Happy Friday! It’s been a crazy busy week, and the Saddled Hearts tour is still going on. I am overwhelmed and happy with the reviews that are rolling in for this new book. In fact, as a good friend likes to say, “I’m dancing on sunshine!” (Parris, if you see this, you know I’m talking about you.)
To start off today, I want to talk about mushrooms. No, not the magical kind, but the kind you put in omelets and such. I have a question for you. Do you peel your mushrooms before you use them?
I never did until a few years back when my best friend, Kay, and I went to Arkansas with another friend, Cactus Mike, to dig for crystals. You see Mike is a connoisseur of fine dining and he did some of the cooking while we are there. He was the first person I ever saw peel mushrooms. When I questioned him, he said, “Do you know where mushrooms grow?”
Well, yes I do. Oh yeah. A great reason to peel and wash them before using. Now, I never use a mushroom without first peeling it, then follow with a good rinsing.
What about you? Have you ever thought about it? Do you peel your mushrooms before using them?
Oh, and before you ask why Mike goes by Cactus Mike, he is the owner of Cactus Town, Texas and when Rick and I first met him many years ago, he was one of the largest distributors of cacti in the southwest. If you’re ever near San Angelo, Texas, drop by and visit Cactus Town. It’s pretty amazing.
And just for fun. I had to go back a few years to find a picture of the three of us. We were heading off to the Big Bend on that trip.
Now, I’m going to shift gears just a little. Yesterday, I was driving down the street and as per usual, had my radio on. This song came on. I had an emotional meltdown as I listened to it, and I’ll tell you why.
It would have been sometime early in 1971. Rick had a strong premonition that things were about to break bad. He’d taken me back to my sister’s house and dumped me. If you’ve read “Flowers and Stone,” you may remember this scene with Luke and Darlina.
I was broken, shattered, and unable to breathe. A girlfriend took pity on me and invited me to her apartment for drinks and to try and cheer me up. It backfired. The more I drank, the stronger the urge grew to go to where Rick was playing that night. Then we ingested something a little stronger than booze, and the feelings intensified to the point I told her if she didn’t take me to the nightclub, I would walk. So, she drove me over and dropped me off at the front door. Of course, the minute Rick saw me, he knew I was messed up and out of control. Long story short. He took me back to Brownwood with him that night, fed me hamburgers, and talked until I was no longer messed up. The next night he was playing back in Abilene, and we went alone in his car as opposed to riding in the band car. I will never forget it if I live to be over a hundred. We were driving down Sayles Boulevard, getting closer to my sister’s house where I knew he’d leave me again, and this song came on the radio. I lost it. All I wanted was to be together again, but all I could be was gone. It affected me much the same way yesterday. So, just thought I’d share that little soiree down memory lane.
Anyhoo. I hope everyone has a great weekend lined up. I plan to get some serious work done on my much-neglected WIP. And I’ll have some book reviews posted on Saturday. I don’t like to blog on the weekends, but with the tour going in, there isn’t much other time.
To everyone who has tagged along on the blog tour, purchased Saddled Hearts, or read and reviewed it, I say
