Wait For Signs

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This is not a paddling item, but really enjoyable all the same.  In fact, I was without a good paddling book, and waiting for one that I had ordered to arrive at the library.  Jean and I had both really enjoyed the Longmire A&E Series, so she suggested I read a book she had just finished.  This is “Wait for Signs” by Craig Johnson, the author of the Longmire series.  This is a collection of twelve of Johnson’s short stories that gave birth to Sheriff Walt Longmire, Sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming.   Having watched the programs and become acquainted with Henry Standing Bear, proprietor of the Red Pony Café, and Deputy Vic Moretti, it was interesting to see them appear in my mind as I read the characters' portrayals on the pages.  It was great fun again to see Johnson weave a tale, enjoy Walt’s dry humor, and see the punchline finally revealed after a dozen or more pages. 

Jean and I both loved the story “Messenger.”  Besides a great tale, it is hilarious.  The best scene is when Walt and a deputy are in a covered pit toilet, standing on the molded plastic bench seat, while holding Vic upside down by her lower legs as they lower her through the toilet opening.  She has sunglasses on to protect her eyes in the black tank, and toilet paper shoved up her nostrils to protect her sense of smell, and a game warden and tourist are sitting on the roof of the toilet…..  Well, that should be enough of a hook.  You will really enjoy these stories.

Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson, pub by Thorndike Press, Waterville, ME, 2015; and Viking Penguin, of Random House, in 2014) Introduction by Lou Diamond Phillips