"Mister Drifter Drifting Away" Part 8 by Susan Pearl

Mister Drifter,  I did leave my folks at daybreak to come to Abilene.  I did leave a note and I had packed my saddlebags with food.  I rode out and since I know this area so well I decided to go cross county to save seven miles.  After the first mile going cross country I became disorientated because the grass was so very tall. Then the sound of a rattle snake, coiled and ready to strike, startled the horse.  The horse shied and reared up and bucked me off. I passed out with pain.
They tell me I must have laid there for two days.  Some circling vultures were seen in the sky and a nearby landowner decided to check and see what was wrong in his grassland area.
After an additional four days I woke up in a hospital.  Hank, Mom, Dad, Angeline and her husband were in the room.  All faces tell me they are thinking that it is time to tell me "good-bye".  Things are fading as I slip into sleep again but then I am roused by noise and wake up again. Oh, Mister Drifter, I see you walking through the door holding your hat in your hands.  My, what a gentleman you truly are under the gruffness, roughness and toughness.  The kindest eyes I've ever seen are looking into mine.  The room is so illuminated with bright sunlight streaming in all four window.  I'm drifting away again as you hold my hand, Mister Drifter, and I am feeling the gentleness of your kiss.

THE END

"Compliance Makes a Difference" by Susan Pearl

My mother was born in 1911.  She was a young girl when the terrible flu came in 1918, 1919, and 1920.  She told of those times when we were growing up.  She remembered the "Quarantined" signs in people's front yards.  She learned at a very young age that when there is flu or illness keep the sick people away from the healthy people.  She applied this knowledge as we were growing up as when one got sick that person had to stay in the bedroom and stay away from the healthy people.  All while we were growing up we were taught to wash our hands before eating.  It was a way of life.  It was the way things were done and we didn't question it as we abided by the rules for the safety and protection of ourselves and others.
So from all this I would like to say that when it comes to the flu people have to comply to the rules. We have to keep our distance from each other and we should wash our hands often.  When this passes, as it will, we should bring up the next generation with the flu rules of distance and handwashing so that it becomes a way of life.  My mother taught this to me as a way of life growing up because she had seen the flu and what it could do.  We need to pass on this information to future generations for them to comply to the rules whenever the flu is involved.  I believe this can and will make a difference.  Yes, compliance to the rules makes a difference.

"Mister Drifter--I'm coming to Abilene" Part 7 by Susan Pearl

Mister Drifter, my thoughts today are that another two weeks have come and gone but they have certainly not flown by.  I remember the day Hank and I arrived and the grand reunion with Mom and Dad in their front yard.  I had to get used to Hank being called Henry again.  Sometimes they call me Madeline and sometimes they call me Maddy but that's alright.  My twin sister Angeline came for a visit and it was good to see her again.  Her husband couldn't come with so many chores to do each day.  She visited one day and then left.  Her heart is with her love and I know that feeling myself because of you.  Hank says that he should stay to help Dad.  Dad is walking with a crutch since he fell last year off the roof of the house.  His leg is red and swollen and Mom is concerned.  She had been doing all of the milking of the milkcow, "Beaut".   Mom named the cow because the first time Mom saw the cow she said, "Isn't she a beauty?"  And so the name, "Beaut", came to be.  In my thoughts I am thinking very seriously that in four weeks you should have settled things with the ranch owner.  I hope it went in your favor and I am believing it did.  But I know you, Mister Drifter, and I know you will want to complete your obligation to deliver the cattle that were entrusted to you for the cattle drive.  My guess is that you are working on continuing the cattle drive now and you will be bringing the cattle to the railroad station at Abilene.  So, Mister Drifter, I have decided that I will come to Abilene and wait for you there each day at the train station. That is where is want to be.  That is where I should be.  That is where I long and ache to be.  I am leaving for Abilene in the morning and I am not going to tell anyone.  I am leaving them a note.  I know they will cry and carry on about a woman on a trip alone but somehow I just know I can do it.  Mister Drifter, I'm going to be waiting for you in Abilene and I know there will be a day when you will come to me.

"Mister Drifter - Help is on the Way" Part 6 by Susan Pearl

I'm thinking of you and the events of the day: Oh, Mister Drifter, I am thinking of you so much today.  It has been over two weeks since I saw you ride away and I watched through my tears until you were out of sight,  You didn't look back once and I wanted you to so badly.  Just one more glimpse of your face but  I know it could not ever be enough for me.  I learned your name yesterday.  Two bounty hunters stopped to ask for a cool drink of water.  They said that some posters had been tacked up at the train station and that the railroad was leaving posters at each stop.  They told very large bounty had been put on a man named William Morrison who goes by the nickname "Bill".  It had become a known expression that there was a "Just get Bill and pay off your bills".  I begged and pleaded with the bounty hunters not to hunt for you - that you didn't do it - that it was a set up, you had been framed and a set up plot was set just for you.  They listened, then shook their heads saying that there was nothing they could do and thanked us for the water. As they stared to ride away I shouted that Bill had often said that all it takes is one person with a conscience for justice to prevail. Suddenly, one of the bounty hunters turned his horse around and called back to me that he knew a man once that had said that.  That the man had come to his hometown that had been taken over by outlaws and had become an outlaw hideout. That man was the fastest draw anyone had ever seen and he cleaned up the town.  The outlaws left and people were safe again. He said that the whole town was indebted to him. I called back ,"Go to that town and tell them he is in trouble.  He has been falsely accused and wants the truth to come out and clear his name.  Go tell that in the whole town up and down the streets, in and out of all the stores and saloons.   The bounty hunter called back saying, "I will".  So Mister Drifter, I have to say with all my heart that I think that help is on the way.

"The Depth of the Well" by Susan Pearl

To the depth of the well of courage-
Will be our depth to have the ability to go the distance.
To the depth of the well of goodness-
Will be our depth to bring benefit to meet the need.
To the depth of the well of knowing that life has uncertainty-
Will be the depth of our wisdom.

"The Hobo" by Susan Pearl

When I was a little girl, probably in the second or third grade, I was getting ready for school one morning.  It was a little after 7:00AM.  There was a very loud knock on the front door and mother went and answered the door. There stood a hobo.
The hobo said he was hungry and didn't have any food and asked if we could spare some food.  Mom told the hobo that she could not invite him into the house but if he waited on the front porch she would fix him a sack lunch.
Mother went to the kitchen and fixed him a couple of fried egg sandwiches and put them in a sack along with some fruit and a baked item.   As she walked through the living room going towards the front door she stopped and got her purse from the coat closet.  She took a one dollar bill out of her purse and put it into the sack and then folded the top of the sack to neatly close it.  She opened the front door and gave it to the hobo saying that she had put a dollar in the sack with the food and she wished him well.  She told that he thanked her and said, "May God bless this house".
I went to school that day but I can't remember one lesson from school that day but I remember the lesson my mother taught me.  It was over sixty years ago and I have remembered that lesson all of my life.
Right now we are in a pandemic setting with the coronavirus.  Schools are being closed, along with many other meeting places and gatherings are being cancelled.
There are so many who can learn a life long lesson by seeing how we treat others, by seeing how we respect the rules on behalf of others and for the good of all.  There are a lot of schools closed but there are a lot of responsible and thoughtful lessons to be taught and learned.
Then as today's children grow up they will recall the lifelong lesson they learned, not in school, but by watching the actions of others.  When we follow the rules and guidelines given during this time the children will remember if we abided with doing what we are being "asked to do"-and "asked not to do".  Maybe, sixty years from now someone will write about the lesson learned and remembered of the time when everyone pulled together and did what they were asked to do and made it through a very serious and critical time together.

"Mister Drifter- Hank Tells a Tale" Part 5 by Susan Pearl

My brother, Hank, told me how he came to be with the three.  It was on that terrible day --that murderous day when he was told by the rancher to do what he had to do as there was going to be some big trouble that day.  Hank had gone to work for the rancher about two weeks before and every day Hank had put up fence.  Day after day for two weeks he and the other newly hired cowhands put up fence. Hank thought it to be strange because the rancher had no cattle.  The cattle man had been renting out most of his pasture land and people scratched their heads in wonder how he considered himself to be one of the biggest cattlemen in the area. But for some reason he broke his rental agreements and told the renters to remove all their cattle or he would claim the cattle to be his own. Then the day came and the Chism Trail Drive could be heard and seen coming around the southern canyon pass.  Hank said you were outstanding to lead the cattle away from the canyon and not one was lost.  Then he noticed the cattle were very restless and you, Mister Drifter, cut some wires to let the cattle get to the north pond.  Then he said you went back and forth chasing cattle back and your cattle drive hands were working with you as hard as they could.  The cattle were on the brink of a stampede to get to the pond when you cut several other wires and herded the cattle, heading them into a secured area and the cattle were corralled and contained.  Then the cattleman appeared and yelled for all of his cowhands to shoot to kill.  Hank said he realized it was a terrible trick but he rode with four hired cowhands and chased after the three shooting at them.  When they caught up with the three and got them off their horses they roughed them up pretty bad and tied their hands with rope.  The cowhands laughed and enjoyed being mean and kicking dirt in the faces of the three saying that if they had a branding iron they would use it on the three.  They liked seeing the three struggling with their hands tied behind their backs.  The one cowhand who seemed to be the leader said that the way he looked at it was that he had been told to "shoot to kill"- so he had permission from the boss cattleman to kill the three.  He then said that he didn't necessarily think they had to be killed by a bullet and that were other and more interesting ways to do it.  The cowhands laughed and started  drinking heavily.  The fate they wanted for the three was gruesome and beyond cruel.  Hank told the cowhands that he wanted to make sure the ties were still tight.  Hank went over and checked each tied rope but as he was checking he was really untying the three.  When Hank got to the last one it seemed the mood changed and the leader cowhand slurred, " You are taking way too long checking those ropes.  What's going on?"  he asked as he staggered.  Hank yelled that he had to retie the last one because it was way too loose.  The cowhand staggered more saying that he was going to check.  Just then Hank ran and jumped bareback onto a nearby grazing horse and grabbed the horse's main turning the horse toward the cowhands.  In all the confusion all of the cowhands looked over at Hank and that's when the three jumped the cowhands.  It was quite a fist fight but the hands were drunk and once down they couldn't get back up with lack of balance.  The three tied their hands behind their backs and Hank and the three saddled up the horses and rode out.  The leader cowhand yelled, "If ever I see any of you again you will die and it ain't goin' be pretty!"  Hank said that he then told the three that he knew the way to Arkansas and that was where they all should go.  they all agreed.  Later that night they met up with us  and that it is how it all came to be.  I am thinking, Mister Drifter, that when you saw my brother, Hank, that you knew I would be safe without you.  I think you knowing that I would be safe played a big part in you going back.  In fact, I know in my heart that to be true of you. Hank, also, said the last thing you wanted him to do was to draw out in the dirt the eight land markings that are markers showing the way to Arkansas.  Oh, Mister Drifter, I will dream of your handsome face, of your strong ruggedly carved features contrasted by the kindest eyes I've ever seen.  But all the while I still have this haunting feeling that the odds are against you in such a way that it makes me think this whole ploy has been designed to only trap you.  Maybe the two years you were away from the Chism Trail cattle drive some money may have exchanged hands under the table and that you would recognize the scheme.  Without a doubt I think that this was all set in motion to remove you from the Trail.  It is not a score to be settled with you because it isn't over anything you have done but, instead, it is over what you were about to find out.

"Glistening Beauty" by Susan Pearl

Our granddaughter loves the glistening of the snow
It is beautiful
And sometimes being reminded by a child
We see an awaiting beauty to be noticed
That is right before our eyes,
A new appreciation comes to be
As we realize how much beauty there is
All awaiting for us to see.

"Mister Drifter So True" Part 4 by Susan Pearl

Oh, Mister Drifter, yesterday we were outrunning the law
   by riding our horses as hard as we could going towards Arkansas,
And now I am on my way to Arkansas with just my brother, Jack, while you are ridin' back-
You and the three,---Oh, how lonesome for you can my heart already be,
You had whispered in my ear that livin' a life of fear isn't livin' at all to you-
That a man had to be held accountable and that's what you wanted to do--and do it for us-
Then you and the three rode off as Jack and I stood there in your trail dust.
How many months will it be to see you again or will that day ever come?
You cleaned your gun before you left - it needed to be done- the journey has begun.
Oh ,how you shined up your gun with rugged hands so familiar to the feel of it all.
Is it true you are a quick draw? These thoughts I wonder as Jack and I head out for Arkansas.
Mister, Drifter, you are so very true to what you know is the right thing to do.
And the way you handled your gun looked and seemed to be so very familiar to you.
My brother, Jack, said that he went with you behind the rocks and saw you draw.
He told it was quite a sight to see you draw your gun faster than a rattlesnake could strike.
Oh, Mister Drifter, the fact that you went behind the rocks shows that it was not for me to see.
I would have liked to see your draw, too.  Mister Drifter, is there something I don't know about you?

"My Madeup Joke" by Susan Pearl

I think I was born tired.
Most babies are born crying.
I was born yawning.
And I was the only baby that snored in the nursery.

"Calming Down" by Susan Pearl

Before I drift off into a dream,
I think:
"Quiet and serene, quiet and serene"
 with gentle thoughts of a very light slanted rain
  on fields of daisies,
Such a beautiful place to be,
Calmness and peace are near,
Calmness and peace are here.
"Quiet and serene, quiet and serene".

Then I drift off into a peaceful, restful dream.