Shaking the Nickel Bush,
The Dry Divide, and
Horse of a Different Color by Ralph Moody
These three books complete the autobiographical series that I began last year. Ralph travels the southwest with his new friend Lonnie, and the two try to make a living doing various odd jobs.
I don't think this period was a pleasant time in Ralph's life. Shaking the Nickel Bush began dragging on, and by this point, the books are no longer happy family reading. There's nothing objectionable, but neither is there the warmth and values described in the earlier books. I had to force myself to continue reading. However, I'm glad I did.
The Dry Divide finds Ralph penniless in McCook, Nebraska, as Ralph unsuccessfully attempts to return to Littleton. Ralph easily finds work as a farmhand, and with sharp ability to find money-making opportunities, Ralph quickly is in business again for himself. The line blurs between this and Horse of a Different Color, and although the figures and details get a bit tedious at times, this is a happy story of hard work, entrepreneurship, and friends coming together.
Most of the ends are happily tied up at the conclusion, although I would have loved to have read more of Ralph's life with a wife and children. Overall, a very good series, excepting the lag mid-way through.
1 comment:
I don't think we ever finished Horse of a Different Color. I was reading it aloud on a car trip, and the kids are older and want to listen to their ipods now. Oh for the days when those didn't really exist!
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