that dog pen. I wrapped myself in a heavy coat, put on heavy rubber boots and ventured out to feed the chickens. Trying to walk through those snow drifts with boots on and the snow deep, I found I needed to go back to the house and wait for spring!”

I suspect poor Lily (the smart dog)...may spend a few days visiting Oris's chicken yard!

Enjoy the beauty, wonder and awesome power of Nature-at-work this Christmas week...in Southeast Colorado.

Particularly today, as the snow plows roar by...Nature prevails!

Boot trails: shades of yesterday

It’s never too late to write a book; Bud Scranton from Prowers County, Colorado, has grandchildren. He will host his first book-signing tomorrow for Boot Tracks, There and Back, Thursday, January 13th, at the Senior Center in Lamar, from 10 am to 12 noon.

The first title for Bud’s book was Letters to my Grandchildren, which is the main reason he wrote the book – to insure that his grandchildren knew how different life was in the ‘30’s. “Life did a flip-flop after the war,” Bud said. "Life changed! I wanted my grandchildren to know that.” Bud went on to explain that the final title, Boot Tracks, There and Back, “…just fit! There were boots…and the tracks…all along the way. Well, it just fit.”

“It brought back the good memories, but I had to also relive some of the tragedies”, Bud said, as we chatted about his book. He said the hardest part was keeping the chapters “…short, simple and to the point.”

I asked Bud if he had any advice for other, promising authors. He hit the three high points that every writer needs to follow on their road to successful publication;

1. Keep it simple!

2. Write what inspires you, write from your heart.

3. Write the chapters out first, then go back, later, and edit.

Lola Shrimplin quoted Scranton in the Lamar Ledger last week, "This is brand new ground for me. I`ve never sold a book before. I`ve sold a lot of things."

Jan Verhoeff writes on one of her websites, http://acewriters.com/ , “Scranton’s dedication to life in southeastern Colorado, his family and neighbors is evident in his book. Weather darkened skin, wrinkled by the sun surrounds clear blue eyes when he speaks to you directly, sharing his memories of life on the prairies of Colorado.” On her Lamar website, http://lamarco.us/blog/?p=853., Verhoeff says, “Scranton, a survivor of the ’30′s dust bowl days, details his efforts to bring sheep to Colorado. Walking a path of determination he wore the soles off many a pair of boots to make it there and back, again and again.”

As I listened to Bud tonight, I heard a Love of life, an energy that evades many people half his age. I heard strength and pride as well as humility and kindness.

This book belongs on our bedside tables, a reminder to all of us that life is precious, short and so very much what we make of it. We get out what we put in; we are remembered for what we leave behind. Bud Scranton’s written act of Love for his grandchildren will endure forever – both in print, and in the hearts of his loved ones.

Boot Tracks, There and Back, is available...tomorrow at the senior center, at the bookstore in Lamar on main street by the train station, as well as at Amazon , and at Barnes and Nobles.

As always, Nature prevails.