It all began a long time ago in a galaxy far, far, far away…
No wait, that’s no way to start. If we’re going to do this then it will have to be with complete honesty. Apart from the bits I’ll exaggerate, gloss over or just plain lie about in order to make myself look better. Forget about the galaxy far away.
It began in Scotland, which depending upon where you live, could be comparatively close. It was a long time ago though. Over fifty years, which sounds a bit like “over fifteen years” if you say it fast and that’s still technically accurate. I don’t remember too much about the whole birth thing so you’re going to need to take my word on that.
The memories didn’t really start until a few years later. By this time the people who claim to be my parents had spirited me across the border to England. There I lived in a cupboard under the stairs until I received my letter from Hogwarts School of…no, look I’m doing it again. The England bit’s accurate though and from now on I promise that everything you read in The Gunsmoke Diaries will be completely true. Sort of. Mostly, it will be an account of things that have happened during the several decades through which I’ve been rattling around this pretty blue planet. And some stuff that’s happening right now. Whatever I feel like, basically.
I don’t live in England any more, just to be clear and haven’t for over of a century. These days, I live an hour or so outside Denver, Colorado at approximately 8,800’ (2,700 m) above sea level in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I’ve also lived in Phoenix, Arizona and spent a good chunk of time backpacking around the world back in the day. Colorado is home though and hopefully I’ll never need to live anywhere else.
In the interests of full disclosure, I’ve kept a blog before. This was called ‘The Gunsmoke Files’ and was a series of longer posts, which for a spell, had a small but gratifyingly loyal readership. Two of my pieces were published in a mountain themed magazine, The Mountain Gazette. Over time though, it fell into neglect, as these things often do. The archived material is still available here, The Gunsmoke Files, if you’re interested. I may dip into the material every now and then for inspiration, which is a neat way of saying I’ll probably lift a post here and there. If I do that though, I promise I’ll say so.
See this honesty thing? It could catch on.
The Gunsmoke Diaries 