You can now reach The Star Beacon via fax. Earth Star's new fax number is 970/527-2433. Our e-mail address is still earthstar@tripod.net, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 117, Paonia, CO 81428.
On Saturday, May 6, at the time of the alignment of the planets, Ethan and I took the truck to Montrose to do a little shopping. We left early in the morning so that we could get back home at a decent hour. We have a new puppy ("Ranger"), a half Australian shepherd, half blue heeler, and instead of taking him along, we decided to put him in my office. We figured it was good practice to let him stay home alone for a few hours, and set out food and water for him.
I remarked to Ethan on the way that there certainly were a lot of "UFO clouds" in the sky that day. Saucer shapes were everywhere. It resembled a fleet of space vehicles! I always have a good, protective feeling when "they" are around.
We were on our way home shortly after 1:00. We had gassed up the truck and were hungry, but thought we'd wait and stop in Delta for lunch. We had gone maybe eight or nine miles out of Montrose when suddenly the truck blew a tire.
Pulling over into the shoulder of the highway, Ethan recalled that he had not put the spare tire, nor his jack, into the truck. This was not good news! Usually, Ethan is diligent about having his tools and his spare along, but we had packed the truck bed with recyclables to drop off at the Montrose Recycling Center, so didn't have a lot of room for the spare.
As we sat there pondering what to do, I recalled that our friends, Carol Brideson and Joe LoGiudice, lived somewhere near there. Both of us assumed they lived miles out in the country, since they have goats, chickens and greenhouses where they raise herbs.
We decided to walk somewhere to find a telephone. There was a side road off to the right and a few houses along the highway, so we headed in that direction. We hadn't gone very far when I spotted a geodesic dome. Hmm, I wondered, was that one of Joe's domes that he had built for someone? Then I noticed the big sign at the end of the driveway that said NAMASTE GREENHOUSE.
We were at Joe and Carol's house! I couldn't believe it! We had never been to their house, but here it was. And we were lucky enough to find Joe at home, constructing a new chicken coop. After using his phone, he lent us his car and jack and we took our old tire off and drove to the city to Big O Tire, where they just happened to have a tire that size fl used fl for $15.
After that adventure, we toured Joe's and Carol's greenhouses and sat and visited with the two of them for a while. I felt the "ships" were watching over us to have brought us that close to friends who could help us in what would have other-wise been an unpleasant situation.
Of course, when we got home, Ranger had gone nuts, wondering where we were. He managed to tear up my office quite a bit. He hadn't eaten or drank anything, and had left only one mess for me to clean up -- not bad for a puppy -- and he literally ate us up, he was so glad to see us again.
All's well that ends well, but you can be sure of this: Ethan will never leave home again without his spare and his jack!
By the way, Ranger is another "cosmic critter" that came into our lives. On March 5, Harry Ferrier of Crawford, Colo., who happens to be our farrier, came to trim the mules' hooves. He happened to bring with him this little five-week-old pup. At the time I was sure we weren't ready for a dog, although Ethan and I had talked about getting one.
To make a long story short, Ranger is now part of our lives and the perfect dog for us. He is extremely intelligent and loyal and wants to be with us constantly. He loves to work, but wants to play even more. He fights the shovel for hours while Ethan is working in the barn, and he has a loving, gentle herding instinct around my chickens. Ranger drags two plastic bottles on a rope around the property. He is in love with the cat, but she, unfortunately, will have nothing to do with him. He learned early on that mules can be dangerous if he gets too close. He loves to sit at my feet and listen to music. He rides on the tractor with Ethan, drinks rootbeer, eats radishes, and for a special treat gets Lactaid.
November Moon an e-bookMy latest novel, Night of the November Moon, is now available in e-book form from MightyWords.com on the Internet. You can download the entire book (199 pages) for just $6. Just go to www.MightyWords.com and search for the title.