November 16, 2008
Speech went fine yesterday. Talked to 25 enthusiastic history lovers at the new Cave Creek Library. Sold four books and we had a grand old time.

On the way back out to the house, I got gas for the John Deere at the Circle K ($2.39 a gallon) and met Joe Yaeger at three. He came thumping down the road on his 1948 Series D John Deere. Took us about twenty pulls, but we finally got that stubborn fly wheel on my grandpa's 1940 John Deere to turn over and the big, ol' thumping two stroke—that takes me right back to being three-years-old and riding with my grandpa out to the chicken brooder—came to life. Pulled it out of the tractor garage and took it up the road and back, Joe then took a turn and when he got back we parked it back in the garage, wiped it down one last time and then we each had a beer and talked about how messed up the world is and how John Deere is still a good investment because they stayed with their strength and didn't go all diversified (don't know if this is really true, but it sounded good to two guys drinking beer).

Finished another El Kid snow scene today. This one has El Chivato jumping a fence in the snow on his high strung horse as he heads for the snow covered hills. Pretty decent effects. I'll post it tomorrow from the office. I need to start the '49 and it's being stubborn.

"Well, Kid, if you wouldn't let it sit for three months, maybe it wouldn't be so stubborn."
—Allen P. Bell, long gone, but his voice is still in my head