My name's Harold Coburn. I'm a Korean War vet who wandered into Harts Corner several years ago and somehow the town entangled me in all it's ups and downs--and I haven't found a reason to leave yet. I've seen a lot of the countryside and this little place is about the best for what I need. Peace. Quiet. Folks to leave me alone. A post office box to get my disability checks, and a little job here and there to tide me over at the end of the month. I found that, and more, in Harts Corner.
I thought the town needed a little tidyin' up and I figured I was the one who could do that. No one wants that job. They don't want to pick up trash and, not many people, except maybe a few kids like Bethy Rose Wheeler, care a hoot about the pennies they get for collecting a bottle. So I started picking up those Nehi and Pearl Beer bottles (although this county is a dry one, the folks here only have to drive across the river to buy beer and they drink it all the way home, tossing out the bottles so their wives, for the most part, won't know just how many they've had). Save-Mart paid me for the bottles and pretty soon they figured I was doing a right smart good job of keeping the streets (and their parking lot) from looking too trashy. So they gave me an old shoppin' cart to haul my boxes of bottles and the black bags of trash in, and I was sittin' pretty.
Then the Judge decided I couldn't sleep in the steps down to the equipment room at the Courthouse and offered me his carriage place. Said I could be a sort of "estate caretaker" for his house, garage, carriage house, and the large lawn around them all. I thought it was a pretty good deal when all I had to do was make sure the buildings were locked up before I went to bed, check on the gardeners so they'd know someone was watchin' them do their work, and share the evenin' meal with the Judge. That was the hardest part--the Judge can't cook worth spit!
When I saw the ad for the Blue Moon employees MM needed, I decided to offer my services. She couldn't deny I could do the job. I could and I did. It's been a mutually satisfying arrangement. We all made a great team. When she added Jewel to the list, I was...NO, I promised I wouldn't tell you what the book is about and this is one part of the story you will have to find out for yourself.
I just want to say that this here town, these people, and the Blue Moon have given me a new life. If you want to learn why--yep, you have to read the book to find out.
And, since I only stir things already in pots on the stove in the kitchen, I have no recipe to share. You'll have to come back and read this here blog to get more tasty morsals.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
HIDIN' OUT
I just want you to know that I, Miz Barbara, have not been hiding out from the world. I have been digging at this book, line by line, attempting to make it something that all of you will be proud to read. That takes more time than you would ever believe--unless you've written and published a book of your own. Miz Gina has been more than patient with my changes/rewrites/booboos caught and not, and is working with me to get this thing ready. It's coming along and we hope to meet that release deadline of no later than August.
This is all and well but you should hear the characters in this book throw a hissy fit! They don't care what I am doing. All they want to do is to get their two-cents worth in on this blog and make sure you all don't forget them. I guess I can't complain about their logic. After all, these characters are the ones who make the book, don't you think? I once had a "kid" copyeditor tell me that I could not sell a story when it was character driven. My response was, "Is that great description of the mountain going to show you what is happening between the people in the village at it's base?" Probably not the best way to put it, but needless to say, I feel that characters are the drivers of my stories. I, and they, like it that way.
The whole country seems to be burning up this summer, either from forest fires or temperatures. It's really hot in some parts of the midwest and we will find it hard to continue to get that delicious sweet corn pretty soon. Those Piney Woods near Harts Corner are beginning to show their lack of water and folks just pray no one will do something foolish with a cigarette or a campfire. The Blue Moon is one of those Cool Spots, so folks tend to head there for lunch, make it their main meal so they don't have to fire up the stove at home. And stay so they don't have to use their own A/C.
I like easy food to fix that is cool to eat during days like this. I use my microwave a lot (Mama is probably not pleased with me at all; she swore those things would nuke the user). I'm going to share one of my favorite salads: Can even be used as a sweet end to a soup and salad meal.
Pineapple Jello Salad
2 c. (l large can) crushed pineapple 2 pkg. lime jello
(juice and all) 2 c. grated cheese
1 scant c. sugar 1 pt. whipping cream, whipped
1 c. water
Heat pineapple, sugar, and water; do not boil. Dissolve in the jello; cool. Add cheese and when nearly set, fold in the whipped cream. Refrigerate until firm. Serves 9 to 12.
Stay cool, folks!
This is all and well but you should hear the characters in this book throw a hissy fit! They don't care what I am doing. All they want to do is to get their two-cents worth in on this blog and make sure you all don't forget them. I guess I can't complain about their logic. After all, these characters are the ones who make the book, don't you think? I once had a "kid" copyeditor tell me that I could not sell a story when it was character driven. My response was, "Is that great description of the mountain going to show you what is happening between the people in the village at it's base?" Probably not the best way to put it, but needless to say, I feel that characters are the drivers of my stories. I, and they, like it that way.
The whole country seems to be burning up this summer, either from forest fires or temperatures. It's really hot in some parts of the midwest and we will find it hard to continue to get that delicious sweet corn pretty soon. Those Piney Woods near Harts Corner are beginning to show their lack of water and folks just pray no one will do something foolish with a cigarette or a campfire. The Blue Moon is one of those Cool Spots, so folks tend to head there for lunch, make it their main meal so they don't have to fire up the stove at home. And stay so they don't have to use their own A/C.
I like easy food to fix that is cool to eat during days like this. I use my microwave a lot (Mama is probably not pleased with me at all; she swore those things would nuke the user). I'm going to share one of my favorite salads: Can even be used as a sweet end to a soup and salad meal.
Pineapple Jello Salad
2 c. (l large can) crushed pineapple 2 pkg. lime jello
(juice and all) 2 c. grated cheese
1 scant c. sugar 1 pt. whipping cream, whipped
1 c. water
Heat pineapple, sugar, and water; do not boil. Dissolve in the jello; cool. Add cheese and when nearly set, fold in the whipped cream. Refrigerate until firm. Serves 9 to 12.
Stay cool, folks!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
I'LL BE WAITING ALWAYS
Deputy/Sheriff Miguel Kinkaid signing in. That Miz Barbara knows I have very little time for this sort of thing but she's real good at twisting arms. So I said I'd write on this thing--once at least--and she can stay off my back if I never show up here again.
When I was assigned here over two years ago now, I had planned on doing my duty and, as soon as Sheriff Cobb returned, I'd be back in the Austin area. It didn't work out that way. The sheriff was asked to stay there after his special schooling--and his teenage son was "over the moon" as he put it. I was given a choice--I could stay on here, or I could destroy a young man's dreams. So I stayed and went from deputy to sheriff in a year's time with only one major upheaval in the peace of this town.
The main reason I stayed, the one you will learn about when you read the book, has red hair, green eyes, and a loveable foster daughter. She can also be the most stubborn, exasperating woman I have ever known!
Things got a little hot around here. You are planning on reading the book, aren't you? Well, I guess you will have to in order to find out what a hotbed of crime this podunk country town became for a short time. No, I won't tell you all about it. No hints either. I want Miz Barbara to sell lots of books.
I'll just add it certainly is not boring around Harts Corner, Texas.
MM (yeah, I sometimes give in and call her by her initials since everyone else does) keeps me hopping. She can get that pretty little nose into more prickly cactus than any woman you'll ever see. And she's certainly not going to listen to me yell about the dangers she gets herself into. She will continue to do her thing--even though I do try to sweet talk her into letting me do my own job. She'll pull back a bit but then her mind starts gnawing on a mystery or a clue, and she's off again.
Bethy Rose and I are trying to convince her that we need to be a family. I've been on bended knee more than once. MM's weakening some but she still believes the Butler women are not good at relationships. I don't know why she still believes that; she's certainly good at this one. We've given this togetherness a try, under the same roof, for almost a year now. The roof's still on, none of us bear any scars from verbal or physical fights, and we can still shoot off lightning bolts between us at the proper moments.
I'll keep asking. Bethy Rose will continue to tell MM's she's looking more like an Old Maid--though I dare not laugh when she does. One of these day's she'll walk down the aisle in one of those white satin and lace creations women have to have on that special day.
And I'll be waiting at the altar for her whenever she does it.
When I was assigned here over two years ago now, I had planned on doing my duty and, as soon as Sheriff Cobb returned, I'd be back in the Austin area. It didn't work out that way. The sheriff was asked to stay there after his special schooling--and his teenage son was "over the moon" as he put it. I was given a choice--I could stay on here, or I could destroy a young man's dreams. So I stayed and went from deputy to sheriff in a year's time with only one major upheaval in the peace of this town.
The main reason I stayed, the one you will learn about when you read the book, has red hair, green eyes, and a loveable foster daughter. She can also be the most stubborn, exasperating woman I have ever known!
Things got a little hot around here. You are planning on reading the book, aren't you? Well, I guess you will have to in order to find out what a hotbed of crime this podunk country town became for a short time. No, I won't tell you all about it. No hints either. I want Miz Barbara to sell lots of books.
I'll just add it certainly is not boring around Harts Corner, Texas.
MM (yeah, I sometimes give in and call her by her initials since everyone else does) keeps me hopping. She can get that pretty little nose into more prickly cactus than any woman you'll ever see. And she's certainly not going to listen to me yell about the dangers she gets herself into. She will continue to do her thing--even though I do try to sweet talk her into letting me do my own job. She'll pull back a bit but then her mind starts gnawing on a mystery or a clue, and she's off again.
Bethy Rose and I are trying to convince her that we need to be a family. I've been on bended knee more than once. MM's weakening some but she still believes the Butler women are not good at relationships. I don't know why she still believes that; she's certainly good at this one. We've given this togetherness a try, under the same roof, for almost a year now. The roof's still on, none of us bear any scars from verbal or physical fights, and we can still shoot off lightning bolts between us at the proper moments.
I'll keep asking. Bethy Rose will continue to tell MM's she's looking more like an Old Maid--though I dare not laugh when she does. One of these day's she'll walk down the aisle in one of those white satin and lace creations women have to have on that special day.
And I'll be waiting at the altar for her whenever she does it.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
HEAVENLY SIGHTINGS
Aunt Lutie is buttin' in here today. I mean, since we don't take turns anymore it doesn't make any difference, now does it? I'm so excited! I just had to tell ya'll the good news.
You know, now and then, I get a vision. Now you stop that snortin', Mary Margaret. Just because I'm a spirit doesn't mean that I don't have dreams and see things, too. If them psychics on TV can do it, there's no way in God's Green Acre I am not going to have the same privilege. So hold up your horses, gal. This is my story.
Although I'm not ready to let go of my love ones permanently for an apartment in the blue hereafter, the Good Lord let's me visit behind the vail now and then. You might not want to share this news with everyone, or they just might walk on the other side of Main Street when they see you comin'. And, Mary Margaret, button your lip about your dear Aunt Lutie visitin' anywhere. It's bad for business.
Okay, Okay, I'll give my news. I'm not really sure where he is, up there or here on earth somewhere, but...I saw Jinks yesterday! Isn't that exciting? And he was doing some kind of work with cars--or was it chariots--see, I don't know if he was in Detroit or Dearborn, or working for our Holy Maker. Well, anyway, he had the biggest grin on his face as he worked. Not a word of complaint came out of hi mouth. That big grin on his face would have satisfied everyone--he's happy and safe and doing something he seems to love. Isn't that the best news?
Don't ask me all them questions, you hear? I can't answer them and I'm no Agatha Christie or Maisy whatever her name is. I'm no writer and no snoopy detective either. They're both always in someone's face wantin' information. So just take my word for it and let it be.
I know what I saw! So there!
You know, now and then, I get a vision. Now you stop that snortin', Mary Margaret. Just because I'm a spirit doesn't mean that I don't have dreams and see things, too. If them psychics on TV can do it, there's no way in God's Green Acre I am not going to have the same privilege. So hold up your horses, gal. This is my story.
Although I'm not ready to let go of my love ones permanently for an apartment in the blue hereafter, the Good Lord let's me visit behind the vail now and then. You might not want to share this news with everyone, or they just might walk on the other side of Main Street when they see you comin'. And, Mary Margaret, button your lip about your dear Aunt Lutie visitin' anywhere. It's bad for business.
Okay, Okay, I'll give my news. I'm not really sure where he is, up there or here on earth somewhere, but...I saw Jinks yesterday! Isn't that exciting? And he was doing some kind of work with cars--or was it chariots--see, I don't know if he was in Detroit or Dearborn, or working for our Holy Maker. Well, anyway, he had the biggest grin on his face as he worked. Not a word of complaint came out of hi mouth. That big grin on his face would have satisfied everyone--he's happy and safe and doing something he seems to love. Isn't that the best news?
Don't ask me all them questions, you hear? I can't answer them and I'm no Agatha Christie or Maisy whatever her name is. I'm no writer and no snoopy detective either. They're both always in someone's face wantin' information. So just take my word for it and let it be.
I know what I saw! So there!
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