As I contemplate that day that is the hub, the Ogygia of summer that separates all of the season that came prior to that day from the following day from which the final voyages of the season are launched, I remembered what I had written last year after the local July 4th festivities:
I do it because I am minting memories. We take this hot summer day and put it beneath the steel press of patriotism, stamping upon it the indelible impression of our flag and national identity; we remember the blood and treasure spilled to obtain and to secure the liberty and inalienable rights upon which this nation was founded; we honor not only the founding fathers, but those still living among us who have served to secure the freedoms for which so many have given the last full measure of devotion. There is plenty of time for pleasurable pursuits, but short is the time to honor those who have offered more than mere lip service to liberty...
It still has meaning for me. I don't expect that there will be free hamburgers or a wondrous fly-by, but those who served will still march. We will still salute them.
***
The sequel to Justice in Season is coming along. I borrowed an idea--to put it in the least reprehensible light, or engaged in a little literary larceny, to speak more accurately--from Shakespeare. In Hamlet, the Bard presents a play-within-a-play; that's the purloined provision--not the same play, just the idea for a play as a means of subtly communicating an idea to an audience, or a part thereof. Just a few more chapters for an important plot complication, and I'll be ready to blast toward the exciting conclusion.
Speaking of exciting conclusions. I recently completed Louis L'Amour's Passin' Through, and Guns of The Timberlands. I enjoyed both of these tremendously. I don't remember what caused me to read Passin' Through, but Rachel K's review of GoTT got me interested in reading GoTT.
PT is told from the first person point of view. After writing Smoke (mostly) from the first person point of view, I relished a good read of L'Amour using that view. GoTT uses the third person narrative, allowing the reader insight into what the various characters are doing and thinking. I find the first person view more intense with the ability to draw me into the story like Apollo's hand in "Who Mourns for Adonis?" seizing the Enterprise.
GoTT actually strongly reminded me of The Mountain Valley War--which I discussed a few weeks ago. GoTT involves Clay Bell protecting his range land from a greedy baron bent on stripping the land for a quick profit. Eventually, six-guns and bare knuckles settle the dispute with an eloquence that mere words were unable to achieve. Both books use the same formula with a slightly different twist. Of those two, I preferred GoTT.
PT actually kept me wondering. It's about a cowboy who needs to lie low after proving that he was no easy mark for a pistolero with connections. He finds himself at a ranch occupied by two women. They're interesting. There is some dispute as to the actual ownership of the ranch. Plenty of bullets fly, and several men irrigate the soil with their corpuscles before the conclusion. I found the mystery intriguing and entertaining, if not difficult to unravel. I also liked the horse with the death's head brand.
The protagonists in both books face difficult odds against opponents with connections and clout. They solve problems not only with physical skill, but with mental prowess as well. Both feature romances that end in the expected way, even though the characters have little if any time for romancing--they fall in love quicker than Kirk on an away mission. They're both good reads, but I savored PT just a little bit more.
As long as I'm mixing TOS references and Westerns, I better include this:
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