"Tears are streaming down my face at 2:39 am. Lemme tell ya why.
I bought a book today, bc I'm that girl, and the author is a fellow rockhound, and I have started a small collection of autographed I-know-the-author books. And because it's about a cat, and I'm also that crazy cat lady, so... right up my alley. After mining hard for 2 days, I started my book before bedtime, got through 3 chapters, and fell asleep, so bleary-eyed I couldn't see straight. I set an alarm for 6, and fell asleep exhausted to catch some rest before the last day of the Fall Rock Swap and Dig at Graves.
About an hour ago, I guess I must have dreamed the alarm went off. With great difficulty and much soreness, I dragged myself out of bed, ate some Ibuprofen, made coffee, and decided to read a couple more chapters before I get dressed, to give the meds time to kick in before I neaten my campervan mess, and head back to the mine.
121 pages in, I'm bawling my eyes out over a dead coyote, when I finally look at the clock. 2:39 am. Not 6:30. Not almost daylight. Not time to go mining. No...! It's the middle of the night, and I am supposed to be sleeping.
Coyotes... my Grandpa used to trap 'em back in the 80's. Now.... here I sit, full circle, mid-mining trip in the dead of night crying over a dead one I never met.
Richard J. Jacquot, Jr.... you authored one heck of a tale!! Your Papa and Smokey sounds like my Midnight, and his son Fluff McDuff, from my childhood. Grandpa always told me he saw Midnight fighting a coyote once, and he sure came home banged up and injured after that one! I am loving this book, and intent on buying your others.
For now... I'm gonna read a spell, now that I have dried my tears and had a good laugh. When I am dragging tail at the mine in a few hours, y'all know why.
Reader friends and critter lovers, this is a seriously good read!! Order a copy for yourself or a friend."
Marcie R. South Carolina