For a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that I spend entirely too much time on Facebook, I have let this journal of what I (other people don't always agree with me and have said so in almost those words) consider to be a spectacularly ordinary life fall by the wayside. To any loyal fans I may have out there in InterWeb land, I apologize. To the rest of you, who may have only stumbled on this blog purely by accident, what can I say? I'm a busy guy...
So what have I done lately (lately being, say, the last four months or whatever it's been since my last post) you ask? The list is long and tedious, so I'll just hit the high points:
Night shoot in Baker in July. This shoot is always fun, and shooting Goex (real black powder) in my shotgun is always good for some serious smoke and fire. I actually place halfway decent this time, for once.
Idaho State SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) Championship in August. Last year it was so rainy and wet (in Boise in August? Go figure) that every body wrinkled, and I often wonder if all contestants were accounted for when it was over, or if someone may have disappeared into the mire like quicksand in an old Tarzan movie. This year, it was somewhere in the vicinity of 100 degrees every day, which is much more normal for Ada County at that time of year. I ended up fourth place Classic Cowboy, and was probably the only one shooting black powder. I also took home a second place medal in the Long-Range Buffalo (black powder) Single Shot side match. That was fun. I need to do that again...
Cycle Oregon in September. This was my 6th CO, which actually became a Cycle Oregon/Washington, as we spent three days in Washington the middle part of the week. We had two layover days, a private wine tasting, a 64 ounce stainless steel flask filled with Pendleton Whiskey, and tickets to the Pendleton Roundup. Great trip! As usual, I sun- and wind-scorched my beak, but it was worth it, although I did get tired of wheat fields in relatively short order...
Fishtrap Writer's Retreat in October. I spent a week in a relatively isolated cabin on the banks of the Imnaha River with four other writers, all of whom were excellent housemates. My goal when I got there was to finish my third book, which had been on hiatus for about a year and a half due to motivational issues. Amazingly enough, I sat down in front of my computer on Monday morning and came up for air on Friday with a finished first draft of the book nestled snugly on the flash drive plugged into my laptop. Eureka! Now I'm waiting for my editor to finish tearing it apart so that I can put it back together again, hopefully in time to have it in print enough weeks before Christmas to be able to sell it for Christmas presents to my "fans", if such people should happen to exist. I'm now down to only two unfinished books instead of three...
PBR Finals in October. I was back from the Writer's Retreat for just about nine days before Cheryl and I left for Las Vegas to visit Clint and take in some bull riding. He had a five day hotel stay at the Silverton in his pocket, but since he lives there he didn't need it, so his momma and I took advantage of it. Nice place. It's also attached to a humongous Bass Pro Shops store, in which I spent entirely too much time, and a lot less money than I was tempted to spend...
Since then, it's mostly been a case of trying to catch up on all the stuff that we didn't have time to do this summer, what with haying and all. But things are sort of starting to wind down, now. The calves will be shipped this week, I've got five of the posts set for my new bull feeder, and the generally slightly easier pace of fall, due to the shorter days after the time change, is about to set in. Time to get back on my trainer; I'm getting fat. Gotta get ready for another Cycle Oregon...
So what have I done lately (lately being, say, the last four months or whatever it's been since my last post) you ask? The list is long and tedious, so I'll just hit the high points:
Night shoot in Baker in July. This shoot is always fun, and shooting Goex (real black powder) in my shotgun is always good for some serious smoke and fire. I actually place halfway decent this time, for once.
Idaho State SASS (Single Action Shooting Society) Championship in August. Last year it was so rainy and wet (in Boise in August? Go figure) that every body wrinkled, and I often wonder if all contestants were accounted for when it was over, or if someone may have disappeared into the mire like quicksand in an old Tarzan movie. This year, it was somewhere in the vicinity of 100 degrees every day, which is much more normal for Ada County at that time of year. I ended up fourth place Classic Cowboy, and was probably the only one shooting black powder. I also took home a second place medal in the Long-Range Buffalo (black powder) Single Shot side match. That was fun. I need to do that again...
Cycle Oregon in September. This was my 6th CO, which actually became a Cycle Oregon/Washington, as we spent three days in Washington the middle part of the week. We had two layover days, a private wine tasting, a 64 ounce stainless steel flask filled with Pendleton Whiskey, and tickets to the Pendleton Roundup. Great trip! As usual, I sun- and wind-scorched my beak, but it was worth it, although I did get tired of wheat fields in relatively short order...
Fishtrap Writer's Retreat in October. I spent a week in a relatively isolated cabin on the banks of the Imnaha River with four other writers, all of whom were excellent housemates. My goal when I got there was to finish my third book, which had been on hiatus for about a year and a half due to motivational issues. Amazingly enough, I sat down in front of my computer on Monday morning and came up for air on Friday with a finished first draft of the book nestled snugly on the flash drive plugged into my laptop. Eureka! Now I'm waiting for my editor to finish tearing it apart so that I can put it back together again, hopefully in time to have it in print enough weeks before Christmas to be able to sell it for Christmas presents to my "fans", if such people should happen to exist. I'm now down to only two unfinished books instead of three...
PBR Finals in October. I was back from the Writer's Retreat for just about nine days before Cheryl and I left for Las Vegas to visit Clint and take in some bull riding. He had a five day hotel stay at the Silverton in his pocket, but since he lives there he didn't need it, so his momma and I took advantage of it. Nice place. It's also attached to a humongous Bass Pro Shops store, in which I spent entirely too much time, and a lot less money than I was tempted to spend...
Since then, it's mostly been a case of trying to catch up on all the stuff that we didn't have time to do this summer, what with haying and all. But things are sort of starting to wind down, now. The calves will be shipped this week, I've got five of the posts set for my new bull feeder, and the generally slightly easier pace of fall, due to the shorter days after the time change, is about to set in. Time to get back on my trainer; I'm getting fat. Gotta get ready for another Cycle Oregon...
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