"Best omelette I could make with a chainsaw" Thomas McGuane. Available for pre-order.

The title story could make a whole book.

But it won’t; aside from a couple of essays on art and a book review or two, this book took 84 years to write. The title comes from how a very good friend looked at death. Captain A. Rudolph Green, USMC. Rudy. I miss you, brother, but what times we had. Other good friends, brothers, pop up in “Chickens,” as do some strong women. I dash about being ten years old on one page, forty-seven on another. Some memories are fresh as yesterday, some are clouded. But I’ve presented them the best I can, and after seven books, I do believe I’m getting better at this. I’ve relived a lot on these pages. I don’t think you’ll be bored. Pre-order it here, if you’re the pre-ordering kind.

Believing is seeing.

An aspect I must mention here, is visualizing. It comes up more than once in “Chickens,” and is the subject of one piece entirely. I won’t get all mystic on you here, but there are perfectly natural universal forces out there you can gather in order to propel you to another level. Napoleon Hill touched on it; his original, unchanged, books are well worth reading. Maxwell Maltz. Viktor Frankl. Others. When one is in the groove, one feels it. Things break your way. Again, not to be occult, Tommy Chong put it this way: “When you hit a groove, it’s not you; it’s the spirit world.” That’s his way of saying things line up, break good. When they don’t, when things confound you, you’re fighting those forces and, chimerical as they are, they’ll simply go elsewhere. Maybe where they’re more welcome.

The example in the piece titled “Visualizing: Not a Woo-Woo Science” is about the best bull ride of my life. The universe was with me, my ligaments weren’t. It ended with no buckle, a trip to the ER, and a stay at an LA hospital. But I felt it, unmistakably. The forces did what they could, as did my preparation, and my allowing those chimerical forces to help. Some call it faith. Here endeth the lesson, as the pastor used to intone.

For Labor Day holiday I waxed black vehicles. With paste wax. Duh.

I don’t recommend it, not in muggy humidity and sizzling temperatures. You have to keep moving the vehicle into shaded areas and waiting for it to cool off some. BUT I discovered a wonder product for removing bug and tree sap; Krud Kutter. Wow. Of all the snake oil and elixirs out there, this works! And it’s reasonably priced, even in this inflationary economy. Ever tried to get tree sap off a black vehicle roof? Spray Krud Kutter on, and wipe it off. (I am not paid for this rec) Then I tried some $40 wax called Torque, but ended up using good old Turtle paste wax in a can. Again, reasonably priced. For rags, I use old fleece sweat shirts, cut up, for the first go-round, and microfiber cloths from Walmart for the second and third elbow-grease powered wipe-off. And, wollah, two old vehicles look like somebody loves ‘em. Could be my imagination but I think they perform better after a wax job. I cussed some; wait for cooler weather is my final word.

Best for last, speaking of visualization.

Freddie, as many of you know, is a silversmith. Which is like saying Patrick Mahomes is a football player. She was putting some pieces out for display in an upcoming show and I grabbed just a few and took a quick pic, which doesn’t do them justice. Her work is truly museum quality and it’s a crime that so few ever get to see them. She does them for family and on commission. The pieces shown here are things she did for her sister and mother, and herself. These are cuff bracelets and necklaces made with semi-precious stones, gold, silver and copper. (The pendant at lower left features some rough turquoise and several diamonds.) When we get better pictures, I’m sure she could get coastal representation; all she needs is a little time to do the work. She has done one-of-a-kind diamond wedding rings for friends and all of them were personalized designs. Stunning and breathtaking are words with brand new meaning when one first sees a Freddie Wise jewelry creation. Like the silversmith herself, they are exceptional.

(I am not being paid for this rec). We wish you a happy and creative September. xo Here’s Sarah Vaughn’s September in the Rain, which is a pretty nice note on which to end this blog and a sweltering August.