• Tag Archives cowboys

  • The West

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Winter                                        First Moon of the New Year

    Residuals from Denver.  Gabe saying, “Oh, no.” as he pushes his toy trains over the edge of the table.  Ruthie dancing with her stuffed horse while the US Junior Olympian dressage quadrille performed.  Jon at work on the renovation, painting doors, grouting tile.  Jen and I headed out to A-basin to pick up Jon after his head banging.

    The more we go out there and, specifically, the more I go to the Great Western Stock Show, the more intrigued I get with the West.  Cowboys.  Belt Buckles.  Rodeo.  Horses.  Ranches.  Brahma bulls and Longhorn cattle.  Rhinestone belts and Stetson hats.  There is an America here that I know little about.  A part of the country’s history born in pioneer expansion and Indian oppression.  A hardy, land and livestock oriented life necessitated by land unfit for traditional agriculture.

    Both the new West and the old one intrigues me.  Even the very old one.  The Anasazi west and the gunfighter and outlaw west and the rancher and cowboy and pick-up truck west.

    Not sure right now what to do with this intrigue, but something will come.

    Code of the West

    • ·         Live each day with courage
    • ·         Take pride in your work
    • ·         Always finish what you start
    • ·         Do what has to be done
    • ·         Be tough, but fair
    • ·         When you make a promise, keep it
    • ·         Ride for the brand
    • ·         Talk less and say more
    • ·         Remember that some things aren’t for sale
    • ·         Know where to draw the line

    📂This entry was posted in Travel US History 📎and tagged

  • Retired at Last

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Winter                                                Waxing Moon of the Cold Month

    Kate’s sewing on the machine she keeps here at Jon and Jen’s.  We retrieved it last night and brought it back to the hotel room.  The room supplies an ironing board and iron, with her cutting mats and rotary cutters–and those $23 to transport scissors–she’s in her favorite place, sewing.  She said yesterday that her retirement couldn’t really start until she could start sewing.  Well, it’s officially started now.

    The Sierra Club legcom meeting is at 5 pm tonight, so I spent an hour organizing material for the agenda and sending it out.  That’s finished.  Good thing Jon asked last night what time the meeting was.  I said, “5 pm.”  “Oh, so at 4 pm our time?”  “Huh?  4?  Yikes.”  I would have missed it for sure.  Not used to this jetset lifestyle.

    Once again breakfast has cowboy hats and bluejeans.  One young boy, maybe 14, wore a t-shirt that read:  “Nothing’s more important than beating that COW COLLEGE on the other side of the state.”  Coach Bear Bryant  A clutch of young girls came up around his table where he sat with three slightly older boys.

    Then began the mock teasing, playful hits, frowns and cagey responses.  One blond headed girl leaned over a boy with a RockStar hat, whispered in his ear, then went across the room and got him a cup of  coffee.  They were prodigies among children.

    Tonight I plan to take Jon and Jen out to a country Japanese restaurant called Domo.  Sounds interesting.


    📂This entry was posted in Aging Family Politics 📎and tagged