Book review: Next to Last Stand

Posted on October 9, 2020 by John Kevin Hickey

I finished Craig Johnson’s latest Walt Longmire mystery, Next to Last Stand, in less than a day! It was a very good read, definitely more like the Longmire mysteries of yore. Though to be honest, the mystery itself really wasn’t much of a mystery. I’d figured it out several chapters before the big reveal.

But that’s alright by me. Stand was tightly written and the characters are just plain fun to hang with. Especially with the introduction of the four military veterans, residents of the local veteran’s assisted living facility who are known collectively as “the Wavers”. These guys are a hoot, and integral to the plot.

There was a 5th “Waver”, and his death by apparent heart attack is where the mystery gets rolling. Throw in a shoebox full of lots of money, a painting that was destroyed by a fire in the 1940s, an eccentric and shady art “dealer”, a possible Russian oligarch and a beautiful and enigmatic blonde woman and you’ve got yourself a regular rural-noir whodunnit.

While this is book 16 in the Longmire series, this is a stand alone story and so you don’t need to read the first fifteen to understand what is going on.

It appears to me that with Next to Last Stand, Craig Johnson is giving his readers a heads-up that he may be bringing the Longmire mystery series to a close. There are several times where another character asks Walt if he plans to run for sheriff again, and he is rather non-committal.

Which makes sense. Having read all of the Longmire books and knowing his back story, I put Walt’s age as somewhere in his mid-70’s, old enough to be part of the “Wavers” crew (Walt is a Vietnam vet). He’s not getting too old for his adventures, he’s well past old enough to hang up his spurs.

Heck, even the title of this book might be construed as foreshadowing.

Next to Last Stand is a fun and excellent read, and harkens back to earlier and better Longmire mysteries. Well worth your time and money.

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Visiting Downhill Brewing with a friend

Posted on October 6, 2020 by John Kevin Hickey

Last week my good friend Dave and I paid a visit to Downhill Brewing in Parker, Co, a brewery with a skiing/snowboarding theme. We spent several hours discussing current events, determined that most movies and TV shows today lack coherent plots and relatable characters, and came to the conclusion that the Colorado Rockies are probably going to be terrible for a very long time to come.

Discussing such weighty matters is dry work, so we imbibed a few of Downhill Brewing’s offerings. I started off with their marzen style beer called “Elktoberfest”. Honestly, it was only fair-to-middling. While Oktoberfest style beers aren’t necessarily known for being flavor knockouts, they should (in my opinion) have a “bready” taste to them. I found Elktoberfest somewhat bland and dry. I wouldn’t give it a thumbs down, but I’ve had better.

My next selection was their “Saturday Nut Fever”, a peanut butter brown ale. This one was indeed flavorful, with a strong peanut butter aroma. I would highly recommend it.

Speaking of recommendations, Dave suggested that I watch a documentary called “A More (or Less) Perfect Union” on PBS. He also spoke highly of Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It” podcasts. I intend to check them both out this weekend, assuming the local PBS affiliates have “Union” scheduled.

In-turn, I recommended to him “Red Letter Media’s Harry Plinkett Star Wars” reviews (hilarious stuff) and “Half-in-the-bag” reviews on YouTube.

A very enjoyable afternoon.

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This week in the garden: autumn planting

Posted on October 3, 2020 by John Kevin Hickey

Even though the garden is winding down for the season, there is still a fair bit of gardening still to be done by the gardener. And I am not just talking about raking up fallen leaves. The lawn needs to be aerated and fall fertilizer put down before the really cold temperatures arrive. Tools need to be cleaned and oiled before they are stored away for next year. And the sprinkler system needs to be shut down and garden hoses stowed away.

While it is true that all of these things still need to be done, when I say that there is some gardening still to be done, what I mean is that now is the perfect time to put some more plants into the borders.

Most gardening experts state that autumn is the best time to plant most trees, shrubs and perennials. Transplants apparently do better when planted in the fall. When a plant is put in the ground in spring, the plant has to divide its energy between developing roots at the same time it’s growing foliage; whereas in autumn it can focus on developing roots because it “knows” that the days are growing shorter so there is no need for leaves and flowers.

I bought most of the plants you see below on sale. If you wait until late summer to buy plants, most nurseries will have their woody and perennial plants on sale for 30% or more. Of course, if there is a particular plant you want and you wait until they go on sale there is a chance that it may no longer be in stock.

I’ve been nursing these plants through the dry, hot summer for WEEKS! Some of them look a little worse for wear but they should bounce back fine.

The weather finally moderated enough that I was able to finally put these babies into their new homes. I’ve been watering these poor plants through the hot days of July and August, and they looked a little threadbare when I put them in the ground. As long as I continue to water them on a regular basis for the next few weeks, they should do just fine.

Here I am putting a perennial sunflower called “Maximillian’s sunflower” in the drive way border. This particular variety, known as “Santa Fe”, is supposed to grow 6-8 feet tall and wide and bloom in September.
Here I’ve got a low growing black chokeberry called “Low Scape Mound”, and it’s going into the old veggie garden border. This shrub will grow to 3-4 tall and wide. The berries are supposed to be very bitter (hence the name “chokeberry”) but the birds will find them more palatable in late winter, after the berries have shriveled up. This is a shrub with three seasons of interest: white flowers in spring, shiny black berries in late summer and really good autumn color.
I’ve got several of these Liatris, also known as “Blazing Star”. Liatris is a native of the American plains, and blooms with purple spikes in late summer. I’m putting them in groups of three in different parts of the long border. in the backyard.
A month or so Ago, I posted how I wasn’t thrilled with the wall of blue and purple provided by the Russian sage and blue globe thistle here in the back corner of the long border. So I dug some of the Russian sage out, and replaced it with this late summer-blooming goldenrod (var. Fireworks).
Just to the left of the pot holding this “Heavy Metal” switchgrass you can see the carcass of its predecessor. I put three switchgrasses in the section that the old serviceberry called home, but only two survived. So this grass is to replace the dead one.
And this guy, popping up in the driveway border, is not a new plant at all. These are the leaves of a bulb that will actually bloom in the spring. I think it’s a crocus or hyacinth, guess I’ll find out for sure in about 5 months!
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