This will probably be a brief post because I am getting to the laptop a little late this morning and I have to head out soon to see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man!

BTW — We did, indeed, go out yesterday for sashimi & sake & fortune cookies (sake for him, and fortune cookies, mostly for me). We had a great time and he was not too cold. And we did, indeed, stop at the Nature Preserve on the way home and we just sat in the car and looked out the window. But it was still really beautiful.

And we have a new dialogue between us that goes like this:

HE: “Marilyn, you’re so nice.”

ME: “You’re nice, too.”

HE: “You’re much, much nicer.”

ME: “You’re nicer-est.”

HE: “That’s not a word. But you know what I think? You are the nicest.”

ME: “You’re nicest-er.”

HE: “These are not words!”

ME: “Yes, they are! I use the words in a sentence and you understand what they mean — so they’re words!”

HE (laughing but frustrated): “You know what I think? I think you’re nice.”

And this goes on and on and on, gang. But it keeps his mind engaged, which is so important.

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Here’s this!

From Hillbilly Talk on Instagram. (It’s such a great page. They post really early photos of the old famous Country & Western singers and you have to guess who they are. And SO MANY followers get it right! It’s so cool.)

And here’s the first Johnny Horton song that I really liked. I was 11 when I first heard it, on a record collection of hit songs by various singers from Columbia Records that I saw on TV and bought with my babysitting money — I loved Country & Western music and I especially loved story-songs. After that, though, I discovered a lot more Johnny Horton songs that I really loved.

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Yesterday ended up being so weird.

I set out the candy for the kids — and I felt kind of silly because I had bought SO MUCH candy and I thought I was going to have to throw most of it away.

But I put out a little table at the front door, draped it in a festive fall tablecloth, and set out a lit old-fashioned style lantern, and put all the candy in a big bowl that had old-fashioned monster-movie pictures all over it. (I’ve had the bowl forever. It’s more of a popcorn bowl.)

But it turned out that now, here in our tiny village, the kids go door-to-door trick or treating! They’ve stopped doing that thing, en masse, at the park that they have always done for the last 7 and a 1/2 years that I’ve lived here.

And since I have no kids or grandkids who go to the elementary school, and I don’t go to church here, and I don’t attend the Mayor’s board meetings (I don’t even know who the Mayor is, at this point). So I had no clue things had changed.

I was sitting in the family room (where my front door is), watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” and suddenly kids started arriving at the front door, taking candy, and moving on.

And then more and more kids. All in costumes, and some with their parents in tow.

And then MORE kids.

And I finally got up from the couch and looked out the window and kids in costumes were everywhere!! OMG. I was no longer worried about having too much candy, I was worried that there wasn’t enough.

By the time I was watching “Arsenic & Old Lace”, I wasn’t really paying attention to the TV because I was paying more attention to the candy.

The candy lasted for 2 hours, though. And trick-or-treating only lasted 2 and a 1/2 hours, so I did okay. But wow. It was just weird. And what was sort of freaking me out the most was that I kept wondering: Why did I know to buy so much candy this year?? Or to buy any candy at all?? I had no clue that anything had changed.

Anyway. It was weird. But I did enjoy hanging out on the couch with the many cats. I had tossed a few snuggly fleece blankets on the couch, so they snuggled in the blankets, not directly on top of me. So I have now solved that problem and I can once again hang out in my family room whenever I want to!

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Well, long-time readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall that tomorrow is my favorite day of the year!!! Wherein, we set our clocks back and I get my hour back!!! Yay!

So I will have plenty of time to post here tomorrow, but right now, I gotta scoot!

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

Regarding that old Columbia Records collection that I bought off the TV when I was 11– I absolutely LOVED this song!!

That collection was my first exposure to Marty Robbins, too.

I loved this song so much, that I would play the record, let a few lyrics play, pick up the needle, write down the lyrics, then put the needle back down on the record — until I’d copied all the lyrics to the whole song. I just loved this song so much. (This was upstairs in my room, on my little portable record player. My parents would never have allowed me to do this on the family stereo.)

Anyway. I loved Marty Robbins so much from then on. (And if you have ever read my novella, “Ribbon of Darkness,” you know that it turned out my birth dad’s wife, who was Mexican, grew up with Marty Robbins in the same town in Arizona, and they were life-long friends. So my birth dad knew Marty Robbins.)

“El Paso”, 1959. Marty Robbins. Enjoy, gang.

“El Paso”

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
Nighttime would find me in Rosa’s Cantina
Music would play and Feleena would whirl

Blacker than night were the eyes of Feleena
Wicked and evil while casting her spell
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden
I was in love, but in vain, I could tell

One night, a wild young cowboy came in
Wild as the West Texas wind
Dashing and daring, a drink he was sharing
With wicked Feleena, the girl that I love

So in anger, I challenged his right for the love of this maiden
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore
My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor

Just for a moment, I stood there in silence
Shocked by the foul, evil deed I had done
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there
I had but one chance, and that was to run

Out through the back door of Rosa’s, I ran
Out where the horses were tied
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
Up on its back, and away I did ride

Just as fast as I could
From the West Texas town of El Paso
Out to the badlands of New Mexico

Back in El Paso my life would be worthless
Everything’s gone in life, nothing is left
It’s been so long since I’ve seen the young maiden
My love is stronger than my fear of death

I saddled up, and away I did go
Riding alone in the dark
Maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me
Tonight, nothing’s worse than this pain in my heart

And at last, here I am on the hill overlooking El Paso
I can see Rosa’s Cantina below
My love is strong and it pushes me onward
Down off the hill to Feleena, I go

Off to my right I see five mounted cowboys
Off to my left ride a dozen or more
Shouting and shooting, I can’t let them catch me
I have to make it to Rosa’s back door

Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side
Though I am trying to stay in the saddle
I’m getting weary, unable to ride

But my love for Feleena is strong, and I rise where I’ve fallen
Though I am weary, I can’t stop to rest
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest

From out of nowhere, Feleena has found me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Cradled by two loving arms that I’ll die for
One little kiss, and Feleena, goodbye

c – 1959 Marty Robbins