If I had a tail, I'd be wagging it in that whap, whap sort of way that big, happy dogs do, sweeping things off the coffee table and slapping people's shins.  

The reason for all my excitement is that my website, Adobe Soup, has its first guest blogger post live this morning, and it's none other than Jeff L. Howe, a writer I've admired since I first read his work on OS back when I was a newbie. He'd only been here six months by then, but I didn't know that and figured he was one of the beta sages; he wrote like one, after all.  One of my all-time favorites from back then is "When the Last Girl Leaves the Nudie Pond," December of 2009, though Jeff writes so much great stuff that choosing just one is as hard as distinguishing peanuts in a dish. 

I had offered him a spot on Adobe Soup as a way to nudge some readers to his new website - without having really any idea whether doing a guest spot on Adobe Soup would nudge anyone anywhere - but it turns out his site isn't ready for prime time just yet. He was gracious enough to let me post his terrific story now while I'm driving north to San Francisco and will be gone for a few days.

 Here's the teaser: 

A cowboy hat from far-western North Dakota was riding on an eastbound train.  Out the window to the north, endless fields of high-plains wheat stretched on forever.  To the south, a fat storm inched slowly along the horizon, arcing lightning and gathering gloom.  Up ahead, beyond the pinpoint from which the tracks emerged, lay the cities of Minneapolis, Milwaukee and Chicago.  And beyond the steadily disappearing track to the rear ... [Continue reading on Adobe Soup]

Jeff's site here on Open Salon can be found by clicking Jeff L. Howe's Blog, and his post about the good old days at the nudie pond is here: When The Last Girl Leaves The Nudie Pond. You should look around, if you aren't already a follower of Jeff's work, in the archives of his blog. There is some truly wonderful stuff there -- an exploding baby, dinosaurs and much more. 

I'm grateful to Jeff for a lot of things - being a solid pal, saying nice things about stuff I write, setting the bar so high that those of use who try to write well have something to aim at that's a worthy goal - and for letting me publish his fine story today. So I guess I'll let him out as soon as I get home, assuming I can find the key around here somewh ...