R.H. Snow's Blog, page 42

WIDE AS THE TEXAS SKY: Stormset

Limestone County, 7:11PM, 11/04/2022

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WIDE AS THE TEXAS SKY: WINDSWEPT MOON

Limestine County Texas, 7:00PM, 10/30/22

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OMGOSH Y'ALL - The TRUTH about Being 60!!

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WIDE AS THE TEXAS SKY: October Sunset

10/22/2022 -Limestone County, Texas; 6:59 PM - no filters

WATCHER of the DAMNED is a Sci-Fi Western Series set in Limestone County, Texas in October of Year 54 ATH. **EXCLUSIVE EASTER EGG FOR MY SUBSTACK READERS: Find this sunset and the exact date written into my upcoming Book 7 in the Series, “Trail of Travail” as an Easter Egg!**

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CONVENTIONS, TTRPGs and AUDIBLE BOOKS!

Queen of the Texas Plains

Once upon a time, there was a cow.

She was the most beautiful cow on Earth. Queen of the Texas Plains, she had great curling horns and a beautiful red-spotted coat, the camouflaging inheritance of a thousand generations come before her. She roamed the pastures of the Texas Savannahs with her children, successor to the noble Buffalo, tilling the earth with her nurturing hooves, enriching the dusty soil with her gifts.

R. H. Snow’s Deep Thoughts from the Dubble-wide of D00m is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Seasons came and went. Fire and flood, tornado and storm, the whirlwind romance of Texas Skies and Prairies giving birth to WildFlowers and StickerBurrs. Beneath spreading Oaks, Silver Bluestem paraded their grassy clumps with Prickly Pear Cacti between shrubby trunks of thorny Mesquite, providing her and her children with Food and Shelter.

Men brought offerings of hay and Ranch Cubes, salt blocks and supplements; when the drought came and the ponds dried up, they hauled water. After the hay was gone, her sons were loaded up and hauled away to lands unknown; but her daughters remained to comfort her, a circle of Cows chewing cud in the afternoon sun. After a time the Bull would return to his Lovers, lowing the twilight, calling them to himself - and the cycle of calves would start anew.

The Herd moved with the seasons, from pasture to pasture, by trailer and by hoof, attended by entourages of Cowboys. Coyotes and Cougars followed not far behind, seeking her children. But her tender Calves she protected, swinging her ivory horns in an arc of death to any who would come near.

She was the Good Mother.

At last the day came, when the Cattleman culled the herd. “She’s getting old; she’s done as much as she can do, and there’s no sense in putting her through more. She’s done her job, and she’s done it well, but it’s time for her to go Home.”

And so the Queen of the Texas Plains was loaded onto the cattle trailer for the last time, the Bull and the Herd and her own daughters bidding her farewell from the Cattleman’s Pasture. Passing beneath Pecans Trees, the trailer rattled, carrying her across the creek and down the ridge to the final stop, the end of the trail…

the Gate opened wide. Beyond the barbed wire and haybales, the faces of loved ones beckoned -

She was Home.

The Queen of the Texas Plains is still here, consorting with the LongEars and the Horse under the Oaks. Content among friends, she lives her elder days in splendour, sunning herself beneath the wide Texas sky. She is the epitome of all things beautiful and brave in this wild country, a Spirit of the Land. From time to time I call her from my back porch, and she answers -

I call her Cinnabon, but her true name is known only to God. When that last day comes, He will call her Home to the Heavenly Fields from my back Pasture; a fitting finale for the Star of my Ranch…

a LongHorn Cow named Cinnabon, Queen of the Texas Plains.

R. H. Snow’s Deep Thoughts from the Dubble-wide of D00m is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Against Impossible Odds: Hope and StarBlazers

One never forgets the first time they saw the Yamato rise from the dead and soar into the skies.

Sitting agog in front of vacuum-tube TVs, millions around the world have lionised the first popular anime as “Space Battleship Yamato”, then the Americanised “StarBlazers”. But as awe-inspiring as is the idea of a gargantuan WWII era Japanese battlecruiser turned Spaceship, more appealing is the image of it rising from the dead, the great guns wrenching free of the baked seabed to brave battle and rip into the stratosphere - bombs be damned. The launch was so inherently foolish, so brash: the Yamato wasn’t yet ready, the crew yet untrained, with scarcely time to escape the earth’s gravitational embrace…

R. H. Snow’s Deep Thoughts from the Dubble-wide of D00m is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

and yet, they did.

…

As I manned my book table at FenCon this weekend, I met an Anime Club Organiser, and we set off to chatting about the more popular Animes: Black Butler, Attack on Titan, One Piece and Cowboy Bebop. Disinterested, a good ol boy bystander gazed at my books with a casual eye, hoping to find inspiration. Understanding my shopper’s need for quiet contemplation of my books, I turned back to the Organiser: “But none will ever be as Great as Space Battleship Yamato…”

My shopper looked up from his reverie to leap forward and shake my hand: “Damn straight! Starblazers is the best!”

Immediately a gaggle of excited Anime aficionados gathered, eager to share their afterschool encounters with the Americanised version of the iconic Japanese Anime. As everyone threw their own admirations upon the bonfire of Anime vanities, themes took shape; for some, it was the power of the Wave Motion Gun; for others, it was the Romance of the Space Soap Opera -

but for all, the star of the show was the Yamato, rising from Defeat’s grave to save the Human Race.

Firepower and flash shocks and awes, but it does not inspire. Raw energy can uplift, light and heat affecting us with sheer intensity of force; but the darkness returns once the incinerating power fades. Greater than brute force, Hope is what inspires - and Hope cannot exist without loss. Hope is the power of overcoming when all is lost, the Hero’s hand at the helm of a doomed ship, the Commander wielding a dying sword. Death comes for us all, but Life lived as Legend lives on, eternal in glorious defiance against the gathering shadows;

this is Hope.

All around, I saw their faces, tellers of tales, recounting inspiration in the face of heartache. All were facing untold villains, impossible quests too intimate to speak to the world at large, even as I was - and yet, they were not afraid in that moment. They remembered lost Hope rising from despair’s grave to overcome Evil…

this is the power of Story, launching our Souls through the outer darkness towards the distant Light.

R. H. Snow’s Deep Thoughts from the Dubble-wide of D00m is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

BasedCon was a BLAST!

OMGosh Y'all - #BasedCon was a BLAST! John Carmack, the Genius who created DOOM and QUAKE bought my Books and so did so many other wonderful people. I’ll have a more extensive writeup on the entire setup, because it was HISTORIC.

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Thank you, everyone. I love you so much You all were a blessing from God! Now on to FenCon in Dallas this weekend where FUN awaits!

R. H. Snow’s Deep Thoughts from the Dubble-wide of D00m is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

OMGOSH Y'ALL - Fans!?!!

R. H. Snow’s Deep Thoughts from the Dubble-wide of D00m is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

BASEDCON to FENCON: A Video Journal - JOHNNY CASH WAS HERE