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Burner gave me a ride home from town yesterday and brought Shaky along for the ride. This is getting to be a habit. I have gone to town every day this week and I think I'm going to stay home today and do some catching up on stuff I've noted on paper I tape to my computer. Do this today it says and I've ignored it since Sunday. That's about par on my course where I usually double bogey with a three putt.....

I now have rides lined up for Wednesday And Thursday mornings because of pool shooters living past me up the Fence Lake road and I'm getting used to having breakfast in town and talking to alot of people about my book. Everyone seems to have their favorite stories and an oldtimer finally asked me if one particular story was about him and I just smile and say, 'maybeeee'. This is fun....

The restaurtant has sold 12 copies now and with word of mouth my book seems to have legs. That's what they say in Hollywood for a hot movie and I'm doing my part by wearing shades om a cloudy day. I've given out more signatures then when I had a checking account.....

I pulled out the crib board and this is protocol when guys come over. While playing a hand we talk about other stuff and it seems to flow easier then 3 guys sitting there staring at each other and not cards. Men need a football game or a deer hunt on Michigan Sportsman or anything to be a buffer while we talk, rant and wave to make a point. Women only need a powder room or a tupperware party. Men and women move in different circles. Men get lost going in a circle but have a fun time while there......

We were trying to remember Marty Robbins the country singer when Shaky said Marty sang that Rawhide song on the TV show 'Wagon Train'. Gil Favor and Rowdy Yates and Mushy. We startedsinging, ya really, 'Round of up... Round em up.. Rawhide'. 3 grown men were singing that song like it was yesterday and that always amazes me how much we can remember from our childhood but I can't find my wallet......

Ask anyone of our age who were Spin and Marty and you will get Annette Funichello back. Ask anyone who was Wally's best friend and even Beaver knows it's Eddie Haskell. Ask anyone who was Dennis the menace's neighbor and everyone knows it was 'Ah Gee.. Mr. Wilson'.....

I have six plump squirrels on my yard who wonder how they got sdo lucky while burping corn and left wondering why there home hole was getting smaller as they lay on some dry leaves and take a nap dreaming of popcorn......

Kris is digging in for winter in Minnesota where Mary Tyler Moore used to work in a TV studio with that mean ol Lou Grant and the dumb anchorman who married Betty White. Ask anyone. Hris blew out his vacation days in Florida but said he missed the Baywatcher babes because the temp was 43. I told him over the phone it was 39 here and I laughed but he didn't. He shakes his head at me over the phone when I talk of my sudden success in the literary world and says, 'Geez, Dad. What am I going to tdo with you?". I told him I don't have a friggen clue.....

What did John Boy do when he won a writing contest from New York? He went up the mountain to ponder. John Boy did alot of deep thinking which in turn made me deep think too and I wanted my own newspaper like he had. I don't have one now but have written about Easy having one and I think that'sclose enough except in horseshoes and hand grenades.....

Life as I know it is over ofor sure like it was starting for Gilligan and gang when they were rescued and no longer lost but I didn't like the finale much. Nor did I like Mash's last show. Seinfeld was pretty good but I miised the finale of the Fugitive because I was in boot camp in 1967. My days of drinking too much coffee in front of the computer mornings are over as I find a new schedule that works. Our lives continue to be one of still in progress when we are old ebough to think we can settle down into a pattern and routine. Guess I'm still working on that part, again......

Happy Thursday my friends......smiles and prayers with the wind behind you....

I finally took a digger on the ice in my front yard yesterday and landed on my right shoulder and elbow and it feels real sore this morning. I have a few painkillers which will help and I'll scrug it off with my left side. A new layer of snow hid the ice too well and it was hard to tell where the ice was but I found the hard ground wirth no trouble. I'm going to have to do my high fiving with my left arm for a few days.....

It's going down to zero tonite with a 20 mph winds and we sit patiently waiting for winter to start and give us something to complain about again. I'll be leaving for a month 4 weeks from yesterday and I'm hoping I can keep the road open until then but that's probably a pipe dream. I only need one more trip to the store for supplies and then I could sit here on my back pack until February 5........

I'm going to do a few things different when I head for Detroit this time:

I'm going to get my hair done and not cut and I'm going to get a curl to it like after chemo. Loved curly hair. May even have the lady trim my mustache.....

I'm going first class on Amtrac which is like buying a brand new Pinto with all the bells and whistles....

I'm going to buy a five dollar hot dog in the train station and enjoy it...

I'm going to sell 3 books on the train just like John Candy sold shower accessories....

I'm not taking any luggage except back pack and going to buy a whole new wardrobe when I hit Walmarts in Detroit....

I'm going to have lunch in a nice restaurant in Chicago if I have time and call Oprah and suggest my book for her club...

I'm going to be frivilous for a change....

I may even frolic......

I'm not going to go the whole month without the internet...

I'm going to swagger like an author swaggers but not like Capote....

I'm getting some partials and I'm sure I'll talk like I have marbles in my mouth. The curse of the chemo will finally be over and I can really smile again...and eat corn on a cob...

I'm going to hunt down every old friend who wanted a copy of my book when it came out and see how much money they have in their pocket...

I will cry when I'm with Mom and Dad and little brother Jimmy again...

I will miss all my friends here and will count the days until March 1 , Jimmy's birthday, and then we'll have a party and I'll head back home.....Don't have a clue how.....

Have a Ruby Tuesday, la dee dah.....

I plan on doing nothing today but watch some football and cook up a nice meal. Both New York teams are playing and this should be fun. I think the Giants are about done but when you have a Manning as quarterback you can never tell. I like the Jets because they are the underdog of sorts. I think I'll make a stew today as the temps are dropping faster then super bowl wannabees......

I walked to the mailbox yesterday morning to grab a ride to town. I wish I was getting some frequent hitch hiking flying on a whim miles smiles. I looked across the Fence River road at my neighbors house which was still dark so I took off towards M-95, 2.2 miles down the road. If I don't find a ride by time I get there I turn around and head home knowing it was a folly to think a car is coming by so far out in the woods. Hitch hiking on a state road is dangerous and I don't mind admitting my fears. Sometimes, God just tells me I don't really need to go to town and I oblige and walk back home....

The road is almost solid ice with more twists and turns then a grand prix race and huge pine trees are ready to catch any mistake in a bad way. The crows are angry and a dog barks at a lakeside camp as I pull off my sweating wool cap and feel the cold air hit my tossled hair.....

I was almost to 95 when my neighbors came by and gave me a ride and half apoligized for sleeping in. I said it was fine and the walk does me good. I had seen 3 deer, 2 ice fishermen on Twin Lake and a stillness and quietness that was most inspiring......

I found only a few books left in town to sell and that feels pretty darn good. I had an excellent meal in the 'summer place' in the winter. Then,I sat in the grove listening to guys tell me stories and this seems to be the way it is now that they have read my stories and they remember some of them. I knew this would happen and so far no one is chasing me down quartermain street yet. That has to be a plus because I could run all day in a sandbox....

A couple people have recieved their book in the mail but others say they haven't and I hope they all get them tomm or Tuesday. You have to understand that our smowmobile mail express is bogged down in slush and dirt instead of too much snow. It's the only excuse I can come up with right now. Ha....

Have a great Sunday my friends..Take the big apple teams and the points... All quiet on the Northern Front.....Smiles and prayers.....Gene

Kris got back home from his flight from Florida and I sighed and asked how many people he showed the book to on the plane and he said three. Kris also said it was the first book he had read since the ninth grade and I wonder what book that was. A guy next to him on the plane asked what he was reading and I think Kris had the line made up in advance. "It's my Dad's. He's a writer"......

I'm looking forward to taking the train next month from Green Bay to Detroit. Actually, I'm looking forward to going anywhere as my work is done here for now. Ha. I need a break but before I go I have to hire someone to hold the fort down and keeps the books out there and do some p.r. .....

I also want to save and clean my computer which has way too much stuff for capacity which I like to think is like my brain in some way...

I've had a writers block for a couple weeks but the dam thing let go yesterday finally. The words are singing like the finches in the trees and the keys are chattering like a squirrel mad at me. It feels good to be back. There is nothing in life worse then trying to force words and that's what they come out sounding like. Forced writing is worse then no writing....

I'm going to start my next book next week and as I have invited my group members to tag along and write one of your own, I invite all of you. I'll try to handle any technical stuff as well as the formula that has worked for me and can work for you. Don't think of a book as a long process but a daily chronicle of what you want to say. For your Dad or Mom or that special person. It can be 50 pages or 500. I can help you do it and it is free and given as a gift...And for about five dollars a copy...

I'm not even sure what my next book wil be about but it will be different and I have an idea or two. All I need is a few long walks and deep thought, a whim and another prayer...

Have a happy weekend my friends. God Bless, smiles...Gene

Burner made a bird feeder that looked more like a rocket ready for launching. It was movable and 5 feet tall and had one of those splash guards at the bottom to keep the squirrels from climbing up. He set it a few feet away from a huge Spruce tree and it didn't take critters long to learn to jump from a branch on to the feeder. I was there a few days later when he said watch this and went out and moved the feeder 3 feet further away from the tree and we sat back to watch. One after one the squirrels would leap from the tree and would land with a thud 3 feet short of the feeder. IMAO......

Wild Bill was the manager of the gas station and showed up for work at five in the morning and it was quiet in Trout Falls. He put some quarters in a paper box, probably the 'trout falls chronicles', and when he grabbed the paper it slammed shut and got his tie stuck in it. If there was a trap door around he was in trouble. He had no more change in his pocket, his knife was in his truck and had to stay stuck intil the first customer came by an hour later and then he LMAO....

Moose once climbed a tree to cut off a broken limb and on the way down he slid and got wedged between the fork of two limbs and couldn't go up or down and waited for his brother to come by who had heard what he thought was a pig squealing.....

Cain and Able were identical twins and no one could tell the good one from the bad one....

A guy who couldn't speak English would buy 7 packs of smokes and 11 candy bars every night and after a few days the cashier at a 7/11 had to ask a buddy of the guy why he did that. It turns oiut the guy thought it was like one of those dollar stores....

Tom the tree planter retired in Trout Falls and when he was 70 he kissed his wife and went for a morning walk into the badlands. He was never heard of again and they looked for him for weeks but he just disappeared. Today, 30 years later, people still say someone will run into him sooner or later. I don't think so, nature takes back it's own......

Hawkeye accidentely shot himself in the foot with buckshot and those bb's would pop to the surface of his skin when it rained and was re nick named Hopalong....

Wilmer was a dead ringer for that Bates guy in 'Physco' and when asked what he did he said he owned a small motel on the hill and watched strangers squirm .....

Easy lost most of his eyesight and while recovering he walked 2,500 miles the first year and over 3,000 the second and was called the walking man and went through 8 pair of tennis shoes. The more he walked the more he smiled. Odd, eh?.......

I took a walk on the lake last night and moon was full in the sky. It was at the half of the football game and I ended up circling the Island like it was 3 in the asternoon. I'm really getting into this walking on the lake stuff...

I finally went to town today to get the first reactions from the Trout Falls Chronicles and it seems everyone likes it. Whew!!! I put 'Easy' in the potato field, hiding, knowing his book was out and avoiding the reaction and I didn't use the potato farm in real life to see the reaction from my book, I used the Penthouse Cabin...

It's in the mid 40's here and planned to take Blue to town but Burner showed up and brought Shaky along shotgun. I went to town and mailed out more books and stopped in the restaurant and the local saloons to check the stock and talk....

I read people pretty well and have blogged about it at length. I see people looking me in the eyes more and when maybe they would pass me by, now they smile and say hey Willie Mays...

I was in the Grove talking to a guy who saw my book in the restaurant and said, 'I know him, he's the author'. He took some pride in that, I think, and I take that as an ultimite compliment. It's still me but it does feel good to hear it...

I'm behind in my writing and I need to get back to it. It's how I got to the dance...

I hope you dance too...

It is my therapy, my way of clearing my thoughts by writing of them. I don't mind sharing them with you as long as it helps me be a better person and understand my fears and sucess'.And maybe it can help you along the way too. We all learn from each other.....

Have a great day my friends and smiles...Easy

I got a phone call just before dark from my biker nieghbor who I shall call Bull. The sauna was hot and I grabbed my gear and backpack and decided to walk across the lake to his camp. I knew I'd end up writing about it this morning because it was so surreal with a heavy fog and standing in my yard I could barely make out his outdoor light....

Two things always happen with regularity at Bull's camp when I visit. Bull has an attitude which I think comes with being a biker and I have no problem with that. I've considered myself more a piker then a biker but my son Kris does have a new Harley Street Bob. Bull likes to drink some which is like saying a chef likes a nice meal. Bull calls me LL Hemingway for my attire and my prose. It's a given he will slam me for not having my book out yet and then he will pass out facedown on the table telling me that fact.....

Like a poker player, I grinned, as I had a pair of aces in the hole and slipped two copies of my book into my backpack and looked down the hill and as I was telling myself to be careful my feet gave out and I slid down the hill like Chevy Chase in that Christmas movie, bounced off the Leaky Teaky 2 which is in winter hibernation turned upside down and I came to a stop on the ice where I looked up close and personal to a bobber stuck to frozen weeds by a log. I made a frozen mental note to find the other 32 bobbers I'd lost last summer...

. While I was on the ground I made one of those angels in the snow laughing all the way. My back is a little sore this morning but it was a fun ride down the hill. Isn't it a riot when we try to be kids again? If anyone had seen me laying on in the snow laughing they would take me away for sure. I guess I can take certain liberties three miles from nowhere after dark. He who walks in the woods also walks in the snow but falls more.....

I almost felt like Peter walking on water but it was ice and I looked back at the Penthouse Cabin and all I could see was my porch light. I loooked over to JJand Rose's camp and I could barely see Christmas lights. I pointed to Bull's camp and walked through the six inch high snow like I was Marco Polo at the North pole. I'm not doing very good telling you what it felt like out there in the middle of the lake with a couple small lights around me and everything else was black shaded in snowe white. My world was void of any sound except for hearing myself breath, I might as well have been the only man in the world standing there and I almost didn't want to get to tBulls camp but just walk around the Island couple of times....

I didn't and showed up at Bull's and he began laying into me again sarcastically about being a talker and not a writer as I handed him my book and shut him the heck up and I sat down signing a copy for his main squeeze. His girlfriend, oddly named Biker girl, gave me a hug and a flute, uncorked a bottle of Champagne and toasted the Author Man and had a grand time.....

It was about midnight, after taking Sauna, eating a fine meal and another bottle of Champagne which got me to talking like LawrenceWelk and I said a one and a two and hit the ice again and pointed my way home. Again I stopped in the middle and looked up and put my arms up like the guy in Shawshank Repemtion. I am so free and so right with the world nearing the end of another year. I guarantee I shut Bull up for awhile and got my own sweet redemption for sure....

************

I wish all my friends a Happy New Year and I'll pray that all of you have the year of your life starting now. Be safe and celebrate with responsibility. I think I shall slide down that hill again on purpose because I'm enjoying any kind of ride I can get......smiles......

The last couple of days have gone by in a whirlwind as I have put myself out there under the microscope now that my book is on sale. The sales have surpassed my expectations already and it is a given that I will start a second printing in a week or so. I'm having a difficult time with the pace of the responsibility involved and am most humble in this good turn of events. It's like I'm watching this play out from a distance and it's not happening to me. I guess I'll figure out it's me soon enough when I get the first lousy critique.......

I sincerely don't like negative comments about my life let less my writing and soon I will be hearing from the readers. This is a weakness of mine and I'll be honest with you. I've told a fellow boomer that we hold back part of our lives, the part of us that cuts like a knife or makes us cringe. It's the same down a trail in Upper Michigan or on the sidewalk in Chicago. We all have our fears........

I don't want you to think Iam negative because I am not. I go forward with confidence believing in ME. It's all about promoting myself now and it feels real good to know I am not a charlaton and I stand behind my work. How in the heck could I pull this off if I have written dribble bad grammer material? Everything I have worked to be as a Bud in Republic, my good will, would be lost if I fall on my face. I wouldn't even know how much of a hermit I would become being ridiculed and laughed at for a lukewarm book.....

It has taken me this long to get to what I want to say. Why, if I am so afraid of failure, would I stick my neck out like this? The answer is you. and you.and you......

I wrote my first blog in August and hit the ground writing. Must be over 100 blogs. Good Grief....

As fast and as often as I wrote my blogs I recieved comments and more comments. gained friends and more friends, and 99.9% of the comments and messages have been positive. I sat in the woods pondering this for a spell this summer and couldn't see the forest from the trees. Pretty cool little ananlogy. It was hard to accept the compliments and I tried to micro think it which is another of my faults. You simply liked my writing and my tone. I can't thank you and you and you enough. Us Boomers are special people and just like the people I write about in Trout Falls. Good, decent ppeople just trying to get by and get better. Time is on our side.....

So, this is for you my boomer friends. I told myself that if you like my stuff they will like my stuff Because it's the same me no amatter whether I'm Easy or Gene. Here's a flash! Were both the same. LMAO....

Tilt that sail into the wind. Lean into that board. Walk uphill with a strut. And me, I'm just hanging on, giving life a good tug and enjoying the wonderful ride with the sun in my face and the snow falling and quite frankly, feeling pretty good about myself today.....

God Bless you my friends......

My book just came in and it figures I don't have a ride to pick it up. Kind of like winning the lottery and living on a deserted island and no place to spend the money....

It will be shipped out Thursday to those who have ordered it. Thanks so much. I do have some left to sell in the collectors edition but not many..

It will not be avbailable in bookstores til mid to end of January.

Life is truly good, later.........Gene

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