Being 60 something has its moments, some of them with regrets, some with sadness. But mostly I'm thrilled to have another day, to be blessed with all the Love in my life from from family, friends and neighbors, and the multitude of 4 legged friends that allow us to share their lives.
Truth be told, the 'good old days' seem to pop up a bit more often in my mind and heart these days. Today I heard a song by Walter Brennan which brought tears to my eyes and filled my heart with not only Love and memories, but the reminder of my friend, Oris Reed (who sometimes writes as Oris George), and his new book. Oris has written in numerous and varied publications for over 40 years and is currently, the director for zone 3 of the North American Saddle Mule Association. In case you hadn't guessed, my friend has a Love affair with donkeys and mules and they proliferate his most recent book, Along The Back Roads of Yesterday, a must-read for any mule-lover!
Along the Backroads of Yesterday is all about the 'good old days' - lots of 'em, from the 40's and 50's when 'ole Oris looked and felt a bit like the kid in Mr. Brennan's song, Old Rivers.
Swing over to Oris' website and enjoy lots...of the 'good old days', from someone who lived, played, learned and enjoyed them.
As always, Nature prevails.
Showing posts with label oris george. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oris george. Show all posts
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
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.
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!
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!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Fireside Trails: A Pink Event
Pink is not necessarily prevelent in Oris George's life, since he does not like the color! But today, Mr. George inadvertently created a 'pink event' in his life.
Sometimes, Mr. and Mrs. Oris enjoy an evening near their wood stove, reminiscing by the fire, sharing donkey memories and re-reading one of Oris' special stories, A Man by the Side of the Road (one of my favorites). And sometimes, Oris' camera gives him even more memories...
It was on one of these chilly evenings that Oris took these photos. His talent is awesome, and helps us prepare for the cold, winter months ahead.
Photo by Oris George
Mr. George tells me these shots were taken with the glass front of the stove - closed! I am continually stunned and in admiration of this writer and his photography talents.
"Stove is a Hearth Stone Heritage model Non-Catalytic Wood Stove with glass door.The camera is a Nikon coolpix p100 nikor 26x wide optical zoom ed vr , 4.6 120mm 1:2,8-5.0."
"I was sitting looking at the stove from an angle. I watched the blue flame dancing across the top of the logs as the gas from the logs was burning. I noticed when the flame flared...As I looked at it from the angle, it flashed a column of light that seemed to come out from the stove."
Photo by Oris George
As always...Nature prevails, even in the flames of life.
Sometimes, Mr. and Mrs. Oris enjoy an evening near their wood stove, reminiscing by the fire, sharing donkey memories and re-reading one of Oris' special stories, A Man by the Side of the Road (one of my favorites). And sometimes, Oris' camera gives him even more memories...
It was on one of these chilly evenings that Oris took these photos. His talent is awesome, and helps us prepare for the cold, winter months ahead.
Mr. George tells me these shots were taken with the glass front of the stove - closed! I am continually stunned and in admiration of this writer and his photography talents.
"Stove is a Hearth Stone Heritage model Non-Catalytic Wood Stove with glass door.The camera is a Nikon coolpix p100 nikor 26x wide optical zoom ed vr , 4.6 120mm 1:2,8-5.0."
"I was sitting looking at the stove from an angle. I watched the blue flame dancing across the top of the logs as the gas from the logs was burning. I noticed when the flame flared...As I looked at it from the angle, it flashed a column of light that seemed to come out from the stove."
As always...Nature prevails, even in the flames of life.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
ALONG THE BACK ROADS OF YESTERDAY: Memory Trails
The book is here! Along The Back Roads of Yesterday by Oris George is now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and on Oris' website.
Oris George, has a love affair with words . His writing began early in life, his talent innate, and his stories - unforgettable, as you will quickly learn inside the pages of Along The Back Roads of Yesterday.
Yesterday...means different things to us all. To Oris, yesterday is about his youth on a farm in Colorado where chores were unending, food came from scratch, and Love was - well - just part of everyday living. Life unfolded to Oris through daily (sometimes hourly) lessons, and were sometimes garnered from his buddy Henry, his mule, Red, Homer the goat (who had a passion for keeping Oris' little brother in the outhouse), and so many other people and experiences in his youth.
One of my favorite stories in this unforgettable book is called, A Perfect Understanding. Oris weaves a touching memory about Bert, whom the town judges as a useless, dirty, aging person of little value, an out of control Palomino mule, his summer-long interactions with Bert as Bert trains this apparently useless animal, and the inevitable life-lesson learned.
"Mom was convinced Bert owned only one pair of bib overalls, and she knew that they had never seen the inside of a washing machine. Tobacco juice stained his thick, greying beard. A greasy baseball cap crowned a head of long, wild, unruly grey hair. He lived down under the hill behind the feed store on a straggly little 2 acre farm surrounded on all four sides by cottonwood trees and tall brush. The small dilapidated barn and the one-room cabin reminded me of Snuffy Smith's place in the Sunday funny papers."
"Fall passed and winter came again. Bert worked with his mule several hours a day. On Saturdays, I begged Mom to let me go to town with her and Dad so I could visit Bert. She didn't think I should spend so much time with Bert. She'd say, 'He doesn't bathe, shave or change clothes and isn't the right example for a growing boy.' "
" 'Aah, Mom,' I'd say. Bert was fun to be around, and he treated me like a man-full-grown."
By Rodeo Day in September, the real Bert - and his Dunfee Mule - overcame seemingly insurmountable odds.
"The loudspeaker crackled and the announcer said, 'Our own Albert Montague, formerly of Warren, Tennessee, has agreed to give us a demonstration ride on Stella, his gaited mule.' "
"Bert rode to the front of the grandstand, tipped his derby to the crowd, and Stella bowed. Turning Stella to the left, they moved out at a foxtrot. The crowd was silent. Halfway around the arena, Stella changed to another gait. The crowd went wild! Whistling and shouting, the spectators poured out of the bleachers like a giant wave and surrounded Bert and Stella. Hands were extended to Bert.
A new Bert, and Stella - no longer the Dunfee mule, exited the arena that day in 1945."
Titles like A Man Full-Grown and His Donkey, A Volcano on the River, Sounds Like a Plan (one of Oris' favorite sayings!), Little Man and a Naked Impression fill the pages of Along The Back Roads of Yesterday.
The war years of the 1940's held different values, different finances, different feelings. Oris immediately brings you back to those times through his stories, takes you back to those years when life really was simpler, sometimes harsher, but always real; living close to the land, steeped in family ties and hard work, Oris' yesterdays will live forever in your heart.
Only $9.32 from Barnes and Noble, this book is a must-read for your bedside table. Treat yourself to your personal copy of Along The Back Roads of Yesterday...today.
As always, Nature prevails.
Oris George, has a love affair with words . His writing began early in life, his talent innate, and his stories - unforgettable, as you will quickly learn inside the pages of Along The Back Roads of Yesterday.
Yesterday...means different things to us all. To Oris, yesterday is about his youth on a farm in Colorado where chores were unending, food came from scratch, and Love was - well - just part of everyday living. Life unfolded to Oris through daily (sometimes hourly) lessons, and were sometimes garnered from his buddy Henry, his mule, Red, Homer the goat (who had a passion for keeping Oris' little brother in the outhouse), and so many other people and experiences in his youth.
One of my favorite stories in this unforgettable book is called, A Perfect Understanding. Oris weaves a touching memory about Bert, whom the town judges as a useless, dirty, aging person of little value, an out of control Palomino mule, his summer-long interactions with Bert as Bert trains this apparently useless animal, and the inevitable life-lesson learned.
"Mom was convinced Bert owned only one pair of bib overalls, and she knew that they had never seen the inside of a washing machine. Tobacco juice stained his thick, greying beard. A greasy baseball cap crowned a head of long, wild, unruly grey hair. He lived down under the hill behind the feed store on a straggly little 2 acre farm surrounded on all four sides by cottonwood trees and tall brush. The small dilapidated barn and the one-room cabin reminded me of Snuffy Smith's place in the Sunday funny papers."
"Fall passed and winter came again. Bert worked with his mule several hours a day. On Saturdays, I begged Mom to let me go to town with her and Dad so I could visit Bert. She didn't think I should spend so much time with Bert. She'd say, 'He doesn't bathe, shave or change clothes and isn't the right example for a growing boy.' "
" 'Aah, Mom,' I'd say. Bert was fun to be around, and he treated me like a man-full-grown."
By Rodeo Day in September, the real Bert - and his Dunfee Mule - overcame seemingly insurmountable odds.
"The loudspeaker crackled and the announcer said, 'Our own Albert Montague, formerly of Warren, Tennessee, has agreed to give us a demonstration ride on Stella, his gaited mule.' "
"Bert rode to the front of the grandstand, tipped his derby to the crowd, and Stella bowed. Turning Stella to the left, they moved out at a foxtrot. The crowd was silent. Halfway around the arena, Stella changed to another gait. The crowd went wild! Whistling and shouting, the spectators poured out of the bleachers like a giant wave and surrounded Bert and Stella. Hands were extended to Bert.
A new Bert, and Stella - no longer the Dunfee mule, exited the arena that day in 1945."
Titles like A Man Full-Grown and His Donkey, A Volcano on the River, Sounds Like a Plan (one of Oris' favorite sayings!), Little Man and a Naked Impression fill the pages of Along The Back Roads of Yesterday.
The war years of the 1940's held different values, different finances, different feelings. Oris immediately brings you back to those times through his stories, takes you back to those years when life really was simpler, sometimes harsher, but always real; living close to the land, steeped in family ties and hard work, Oris' yesterdays will live forever in your heart.
Only $9.32 from Barnes and Noble, this book is a must-read for your bedside table. Treat yourself to your personal copy of Along The Back Roads of Yesterday...today.
As always, Nature prevails.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Nostalgia Trails; Oris George
It's ready folks; push a few buttons and a touching, newly published e-book by Oris George is now available at http://orisgeorge.com/books/man.htm.
Oris George writes nostalgic stories of his boyhood, many years ago, when milk came directly from the cow out back, eggs were only as far away as the coop out back, and hours of chores to keep up all that entailed "out back", made up the responsible person that looked back at you in the mirror.
Life was not as easy then, but dinners and homemade apple pie were something to crow about, the grate in the corner of your bedroom in the old farmhouse grew you up sometimes, and strangers along the side of the road...became life-long friends.
THE MAN AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, by Oris George, will not only keep you turning the pages, but will also leave a warm and memorable footprint on your heart.
For $6.95, (temporary, introductory price), this e-book is a steal you don't want to miss.
As always...Nature prevails.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Nostalgia trails, Down the Backroads of Yesterday
In the next few days, Mr. Oris George will publish a new e-book, "The Man At the Side of the Road".
If you enjoy serious writing about the 1940's era, when the trails of nature were a bit tougher, more palpable, then trot on over to the orisgeorge website and take a closer look. Mr. George not only lived those days but will shortly be sharing one of his more serious stories of that era, The Man At the Side of the Road. This touching story will allow you a peek into the thoughts of an 8 year-old during the WWII era; it will warm your heart and leave you a different person with a better understanding of the difference that 50 years can make in a culture.
The Man at the Side of the Road is written by southeastern Colorado's premier writer of nostalgia. Don't miss the chance to buy this touching story.
Nature prevails.
If you enjoy serious writing about the 1940's era, when the trails of nature were a bit tougher, more palpable, then trot on over to the orisgeorge website and take a closer look. Mr. George not only lived those days but will shortly be sharing one of his more serious stories of that era, The Man At the Side of the Road. This touching story will allow you a peek into the thoughts of an 8 year-old during the WWII era; it will warm your heart and leave you a different person with a better understanding of the difference that 50 years can make in a culture.
The Man at the Side of the Road is written by southeastern Colorado's premier writer of nostalgia. Don't miss the chance to buy this touching story.
Nature prevails.
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