I’m in the last October of life looking for a few more Aprils. I don’t want to remember no more. - James McBride

Now he wanted more. That’s the problem with Smelly Ones. They got one thing Animals don’t got. They got ambition.

You ugly enough to keep ants out of a picnic, mister.

The rest of the stories came as they came, over the years, as I traveled over hill and dale and dusty trail, moving through life. As for the particular ache or longing that brought them on…well, if I shared every Twitter feed and eye blink and snort and nose pick with every Tom, Dick, and Mary in the world every five seconds, I wouldn’t have a thing left for me.