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Stretching the Truth

October 18, 2017 by Jim Potter 4 Comments

https://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Stretching-the-Truth.m4a

·  Tall Tales  ·

My Grandpa Clarence used to talk about the fertile farmland in western Kansas before the drought, grasshoppers, jack rabbits, and dust storms ravaged the country.

He said he and the family had some extremely productive years for over a decade before “The Crash.”

When our family visited, just in case I doubted him, he would dig out his photographs and hand them to me as positive proof. “A picture’s worth a thousand words,” he’d advise, then silently begin rolling a cigarette and leaning back in his rocking chair.

Now, all these years later, with him gone since 1973, I hold the evidence of those prosperous times.

Grandpa left the treasured photographs to me even though my dad had been born and raised there in Morton County, near Rolla. I guess Grandpa figured my dad, Harold, would never forget those memorable good times and stressful bad times.

Like I said, Grandpa gave them to me because I was so fascinated with the remarkable visual stories. 

I’ve treasured these photographs of the Potter farmstead and farm animals for nearly fifty years.

The images are of a time in history when the horse was still reliable, cheap transportation. Crops were successful without dangerous pesticides or genetic modification.

Poultry, pigs, and cattle added weight on the free range, not like today when the animals are locked in buildings in cramped cages with artificial light.

Independent farmers today care just as much about the land, the crops, and good husbandry, and they are caught in a dilemma called survival. They are under a tremendous amount of pressure to eke out a profit while expenses continue to rise and crop prices remain low.

“How is success possible?” I ask. Then I thank a farmer: “I appreciate you for your dedication and for feeding me. I just wish you would benefit proportionally when grocery store prices increase.”

Like my grandparents, the few independent farmers that remain on the land today love the soil so much that many are dangerously in debt. They’re working other jobs just to have an outside chance until the day things “turn around.”

Maybe these photographs are one of the reasons Grandpa never talked too much about his years in western Kansas. Maybe that’s why he gave them to me while he was still alive.

The productive years were like a beautiful bubble that people didn’t want to believe would ever pop.

Sadly, when Grandpa recalled the good times, he would also be reminded of what he had lost and what he had endured: bad, long, crushing years.

One day in western Kansas, Grandpa was out working the field and the weather changed; it was a sign that Rolla and a half-dozen states would soon suffer an environmental disaster the likes no one had seen before.

The hungry grasshoppers and jack rabbits arrived in need of substance. The market crashed. Proud people learned that they had gotten greedy with god’s land, and there would be a price to pay.

The years of struggle, hope, and broken spirits will be further examined in the next blog. As proof, I’ll share more of my faded photographs. 

Until next time, happy writing and reading!

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Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Clarence Potter, creative writing, Dirty Thirties, Dust Bowl, exaggeration postcards, Grandpa Clarence, jack rabbits, Morton County, Rolla, tall tales, western Kansas

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. AvatarJon Powell says

    October 18, 2017 at 9:18 am

    I’d hate to see the size of the grasshoppers!!!

    Great blog!

    Reply
    • Jim PotterJim Potter says

      October 18, 2017 at 10:08 am

      Thanks, Jon. Next week’s blog does show one of the grasshoppers being hauled away in the back of a flatbed truck! If you are itchin’ for a photo of a large grasshopper, check out the blog from August 23. The title is “Creative Writing.” Under the sub-heading “Fake News” you will see a grasshopper shot and killed by a farmer using his shotgun! It’s true. It was in a newspaper.

      Reply
  2. AvatarAnonymous says

    October 23, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    Thank you, Jim. I look forward to the next story/blog.

    Reply
    • Jim PotterJim Potter says

      October 23, 2017 at 7:51 pm

      Thanks for your encouragement! The next blog continues my story about Grandpa Clarence in western Kansas. But you’ll also hear about Roswell, New Mexico, and yes, the Roswell Incident (1947)!

      Reply

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What People Are Saying

Sean McArdle

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:24:22-06:00

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/sean-mcardle/

Rebecca

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:41:14-06:00

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/rebecca/

Wynona Winn

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:18:33-06:00

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/wynona-winn/

Denise Low

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:31:21-06:00

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/denise-low/

Larry Kruckman

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman, Anthropologist

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:27:15-06:00

Larry Kruckman, Anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/larry-kruckman/

Deb Theis

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:20:29-06:00

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/deb-theis/

John & Cindy Morrill

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:14:56-06:00

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/john-cindy-morrill/

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Morgan Penner

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:25:35-06:00

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/morgan-penner/

Dennis Perrin

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Dennis Perrin, educator

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:44:55-06:00

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/dennis-perrin/

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Rebecca Schillaci

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:46:40-06:00

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/rebecca-schillaci/

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

Sheryl Remar

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T11:47:46-06:00

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/sheryl-remar/

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Jane Holzrichter

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:21:41-06:00

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/jane-holzrichter/

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Steve Becker

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:26:21-06:00

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/steve-becker/

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Diana Dester

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:19:23-06:00

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/diana-dester/

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:44:26-06:00

Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/karleen-wilson-moon/

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Judy Hawk

Sandhenge Publications
5
2017-11-17T18:15:48-06:00

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .
https://jimpotterauthor.com/testimonials/judy-hawk/
16
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