Dec. 28,2019-, I went to  Berthoud today where I met Butch Hause owner, producer and engineer at THE RANGER STATION recording studio. Josiah Nelson, GREAT fiddler met us there and we re-recorded Whippoorwill, as FLY, which is the true name of the song. Josiah laid down 2  tracks one with the bow, the other as pizzicato,, Butch did a wonderful bass track and I re-did the guitar, ukulele and vocals. I think it is a better rendition.  I will be posting it. i may send it out as a single then, If I can, add it to my new CD which will then also be called FLY,

Dec. 2, 2019 .I have a #1 song. I sent my song "Whippoorwill" to NumberOne Music.com and it has been the #1 song for over 5 weeks with 1000's of hits. It will be on my new CD which is nearly done. I re-named the song "FLY."

 I am really tickled with the song that I wrote many years ago, which I  very seldom sang. I initially called it whippoorwill and that is the name it I used for copyright. I recorded in my music/computer room with ukulele, my grandmothers guitar, which is over a hundred years old and my Gibson guitar on my 6 track recorder. I liked how it turned out and it will be on my new CD which is nearly finished. I like to say I wrote it, but it came to me while I was sleeping and it woke me up from a sound sleep. I got up and wrote it down as fast as I could. I have changed a bit of the chorus to make it "finish" better. I'm thinking about making it a single and putting it out as an mp3.

 

 

I was invited to the Sierra Vista Gathering again this year. It is so nice to attend these gatherings when you ket to stay with a local family. Last year I stayed with Mark and Bettye, this year with Lynne and Jack Ainsworth. I spent the first day doing a couple of shows for one of the local schools. While there, I did an unscientific poll by asking several people who live in the area, some were simply attending the gathering as audience, a couple lived out of the city. Some I didn't ask where they lived. My question was simply: Do you think we need a wall at our southern border. Every one that I asked said Yes.  

I attended the annual convention and awards show for what is now known as the INTERNATIONAL WESTERN MUSIC ASSOCIATION, in Albuquerque, NM, in November, 2018.  It was the usual good time that also offers many clinics. I hosted one on for the Western Wordsmiths Chapter. There were workshops on song writing, short story writing and many others . I attended one , also sponsored by the Western Wordsmiths and hosted by Sam Deleeuw. There are several contests: harmony singing, harmony yodeling, some for adults, others for those under 18. The yodeling contest is divided by gender and age. In 2003, the first year I was aware of the IWMA, the event was held in Kansas and I won the Male Championship, I won it again in 2010 and this year, 2018 as well.  That turns out to average a win every 7 1/2 years. Catherine and I figure winning it three times is about enough, but I'm thinking I might try to keep the string going and compete again in 2025. I'll only be 82, so should be able to take a shot at it. 

NEWS FROM 2017 

We made it back from Albuquerque safe and sound after a short trip to   Phoenix to visit some friends the we went on to the Grand Canyon, which is as grand as they say. We headed home from there and ran into snow just North of Mesa. The road was bare for a ways, then dry, then snow flurries, and that kept up for quite a while. Before we got to Vail we started noticing signs along the highway said chains were required over Vail Pass. When we got there, Vail Pass was closed. We waited a couple of hours and heard it was open, but by the time we got in line it was closed again. We waited in a covered parking area for another hour when the road was opened again. Catherine was driving. The road wasn't terrible, but the drivers were and there were a few trucks whose drivers decided they didn't need chains and were stuck in various positions along the road. When we got to the bottom, I nearly had to pry Catherine's hands off the steering wheel with a tire iron. The road from there to Eisenhower tunnel were snow packed and when we got through the tunnel the roads got progressively better.

We initially figured we would be home by 6:00 or 6:30, but it was midnight before we made it, but make it we did. 

I'm still working on GHOST BEAR, The Trail(#2), but having a difficult time. I hope that means it will be especially good by the time it's done.  

I finally rejoined the Western Writers of America. I joined  in June initially, but the paper work got lost. Candy Moulton and Rochelle (Rocky) Gibbons went out of their way to get it straightened up. 

UPDATES  

I finally got to re-do the website.  Name is still the same, the content has been edited and I'm still looking through pictures to update them. It is cleaner, I think, and I hope you like the new look.  I intend to be more diligent about keeping it up to date. Let's see how that goes.  

Western Music Association, Albuquerque, NM,  

Howdy everyone: Catherine and I will be heading to Albuquerque on the 8th of Nov. to attend the Western Music Assoc. annual Festival and Award show which takes place in the Albuquerque Hotel in old Town.  I'll be hosting the 10:am WRITE RIGHT, RIGHT NOW group which Jim Jones and Kerry Grumbacher will present. Later on, I will be doing my showcase on the main stage at 12:00 noon. On Saturday I will be in the yodeling and poetry contests. Wish me Luck please.

RIDE EASY PARD, compilation book is now available. 

My newest book, RIDE EASY PARD is now available. It consists of short stories, poems and song lyrics taken from my weekly columns, articles from other magazines, journals, newspapers and CD's.  Drop me an e-mail to mtyodeler@hotmail.com and I'll get it shipped off to you asap. The price is $12.50 plus Shipping and Handling.

Ghost Bear #2, "THE TRAIL," and an a book of short stories, "RIDE EASY PARD." 

Well folks, the second book in the GHOST BEAR ISLAND Trilogy is well on it's way. It is taking longer than I anticipated. I have book #3 well on its way when my publisher told me they wanted it to be a trilogy. Book #2 brings the tale to an end. Getting the middle one to fit the time line to match both GHOST BEAR ISLAND and the one already started it time consuming to say the least, but I'm working on it and hope to have it finished in the next month or so. 

In addition, I am compiling some of the most talked about columns I write for the local paper. "RIDE EASY PARD," the name of the column will also be the name of the compilation. 

IT'S HERE 

GHOST BEAR ISLAND became available on May 9  through Amazon E-books for Kindle. Right after that it was being sold by every e-book seller on the planet. It is now ready for those who still like a printed copy. It only comes in soft cover through the same sellers.  If you get one of any sort, please write a review(I hope it's a good review) and send it to where you bought your copy. I will be doing signing in Estes Park,CO,  Cody, Rawlins and Buffalo Wyoming, st Stavely Canada for sure and I'm lining up other places as fast as I can and will be doing some in Montana, just haven't confirmed any at this moment..
 

DISSERTATIONS AND DITTIES 

I will be updating this page to let you know what is going on with my writing. In addition to my thriller GHOST BEAR ISLAND, I write songs, articles or various magazines and journals. I also write a weekly column for the local newspaper, short stories and the occasional poem.

I will be posting the lyrics to my latest songs here, too.  I hope you enjoy them.

RIDE EASY PARD.....Vic

NEW RELEASE DATE......BETWEEN APRIL 30 AND MAY 10 2014 

I just  received the release date for GHOST BEAR ISLAND, book 1 of a Thriller Trilogy.  After a couple of delays, Loose Leaves Publishing has set the date to have GHOST BEAR ISLAND available as between APRIL 30 and May 10, 2014.

Am I excited?   You better believe it.

WATCH FOR book signing/western music shows  or  western music shows/book signings,  depending on the venue.

I'll keep you posted.

RIDE EASY PARDS.....Vic

Book cover and permission to use a real person as a character in GBI 2 

If you happen to notice the book cover, a Mountain has been added.  I like the new look, with snow added to the mountain it will look more like the Alaskan mountains, which is going to happen.  The date of publication has once again been set back a bit. We don't know the exact dat of publication, but I'm hoping it won't be much past Valentine's day.  BUT IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, I'm happy to report.  Book 2 is getting a bit more organized. A lot of research has taken place and I'm happy to report that a friend of mine, Doris Daley, has graciously allowed me to use her Gt. Grandfather, James Daly, and Irish Immigrant and one of the original  Northwest Mounted Police, badge # 226, as a character in Book 2.  The original compliment of NWMP numbered only 275. I believe she said she or her family has the badge.  Thank You Doris.  

RIDE EASY PARDS.....Vic

WHEW 

We went through a pretty traumatic fall. a couple of months after we got back from our Alaska cruise with our friends Ray and Connie, it started raining. And I mean RAINING!  In the course of  a few days we had over half a fifty gallon barrel full. Our cute little Fish Creek flooded. Instead of being about a a foot and a half wide and a few inched deep, it became a roaring, raging torrent about a hundred feet wide and I don't know how many feet deep. We lost our back yard, but had no real damage to the house. Fortunately there were no deaths reported from Estes Park, though there were six deaths below us.  Both Fish Creek and Fall River flooded and the people downstream had it even worse than we.  We were completely cut off from the rest of the world. No land lines, no internet, no cell phones, no nothing. After a few days of watching and waiting and walking up and down the flood area, we met a lady from above us who had internet and she sent e-mails to relatives of ours and our neighbors, who in turn contacted the rest of our families and told them we were still among the living.  It still looks like a war zone, but within a couple of days trucks were able to get to Estes Park and bring in groceries and gasoline, over Trail Ridge Road. Then that road became to slick to travel on because of snow. It was only another day or so that highway 7 was able to handle emergency trucks etc. so there was no shortage of food except: to some of the people who were even further isolated.  I tried to ride to find a way to those people but was unsuccessful.  A few days later another horseback crew with a couple of pack animals got through to those still completely isolated.  Many people below us had to be helicoptered from their homes to safety, including a friend of ours who is pretty much wheelchair bound.  I understand that there were many pets, dogs, cats etc. that got helicopter rides. 

We were very blessed with essentially no damage to the house and none to us. 
RIDE EASY PARDS.....VIC
DON'T LEAVE YOUR CABIN UNARMED. Ghost Bears, half Polar and half Kodiak bear meaner, fiercer, larger and more ferocious than either parent. Merritt, Jenny and Billie face the bears, Alaska's extreme temperatures, volcanos, fires, and cutthroats who want their money and their furs.

DON'T LEAVE YOUR CABIN UNARMED. Ghost Bears, half Polar and half Kodiak bear meaner, fiercer, larger and more ferocious than either parent. Merritt, Jenny and Billie face the bears, Alaska's extreme temperatures, volcanos, fires, and cutthroats who want their money and their furs.