His best friend is an real ass

Blazing Reader,

Two Thursdays ago, my son and me (along with a friend and her son) made a trip to visit my most generous patron, Dr. Gary Magder. He lives out in the country, about ninety minutes away, on a hobby farm in a beautiful ravine. Gary often says his best friend is an ass. His other pal is a donkey. You can see the three of them here:

He calls his place "Happy Valley" for obvious reasons.

I thoroughly enjoyed having a dip in the spring-fed Nottawasaga River that runs past (cold but refreshing):

"Nottawa" literally means "those who are not our people" in Ojibwe — as the mouth of the river originated in the territory of their enemies (the Iroquois).

Here's Gary, my son and me in the woods adjacent to the valley (which was remarkably free of mosquitos):

You can see the pony and donkey here being rather nosy, not allowing Tash and her son to get any rest:

Likewise, the pony kept on intruding on Jonah and Gary's discussions about politics, religion and time travel theory:

Here's Gary in his rustic, yet elegant, home with a print he owns of Jordan Henderson's unforgettable painting, Sanity, Her Son, and the Credulous:

Gary retitled it "A Taste of Freedom" as he used to have it hanging in an inn he owns of the same name (but, oddly, customers complained).

And, finally, here's Gary and I standing before his mantle, where he keeps a copy of Much Ado About Corona on display.

Gary covered most of the initial expense of publishing the novel — in memory of his late parents Jesse and Claire Magder. In appreciation, I made sure Vincent McKnight, the story's narrator, lived on 211 Magder Road.

Gary also runs Gold TA Paradise, which he describes as, "a forum for precious metal enthusiasts who talk about everything from the freedom movement to deep state conspiracy theories which are proven to be true. We believe a conspiracy theorist is just someone who does the research to be able to figure IT out months and years before the masses catch on."

You can check out his website at: https://goldtadise.com/

Stay sane & read great books,
John C.A. Manley

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/