Old Cowboy's stories

Temporarily writing some children's stories. Will get back to Cowboy. One steam punk in progress.

Income tax and Peacocks

Filed income tax with H&R and was more than double than last year although I earned the same amount. The peacock migration has invaded my yard. Mitzi has named them Penny and Peter. They enjoy being fed here. In one week they have bulked up. They hit the porch roof with a thump. Not much of a graceful landing. Found the trench shovel of my choice for the Mojave trip. I already owned it. Have begun working on a better start for the Frontier Doctor. Must refine it then finish Journal 6. That should give me my trilogy with some tweak ing at ends and beginnings. Morgan

Peacocks still here!

Woke up this morning to feathered alarmclock on the roof outside my bedroom window. Female peacock looking in and honking to wake me up and give her food. As if the cats are not bad enough.

Stopped at Bey's rock shop When we found Jakes flea market wasn't open. Tried the new green restaurant in w. Reading. It was good and reasonable. Peafowl were still here. I enjoy them and hope they stay. I do feed them. I think they left droppings on my door mat while possibly eating the cat food. Interestinger and interesti nger. Total 12 query letters sent. Morgan

Active day

Pea fowl still here. So I'll feed them, too. Saw Abbie, my grandniece in Aladin at Bd Middle school. Chainsawed some brush in yard. Sent out 5 more query letters about the book Prairie Ranger. An even dozen now. Getting back to writing. Trying to strengthen the beginning of my trilogy. We'll see. Morgan

Forge Prep

Beautiful day. Went to Leesport. Old fencing friend went with me. Came back to clean up the forge. Found two immature peafowls on the lawn. put feed out for them. Don't know if they will stay. Set up equip that had fallen over last five years. Will continuing work . Trimming brush tomorrow. Finally got some shooting. Prepared four query letters to send. Plan to have another 4 or 5 tomorrow, then I can write again. Morgan

Cleanup

Started digging out the front of the barn. Moved over 200 lbs of charcoal to the forge. At least I can get in now. Found some of the missing great swords. Hope to be smithing soon. Knives to be finished. Help me get my strength back in my arms. Got three query letters off. Do some more tomorrow after I use the brush scythe on the encroaching raspberries. Also must work on mowers. Soon start rebuilding "Journal 1". Must readjust the TV antenna. Found WWII trench shovel for Mojave trip.

We Try.

Printed my book out for Debbie (my editor). She has trouble reading from a screen as do I. Re wrote my querie letter and got one ready to mail. This ain't cowboy stuff but its OK as it is too wet to shoot. At least for one agent it seems on the mark. Will try to get one off daily. Must shift charcoal as I hope to soon open the forge and work on knives. Give myself some physical enjoyment and build up strength. Sheds need cleaning and power equipment needs repair. Planning to send out numerous querie letters to try to get published. Cowboy shooting is coming up and will need to be reloading to make it through.

Away from it all

Well, folks , I spent 4 days away from it all on my daughter's farm in New York state. It was my grandson, Jaiden's birthday. I did not work on my novels. I began working on my first query letter. I hope to have four out by the weekend. I would like to have eight done before I go back to writing. Intend to see dentist tomorrow. She has more civilized equip than I have in my traveling Med bag. that has the meds I make and take to the cowboy shoots. I sometimes need to use them. They work. My official alias is "Old Doc Reinbold". Must repack the bag for the season.Am re evaluating "The Journals" as to adjusting them by # of pages in a book. Love and blessings, Morgan

Haven't been blogging for a while. I have been busy finishing my book, "Prairie Ranger." Finished it Sun. night at 11:25. Put the last period in place. Did some research on camels in the Mojave Desert for the "Ballad of Jake Sunday. Parts are on my tape recorder so I can build the story one piece at a time. I must work on the end of "the Life and Times of a Frontier Doctor." Journals 1-5 are finished, but 6 and ? more await finishing. Hope to finish it by end of April. Firewall blocking sending copies to friends for reading. May have it cured, I hope. Long day typing from a distance. Back soon. Printed off research materials on camels used by US Army. This comes into play in "Jake Sunday". No work done for "Mojave trip". Have organized information both old and new. Did title page and dedication yesterday. Falling asleep, Morgan.

Prairie ranger finished. Looking for agent.

Book

Entered the rest of Deb's edits on my book. Feeling more secure on finding an agent. Am now doing a final rereading for anything I/we may have missed . Printing Page 4 to 50.

Sorry!

Folks, I am sorry I have been unable to post anything until now. My internet service was down and finally was repaired yesterday. Prairie Ranger is finally finished. Tomorrow I will do a final; reworking. Dr. Schmeck gave me the final edits on Monday.Finished them Wed. at 11:55 PM. I have had possitive coments on this book. Tomorrow I will do my final rereading, then I will begin a search for an agent. I hate to waste time on it when I would rather be finishing Journal 6 and starting "The Ballad of Jake Sunday". I have have whole chunks of it on tape already. Still planning on the desert trip in Sept. Journal 6 should be done by then and a glossary of characters should be underway.

Interesting day. Finally found my garbage can intime for snow. Found round glass eye cup, a two compartment Russian gun oil can and arounded cleaver for the trip, all small and inexpensive. I know, I know, eventually items must be deleted. Found 1 or 2 ideas to add to Journal #3. Studied US Camel Corp will need it it in Jake Sunday. Prairie Ranger: We took our Horses across on the barge. We had to blindfold the thoroughbreds as the lapping water made them uneasy. The carriage horses and my horse were fine as long as we held them and talked to them. I was given the LeMat revolver, with a belt with 2 pockets for extra cylinders and a holster, in order to protect the horses and the women in that order. Morgan

Continued sorting and adjusting my old moss covered Celtic Warrior poetry. Some is still misplaced and will periodically try to find it. It represents a creative time of my life with blacksmithing, doing live steel sword and board fighting and making herbal meds. Trying to find myself. Now I write. A sample of my olf poetry. Dead Men's Eyes
I lie asleep upon my bed,
'Mid fearful dreams I toss and turn,
I scream and face the living dead,
And feel their eyes within me burn.

When I had met them toe to toe,
And with my sword I took their life,
I stared into their face of woe,
Knowing well I'd end this strife.

We met in war on battle plains,
And each from him his life I took,
My sword and dagger caused great pains,
I never shall forget that look.

And now I lie in sleepless dreams,
I feel the curse of fate come nigh,
Haunting fear; how cold death seems,
And see the glare in dead men's eyes.

Old Poetry

Please understand I am not a poet. At one time maybe I was. I opened the dusty moth filled "trunk" and stasrted to reassemble my old poetry, some Celtic Warrior, some Shamanic and some other, both dark and light. One Epic was never finished. Actually have 4 books of it, between 250 to 300 poems. Haven't decided what to do with them. For the moment I am no longer a poet. Some poems never made computer, others won't open. Mildly Irksome. Morgan

Writing

Well, I copied the material down right, but the gun show was a train show. Stopped in with Jim Crater (Jimmy the Critter in my book) at his recycling yard and chatted. Dug into my storage area "chest", chased away the maneating moths and salvaged 3 vols. of poetry I wrote years ago, twenty or more. They are about Celts. No one wants man's warrior poetry so why bother? Only people who ever wanted it were bards at the Pennsic Wars for Bardic circles. Of course, that was still when I was a poet. May try to organize the rest of the other poems. Who knows? Prairie Ranger: "I found that eat ing with the family was more than casual dining. I watched them to know what silverware to use and how to hold my glass. My training in reading, wrikting and sums had just begun. "Her Ladyship" or Eloise, as she asked me to call her, spent about three hours each night after supper teaching, helping and correcting me. I learned to sound words from print. Cursive was hard for me. At first, the blobs and blotches of ink that covered the paper were laughable. I knew the printed alphabet on sight, so Dorothy printed it and cursive together on a piece of parchment. She had a fine hand. She said once I could write legibly, we could correspond, even when she went home to Scotland. Morgan

Well, son came home, good company. Went to Bieber Bus and got two tickets for the Phila Flower show. Put the mail box up again with red and orange duct tape. Hope the snow plow operator can see and avoid it this time. Went to Zernsto see goods for auction. Expect to bid on several minor items. Forgot to take wallet. Eager to finish open writing projects so I can get to next ones. Future ones always seem more exciting then the work of finishing open ones. Son thinking of stopping current project and switching to children's books. Prairie Ranger: You know nothing of the art of knife fighting. Like horseback riding, that can be remedied. Archie is one of the best knife fighters I have ever seen. I am sure when you two bathe at the water tower, you have seen the scars on his arms and chest. He got them in the army fighting in Africa and India. When his rifle was empty, he threw it down and charged the wogs with a dirk, much like yours.

Morgan

Gun Shop.

Went ti Enck's Gun Barn To get minor supplies, do a trade and get information on their western trip. Took Ray Ott (Gray Otter) with me. Fran did not do much photography. Information from them, don't need to live as rough as we planned. Casino rooms cheaper and cleaner than motels and food good. Showers, too. Not live in tent in Mohave. Gas 2.44 to 2.88. Probably will not standardize guns. Will carry canned goods for moisture, use less water. Prairie Ranger: Lord MacArdle had been verhy generous with me. The horse he bought for me was a six-year-old quarter horse. He had also given me clothing appropriate to my job. As he said, "I will not have anyone working for me looking like a ragamuffin. You work for a lord of Scotland, please remember that. Even in the American west, what you do reflects on me and will be heard about in England and Scotland." He also gave me a fine Damascus-bladed Scottish Highland dirk to carry in my belt for my defense. Morgan

Uneventful day. Did begin some cleanup, also cooked bacon and eggs. House still smells of bacon. Never make it as "Orthodox and Kosher". Don't do much cooking, but must start . Will neen
d to do it on the trip. Sharpened cattauragus sheath knife, but can't get to anything to cut down and test it. Too much snow. It feels good in the hand, just like the old days in the mountains. Used super glue and clothpins to hold the sheath together until I get to the leather to make a new sheath. Blade is like a razor. Prairie Ranger: "Every chance I had, I rode under Archie's watchful eye and I was beginning to feel rather confident that high off the ground. Archie swung his hat under the horse's nose; It reared and threw me to the ground. I yelled, "What did you do that for?" "A lesson. All horses can get skittish at the slightest and bolt or throw you."

Morgan Reinbold

Got a Cabela's coupon in the mail. I ended up getting an emergency radio and CB unit for the trip. Also found an acceptable Knife/ Machete compromise by Gerber (the knife maker, not the baby food magnate) Don't worry. If you buy one, you can't get cut with it. It is amazingly dull. Sharpened it for 2 hrs and now can cut hot butter. That and our WWII Cattaraugus Quartermaster's Corps knives should be all the cutlery we need. I have always liked them better than K-Bar. Finally found where Cottonwood once stood. Prairie Ranger, "As the day wore on, The MacArdle family came out to watch their horses being exercised. Their daughter, Dorothy, was dressed in a beautiful midnight blue velvet dress with white lace at collar and the cuffs. Both she and her mother were riding sidesaddle as was considered appropriate for women. The both carried white lace parasols as the dismounted and walked their rented horses nearer to watch what we were doing.Dorothy asked her mother who I was, and "Her Ladyship" asked her husband who was plainly puzzled. He signaled Archie over and asked, "Did I hire a horse boy recently?"

Hi, Pretty well called off from work to refreshment as this was St. Valentine's Day.. Saw a movie that we both thought would be good, but it wasn't Then we went to Hoss's in Leesport for "lupper"and had scallops. Giving consideration for travel armament. Expect we will standardize calibers to 38/40 and 45/70, both having their own advantages and being guns of the period. We can also use period reloading tools. Must discuss this with Ray. The man who pulled me aboard the livestock car was a Scot. He said, "Laddie, as a ditch digger, ye must Ha' a strong back. I am an old man who has been goven the care of "His Lordship's" horses. They must be cared for and exercised all the way to where they will race. Ye can rake and shovel manure to keep our car clean. After all, it is our home too, and we must live here for the whole trip. Ye will be working your way to St Louis where the races will be held." Morgan

Vehicles all dug out. Had to hire my nephew for help. Went to gun show today.Need old Ideal reloading tools to take west. Often ammunition was not available so the shooter needed to reload.Bullets were saved from game shot, cast and then reloaded into the empty cases. We do not expect to do too much shooting, but... In bad areas, I favor carrying revolvers over semi auto pistols. Semi's have more tendency to jam from dust and dirt. Prairie Ranger: Questioned why he was being pursued, Peter said, "I was in love! As a ditch digger, I was thought to be too low for her. I was caught, but I got away. She was whipped by her father. He sent men to follow and kill me. I ranThey drove ma as a stag before into the train yard to corner me, where the noise of the killing would not matter. Motgan

Imagime being caught on the prairie or in the mountains by a snow storm (ie. Donners) Most shovels were made of carved wood. Today I broke the handle of my modern snow shovel because od the weight of the snow. From Prairie Ranger: "A railroad yard was no place for a stranger on a moonless, foggy night It was a strange and ghostly place. Iron giants seemed to lurk there making monsterous shadows and strange noises. Hisses of escaping steam could come from any direction. Running was more dangerous now because of objects lurking just out of sight in the fog...... Abulletspanged off the front of the approaching locomotive sending tiny splinters of lead at my face." Morgan

Snow. Shoveling and cleaning at the house. More work to do. Glad I gopt back down ahead of it, not that it did any good. Planned on writing, but snow took too much time. Feel good for all the exercise. Snow has ended so I will shovel again tomorrow.Laundry done and water on hand against power outage. Need extra propane coupling for Heat/light unit here. will drive out and get it tomorrow? after shoveling. Was told by shannon to occasionally throw in story parts. Beginning of Prairie Ranger: Who were they that were chasing me? I had no idea and could probably not identify any one in the gloom. All I knew was that they were four hulking street thugs Hired to pursue and kill me. They were paid by the father of my love, Heinrich Stuyvesant. He was "Old" New York aristocracy. His ancestors had helped build New Amsterdam, now known as New York.Heinrich was one of the wealthiest men in the state with all the political control his money could buy. He could easily arrange for men to be found floating face down in the Hudson River and it was rumored he often did. Morgan

Preparing for the Worst

I got a warning up here in NY. I was told to expect the worst and get home quickly on Tues. Trees have heavy snow and with more weight may drop branches on power lines. By 9 AM will raid my cowboy cabins for supplies. One friend has nothing, so I will loan them Propane tanks, lights and heaters. At home I am equipped to use propane in emergency. I can live on my sunporch on the floor between desks and book cases. I have heavy sleeping bags. In case of outage, most heat will go to keep pipes from freezing. I can still write by gas lamp as I do in the mountains. I will be comfortable and expect to follow the old ways of helping others. If power is out, my appologies, don't expect a blog.



Morgan

Seafood

Sitting up here in New York, decided we should have a seafood night.Don't often cook much just for me. Shannon, my daughter, Had never made fried oysters. She had decided to to make clam chowder, a strong one. Karl, my son in law, drove out and I bought 3 80z containers of oysters and and some scallops for broiling. Prepared oysters for frying and also for a box stew. Liquids heating now. Should be good on a cold snowy night. I don't like to cook just for me. We obviously won't have this on the trail in the desert, so I'll enjoy it now.Got more writing on Journal Six done and another idea for a children's book. Must get to the stove to help Shannon.

Morgan

Gas Log Book

Well, Just beginning a log book on the truck. Studying miles per gallon to try to get a general miles per gallon to figure fuel expenses cross country and back. Don't plan to run out of money 1/2 way there. Turned out 16.2 mpg. Not as well as hoped for. That figure is a good starting point. Will see if mechanic can tweak it. Am in up state NY with daughter's family. Has bot snowed here in the storm that I am told left more than a foot down home. Saw ice cutting and storage. at nearby historic site. Spoke with young blacksmith. Told by brother Ray back home We had 12 inches back home. Next storm expected Wed. Will go home Tues if all goes well. Making progress on Journal 6, the people are gathering for a ride or vengeance.

Keep following for more, Morgan

Preparing for Mojave research trip

Planning trip across western states to gather material to help with realism in my books. This will take much planning. Bought a 2001 Ford F-150 4x4 Super crew cab with 60,000 miles. Now working bugs out. Cannot afford a breakdown out there. Will need a skilled companion who is retired or can take a month off from work. Will have until September to get everything ready. Planning is safety and success. Follow me as I plan, research and spend time working on my historical fiction books.



Morgan