#58 New Year's Day!
New Year’s Day
A Short Laramie Story As Told by Jess Harper
By
Patty Wilkinson.
It was breakfast time on New Year’s Day and I was sitting at a table in Miss Molly’s café with a strong black coffee and an aching head. Gee it sure had been a good night at the New Year’s Party in the saloon, but maybe that last glass of Red Eye had been a mistake. I sighed deeply and looked around the table.
My best buddy and partner in the ranch, Slim Sherman sat opposite me, his eyelids at half mast with a stupid grin on his face and I just knew he was thinking of the evening he’d spent with his best girl, Lily Levine. Lily, like my Millie worked at the saloon. Now both girls were busy tidying up the place for business later in the day, after the festivities of the night before. I exchanged a knowing wink with him. Yup we were lucky to have two such purty and lovin’ girls in our lives, that was for sure.
Then I looked across to where Miss Daisy, our housekeeper was daintily tucking into her breakfast biscuits a secret little smile on her lips and I wondered what she was thinking on. But before I could ask her young Mike wanted to know if he could have seconds of bacon and beans and the moment passed.
It was later in the day as I was drivin’ Daisy and Mike home in the buckboard, Slim following on behind on his mount, that I got a chance to quiz her.
“So Daisy, you’ve been kinda quiet this morning, did everything go OK at the Women’s Group Party? You and Mike enjoyed yourselves huh?”
She turned and beamed at me, “Oh yes, perfectly my dear, in fact better than perfect.”
“Huh?”
“They want me to be the Chair-lady of the group in the New Year. You know organize all the meetings, greet our guest speakers all that sort of thing.”
Well gee I was pleased for her, real pleased, but I sure hoped she weren’t takin’ on too much.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said after I’d congratulated her, kinda half heartedly iffen I’m honest.
“I’m no spring chicken and I’ll be taking on too much?”
“Hey Daisy, I never said that,” I protested.
“Um, because you’re too kind dear, but you thought it didn’t you?”
I shrugged,” I’m just thinking of you Daisy, don’t want to see you wore out that’s all.”
“Well don’t you worry about that, my duties won’t take me away from the ranch any more than they do now, attending the meetings. It will just mean a tad more preparation in the evenings. So dear, you and your stomach will not be inconvenienced one jot, I will be on hand to cook all the meals as usual,” she finished with a wink.
“Aw Daisy I weren’t worried about that,” I said quickly, but then I looked her in the eye and she saw the truth of it and we both laughed.
“Besides its good for ladies of a certain age to push themselves a little,” she continued.” It is very easy to get in a rut and you don’t want a boring old housekeeper now do you boys,” she said turning to include Mike in her broad smile. “New Year and a new challenge,” she said thoughtfully.
Then looking at the youngster more closely she said, “So have you decided on your New Year’s Resolution yet Mike? “
“Uh, just remind me about all that Resolution stuff again Aunt Daisy, I hafta give somethin’ up?”
“Well yes, one can give up a bad habit, or better still start a good one, like always doing your homework on time,” she suggested.
Mike wrinkled his nose at that suggestion and looked less than impressed, “Nah, think I’ll give something up…err hows about green vegetables, does that count Aunt Daisy, huh?”
Daisy turned and rolled her eyes at me and we chuckled before she tried to explain the notion one more time.
It was later, after supper that I had call to remember that conversation again.
Slim was busy at his desk tallying all the yearly figures for the business.
Mike sitting at the table tackling a giant jigsaw puzzle and Daisy humming happily as she tidied the kitchen.
Meanwhile I was sprawled on my rocker by the fire whittling and thinking about the whole New Year Resolution thing. To be honest I’ve never been one to care for New Year too much. When I was a kid Pa didn’t hold with high days and holidays so New Year’s Eve and Day were pretty much like any other.
Then later, on the drift, I hardly knew one day from another anyway.
In those days the idea of a New Year used to scare me… It was like seein’ this whole new blank page in a notebook, just waitin’ to be written on… .But somehow I always felt kinda wary. Well the way my life tended to pan out, the page would be full of stuff that would make for kind of difficult readin’, most of it real bad stuff I figured.
Hell I sure didn’t wanna revisit the war years, or most of my time on the drift either…I guess iffen I’d have known what was in store for me, well I really wouldn’t have wanted the New Year to start at all back then.
But now, heck things had changed so dang much. My life is pretty much mapped out, what with the cycle of work on the ranch, caring for all the stock, knowing from day to day pretty much what would be expected of me and I find that was kinda comforting.
That’s not to say life is boring nowadays. Heck there’s always somethin’ goin’ on to tax me. Deputizing for Sheriff Cory or ridin’ posse. Ridin’ shotgun on the Overland Stage occasionally and taking off hunting or Mustanging, nope life is anything but boring I guess.
Then I got to thinking about that New Year’s Resolution and thought maybe I could start a good habit. I remembered how I’d imagined the year ahead as a blank sheet of paper. But now I thought of it as just waiting to be filled with new experiences, new adventures and friendships…Yup I was way more optimistic these days that was for sure.
Yes that was it, I’d write a Journal!
I remembered how much Mike enjoyed my yarns of growing up on the panhandle in Texas. Also all the wild tales of the trouble I got into on the drift, helping out friends and usually landing up to my neck in danger and mayhem…Yup my memories sure made for some good story telling. So iffen I wrote everything down young Mike…and eventually my own young ‘uns would be able to read all about my life at the ranch and the adventures me and Slim had.
I felt real excited about the idea and wandered off into the kitchen to find Daisy.
“Uh, Daisy did you say you’d got a spare Diary?” I asked.
“Why yes I do dear, my friend Helen bought me one for Christmas, but I’d already purchased one for myself, why do you ask?”
When I explained what I was gonna do she looked real impressed.
“Goodness me, that’s wonderful Jess dear, so which one would you like, the one with the pretty pink flowers on the cover, or the plain brown?”
I just raised an eyebrow and chuckling she passed over the brown one and I thanked her before retiring back to the fireside to start my new hobby as a writer.
Friday 1st January 1875 Today I will start to write a journal for the first time in my life. I guess this is my way of keeping track. Maybe even making my handwriting half decent too. Slim always says it looks like a spider crawled across the page, but I think that’s kinda harsh. Being as I had next to no schooling I figure I don’t write any too bad and my ciphering is pretty good too since Slim helped me out some.So, last night was real good. Slim and me spent it with our girls and had a real good time. Jeez I do so love my Millie; she is simply the best thing that ever happened to me. I guess she’ll be real surprised when she hears about me of all people writing a journal. OK I guess that’s enough for tonight.Slim there has finished cooking the books and once the young ‘un is abed I figure we’ll have a spot of Red Eye, just to make sure this New Year is gonna be a real good one and starts off in the right way.
Saturday 2nd January. Went on the town with Millie. Real good night, home real late….I love that woman.
Sunday 3rd January.Miss Daisy insisted we start the year off right and attend Church. Bitter cold. A hawk took our best layer while we were in Church garldarn it.
Monday 4th January .Snow down and even colder today, hens off lay, I figure that old hawk has spooked them some.
Tuesday 5th January. Mort Cory called by first thing. Bank robbed again! Riding posse headed Cheyenne way, going to nail those no good hoodlums this time!
Wednesday 6th January ………………..
Thursday 7th January ………………….
Friday 8th January ……………………….
I was searching for my spare hoof pick in my chest of drawers today and found this Journal. Well I guess seeing as today is June 21st I’ve kinda lapsed some. I figure my excuse is that nailing those no good bums that had raided the Laramie Bank took a tad longer than I’d expected. Then when we finally ran ‘em to ground I done got shot in the right shoulder. It was bandaged up and my arm in a sling for nigh on two weeks with Daisy fussin’ and frettin’ as per usual, so I guess I kinda got out of the way of writing the journal.
I figure maybe writing ain’t really my thing either, iffen I’m to be honest. Sure I can tell a good yarn along with the best of ‘em. But when it comes to putting pen to paper…well I figure that’s way too taxing for the likes of me. I reckon I’m a doer, not a writer.
But I still sit down with Mike and tell him stories about my past, the stuff I got up to, lessons I learned. Daisy often listens too and then ol’ Slim will chip in as well, so maybe one of them will write it all down one day. Then Daisy has been known to relay my stories to her Woman’s Group too, so who knows.Could be that some patient soul will take the time to write it all down for what Slim terms posterity, future generations that is.
Yup it would be good to have all those old yarns set down for folk to read, iffen they’ve a mind to that is…..but it sure won’t be done by me. No siree.
I figure this year I’ll take up Slim’s suggestion of a New Year Resolution and stop takin’ naps in the hayloft. So if that’s anything like the journal writin’ Resolution… .well it should last a good four or five days and I figure I can just about manage that!
Happy New Year & Thank you for reading.