Rusty Bucket Ranch Blog

Marty sensed a new competition for Michelle’s affections from the basketball idol, Mark.  As if things weren’t bad enough, now he had to contend with the biggest stud on campus, and a genuine sports hero!  Mark, for his part, was aware that Marty had a crush on Michelle, and made…

Marty stayed home from school the next day on Friday, calling in to the office to excuse himself because he was “sick.”  It rained all weekend, and he mostly stayed in bed; not even getting up to take a shower.  Marge came in to see how he was and held…

The Rusty Bucket Ranch was hell on dogs.  Plenty of canine brothers and sisters had been lost, but at least Keno recovered from the accident well enough.  Mike graciously declared, “He belongs to both of us now,” but Marty knew nothing could replace Lobo in his heart, and he felt…

Now that Marge was ready to take care of herself, Marty worried that she’d start drinking again because Dr. Z. told her absolutely that’s the one thing she must not do.  He also insisted she quit smoking (but that wasn’t gonna happen).  While she was recovering, her kids still had…

Eventually, things got back to normal after the big flood.  Businesses cleaned up and reopened.  Homes were repaired, mud was pushed out of the way, and the new semester started at school.  Marty and his friends were halfway through their senior year, and had already experienced so much of the…

I hear the drizzle of the rainLike a memory it fallsSoft and warm, continuingTapping on my roof and walls.* Marty awoke to the pounding of the rain.  He checked the creek from his bed, and it was back to being nearly full.  The ferocious torrent was now strangely familiar, as…

While the power was out during the day at the Rusty Bucket Ranch, Marty used no flashlights or candles, to preserve them for the long, dark evenings.  He sat by his window next to the turgid creek, or under the big skylight in the main room, and sketched whatever came…

After trying unsuccessfully to sleep with an aching, bulky log of plaster where his leg used to be, the reality of Marty’s incapacity finally sunk in.  He ran out of Percocet and started using various and sundry drugs to dull the pain.  He got up only to go pee, or…

The Christmas issue of the Jolly Roger devoted its entire back page to an extremely detailed doodle Marty had completed the month before.  It was a random collage of images resulting from a cartoonist’s free association, depicting anything and everything that popped into his mind, from Laurel & Hardy to…

Thanksgiving was sad without Otter around, and Rabbit was understandably subdued.  Marge put together a nice spread anyway, with traditional pumpkin pie instead of the usual clowny brownies.  Marty empathetically imagined his father, picking at a pasty piece of pie at Denny’s under fluorescent lights, and ogling the waitresses.  Mike’s…

The first thing Marty wanted to do was get some new clothes.  He worked very hard for his age, and could afford the things that were important to him, like good buds, records, and books.  He decided it was time to channel some of that money into his appearance.  The…

Mike was already 18, and seriously considered dropping out of high school.  He was deeply affected by the horror of his return to Drake, and didn’t want any babes staring at him, who used to know him as “a fox.”  Marty entreated him to stick it out somehow and get…

On Labor Day weekend, Marty wanted to go on a hike instead of just hanging around the house.  It was so gloomy lately, with Marge in self-imposed exile and Mike recovering in their bedroom (with Annie at his side), he actually looked forward to working at the pet store, just…

The following week was a blur.  Marty had to work, but was on the phone a great deal, explaining to their friends what happened to Mike, and lamenting poor Randy and Tom.  Mike had the second surgery to clean up his face, and towards the end of the week he…

Susie was turning 14 in August, and she was still naïve enough to imagine a big party with balloons, pony rides, and games, but Marge got two keggers instead.  Her daughter was just beginning to smoke cigarettes like her mom, and it was time to initiate her officially into the…

The following day, Marty got up early, and waited in line for over two hours to get tickets to the “Monsters of Rock” concert.  There was going to be another Day on the Green at the Oakland Coliseum, with Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and a couple other bands.  He got…