Norman Maclean and Threes

“The Oxford was the combination billiard, pool, and card parlor, which for many westerners was the home away from home.  The entering door led past the bar and tobacco stand: the guy behind the bar looked like he was trying to look like the owner.  I bought a bottle of homebrew beer, but if I’d asked for a shot of moonshine, I probably could have got it.  Then I sauntered through the big door into the game room.  It retreated to the rear in geometric patterns.  The farther back it went the higher the stakes, the deeper the sin and the lower the social order.” 

 

From artist Christine Drake (christinedrake.com) who read “USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky,” A River Runs Through It and Other Stories by Norman Maclean