Dave Wright Writes

  Lightning Strike: Not a Bad Way to Go Dave Wright, DVM I’ve never been struck by lightning, but I think it must be like getting kicked by an animal—you never know when it will happen. One hot, sticky afternoon in August, a single call remained on the appointment book at our veterinary clinic—a request to castrate a pen of pigs. The farmer who owned the pigs was not going to be home until after five o’clock, so my partner and I agreed to tackle the job ourselves earlier in the afternoon. We arrived at the farm and heard the pigs snorting and shuffling in the barn. When I looked into the pen, there was a large group of fifty-pounders milling around in the dust. Nowadays, farmers neuter their boar piglets shortly after birth. “Too bad he waited so long,” I said to my partner. “If he would have done it when they were little, it wouldn’t have been so hard on the pigs.” “And definitely not so hard on us,” said my partner. The sweat was already sticking to the back of my cove...

  Morning Walk in August Pelicans circle in a clear blue sky, Grasshoppers flit in the grass nearby. Crickets chirp and cicadas trill, The peace belies my anxious chill. Love or hate, Hope or fear. Joy or anger, Truth or lies. Justice or prejudice, Integrity or corruption. Freedom to choose or permanent disruption. These stark choices to us avail, A walk in November will tell the tale. —Dave Wright

  Rex Thompson’s dream to take a post-retirement canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness is radically altered when his wife dies after a prolonged illness and he is compelled to take the trip with Ralph, his incompatible teenaged nephew. In this coming-of-age odyssey, the duo must rely on each other to cope with treacherous weather, a kidnapping, Ralph’s dysfunctional parents, and Rex’s infatuation with a deceitful hospice nurse. The paperback or e-book is available through Amazon at: https://a.co/d/6DAStrx