Category Archives: Uncategorized

“The Death Bloom” of a Century Plant (Agava Americana) At Medicine Spirit Ranch

A Sacrificial Story, Century Plant (Agava Americana), Death Bloom of a Century Plant, Uncategorized May 4, 2026 Leave a comment

A couple of years ago, we planted a Century plant in the entrance garden of our front yard as a focal point. It’s striking appearance commands a serious glance on entering our yard. Scientifically, the Century plant is classified as Agava americana and rather than actually living 100 years, as its common name would imply, it usually lives 10-30 years.

The century plant is native to Mexico and the southwest US and is utilized in making tequila and has also been used to make a sweetener and even soap. It’s flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds, bees, butterflies, and bats- all of which are plentiful at Medicine Spirit Ranch. Being unfamiliar with this desert plant what began several weeks ago has been shocking and has taken us by total surprise.

One morning we noticed from deep within the the plant, a large stalk had begun to grow. The stalk grew over a few days and weeks to a striking height of 16 feet 4 inches. Stalks of the century plant have been known to grow even taller at thirty feet or even fifty feet in height. The stalk took on the appearance of a giant asparagus stalk and true to form, the century plant is in the same botanical family as asparagus (Asparagaceae).

The continued rapid growth of the impressive stalk reminded me of the classic English Fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk, and I fantasized that our Century plant stalk might eventually reach the clouds as had Jack’s. I thought, surely there wasn’t going to be a giant with riches at the top of the stalk!

Me standing next to the stalk to demonstrate the height of the stalk

And like the giant stalk that Jack chopped down, killing the giant, our Century Plant stalk will also lead to the death of the mother plant. The Century plant uses all its energy stores to bring about the impressive growth of the stalk, leading to exhaustion and death of the plant. The Century plant represents a great sacrificial story with the mother plant sacrificing its very life to propagate future Century plants. At the base of the dying Century plant there appears buds or “Pups” from which newer plants will grow. The buds can be left in place or transplanted to a different area.

Note the yellow buds which are the “pups” from which new Century plants can be grown

This event reminds me of the sacrifice human mothers often make for their children, giving up much of their time and effort for child rearing. Fortunately, with modern medicine human child birth is no longer the substantial risk to the life of the mother that it once was.

We have been amazed by our Century plant and in learning its life cycle. Just when we think we have learned about living on a Texas ranch, something new literally pops up!

Unusual Cow Behavior: The Sneaky Calf Phenomenon

allosuckling in cattle, Cattle behavior, Sneaky calves, Uncategorized April 30, 2026 Comments: 2

While exciting events have occurred at times at Medicine Spirit Ranch such as bull fights, marauding feral hogs, and flash floods, but never before have we experienced frank thievery. And bovine sneak thievery at that!

Not long ago I posted a blog piece describing five black baldy cows who had calves by their side purchased to restock our cattle herd. The calves were the product of black baldy cows and apparently black baldy bulls or Angus bulls. While small, the calves appeared healthy and who would have suspected skullduggery from any of them.

Black baldy calves mixed in with our smoky calves (crosses between black baldy mothers and Charolois bull)

One calf stood out from the rest because she was brown rather than black and had no white patch on her face as is typical for a black baldy. I dismissed these coloration differences because the calf appeared healthy and had a good mama. Who would have thought the behavior of the calf in addition to its appearance would differ from the usual?

The little brown milk thief. And he looks so innocent!

For readers unfamiliar with cow behavior, to see a calf suckling on a cow other than its mother cow is unusual. This is especially so for non-milk cows. When seen, this behavior is referred to as allosuckling. An underweight calf might attempt to suckle an unrelated cow, but typically will promptly be shaken off by the seemingly offended lactating cow. While on rare occasion a non-mother cow will suckle an orphan calf, in my experience this behavior is unusual, and I’ve never seen this behavior for a normally developing calf with an accepting and nurturing mother. We have in the past needed to bottle feed calves whose mothers did not produce sufficient milk, were ill, or died.

The milk theft I witnessed has now become a recurring crime, confirming my suspicions of outright calf sneak thievery. Both occasions transpired while I was in the process of feeding range cubes, informally called “cow candy”. While the mama cows hurried forward to enjoy their protein feed, the little brown calf, eyeing her opportunity and with nefarious intent and gleam in her eye, sneaked between the hind legs of a cow who was not her mother. There she attached herself to a teat. Presumably, the cow in question was sufficiently distracted to not check the identity of the alien calf.

After witnessing this unusual cow behavior for the first time, I wondered if the calf had been abandoned or was failing to obtain sufficient milk from her mother. However, this seemed not to be the case., as the calf was observed to feed normally from her mother. My further enlightenment occurred about a week later when I saw the sneak thief latch onto yet another mother while again feeding range cubes. A quick inspection of the little brown sneak thief found her to be both healthy appearing and not starved for milk.

Who me, steal milk?

Even stranger was the sneak thief’s selection of which cows to suckle. One would expect the calf to select one of the well bonded cows in the purchased herd from which he came. Instead, the alien calf on both occasions selected a cow from our original and unrelated herd. Admittedly, cows from our original herd are experienced and gentle mothers, perhaps helping to explain their tolerance for the interloping, little milk thief.

And as Yogi Berra has been quoted as saying, “You can observe a lot just by watching.”

What Dogs Teach Us

Animal Adaptability, Dogs and Aging, Uncategorized, What Dogs Teach Us October 28, 2024 1 Comment

We teach our dogs tricks, but hubris may prevent us from recognizing what dogs can teach us. During my numerous trips around the sun and from watching my canine friends age, I’ll admit to a few things I’ve learned from my dogs.

If you will just listen, I can teach you a few things!

Lately, I’ve observed Bella, my Border collie, changing some of her behaviors. As Bella has aged, she has developed Diabetes. Her Diabetes has clouded her eyes, similar to the cataracts I developed and had surgically removed. Due to her low vision, I’ve observed Bella bumping into doors and fences. When Bella and I take walks on the ranch, she has taken to trailing me by scent with her nose to the ground and with cocked ears, listening for my footsteps. Both are good adaptations to her visual loss.

Bella as a healthy puppy, full of vigor and promise

I am struck by her seeming calm acceptance of her sensory loss. Also I admire her desire to continue walks about the ranch, albeit it at a slower pace and requiring her other more intact senses to manage the task. She doesn’t seem to get upset with herself when bumping into objects but accepts her diminished vision with grace. The line from the Desiderata by Max Ehrmann comes to mind, “Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.” The writer rendered good advice, and Bella has modeled surrendering gracefully for me.

Look closely at Bella’s cloudy eyes that vets refer to as nuclear sclerosis

Frankly, Bella has modeled this behavior better than I. A number of times friends have asked me given my age if I ever consider selling the ranch and moving to an easier life in town? Or I’ve been asked, would I consider cutting back on my ranch activities? Certainly, the amount of work that is required in keeping up the ranch would be less if I were to sell it, and the injuries suffered from being around large animals would certainly be reduced. Yet my sheer enjoyment of the ranch with its views, purpose, and peacefulness prevents me from making drastic changes in my ranch activities. But in recognition of my growing physical limitations, I have learned to ask my ranch hand for more help when my loss of speed and balance would place me at greater risk.

Bella is now twelve years old. In dog years this makes her 84 years old. She certainly is not the energetic, athletic dog of her youth. Bella is now content to curl up in her place in the sun and snooze away the day. I too have found the comfort of a nap after lunch, and Bella and I often partake of a nap together in the afternoon. We still enjoy a walk late in the afternoon, but both of us take longer to recover from the exercise than we did earlier in our lives.

Bella now spends an inordinate amount of time napping

As Bella has aged, I’ve noticed her becoming increasingly dependent on Trudy and me. She now requires a boost when jumping into my pickup. She also needs help getting onto my elevated bed in order to take her afternoon nap. Bella no longer pays attention, or perhaps even sees, deer meandering through our yard or varmints on the ranch. I recall in earlier days when she and Jack, our rescue dog, would tear into marauding armadillos. It wasn’t pretty, but demonstrated amazing mutual hunting skills and athleticism. Armadillos by the way, can really run!

I suppose as we age, we all need to accommodate to diminishing physical skills whether it is wrestling calves, mowing the yard, or replacing light bulbs from a ladder. Avoidance of certain activities reduces risk of injury and are better left alone. This makes sense, but admittedly can be hard for humans, especially men, to accept.

While her physical skills have diminished with Bella’s aging, her love and extreme loyalty have only increased. She has taken to following me around the house, moving with me from room to room. She appears uneasy when not with me and will, with nose to ground, seek me out wherever I am. As I write this, Bella lies beside my desk, placed in such a way that I cannot leave my desk without having to alert her by stepping over her. She seems to gain pleasure from being with me, perhaps for protection or merely for the love and affection she receives.

Bella almost ended up as a show dog and owned by a man in South America. We like to think we gave her a happier life on the ranch. Her name means beautiful in Italian and fits her well

Likewise, my desire for companionship and spending time with friends has also increased as I’ve aged. I’ve always been a person who needed human (and animal) companionship. Nevertheless, if I don’t have human or animal contact, I find myself missing it, even more so than in my earlier years.

I recall an earlier Border collie of ours named Molly who grew old and ill. The vet assumed she had cancer but she was still up and about and enjoying life to some extent. Shortly after seeing the vet, I awoke in the morning and found Molly dead on the floor not far from me. Molly accepted her illness with great stoicism, a strong trait in Border collies. The vet was embarrassed and regretted not offering to put her down earlier. I felt there was no need for his embarrassment, having witnessed the incredible stoicism of my serial Border collies.

I often recall Molly’s stoicism and that of my other Border collies when I hear aging human friends recount their numerous ailments. Jokingly, I refer to their complains by medical terminology as their “review of systems.” I hope that I will be able to retain a degree of Border collie stoicism in light of advancing aches and pains and potentially more serious health problems that undoubtedly will come with advancing age.

“Hey, we’ve taught you as well,” Jack and Buddy say! Jack in the front seat, Buddy and Bella in the bed of the Gator

The lovely aspect of having serial dogs throughout my life is that with their shorter life expectancy I’ve observed the maturation and behavioral changes due to their aging. I’ve observed many cycles with my many dogs. Any teacher will share the importance of repetition for learning. My dogs have provided me healthy examples of how to age gracefully and model acceptance of life’s inevitable changes. For this I am most grateful.

Bella and I giving each other a big hug with a jealous Jack looking on and Buddy in the shadow at my feet

If you have not had the chance to read my latest book, Hitler’s Maladies and Their Impact on World War II: A Behavioral Neurologist’s View (Texas Tech University Press), I invite you to do so. The book explores an important aspect of the Hitler story and World War II that has not been well studied. Many of Hitler’s catastrophic errors including the premature invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the slowness of German forces to counterattack at the Battle of Normandy in 1944, and the highly risky Battle of the Bulge in late 1944 into 1945, can be better understood, knowing the sizeable impact that Hitler’s physical and mental conditions had on these vital battles.

Also, consider picking up a copy of my earlier book, Carrying The Black Bag: A Neurologist’s Bedside Tales (Texas Tech University Press). Please join me on my personal journey as a physician and meet my patients whose reservoirs of courage, perseverance, and struggles to achieve balance for their disrupted lives provide the foundation for this book. But step closely, as often they speak with low and muffled voices, but voices that nonetheless ring loudly with humanity, love, and most of all, courage.

Good Morning From Medicine Spirit Ranch

Uncategorized March 15, 2022 1 Comment

If the ranch calendar were compared to a single day, then early Spring at Medicine Spirit Ranch is like that sleepy part of the early morning when we groggily awaken but are far from alert or fully functioning. Finally it appears that the icy fingers of Winter have passed us by, but the fields and hills remain brown, dormant, and thirsty.

For the next several weeks and until the grass greens and grows, we will continue to haul giant bales of hay for the cattle and horses to eat. I’m often asked when do we discontinue feeding hay to our animals. The answer is easy, its when the animals stop eating the hay, as they always prefer green grass and will suddenly begin to ignore the hay.

Those of us living in central Texas remain in drought conditions. Until meaningful rain occurs, the brown grass will remain. So far no rain has crept into our forecast. As the wise, old owner of the feed store I frequent says when asked about expected rain, “Today we are one day closer to a good rain.”

Regrettably, tending my blog has flagged of late. This lack of attention results from two sources. First, my new book on Hitler’s health and its impact on World War II has been accepted and is finally in press. Covid greatly delayed the process of reviewing and publishing the work, as it has just about everything else in our lives. Still considerable works exists for me to redo small portions of the book, chase down print ready copies of photos, and laboriously provide an index. All of these items takes time and effort. Also discussions are ongoing with the publisher over the title. Whether or not my working title, Hitler: Prescription for Defeat, is descriptive enough remains under study.

My second distraction from my blog relates to weekly assignments received via my daughter and son. They have contracted with StoryWorth.com to email Trudy and me questions dealing with our growing up and our family recollections. Admittedly, I’ve found writing these stories enjoyable, time consuming, and have found that the effort prompts surprising recall.

I suppose Trudy and I are at that stage in life when we begin to sum up our lives. Now this is not to say that we don’t have plenty of kick left, just that we wish to leave a written legacy for those who will follow. Re-enforcement of our commitment to the project comes from the difficulty I’ve had discovering much about my great grandparents. Going back three generations in the family history exhausts our paltry memory banks. We hope the subsequent book published at the conclusion of this writing year will provide substantially more information for our offspring than we currently have about ours.

Great grandparents Thad Hutton and his wife Betty. He was a cowboy living on the Great Western Trail near Seymour, TX that led to Dodge City, Kansas. How we wished to know his adventures in the 1870s and 1880s and his possible interaction with such historical figures of the time as Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, and Wild Bill Hickok

So the good news is that another book for a popular audience of uncertain title should appear at the end of the year. The title may be different from the working title, but the information should prove novel and a different take on  Hitler and his actions. The book despite his poor health describes Hitler as totally culpable for his terrible misdeeds and demonstrates how his poor health impacted his prosecution of the war but not the cause of his immorality.

In the meantime, if you haven’t had a chance to read my prior book, Carrying the Black Bag: A Neurologist’s Bedside Tales, I hope you will pick up a copy. The book has been well reviewed and provides humorous and poignant descriptions of people dealing with challenging health issues. All of us are likely to find ourselves in similar straits one day, and the book provides insights as to how to negotiate these inevitable occurrences while still maintaining self-dignity and feelings of worth.

Blog Piece by Heather Cox Richardson

Reprint of Heather Cox Richardson Blog Piece of May1, 2021, Uncategorized May 6, 2021 Leave a comment

 

This May 1, 2021 offering is from Heather Cox Richardson who writes an excellent blog on a daily basis that focuses on political matters. Her work is well researched, reasoned, well written, and recommended. She can be found at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com.

Heather Cox Richardson is an American historian and professor of history at Boston College, where she teaches courses on the American Civil War, the Reconstruction Era, the American West, and the Plains Indians.[1] She previously taught history at MIT and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.[2]

Richardson has authored six books on history and politics. She is a founder and editor at werehistory.org, which presents professional history to a public audience through short articles. Between 2017 and 2018, she co-hosted the NPR podcast Freak Out and Carry On.[3] Most recently, Richardson started publishing “Letters from an American”, a nightly newsletter that chronicles current events in the larger context of American history.[4][5] The newsletter accrued tens of thousands of subscribers making her, as of December 2020, the most successful individual author of a paid publication on Substack.[6]

Her offering this time, however, is an entirely different topic, that being 10 famous American horses. I hope you enjoy this fine offering and credit Heather Cox Richardson and Michael S. Green for authorship.

Horses and humans have a long and close working relationship, surpassed only by dogs and mankind. While not used as extensively as they once work for work, horses continue to hold a fascination for many. I know Medicine  Spirit Ranch would not be the same without our riding horses, Fancy and Dandy. Of the following famous horses, my favorite is Secretariat. Which one is yours?

May 1, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

May 1

  
   
   
 

In honor of this year’s Kentucky Derby (won today by Medina Spirit), I’m posting a piece my friend Michael S. Green and I wrote together a number of years ago on Ten Famous American Horses. It has no deep meaning… it’s just fun. It remains one of my favorite things I had a hand in writing, and I’m pleased to have an excuse to share it.

I’ll be back on the usual beat tomorrow.

1) Traveller

General Robert E. Lee rode Traveller (spelled with two Ls, in the British style) from February 1862 until the general’s death in 1870. Traveller was a grey American Saddlebred of 16 hands. He had great endurance for long marches, and was generally unflappable in battle, although he once broke both of General Lee’s hands when he shied at enemy movements. Lee brought Traveller with him when he assumed the presidency of Washington and Lee University. Traveller died of tetanus in 1871. He is buried on campus, where the safe ride program still uses his name.

2) Comanche

Comanche was attached to General Custer’s detachment of the 7th Cavalry when it engaged the Lakota in 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The troops in the detachment were all killed in the engagement, but soldiers found Comanche, badly wounded, two days later. They nursed him back to health, and he became the 7th Cavalry’s mascot. The commanding officer decreed that the horse would never again be ridden, and that he would always be paraded, draped in black, in all military ceremonies involving the 7th Cavalry. When Comanche died of colic in 1891, he was given a full military funeral (the only other horse so honored was Black Jack, who served in more than a thousand military funerals in the 1950s and 1960s). Comanche’s taxidermied body is preserved in the Natural History Museum at the University Of Kansas.

3) Beautiful Jim Key

Beautiful Jim Key was a performing horse trained by formerly enslaved veterinarian Dr. William Key. Key demonstrated how Beautiful Jim could read, write, do math, tell time, spell, sort mail, and recite the Bible. Beautiful Jim performed from 1897 to 1906 and became a legend. An estimated ten million Americans saw him perform, and others collected his memorabilia – buttons, photos, and postcards – or danced the Beautiful Jim Key two-step. Dr. Key insisted that he had taught Beautiful Jim using only kindness, and Beautiful Jim Key’s popularity was important in preventing cruelty to animals in America, with more than 2 million children signing the Jim Key Band of Mercy, in which they pledged: “I promise always to be kind to animals.”

4) Man o’ War

Named for his owner, August Belmont, Jr., who was overseas in WWI, Man o’ War is widely regarded as the top Thoroughbred racehorse of all time. He won 20 of his 21 races and almost a quarter of a million dollars in the early twentieth century. His one loss – to “Upset” – came after a bad start. Man o’ War sired many of America’s famous racehorses, including Hard Tack, which in turn sired Seabiscuit, the small horse that came to symbolize hope during the Great Depression.

5) Trigger

Entertainer Roy Rogers chose the palomino Trigger from five rented horses to be his mount in a Western film in the 1930s, changing his name from Golden Cloud to Trigger because of his quick mind and feet. Rogers rode Trigger in his 1950s television series, making the horse a household name. When Trigger died, Rogers had his skin draped over a Styrofoam mold and displayed it in the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in California. He also had a 24-foot statue of Trigger made from steel and fiberglass. One other copy of that mold was also made: it is “Bucky the Bronco,” which rears above the Denver Broncos stadium south scoreboard.

6) Sergeant Reckless

American Marines in Korea bought a mare in October 1952 from a Korean stable boy who needed the money to buy an artificial leg for his sister, who had stepped on a land mine. The marines named her Reckless after their unit’s nickname, the Reckless Rifles. They made a pet of her, and trained her to carry supplies and to evacuate wounded. She learned to travel supply routes without a guide: on one notable day she made 51 solo trips. Wounded twice, she was given a battlefield rank of corporal in 1953 and promoted to sergeant after the war, when she was also awarded two Purple Hearts and a Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal.

7) Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed was a talking palomino in a 1960s television show by the same name. At a time when Westerns dominated American television, Mr. Ed was the anti-Western, with the main human character a klutzy architect and the hero a horse that was fond of his meals and his comfortable life, and spoke with the voice of Allan “Rocky” Lane, who made dozens of “B” westerns. But the show was a five-year hit as it married the past to the future. Mr. Ed offered a gentle homely wisdom that enabled him to straighten out the troubles of the humans around him. The startling special effects that made it appear that the horse was talking melded modern technology with the comforting traditional community depicted in the show.

8) Black Jack

Black Jack, named for John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, was the riderless black horse in the funerals of John F. Kennedy, Herbert Hoover, Lyndon Johnson, and Douglas MacArthur, as well as more than a thousand other funerals with full military honors. A riderless horse, with boots reversed in the stirrups, symbolized a fallen leader, while Black Jack’s brands – a US brand and an army serial number – recalled the army’s history. Black Jack himself was buried with full military honors; the only other horse honored with a military funeral was Comanche.

9) Khartoum

Khartoum was the prize stud horse of Jack Woltz, the fictional Hollywood mogul in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. In one of the film version’s most famous scenes, after Woltz refuses requests from Don Vito Corleone to cast singer Johnny Fontane in a movie, Woltz wakes up to find Khartoum’s head in bed with him… and agrees to use Fontane in the film. In the novel, Fontane wins the Academy Award for his performance. According to old Hollywood rumor, the story referred to real events. The rumor was that mobsters persuaded Columbia Pictures executive Harry Cohn to cast Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity. As Maggio, Sinatra revived his sagging film career and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

10) Secretariat

Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in 25 years. His records in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes still stand. After Secretariat was stricken with a painful infection and euthanized in 1989, an autopsy revealed that he had an unusually big heart. Sportswriter Red Smith once asked his trainer how Secretariat had run one morning; Charlie Hatton replied, “The trees swayed.”

 

Visual Treats From Medicine Spirit Ranch

Animals on the ranch, Life On The Ranch, Nature's Beauty, Uncategorized June 17, 2018 1 Comment

I’m overdue for a blog post, although I’ve lately put more words down on paper than is typical for me. This is because Little Jack Kerouac, our Texas Brown Dog, has been dictating his memoir of his first year and a half before adopting us. Acting as Jack’s scribe has taken more time than I anticipated, but answers many questions such as where he came from, why he hates panel trucks, squirrels, and armadillos, and why he feels so at home at Medicine Spirit Ranch.

Jack reclining on his chair, dictating his backstory

I will post Jack’s story in the near future and do so as a series of posts. In the meantime I offer my readers inspiring pictures of nature’s wonders at Medicine Spirit Ranch. Such sights give me a feeling of awe and wonderment. Below are some of my favorites that I hope you too will enjoy.

View of Medicine Spirit Ranch on a misty morn

A large buck standing as if posing in front of our barn

Dandy, our roan gelding

Painted Buntings have been prevalent this year. Their beauty never fails to stop me in my tracks

Ground feeding Cardinals are daily visitors to our bird feeders

Great Blue Herons according to folklore predict good luck. The ducks have proven less successful because of predators

Wildflowers such as the Bluebonnet grace our ranch in the Spring

The waterfall that gives Hidden Falls Ranch its name

The ranch just wouldn’t be the same without Border collies. From bottom to top: Bandit, Molly, and Buddy

Sunset at the ranch

Nature has a healing effect and of this I am certain. I hope these glimpses of life at Medicine Spirit Ranch provide you with a measure of pleasure and awe that I regularly experience.

Oh, and Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers!

Suggestions for New Writers- A Twelve Step Program

Book Awards, Carrying the Black Bag, Creative Writing, Publishing Process, The Twelve Step Program to Publishing, The Writing Process, Uncategorized October 8, 2017 Comments: 5

The Fredericksburg Writers Group recently asked me to speak on publishing my book, Carrying The Black Bag, and to provide thoughts for new writers trying to become authors. I was pleased to do so and thought I might share these same thoughts to my readers.Carrying the Black Bag book

My book took me five years to write (on and off) and confronted many difficulties and rejections. Some suggestions on dealing with this process are as follows:

1. BE passionate about your story. In my case, my stories demanded to be told. I felt my patients  entrusted me with their stories, and I was brimming to share my patients’ humanity and courage.

2. LEARN to write for a popular audience. This may seem simplistic but it is not. I found it challenging to break away from scientific and medical writing. Texas Tech University in Fredericksburg offered popular writing courses that proved  very helpful. I developed the courage to begin using similes, metaphors, alliteration etc., something as rare in medical writings as finding the Lochness monster.

3. REWRITE, Rewrite, and Rewrite some more. I had at least a dozen edits that I thought were wonderful, until I reread them. Your finished product (or at least what you think is your finished product!) must be your best to stand a chance of being published.

This young reader gave me a great morale boost by reading my book between surgical cases

This young reader gave me a great morale boost when I saw this picture of her reading my book between surgical cases

4. JOIN a critique group. Critiquing others and having them critique your work are extremely helpful for improving your writing. It may seem a little threatening, but you’ll get over it. Once trust has been established you will end up sharing what you may never have shared with your spouse or even with your dog.

5. IDENTIFY beta readers for your best version. These are a few folks well versed in literature and grammar and can provide a good editorial review.

6. FIND an agent. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is by going to Literary Conferences. Many conferences have agents and publishers present and interested in the subject material of the conference.  It’s a great way to practice your pitch, gain feedback, and make helpful contacts.
In my case I landed two prospective agents at a medical writer’s conference. I selected Don Fehr at Trident Literary Group in New York City. It is the largest such group in the U.S.A. and has substantial expertise and reach.

7. From my agent I learned that for nonfiction, publishers did not buy books, they bought book proposals! This was news to me.
Many books exist on how to write a book proposal. My agent stressed the proposal be at least 65 pages long and be extremely well written. This was quite a task.

8. The agent then sends the proposal (in the case of a nonfiction work) or the entire fiction manuscript  to a number of potential publishers. Then you wait, wait, and wait some more for the reviewers to respond. Ugh!

9. Once a publisher says it is interested, the publishing house (in my case Texas Tech University Press) will assign an editor. I can only hope you find someone as good as Joanna Conrad at TTUP. She was delightful and made the book better.
Following the review process by your press (mine being an academic institution, the manuscript had to be approved by, of course, various committees!) The next step is copy editing. I had a contract copy editor who proved extremely helpful. It’s humbling to learn that errors still exist in your much pored over manuscript.
Expect your publishing house to change your title. It’s inevitable. Also it will assign an artist to develop the cover, but hopefully it should ask you for your opinion. Also you will be asked to supply the “information about the author” and various blurbs for your book.
The whole process of publishing may take one to three years before your book reaches the bookshelves. This considerable delay is a frequent surprise for most new authors.

10. HIRE a publicist. Unfortunately even the largest publishing houses these days have limited marketing budgets. While this seems strange given that marketing sells books, but it is a truism. Authors are being asked to do more and more to market their books. As an aside, my barber even keeps a supply of my books in her shop. Customers ask about them and she has sold a number of my books. Be Creative!
Actually I have enjoyed marketing my book. It has been a heck of a lot easier than writing it. I began by forming a “street team” of people that liked my writing. These wonderful folks became “Tom’s Wranglers” and were invaluable in spreading the word, writing initial reviews, identifying book events where I might present, and providing much needed encouragement.

Two of my Wranglers- Betty and Cecil Selness

Madeline Douglas and La Nelle Etheridge, two more of my wonderful Wranglers

Now back to publicists– these are invaluable. A cost is involved but you really didn’t think you were going to get rich on your book, did you? The publicist can arrange for reviews of the book and may put your book up for awards.

11. Speaking of awards, nothing builds the confidence of a struggling writer as much as public recognition. In my case I won a third prize early on in a writing contest.  Woo Hoo! This provided a surprising amount of confidence.
I next won The Creative Expression Award from the American Academy of Neurology. Now this award, given by my peers, made me feel like a real author. You likely too have some outlet through your vocation to provide an outlet for your work and an possible award. It is worth a try.

In my case the agent and I went through some thirty publishers before finding one that wished to take on the task of putting my book into print without having to do a major rewrite. Authors best have thick skins as this process can be painful. There is simply no way to sugarcoat this– rejection hurts.

12. Once published my book won an award for best debut author and became a finalist for the Montaigne medal. These awards proved reassuring for me as a writer. How much they contribute to sales is highly questionable, but undeniably recognition provides a stimulus for the author to keep writing. Again, these awards were the result of the knowledge and expertise of my publicist, Maryglenn McCombs.

 

So there you have it. Becoming an author is arduous. It is nine tenths perseverance. One author I heard speak recently said success publishing depended on three things: 1) talent, 2) determination, and 3) luck. I agree that a degree of talent, a lot of perseverance, and finally a little luck are all needed to move from being a writer to becoming a published author. I wish all of you good luck in this process.

Jealousy and Dogs

Animals on the ranch, dog behavior, Dogs and Humans- A Special Relationship, Dogs Model Human Behavior, jealousy, Uncategorized September 11, 2017 Comments: 2

Jealousy affects animals as well as humans

 

My dogs display clear-cut signs of jealousy  I observe this when I scratch or pay extra attention to one of them. My other dogs will attempt to put their heads between my hand and the dog being scratched or try to run the scratched dog off by licking on its face or pushing it away.

I also observe this in their eating behaviors. When I put the same dry food in their three bowls, one dog will inevitably, after finishing his meal, check out the other two dogs’ bowls. This seems to indicate that the other bowls might have something better in them than did that particular dog’s bowl.

At times their jealousy seems more focused on keeping the affection away from the other dog than gaining attention for the jealous dog. What gives?

And I thought jealousy was a human emotion! This “green-eyed monster” as Shakespeare referred to it clearly extends to dogs as well as people. I bet others have noticed these behaviors in their dogs as well.

Jealousy must be a very basic and primitive emotion in animals. It likely benefits in achieving attention that may lead to increased survival. As such it may be beneficial in an evolutionary way.

I’ve noticed that older dogs do not show jealousy as much as young dogs. This seems consistent in what I’ve witnessed in people. Who among us as youth did not suffer the pangs of jealousy and likely thoroughly embarrass themselves as a result. While older age isn’t a complete guard against jealousy, it doesn’t appear to be as compelling an emotion in older humans nor does it appear to be so in dogs. My older dogs have largely avoided the whole jealous bit.

Jealousy affects both genders in both dogs and humans. It’s aroused by a perceived threat to a valued relationship from a third party. Jealousy is also a painful emotion as most can attest. I presume this is also true in dogs as well. No doubt jealousy has bad effects on dogs just as it causes suspicion, doubt, and fatigue in humans.

So how best to deal with jealousy with dogs? I usually try petting both dogs simultaneously. This works to until a third dog shows up wanting petting. I quickly run out of hands and begin to feel like a one armed paperhanger. I’ve not found adding a extra attention to a dog insures that dog from becoming jealous. Would love to learn the opinions of other human dog companions.

To share the emotion of jealousy with dogs is just one more example of how people and dogs are alike. But come to think of it, I’ve never witnessed a jealous dog do something really stupid like I have with some humans, especially men.

 

Celestial Pasture

Animals on the ranch, Horse emotions, On Love, Ranch animals, Uncategorized August 14, 2017 Comments: 2

Doc, our roan gelding

Doc, our roan gelding, and Fancy, our paint filly, failed to show up for their morning meal several days ago. While not entirely novel, Doc does love his food and hasn’t missed many meals.

The next morning in front of our home I found Doc lying on the ground. Beside him stood Fancy, alternatively looking from Doc to me. She appeared anxious.

Our paint horse Fancy sensed Doc’s distress

Fancy acted as if she knew Doc was in serious trouble. The horses had made it to where they knew I would find them. Doc had been in obvious pain, as he had rub marks on both sides of his head. He was weak, shaky, and initially could not regain his feet.

With prodding Doc stood up and walked slowly to the barn, a distance of three quarters of a mile. There we loaded him into the trailer and I drove him to our vet’s clinic.

Fancy wanted to go too.  She followed Doc to the barn and had to be haltered and tied to the hitching post or else she too would have climbed into the trailer. This was no surprise as she has been utterly devoted to the big roan ever since her arrival at our ranch.

Doc will be missed

Unfortunately my story doesn’t have a happy ending. We learned Doc had colic, likely resulting from a twisted colon. He was suffering. At his advanced age his chances of survival, even with major surgery, were not good. His heart rate continued to be high despite three times the usual amount of sedation and pain medication– his elevated heart rate reflecting his discomfort. Unfortunately, after learning the limited options, we had to put him down. Talk about a painful decision to have to make.

All that day Fancy had stood waiting at the gate through which Doc left the ranch that morning. She continued to gaze longingly down the road, waiting for Doc’s trailer to return.

When finally I drove the pickup and trailer onto the ranch, Fancy followed it at full gallop. She ran around the trailer with mane flowing, nostrils flared, and tail held high. She circled excitedly behind the trailer, looking within it. Not seeing Doc, she shook her head, and headed off to a nearby pasture.  Fancy appeared agitated.

I’m certain Fancy missed Doc and showed signs of her grief. I am worried about her. Animals are capable of showing affection, grief, and longings, as do humans. Admittedly, I have never viewed great affection between horses and their human companions, at least not like I have between dogs and humans, but today I witnessed clear signs of affection between a filly and a gelding.

We have been trying to console Fancy. She has received extra attention and treats. We even had a horse from a neighboring come over for a visit. Fancy and Trooper  enjoyed each other and his visit seemed to raise Fancy’s spirits. We hope Trooper will return.

Fancy isn’t the only one who will miss Doc. He was a good and gentle horse. I traveled many a mile on his broad back. My favorite memories of Doc are with children astride. Doc was a great child’s horse. Even in his later years when his arthritis caused his retirement from trail rides, Doc would accept children to sit on his bare back. There the children would pat the big horse and view the world in what I hoped was from a different perspective. Doc received vast amounts of carrots and apples from appreciative children who would come to Medicine Spirit Ranch mainly for the purpose of seeing him, patting him, and feeding him.

One teenage neighbor girl who used to ride him regularly in his more active days was once spotted lying on his back, sound asleep. Doc was so gentle he would not move without his rider urging him to do so. What a peaceful memory!

We are left with only our memories of Doc, as he has departed Medicine Spirit Ranch for his Celestial Pasture. Let’s hope he finds laughing, excited children to sit astride his broad back. Doc would like that.

At The End Of The Road

Animals on the ranch, dog behavior, dogs, Dogs and Humans- A Special Relationship, Life On The Ranch, Uncategorized August 7, 2017 Comments: 3

 

You might recall the stray dog that wandered onto our ranch several years ago that we named Little Jack Kerouac. We named him after the author of the same name who wrote On The Road and who was the forerunner of a beatnik. Our Little Jack had been wandering the county roads of Gillespie County for months and had traveled many miles when the skinny pup was finally herded into a corner of our yard by our Border collies. The small brown dog was half-starved and intensely fearful. His fear, nevertheless, relented before a succulent piece of fried chicken, prompting the little brown dog to climb into my arms.

Despite his bad condition from his long tenure as a road dog, it became apparent that he had been neutered and house broken. These aspects suggested at one time Jack had enjoyed a close relationship with a human friend.

Yours truly ready to work on the ranch with assistants Jack and Bella.

We still don’t know what all he encountered as a road dog and Jack isn’t talking. We suspect he must have scrounged whatever he could find to eat including roadkill. We know Jack is a canny survivor.

His breeding has proved an ongoing mystery. When asked what breed he is, we finally gave up guessing and simply began replying, “He’s a Texas Brown Dog.”

Since Jack’s arrival, let’s just say… he’s matured and settled in well. He has adapted to his new home on a hill at the end of his very long road.

Sometime ago I wrote several blog pieces on Jack stealthily loading himself into various vehicles and stowing away for rides. We do not think he was trying to escape his adopted home but that he merely wanted to go for rides. Fortunately, after a few bad moments of being unable to locate Little Jack, we were able to place phone calls and have him returned.

Jack is no longer the skinny road dog he once was. He has, in fact, chunked up. He still loves to go on ranch walks, run errands and ride in the pickup. Whereas the Borders ride in the bed of the pickup, Little Jack proudly expects to sit on the console in the cab where, if hot, the AC is on and, if cold, the heater warms him. He likes his creature comforts.

When our Borders are let out of the pickup to exercise by running up the hill to the house, Jack preemptively jumps off the console and hides in the back seat. No silly running up the hill for Little Jack. Why get out of a perfectly good pickup and wear out my foot pads?

At night Jack has inched his way closer and closer to the head of the bed. Initially when he came into our lives he slept under the bed or on a nearby dog bed. He later transferred to the foot of the bed. Now Trudy and I find the little rascal snuggled between us, his head lying on a soft pillow. Imagine going from the hard life of a road dog to a pillow top mattress!

Jack likely thinks, “Heck with Pearl Buck’s ideas of a place in the sun, I have a soft mattress in an air conditioned home.” When asleep, he becomes an almost immovable lump. If Trudy or I get up in the middle of the night, he migrates to the vacated warm spot, claims it, and is difficult to dislodge.

It’s said every dog has its purpose. The purpose of our Border collies is clear, herding our cattle. Jack’s purpose has been harder to determine. Surprisingly, he sometimes has helped the Border collies with herding. But mainly Jack is a varmint dog and represents an absolute terror for squirrels and armadillos. This job of protecting the world from squirrels and armadillos, though, is not full time for our Little Jack.

Several years ago my mother came to live with us and it was then that we learned what Jack’s real job was–companionship. My elderly mother would sit on the couch for hours with Jack snuggled up against her, stroking his furry head. He returned her affection with gentle licks and made his belly available for endless scratching. Mom and Jack became thick as thieves, although we worried my Mom might rub Jack’s head bald.

“I think I can still feel the pea!”

My mother possessed a huge capacity to love, and in her final years she so enjoyed Jack’s companionship. Jack became a willing recipient for her love, and in turn he reciprocated his love for her. I’m convinced Jack made her final days much happier.

I suppose companionship is the major role for many dogs. Dogs have such an amazing ability to relate to humans, to sense their emotions, and to offer their unconditional love. It takes all kinds of dogs, but Jack has stolen our hearts and in their places left behind his paw prints.