Five Star Tacos And Barn Burner Issues

 December 20, 2023

   Rained on and off last night. Great sleeping weather.

A Stormy Day In Cactusland

   Of course we slept well because someone was on the wall protecting us from all invaders, big and small.

The Vigilant Wall Guard

   I had a very nice and quiet birthday yesterday. My honey picked up takeout from Five Star Mexican Taco Grill down on Carefree Highway and we had us a feast with homemade margaritas (with top shelf Patron Tequila), sat on the back porch and solved some life and we both came to the same conclusion:

   We are damn lucky people.

Five Star Feast

   I sometimes get snippy letters about what we cover in True West and here is a good example:

   "I enjoy your magazine, but often think you dwell too much on Billy the Kid and the Earps.  I am an Earp fan, but enough is enough. I have reached out to you previously asking why you don't cover Charles Goodnight?  I have spent 8 years restoring his beautiful 1870 stone barn in Pueblo, CO.  It needs to be recognized by your publication. The West wasn't just New Mexico or Arizona."

   End of well-meaning comments. One of our contributing editors, thought this should be my reply:

   "We run a popular magazine here, a magazine whose readers want well-written stories with Old West action and excitement: shootings, hangings, manhunts, and the like. While I don't doubt that your building is an architectural wonder, the fact remains that it's, well, a barn. However, if you find in your research that the Goodnight barn ever shot anyone, please get back to us. Thanks again for your interest in True West."

—Mark Lee Gardner

   Mark also predicted the Goodnight Barn Issue would be a real "barn burner." See what I have to contend with day in and day out? I tell you, it's a lonely job, but some old man has to do it.

"A man's most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe."

—Euripides