January, 2022 - C.E. Lemieux Jr

January 30, 2022January 16, 2022

You have the Journey

We’ve been watching 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone which was created by Taylor Sheridan. The show follows the Dutton Family as they travel from Texas to Montana, by joining a wagon train headed to Oregon. Leading the wagon train is Captain Shea Brennan, played by Sam Elliot. In Episode Four, there is a scene in which Sam’s character addresses the pioneers he is leading.

Brennan is angry. Charged with the task of getting these people, ignorant to the dangers ahead, to Oregon alive, he tries to get them to realize what waits ahead. They have brought all of their worldly possessions with them on the journey and many of those items are too heavy to make the trip. These possessions are important to the individuals, they represent who they are, what they hope to become, how they will make a life in their new home. Instruments and a finely crafted piano for a musician, tools and a forge for a blacksmith, cast iron stoves for kitchens – all important, but too much weight for wagons crossing prairies, canyons, mountains, rivers and streams. In just a few powerful words, Brennan sets the stage of the entire journey.

January 16, 2022January 17, 2022

Short n’ sweet

I sometimes fancy myself a novelist. Other times I feel I fall short of the title. No Nicholas Sparks. No Hemingway. No Jane Austen. Mostly I just write what comes to mind. I use gallons of words to tell a story; on average 40,000 – 65,000. As far as whether I fit the bill of an author, I’ll let the readers decide.

As a reader, I like stories with heart; a tale that tugs at you, and bubbles up some kind of emotion. I like characters who become so real you develop a connection and you almost feel you’ve become friends with them. To me a good book is one that makes me feel a little hollow after I finish, because I know I’m going to miss the people inside once I close the cover. So, those are the stories I strive the hardest to write.

January 2, 2022December 5, 2021

Don’t Look Back!

Don’t look back, ooh, a new day is breakin’
It’s been too long since I felt this way
I don’t mind, ooh, where I get taken
The road is callin’, today is the day

I can see, it took so long just to realize
I’m much too strong not to compromise
Now I see what I am is holding me down
I’ll turn it around
Oh, yes, I will

Forever one of my favorite albums. This cover song works for both a Monday morning pump up and a windows down, volume cranked, get-out-of-town exit after work on Friday. But, for this post, it’s all about the end of 2021.