Bull by Bull

•?The sheriff paid me a visit one evening a while back — long, bizarre story. When he knocked on the door I jumped up, threw the latch, and hollered, “I just locked the door. Are you legit?” Even before he could answer I espied his cruiser and instantly knew he was the real deal.

•?I’m getting ready to ride again — on the same horse I stopped riding years ago. Having ridden for over 60 years, riding is my go-to place in life, and recently spending time with best friends and great horses in California helped me to remember I gotta ride.

•?One of my favorite meals standing at the kitchen sink is taking a big swig of ice-cold milk out of the milk jug. Talking jugs, the way I know I’ve had enough wine in the evening is I put the OJ jug in front of the bottle of chardonnay. Along these same lines — knowing thyself — I’ve started applying the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” to any long day of feeling blue, knowing I ain’t broke, and nothin’ needs fixing — for now.

•?Even harder than mixing a jar of U-stir peanut butter is getting those sticky fly catcher ribbons to work. The directions aren’t at all helpful and I never did succeed in removing it properly from its tube. I finally resorted to pulling it out with a pair of needle-nose pliers, which I ended up having to soak in nail polish remover in order to get the sticky stuff off — ditto my fingers.

•?Not having any kids, I never saw Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. This summer, though, OPB aired the movie, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” I am now a true believer in all things Mr. Rogers.

•?I opened a new box of cards last Saturday night. They were so stiff that not only could I not shuffle them, I couldn’t win with them either. When Ethel died at age 102 her deck of cards was her most coveted treasure the kin all wanted. Most of her cards barely had a trace of anything left on them and they were as soft as a favorite

pet’s ear.

•?I wish I’d thought to write these words myself, but they were the message on the front of a Leanin’ Tree cowgirl-birthday-card from someone who knows me well, “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought & I just don’t think being an adult is gonna work for me.”