Small world

Before I went out to lunch with Rusty today, I was thinking about the articles he writes for a local paper and how much I enjoy reading them. I had encouraged him to put together a collection of them for publication. It reminded me of Leon Hale,a columnist for the old Houston Post, who put together such a collection, Turn South at the Second Bridge, that I think I got as a gift for my birthday or some such thing from Buddy and Florence. Or maybe they gave me his novel, Bonney's Place. Either way, he was on my mind this morning.

Mama tells me this is a false memory and that she bought both those books. It is still associated with Florence for some reason in my mind. Maybe it is because they got the Post and we read the Chronicle. Whatever.

Rusty had mentioned that he is leaving town tomorrow. I thought it was for business, but it turns out he was going on a fishing trip with friends, something they have been doing for many years now. I asked who he was going with -- thinking it might be Coy or one of our other cousins -- and he mentioned, among others, Leon Hale. I told him that I had just been thinking about him that morning.

When I got home, I looked in the bookcase next to my bed in the guestroom. On the top shelf was a copy of Bonney's Place. An autographed copy, yet.

A samll serendipity or synchronicity, as Carl Jung might say. But it added a fillip to the day.
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Rusty mentioned that Leon had asked him once for a recipe for a peach cobbler that Rusty makes on their fishing trips. Turns out there were two recipes, so Rusty sent them both. Leon included them in his book about food he liked to eat -- and that is the book you see above. If you ever happen to run across a copy, you will notice that Rusty's cobbler merits a whole chapter.