Baxter Black

Corn country landscape – painted late summer – high clouds, heavy with moisture waiting for afternoon to thicken and darken and start raising Cain.

Aunt Effie was the “neighborhood healer” in her community of Noble, Oklahoma. When I was visiting and scraped my arm or had a stomachache, she always had the right potion, poultice, roots, soak or fern to treat the ailment.

Today, there is an increased recognition of the bonding process between man and animals. Pets are now referred to in politically correct circles as companion animals.

For those of you who forgot how easy it was to get started in farming, let me tell you about my friend Con. Many years ago, he bought a farm in the wilds of Minnesota. The feller who sold him the farm had his farm sale the day Con arrived to take possession of the land.

When it’s springtime in the Rockies
And my lips are turning blue

I’ll be slogging through the blizzard
like a brain-dead caribou …

A fine-lookin’ horse you’ve got there
(if yer into modern art)