Giggle Water

It was first light on a Sunday morning, and that light was some kind of bright. Ely opened one eye and that eye pounded from the inside out. He laid in his bedroll with one eye open and slowly breathed without moving. Cap was still asleep. Every year Cap, Ely and some other boys went camping. They drove out to the middle of the ranch, pitched tents and put their bedrolls out. They hunted, fished, cooked and just generally spent some time together. They did what men do and what they had been doing since the beginning of time, just with a little more technology and with no grunting.

The night before they had sat around the campfire, told stories about horses and women…and their lack of control at times of either. They talked about the younger days and when that subject came around it seemed like a little nip of giggle water was needed. It not only tasted good, but it also kept the dew off of them as they sat around till the wee hours talking. The temperature had been down in the 40’s and although that’s not too cold when sitting around a fire, the bottle had come around more and more frequent as the night wore on.

Ely heard stirring from the other side of the tent and assumed it was Cap. They always shared a tent. Ely never questioned the arrangement because it had never been any different. No need to change what was working. Cap shifted on his bedroll and Ely hoped he would go back to sleep. He was trying to.

“Ely, are you up?” managed Cap in a weak voice.

“Barely.” Ely heard more shifting and into the field of vision of that one open eye came Cap. He looked like hell. His shirt was untucked, and his salt and pepper beard was scraggly after a couple days with no razor. Ely sat up in his bedroll on one elbow.

“Here.” Said Cap as he stood over Ely and handed him the bottle from the night before. “Take a drink of this.”

“No way. Not me. I don’t want to see that stuff til next year.” Said Ely.

“Yeah, you have to. No choice.”

“Not today I don’t.”

Cap reached in his pocket and pulled his knife. He pointed it at Ely. “Take a drink or I’ll cut ya.” Ely opened the other eye and grimaced. Cap had a look like he just might do it.

“It’ll help, and I know you feel bad. Just think of it like medicine. Except your momma probably never threatened you with a knife.”

Ely couldn’t believe it. After all these years, no matter how mad Cap had been at him from time to time he had never threatened harm. Ely didn’t see how he had any choice. He took the bottle from Cap and managed a small sip. It was horrible, although he didn’t remember it tasting that bad the night before. He handed the bottle back to Cap who had a funny look on his face.

Cap took the bottle in one hand and stared it down with an evil eye. Two adversaries had just met. He took the bottle and put it to his lips, but just couldn’t do it. He handed his knife to Ely with a smile on his face.

“Now you hold it on me.”


Walker

Cowboy Line

Here's one for you today boys....

Cowboy Line

He bought himself the weanlin’ colt,
Fall of ’33.
Deep sorrell with a flaxen mane,
Just as pretty as he could be.

When he swung up to the middle,
That very first time,
Pretty was the very last thing,
That was on his mind.

This bronc here was a waspy one,
At first light every day,
But he pitched his rope on him first,
When catchin’ cows for pay.

He run a yearlin’ bull one day,
Across a prairie flat,
And ole sorrelly he was never lost,
Just knockin’ out his tracks.

When everyone else pulled up,
Just hoping to see a wreck,
All they saw was ole sorrelly logged off,
And he just had his hat tipped back.

He could pull just like a switch engine,
I mean locomotive style,
And although sometimes things got tight,
They never got too wild.

For 15 total years or so,
They carried on this way.
Even when the grain was short,
And there wasn’t quite enough hay.

Then one day someone caught ole sorrel,
And led him from his pen.
The led him right to a part of town,
Where he had never been.

These last few years he’d had a break,
From workin’ everyday.
Seems he seldom saw his master,
In that early light of day.

When the boys hitched him up,
It seemed ole sorrelly knew,
What his last job would be….
He knew just what to do.

He pulled that old black wagon,
Out to the edge of town.
Real slow, smooth and even,
His head the whole way down.

I think he knew just one last time,
He carried his old boss.
And people can say just what they want to,
I think ole sorrelly felt the loss.

He lived out the rest of his days,
In kinda cowboy lore.
The boys never figured out why he did what he did…..
He’d never pulled a wagon before.

We could all be so lucky to,
Once in our life find….
One thing that stayed loyal to the end…..
The end of our cowboy line.

copyright 2002 Justin Walker

A Generous Gift

Cap and Ely sat on the back porch of Cap's house. It was a nice Sunday afternoon and a cool front had brought a little rain earlier in the day. The rain was soaking in and a fresh breeze jingled the wind chimes on the back porch. It was a good day.

Into the driveway pulled Glen. He parked his old pickup truck and got his cane out of the space between the toolbox and the cab of the truck. Cooler days like this one, he needed it for his trick knee that sometimes didn't follow the orders his brain gave it. "It's hell gettin' old" he had been heard to say once or twice.

He eased up onto the porch and joined Cap and Ely in their leisure. After he got settled into his chair and the pleasantries were over this conversation took place.

"Glen, whatever happened to that dog I gave you?" asked Cap. "He was out of that good dog of mine and I didn't give many of those puppies away. I sold most of'em and people wanted more when I ran out."

"I been meanin to talk to you about that Cap. I still have that dog alright, but he ain't worth killin'. I think it would be hard to find a sorrier dog alive.....and I mean that."

"What? He was gonna make something for sure. Matter of fact, Ely had him picked out for himself before I gave him to you. I wouldn't let him keep him though because I knew you wanted one. He liked to not got over it niether, as the subject will still touch a nerve with him right now as we speak."

"Are we talking about the same dog?" asked Glen, "The dog I'm talking about is a cur dog with a pretty ring neck and one blue eye. He is a good looking dog and can really bark in the pen. He also sleeps good and eats lots of good dog food. The one thing he ain't good at is hearing....because he's deaf."

Cap bit his tongue to hide a smile. "Why, what do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean you gave me a deaf dog, that's what I mean! You acted like you were doing me a great favor by giving such a generous gift, but in fact you unloaded a dog that don't hear, and I don't mean he is hard of hearing, I mean he is deaf!"

"Ely, lean over and check Glen's temperature because he's surely feverish. Glen, are you insulting me? That dog is just a heavy sleeper. He can hear just fine. You must be whisperin' when you talk or something."

"It's funny you say that, I thought the same thing myself. So I waited til he was sleepin' one day and I walked up to the pen. I wasn't sneakin' neither. I walked right up to that pen and took this cane here in my hand and rapped on the tin roof of the dog pen with it. All the other dogs ran into their barrels except ole Miracle Ear. He laid right there and slept like a baby. Yep, now I know why he barks in the pen constantly....because he cain't hear hisself think, and he sure cain't hear me yellin' at him to stop."

"Well I'll be..." muttered Cap,"I can't believe it. Well I'm sorry about that Glen. That's just bad luck."

"Yep, sure is I guess, but you knew that dog was deaf when you gave'em to me."

"Why do you say that? What do you have to base that on? Are you accusing me of giving you a deaf dog?"

"Yep, I sure am. And I am prepared to return the favor."

"Oh no. I don't want him back. You can't give him back Glen. That would be bad luck. Least that's what I've heard."

"Oh, I'm not giving the dog back. I learned to like him. I got a gift for you though...hope you like it. I'll see you boys later." With that Glen stood up to leave and didn't hesitate as he got back to his truck. He stepped around the back of his truck, dropped the tailgate and opened a small cage releasing at least 10 cats....then drove away.

Unconventional Cow Loading

Cap and Ely had been cleaning out the back pasture for a week. Things had been so dry that, there was just no way to hang on any longer. They had penned and worked the other pastures, and shipped some of the older cows leaving the younger ones to hustle on their own for something to graze on. The back pasture was different story though. It had a big creek running through it and the country back there just wasn't as strong. Those cows, whether young or old, had to go.

Most of them had come without a fight. It's always depressing to pen skinny cows. The only bright side was that they seldom tried to run off because they just didn't have the energy. But did you know there was an exception to every rule? On the last "drag" through the pasture, a big Cross-bred cow was spotted and by the way she acted, it had been a while since she had seen a man. The chase was on.

To a regular day working cowboy, sometimes nothing is more fun than roping a runaway cow. The situation has to be just right for it to be fun though. First of all you have to be mounted correctly. It's better if you're not riding a colt. It's also better if you can get her to an opening and take a higher percentage shot at catching. Today both things were in the cowboy crew's favor.

The cow crossed through a "sendera", or a long narrow opening, then went back into a clump of brush. Evidently she thought she could make a break for it, across the next opening. She miscalculated.

Cap, Ely and the other boys were after her like a duck on a junebug. She ducked and dodged through some light brush, but made another mistake when she crossed in front of Monte, who had hired on for the day's work. He roped her, slowed her down, and Don showed up just in time to rope her back feet and lay her down.

Cap rode off to get the truck and trailer so she could be loaded and everyone took five. When he returned with the trailer and backed up to her, everyone took positions. The rope was run through the bars of the trailer up towards the front of the truck and Monte rode up there so he could pull her in, while the rest of the gang got behind her and tried to coax/scare her into jumping up into the trailer. She wasn't having it. After several attempts she laid down right in the gate and sulled up. Everyone stood around and scratched their head. After a few minutes of thinking, ideas were aplenty.

"I bet I can get her in there, and make it her idea." said Don hoping for some action.
"I bet you can't." said Cap. "Getting her out of the pasture and to the sale barn is the goal, and I'd prefer to do that without her having a broken leg."
"I won't break her leg." replied Don."Hell, you can tell Monte not to pull her if you want to."
"Don, what are you up to?" asked Cap.
"I'm gonna make this cow jump in the trailer, without anyone pulling her and it will be her idea, and she won't be hurt."

After a few minutes there were no other ideas, so Cap agreed.

"Don, you can try it, but if I don't like how it's going, I'm gonna stop you."

"No problem", replied Don and he casually walked over to the cow. She was still down on the ground, and he just eased right up beside her and then leaned on her like she was a bar in a saloon. Don rolled and lit a cigarette, from the tobacco in his pocket and took his time smoking it. No one talked or moved...but everyone wondered what was gonna happen next.

A few minutes passed and everyone still stood there watching Don smoke the cigarette. He looked like he was really enjoying it down the last puff. Right before he took that last puff, he leaned down real easy like and put the remaining cigarette in the cows nose and clamped the nostril shut with his hand. I guess the cow had never smoked before, because she didn't have the same look of enjoyment that Don did while he was smoking it. She slung her head from one side to the other, but Don never lost his grip on her nose. That cigarette was trapped and so was the smoke! She lurched one way, then the other and jumped to her feet! At the same time, Don jumped towards her rear, twisted her tail, hollered at the top of his lungs and she jumped right into that trailer!

After the dust settled and the gate was closed. Everyone stood around not knowing what to make of what they just saw, then they erupted in laughter. Cap couldn't stand it.

"Don, what the heck where you thinking? You coulda got hooked, or worse! And why in the world didn't you just put that cigarette in there from the start? We could be gone from here already."

"Cap, you bought any tobacco lately? It's higher priced than these ole cows. I wanted my money's worth before she got hers!"

One Cool Dude

As I get older I am learning. Our walk through this world is full of experiences and it takes all of these experiences to make us who we are. When we get old all we really have is family, friends, pictures, and stories to tell. Max Stalling says,"Life's mostly... scars and souvenirs." I believe that. This is a story about a friend of mine.

TJ loved kids. He was old enough to be my dad when I was a kid and called me son. It was an inside joke of sorts because we are not related, but as I get older I am realizing we have quite a bit in common. I think alot of our philosophies on life are the same, and if you know me, I love to talk "a philosophy". :)

I'll remember it if I live to be 100. It was the late summer of 1995 and after spending all spring and summer going to the youth rodeos to win checks for $25 and precious points for the year end, it was at last the Finals. Every year the finals were held in Seguin, Texas and for almost a week, that town was a little piece of heaven on earth. Well to a 16 year old kid anyway. There was plenty to do during the day, like swimming and hanging out, and a rodeo every night. What else do you need?

My friends and I had just finished swimming in the Guadalupe River which ran by an RV park where lots of our friends stayed for the week. We would go to their park and swim almost everyday. This day we were drying off around a picnic table, when down the road, at a faster than medium pace, came this old suburban. As it got closer I noticed that all 4 of the windows were down. The vehicle I didn't recognize but the driver I did. It was TJ. He had on a Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, and was smoking a cigar. This was not all that strange to see. When he pulled up though, in that old borrowed from someone suburban, the picture became more clear. That suburban was loaded with little kids. When I say loaded, I mean you couldn't fit another one in there sideways. Every passenger looked exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. If you've seen many kids after a long day of excitement, you know the look. The suburban rolled to a stop and the kids all bailed out, windblown hair, swimsuits (most with Popsicle juice dripped all down the front of them) and smiles.....huge smiles. Some of their parents were around the table where we were standing. TJ strolled up cigar in hand. A happier fellow you wouldn't find.

"Did you guys have fun?", one of them asked.

"Oh, man, you bet! We ate Popsicles, and played at Schlitterbahn all day! You should have seen them!" TJ explained with glee. "I think they were afraid we were gonna take'em over when I released these wild Indians on'em!"

The parents all laughed. I did too. I remembered thinking to myself, here is a guy who could've spent his day lounging by the river enjoying a good cigar or doing any number of other things. That wasn't TJ's style though. He wanted to share his day with those kids (his daughter Lauren was one of them) and it brought him great joy to see them happy. Not only see them happy, but to make their day by taking them to a waterpark, paying for them all to get in, springing for snacks, drinks, Popsicles.....it made an impression on me.

I stood there a 16 year old kid and for one of the first times I can remember, I realized....this ain't just about me. Those kids may not remember that day because over the course of their lives they probably went to many waterparks and did many other things. I remember it like it was yesterday and I didn't even go.

I don't get to see my friend TJ as much as I used to. I hear he is doing well, and that makes me happy. We run into each other from time to time and catch up as much as possible. I can tell you this though.....some day I'm gonna load up a vehicle full of other peoples kids and spend the day lettin'em go hog wild and then take'em back to their parents exhausted.....I know a fella who sure made it look fun. TJ, here's to you my friend.

Take the time to make someone's day every once in a while, it just might come back around sometime.

Walker

Here's my friend TJ now dining with a cute young lady.

Pappa, teaching Precious Grandaughter Tylie Faye proper ettiquette at a elegant Tea Party