Rain Comes Seldom

Cap and Ely sat on the front porch of the barn and watched with glee. It had been raining for 3 days and they had not uttered a single foul word. The rain was so greatly needed, they hated to jinx it. They were thankful indeed.

The only problem with rain is that no matter how wet it got, all of the horses and cattle in the pens still had to eat. The animals knew it was raining, but they also knew they were hungry at the same time every day. Manuel and his helpers were making the rounds this afternoon feeding. They used a tractor to get to the boggy spots and hoped for the best. Normally Cap would be raising cain about the ruts they were making, but for the last few days those ruts were the prettiest things he had ever seen. He hoped the ruts would remind him next time it got really dry that it would rain again....eventually.

"Cap, I thought Pastor Chris gave a good service on Sunday didn't you?" asked Ely.

"Yep, come to think of it, I guess it was a good one."

"I especially liked the part about us being forgiven as long as we ask for it, and how the good Lord always loves us.", continued Ely.

"Yep, that always rings true with me too. I know I fall short every day, but I'm tryin' to do better. That's all I know to do."

About that time Pete, one of Manuel's helpers who was pretty far down on the totem pole of seniority, came walking up soaked to the bone. He stood on the edge of the porch still in the rain. Cap knew something was up.

"Pete, ain't you got sense enough to get outta the rain?" he asked impatiently.

"Mr. Cap, we have a problem." managed Pete.

"Well what is it son?"

"The tractor is stuck. Manuel tole me to go in the peen and feed some horses and he would be back. I deed what he tol me, pero the tractor got stuck."

"Well let's go see about it." said Cap as he marched off of the porch and into the rain.

He and Ely grabbed slickers from behind the seats of their trucks and headed toward the back pen. Before they got there they could see only the front of the tractor. It was buried to the axles....with a round bale of hay still on the forks behind it. Pete had driven right through the boggiest part of the pen with a round bale of hay and completely sunk the tractor. There was no way to get it out. Making matters worse the horses were surrounding it eating the round bale, and making the bog deeper.

"Well let's see what we can do about it Pete" said Ely calmly. Cap was a different story.

"Son, what were you thinking? You picked the worst part of the pen to drive through and did it with more weight carrying a round bale. I can't believe it. There's no way to get it out...we have to get another one to pull this one out!"

"Calm down Cap. It's just stuck, it ain't gone forever. We'll get it out."

"Goodness Pete, it looks like ducks musta flew off when you hit this bog. How could you not see it?"

"I sorry Mr. Cap. I do what Manuel tells me." replied Pete sheepishly. Cap stormed around to the other side of the bog and came back a little calmer.

"Well, I guess we all need forgiveness at some point. It's alright." he told Pete.

"I'm proud of you Cap." said Ely as they walked back to the porch. "You really done good. I know Pete is sorry."

"Yeah....I guess what Pastor Chris has been talking about is soaking in."

"Maybe that's why it's raining." smiled Ely.


Walker

I Miss My Friend

I miss my friend. It’s getting close to a year ago now that we lost him. He was my good friend’s dad. We shared many good laughs, and told some good stories. Mostly he told’em and I just listened. He drank cheap mexico coffee and made it taste good…..that ain’t easy to do. He was a very talented saddlemaker and if you could dream it up…..with a piece of leather he could make it. Might take a while, but you would get it. He liked playing the drums and played them well. He liked diet coke and peanuts at the Haybarn. He told the truth when you needed to hear it. He believed in the cowboy ways. “Tuck your shirt in boys. When you go to a baseball game the players wear uniforms. Wear yours right.” He smoked Camels with no filters. He could talk to women with a smile and they liked it…..and so here we are. A year down the road already. Time…flies.

“I’ve drank to your health at round-ups, I’ve drank to your health at home, I’ve drank to your health so damn many times, I’ve almost ruined my own.”

Here’s to you mi amigo.

Walker

$1.25 Lesson

It was Sunday…and that meant only one thing. Today was the day for after church coffee at the Cozy Palace Cafe. The Cozy Palace had been in business for as long as anyone could remember. The chicken fried steak was tough and the French fries were soggy, but they had the best coffee in town. Cap and Ely strolled into the cafe like they owned the place. Pretty much did as regular customers. They were the ring leaders of the coffee crowd on Sunday. Something to be proud of for sure.
After filling his worn plastic coffee mug, that he kept in his truck somewhere between the backseat and the floorboard, Cap sat down at the table full of men. This was where lots of business took place. Hay was traded or bought or sold, along with cattle and just about anything else they could think of. Next week the same stuff would change hands again, and maybe right back to the fella who traded it first. Call it trader’s remorse if you will. Cap was ready to start in on someone. He barely sipped his scalding coffee.
“Glen, you got that garage cleaned out for Dell yet?” he asked, “You been talking about it for 2 weeks.”
“Nope. Figure if I clean it out she’ll think of something else. I’ll let her focus on this a while longer.” Replied Glen.
“I wish you would go ahead and do it. Might make it rain. And we need it.” Offered Cap with a smile.
“I’ll get to it soon enough. Martha has your yard looking good, though I’m sure no thanks to you.”
“We had an agreement when we got married that the yard was her job. I don’t want to infringe on her territory.” Said Cap.
“No chance of that.” Glenn said.
This went on for an hour or so until everyone was either tired of drinking coffee or about half mad at each other…whichever came first. As everyone walked out of the cafe they stopped on the front porch for a minute to say their goodbyes. Cap noticed the newspaper machine and decided to take one home so Martha could read it…and look at the coupons to see if anything good was in there. He fished in his pocket for $1.25 in quarters but came up one short. A couple others reached in their pocket when Glen got a sly look on his face. Out of his pocket came a shiny new quarter and he handed it to Cap.
“Here you go Cap. I’ve got one right here.” Said Glen, now being a little too eager and moving closer to Cap.
“Thanks, I owe you.”
Cap inserted his money, pulled the door down and bent over to get his paper. Glen swooped in for the kill. In one swift motion, or as swift a motion as he was able, Glen took his fingers and from the back flipped Cap’s good, “Sunday”, felt cowboy hat into the paper machine and kicked the door closed forever imprisoning Cap’s hat! Cap stood there in disbelief and the other men almost couldn’t stand from laughing so hard. They were all leaning on the building to keep from falling! There Cap stood, no more quarters, his friends laughing at him, with his hat locked up in a paper machine. That was the biggest insult.
“Cap, maybe you shouldn’t aggravate Glen so much from here on out.” Ely said.
“Why would I care about Glen?” growled Cap.
“You owe him a Quarter!.”

Santa Fe, New Mexico is cool if you are

Every year my family takes a trip together. Sometimes it's on Thanksgiving and sometimes it's on Christmas which is nice because we get to do one or the other with our other families and then spend one together.

A couple years ago we went to Santa Fe for Christmas and it was awesome. We stayed downtown at a hotel called La Fonda and spent several days just walking around downtown and shopping.... and more importantly eating good. :) We all had a great time and here are some pics I took while we were there.

This is the Catholic Cathedral that just so happened to be across the street from our hotel. I couldn't sleep one night and was up walking around downtown early in the morning just enjoying the sights and the cold morning air. It was amazing to see it like this and know that a long, long, really long time ago it looked exactly the same, just with different surroundings. Cool.

Here is one of the stained glass windows from inside. I wondered how many people have walked into this magnificent place and looked around like I did.

This is the famous staircase from The Loretto Chapel. It is built with all wooden pegs with no visible means of support and the man who showed up to build it disappeared and was never able to be found. You can read the story at www.lorettochapel.com.

I learned alot while we were there.

1. You can't shoot at the Indians anymore.

2. Alchohol has a stronger affect on you at higher altitudes.

3. Santa Fe is cool if you are.

Walker

The Craftsman

Drought conditions sometimes force cowboys to devote their time to alternative talent development. When the current dry situations of South Texas forced the Barlett Ranch to thin out their herd, it freed up some time for Cap and Ely to spend on one of their favorite subjects, Cowboy Ranch Philosophy 101, and since it was the hottest part of the day, our heroes found themselves a shady spot on the south porch of the barn where the breeze was the best. Once settled into position each in their own wooden chair on either side of the doorway, and after several moments of initial silence, the conversation found a life of its own.

“Sure is hot today for spring.” Cap said followed by a minute or two of silence.

“Have you ever noticed how slow old Miguel moves?” Ely pondered. Miguel was the oldest hand on the ranch. He had been there, loyal as ever, no matter if he was up or down, thin or flush for over 40 years.

“Yep, sure have. You know, I’ve never seen him in a hurry that I can ever recall.” Cap answered.

“Wonder why that is?” asked Ely.

“Well, I can tell you why that is. It’s cuz he’s about half lazy. Now I don’t mean that in a bad way. He’s worked here for 40 some odd years when most folks woulda give up and moved to town, so you have to give him credit for stickin’ with it. But you and I both know he ain’t no ball ‘o fire. You won’t see no dust cloud behind him I assure you.” Said Cap.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.” Replied Ely.

“But you know what? He’s done quite a bit for this place in the time he has spent here. Heck, I just wish I had a nickel for every calf he’s cut or doctored on. I can promise you it’s been more than a few. He helped build most of that corral over there too, when he was younger, and it’s so old it’s about to fall down if we don’t fix it soon.” Cap paused for a long minute and threw his toothpick out into the sand to disappear forever.

“Seems like someone coulda done more for him over the years.” Ely offered, now starting to think of all the things they had neglected doing for Miguel over the years.

“Nope. We did all he’s ever asked of us, and that’s pay him honest money for honest work. You see, Miguel’s a crafstman. He’s never in a hurry because everything he does is something he can be proud of when it’s finished. That’s part of his payoff. I can tell you first hand that there’s not a ranch within 50 miles of here that has a corral as old as this one that’s been built by hand and is still standing. He was proud of that job as anyone I’ve ever seen. You’d woulda thought he built the first skyscraper. Worked on it all summer through the heat and never complained. You know, I went by there to check on him one day and when I walked up, he was whistling while he built it. People nowadays would be poutin’ while they took on a chore like that, or they would try to do it so fast in order to get through that the workmanship would suffer. He leveled that top rail with a coke bottle half filled with water. He’d lay that bottle on it’s side and he knew that rail was level if no water ran out. Yeah, folks aren’t like that anymore. He’s part of a generation that’s one of a kind for sure.” Cap and Ely sat in quite for a few more minutes letting the conversation slowly soak in.

“I hate to bring this up Cap, but we’re just about as old as Miguel.”

“That’s true enough, but that’s all we have in common with him. You know good and well I don’t have the patience to do all he’s done, and you don’t either. A place like this one needs guys like him, but there just ain’t anymore of’em left. You gotta take your hat off to the guy. He’s a hard worker, who’s honest and has tried his best at everything asked of him. He’s just never in a hurry. He’s a craftsman for sure.”

And with that statement the two looked out over the corral and wished they had fixed it up before it had come to the semi run down state it was in. They sat in silence for a long time this time.

“Sure is hot today for spring.”


Walker

They Prayed

Will and Mary had been married for 51 years this coming fall. They had lived on the same place for close to 40 of those. It was one of their proudest achievements other than the rearing of 4 fine children. They had purchased the place on borrowed money that Will was almost sure they couldn’t pay back in 100 years based on his income. Course the bank only wanted it back in 30. That’s not a simple task for a man with a young family and bills to pay, but it was Mary’s dream place and he would make it happen no matter what he had to do. It wasn’t easy those first few years either. The house needed some work and the 50 acres that went along with it was rough country. He cleared it all himself though, with hard work and patience. Chopped every brush stump out himself to make sure it wouldn’t grow back. It was backbreaking and tiring work, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Figured that if he put in the work it would take to make it look nice, then it would look nice. Whatever work that meant he had to do, would be worth the cost. He also wanted Mary to be proud of their place. She was.

Now all these years later, after the raising of the kids and seeing them go on to be successful, who would have guessed? A man came to Will one day and asked him if he would entertain the idea of having an oil well on his place. He wasn’t so sure. How could he have oil under his little piece of land? Would it be enough to be worth the trouble for the oil company? These were all the questions that went through his mind that day. He wanted to think about it. That night after supper, while watching TV, he told Mary about the man and his offer to lease the land. She was unsure too. They decided to pray and sleep on it.

Will woke up the next morning and the decision became clear. He had worked as hard as he knew how to clear that land. It was his sweat and labor that made it look so nice and had kept it up all of these years. He’d be damned if an oil company ruined it all just to drill a dry hole and then leave a mess. He was kind of old schooled that way. The answer would be no when the man came back to ask him.

Three days later the man did show up. He asked Will if he had made his mind up. Will informed him of the bad news. No well would be drilled on this property that he had worked so hard to pay for and keep up. The man informed him that he could be passing up the opportunity of a lifetime. He could, by allowing this to happen, provide for his children and grandchildren for years to come. Maybe for their lives. All of the neighbors had decided to do it he said, but he realized that maybe they saw things differently than Will did. Will would reconsider.

After speaking to Mary again, they changed their minds. They decided they were getting up in age and that this could allow them to leave something behind to the kids other than an old wood frame house with a roof that needed replacing. They prayed on it again and slept on it for good measure.

When the man returned, Will notified him that they would accept his offer. When the paperwork had been done, he and Mary felt some regret. They hoped they had made the best decision. They prayed some more.

What happened next the likes of which they had never seen. Men showed up and drilled a brand new water well. Then a huge white rock location was built, and then mobile homes showed up along with machinery like they couldn’t imagine. All of Will’s hard work had gone out the window in just a few short weeks. Now the pasture he was once so proud of had been sacrificed. He hoped it was not in vain.

Then the noise came. It was 24 hours a day. The drilling rig ran nonstop night and day. At night the lights were bright and shined so far that they even cast a glow into the back yard just enough to see their way without a light. It reminded them of a full moon night where you could walk in the dark with no help from a flashlight. Sometimes at night when nothing was on TV, they would take a couple cheap “dollar store” aluminum lawn chairs, sit in the backyard just watching the workers and, quietly hope. They would go back in the house and pray more.

They stopped a man who was driving out one evening. The road out from the well was not far from the house and Will and Mary had decided to do some watching from the lawn chairs this evening. Will asked the man if he knew of any progress. The man walked into the backyard and pointed to a huge pit. Over the pit was a pipe that lay horizontally and was open on one end. He told them that if you see a big flame coming from that pipe, your worries will all be over and their lives would change forever. They would have made a well on their place.

Four nights later Will and Mary were in their lawn chairs watching. The lights of the night cast just a dim glow once again into the backyard. Will had noticed that the noise was not quite as loud these last few days and that some of the equipment had changed, but the men still worked like ants. Suddenly a man with a long stick and a rag burning on the end lit the end of the pipe. The flame was not a very big one, but one all the same! Then the most amazing thing happened. That little flame slowly became very big! It lit up the night sky for miles around! It was huge and Will and Mary both could feel something that could only be described as disbelief. They watched the flame from their lawn chairs without saying a word.

The man who had stopped at the house that day was at the rig. For some reason he couldn’t help but wonder if the nice old couple had seen what was happening. He walked to the edge of the lights and used his hand to cover his eye so he could see all the way over to the backyard of the little wood frame house. What he saw made tears well up in the corners of his eyes. There sat that little old couple in their lawn chairs in that backyard. They sat looking at that flame and not at each other. They sat dressed in regular clothes like regular people who had been married for 51 years this coming fall. The man wore glasses and her dress had flowers on it. They sat looking at all of their worries and care burn away on the end of that pipe over that pit. What he couldn’t see was the tears running down each of their faces. They were sitting there, chairs in the same positions, but now they had arms outstretched and were holding hands.

After some time had passed, they folded up their lawn chairs. Will took out his handkerchief and they wiped their faces. Then they went inside and they prayed.


try it....it works....have a good one,

Walker

One Free Meal

Smokey, JJ, and Pete were about the best friends in the world. There wasn’t anything they wouldn’t do for each other in a pinch. Smokey was the calculating one of the bunch. He could look at a person and know what they were thinking and act on it before they knew he had’em figured. JJ was the talker. He could talk his way into just about anything and not out of much. Pete, well…Pete was not quite the thinker or the talker, but Pete was good at one thing and that’s callin’em like he sees’em.

It was a cold night in November and the North wind was reminding the friends that they hadn’t had a good meal in a while. They were travellin’ back from a hard weekend of rodeoing and didn’t have 2 quarters to rub together between the three of them. But they were hungry, and that sometimes overpowers the normal rules of decision making about food.

The Innkeeper was just about the fanciest restaurant in the next little town. It had a perfectly manicured yard, complete with mood lit shrubbery, sure to enhance the taste of most any meal. The parking lot was full of expensive cars and the first thing the group noticed as they pulled their old pickup in along side a model of car they couldn’t pronounce was that JJ looked especially proud to be there.

“What in the world has gotten into you JJ?” asked Smokey, suddenly feeling unsure since JJ was so confident.

“Well boys, have I got a surprise for you. We’re gonna eat us a big steak in this fancy restaurant and I’m gonna pay for it”, announced JJ.

“How you figure on paying for all of this? You lost your last 10 bucks in that bet”, Smokey reminded.

“Now... we all know that bet was rigged. There ain’t no way that girl coulda resisted my charms, especially when I been drinkin’”, he smirked.” I think she was tipped off on my advances by that guy we bet and because part of that money belonged to you boys, I’m gonna buy you a steak to make up for it. Now tuck your shirts in and get ready to act like we belong in here. I used to date a waitress here and I think I got an idea that will get us some free grub.”

The truck doors squeaked open and the trio stepped out into the cold evening air. Smokey straightened his shirttail and his hat while JJ took a look at himself in the truck window just to make sure he was presentable. Pete took the opportunity to shine his boots on the back of his pants leg and they were off.

Walking up the steps to the building the three all sensed they were in over their heads but no one would admit it. After the man at the door seated them, they all proceeded to recall the events of the weekend from start to finish. The conversation consisted of near missed riches and love gone bad, just like every conversation they had on a Sunday evening on the way home. When the waitress took their order, Smokey just couldn’t help but feel like something needed mentioning.

“JJ?”

“Yeah.” Was the most easily understood word spoken with a mouthful of complimentary dinner rolls.

“I cain’t help but notice that you haven’t spoken to any of these women in here like you know’em. Where’s your waitress friend?”

“She’ll be on her shift in a few minutes. Don’t worry, it’ll be alright.”

Smokey didn’t feel so sure. After a while though, the food showed up and when that happened all concerns went out the window. With the meal done and the dishes picked up there was only one thing left…the check. When the bill hit the table a spectacle went on in that little town like no one had ever seen. Especially the swells in that place.

The check hadn’t even settled on the table yet when a shriek went up like a mountain lion caught in a leg trap and the next thing anyone knew, Old JJ hit the floor. All of that woulda been ok if the spectacle after the hollerin’ hadn’t happened. There was so much writhin’ and moanin’ that neither Smokey nor Pete knew what to do. They had never seen such a thing, and from the looks on the faces of most of the folks in that fancy restaurant, they hadn’t either.

Somehow they got JJ out of the restaurant and into the pickup. It was in large part due to some help from the manager, who was afraid the rest of the patrons would fear a good poisoning is what Ole JJ was sufferin’ from, because he helped carry and half drag JJ out to the truck with JJ causing a commotion the whole time. Pete jumped behind the wheel and as Smokey tended to JJ by fannin’ him with his hat, they screeched out of the parking lot and headed south. The city limits hadn’t even been cleared yet and the truck erupted in laughter.

“What the heck was that JJ? I thought you knew someone in there that would give us a free meal.”

JJ just smirked for a few minutes before answering.

“We know the manager now.”

Herman and the Yellow Stud

Herman and the Yellow Stud

This is a real story, told to me by an eye witness. Some of the names have been changed or omitted to protect the innocent.

Herman was one of the best hands around. In fact, he could rope and ride just about anything. His specialty though just happened to be calf roping. So when the boss came to him and asked him to show his prize Yellow stud at The Quarter Horse Congress he was more than happy to accept. This wasn’t your ordinary horse show in that most of the spectators in the bleachers would be dressed to the nines meaning coats, ties, and more. Not just the usual Sunday best. Herman wasn’t one to be intimidated by something like that.

The calf roping went just as planned and the Yellow Stud worked to perfection just like everyone knew he would and Herman placed him first in the class. Feeling like his work was done, Herman decided to treat himself to a few adult beverages out at the trailer, after all he had earned as much, and it was Saturday night. Just before the Team Roping event started, the boss came to one of the stable boys looking for Herman. After learning he was at the trailer drinking, he sent the stable boy outside double time to inform Herman that he was showing Ole Yeller in the Team Roping as well. The boy finds him sitting on the hitch of the horse trailer, shirt tail untucked, drinking beer that was iced down in a horse’s feed bucket. Herman had just the confidence he needed. Through the parking lot, full gallop no less, comes Herman and Yeller just in time too. Herman backs him into the heeling box, builds a loop and prepares to make war in an event he had never tried. Who says being a cowboy ain’t fun? As the steer turns, Herman throws his loop; parks Yeller dead still and drops his coils on the horn all while waving his hat and letting out a whoop that would make a Comanche shiver. When the dust settled and it was determined that everyone was ok, guess what….there were two feet in that loop and they got there fast too!

At the other end of the arena as Herman loosened the cinches up on Ole Yeller, someone came up and informed him that he had just won the Team Roping. Well this was just another cause for celebration so Herman tightened Yeller back up, and pushed the gate open with his boot to make a victory lap. Well don’t let it ever be said that Herman did something halfway. After the fifth lap around the arena the announcer finally got Herman to slow up enough to inform him that they would like to take their picture down there in front of a real pretty backdrop. After a sliding stop, and a full gallop restart they pulled up again just in time to miss the High School Rodeo Queen holding the trophy for the picture. Herman dismounted, threw his arm around the queen, and with his hat kicked back on his head grinned the biggest smile……but the Yellow Stud wasn’t done yet. Five laps around the arena at full gallop, after a rip roaring Team Roping run would be enough to excite anyone. So just as Herman got his smile on straight, with a pretty queen in one hand and a new trophy in the other, Ole Yeller pawed Herman in the leg! I’m told it made one of the best horse show pictures of all time.

The one that almost broke us

My good buddy Stephen Ball has an outstanding bunch of Bobcat Dogs. I capitalized the title of them for a reason. He spends much time making them good and I sure like to go with him when I get the chance. One of the last times I went with him, we started a cat down on the bay at a friend of our's place. We like to hunt down there because we almost always catch something.....the bad part is that the brush is so thick you can't walk through it in most places.....you crawl on the ground on your belly to get around. It's a place to go while you are still young and want to do stuff like that. Anyway, we started this cat and had a heck of a race right through the thickest part. The cat ran a little ways and then treed so we crawled in to the dogs and we jumped her out. She ran a little ways further and treed again, so we crawled more and jumped her out.....repeat this about 6 times for almost an hour and half......we were exhausted to say the least and the dogs were looking at us for some relief. Finally we ended up right on the water with a pretty good sized bluff above us and the cat in a tree up the bluff (tree number 6 or 7 depending on how you count). We couldn't take it anymore. Stephen had to go get his .22 rifle from the truck while I stayed with the dogs and tried to keep them interested until he got back. Usually this goes against everything he stands for as far as making a sport out of it, but there was no other choice. In the meantime the flashlight I had died. I could use it for about 5-10 seconds at a time to shine on the cat so the dogs would hang around and that was it.

This was taken from my belly and yes those are Stephen's legs along with the pole we use to make the cats jump out of trees. First time we could stand upright in almost an hour.

Steve shot her only wounding her and that was all ok. What was not ok, was when she did a backflip out of the tree and landed on the ground right between me and Stephen.....that'll get you going. She reached out and grabbed Stephen's pants leg and he and I both looked like those cartoon characters who peel out in mid-air without going anywhere and then take off. We found energy we didn't know we had. Anyway, the dogs finally got her out in the open enough to gang up on her and the race was over. We got back to the truck and had to collect ourselves a little. Then we drove up the road a ways and turned'em loose. Can't wait to go again....

walker

Stephen Ball fresh from battle with the bay behind him.

Notice the sweated through shirt and wet pants legs from the knee down from crawling. Pretty good cat though.