Acres Midwest » Slim Randles

Emily wants to help Dewey

Slim Randles — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:14:33 +0000

Emily’s dilemma was obvious: how do you sell manure? Since she fell in love with Dewey Decker, she could think of nothing less than spending her life with him and embracing the fertilizer business whole hog, so to speak. Emily Stickles has never done anything halfway. In her job with the county, she has kept [...]

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Are you feeling that itch for spring?

Slim Randles — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 01:39:21 +0000

Do you feel that itch coming on? It’s time, you know. See the kids out flying kites? That’s a sign. See little green bladelets in the lawn. That’s a sign, too. It’s almost full spring, and that itch tells us it’s time to do something. This is when we need to forget almost all our [...]

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Dud still trying to figure out his book

Slim Randles — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 19:59:29 +0000

The weather warmed up the other day. On the weekend, where it would do the most good. And Dud Campbell dressed warmly and went out for a walk. His eyes saw our town, the old, dead, brick drugstore on the corner with the clock that hadn’t worked since the invention of daylight savings time, and [...]

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Marvin decides to take a vacation

Slim Randles — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:20:31 +0000

In the week before Valentine’s Day, Marvin Pincus had two new customers for his (free of charge, of course) love advice and fly-tying consultation services. He tied up a midge for one client, a salmon streamer wrapped in lead for another, and wished them well. This was his busy time, of course. He knew another [...]

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We can give each other special little memories

Slim Randles — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:00:39 +0000

Why are winter mornings so heartbreakingly special? They’re sure cold, at least around here. And with the snow you’d think they’d be white, too. But they aren’t, are they? In the morning there is a tinge, a golden … no a yellowish cast to the snow, the sky, and the trees. It is more like [...]

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Pop Walker sneaked out again

Slim Randles — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:57:51 +0000

When Pop Walker sneaked out the kitchen door the other day, it affected all of us. He’s been a resident of the Rest of Your Life retirement home for several years now. He still remembers who said what during combat in Europe, but has a hard time remembering if he’s had breakfast. The call went [...]

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Dud leaves notes everywhere

Slim Randles — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 03:56:45 +0000

Coffee always tastes perfect before daylight on the opening day of deer season, Dud Campbell thought as he sat in near-total darkness in his kitchen. He was being extra quiet so as not to awaken Anita. Turning on a flashlight on the kitchen counter, he wrote: “Honey, I’ll be up Pine Canyon, hunting up at [...]

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Dud placed 3rd with his accordion

Slim Randles — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 21:13:20 +0000

Dud was awfully quiet all through the daily dissemination of anything on page one of the Valley Weekly Miracle, which wasn’t like him at all. Just sucked down caffeine and silently shook his head now and then. “Anita okay, Dud?” “Oh … sure, Doc.” “You okay?” He nodded, then looked up with a wistful, philosophical [...]

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Fall is a polished time

Slim Randles — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:15:29 +0000

This is the polished time, the pinnacle of life. This is fall, when everything puts on its best for the world to see, and that makes it special. The sultry heat of summer has passed, and in its place we have cool mornings when the tiny snap of winter’s promise briefly touches our skin. There [...]

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Granddaughter learns a lesson

Slim Randles — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 20:02:53 +0000

It was that magic time of morning for those of us at the Mule Barn; the time when we’re so full of coffee we can’t walk, and it’s time to decide whether to order lunch there or go home. That’s when Bert walked in. Kinda limped in, actually. He made his way over and sat [...]

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What a magnificent yard it would be

Slim Randles — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 16:06:24 +0000

Days like this, said Doc, a guy has to get out and get his yard work done early, before it gets too hot. “So when does it get too hot for you, Doc?” “Oh, about three o’clock in the morning. Makes it a toss-up. Do you get up early without the benefit of coffee and [...]

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Let them come, with their silver tops

Slim Randles — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:11:49 +0000

When the world is hot and my skin is fried, scratching from the constant dry, let the clouds boil up, boil up high, and then shade the earth with the darkening sky and bring the secrets and the smell of rain. The coolness and the blessed rain, again. Our land is brown but blessed, stressed [...]

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Jenkins cabin may remain lost

Slim Randles — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 20:59:55 +0000

We all know that someone will find Jenkins’s cabin. Someday. Oh, it’s up there in those hills somewhere. We all know that. It’s become a friendly object of conjecture and speculation. No one living has seen it, as far as we know. Jenkins himself died quietly when he was on one of his infrequent trips [...]

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Does anyone really finish a book?

Slim Randles — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:16:14 +0000

There are so many things to consider when writing a book, Dud thought. Sometimes, as now in the middle of a hot summer night, he wondered how anyone actually finishes a book. The odyssey of his writing passion, tentatively called “Murder in the Soggy Bottoms” by him and “The Duchess and the Truck Driver” by [...]

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Are men to be shackled?

Slim Randles — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:04:56 +0000

“It’s June, by golly,” said Doc. “Isn’t it great? I mean, all the summer to look forward to. Fishing, swimming, camping, heat stroke, dehydration, skateboard accidents and the occasional case of appendicitis.” “That’s what we like about you, Doc,” Steve said, “always looking on the bright side of things.” “You know what June is, don’t [...]

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So what animal do you think is dumber? A horse, sheep, turkey, cat?

Rob Treynor — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 19:17:03 +0000

“Ain’t nothing in the world dumber’n a horse,” said Dud, pulling up his chair at the Mule Barn truck stop’s philosophy counter. “I swear they have just enough brains to walk and breathe at the same time.” Steve, the full-time professional cowboy of the outfit, looked over at Dud, who was part-time at best. “Ol’ [...]

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