Catching Up/Trip to Amarillo

Earlier this month I posted about a new job I have taken selling Crop Insurance/Pasture Insurance. Well as part of my training I was sent to Amarillo so I could meet the company we write the Insurance with. No problem right? ...Right.

Everything was ok until I started getting closer to Amarillo. I changed planes in Dallas and got on a prop engine plane. I had never been on one of those before, but I wasn't concerned since I was flying with American. I had never heard anything bad about them. Then, about 30 minutes out of Amarillo I heard this noise. I was sitting right behind the wing, reading my book, and I looked out the window to find the engine right outside my window was shooting flames from the rear of it. I quickly decided that this was not normal. It was doing it in short bursts, like when a lawnmower backfires. I have since come to decide that a lawnmower would have been safer to fly to Amarillo on...and lawnmowers don't fly good in case you didn't know.

This popping noise and flame show continued for a few minutes when all of a sudden the plane noticeably lowered altitude and slowed down in speed. "Well I had a good run" was the first thing that popped into my head. I made it 31 years and got to do lots of fun stuff. One thing I am most proud of is that you can order a "Justin Walker" in most bars and they will bring you a Crown and Water...really you can order it by name now.

But it was at that time, I figured, after all the dumb stuff I've done in my life that a plane crash is gonna be the way I go. I was ready. Luckily we made it into Amarillo. As we descended down on the runway, I noticed the fire trucks waiting for us at the end of the runway. They weren't parked at the terminal just in case something bad happened, they were down at the end of the runway where we touched down. I guess in case the landing gear also gave out and we slid to a stop down the pavement causing a prairie fire that could burn all the way to El Paso or Oklahoma City depending on which way the wind was blowing. Once we touched down they proceeded to follow us all the way to the terminal with their lights blazing. Just in case you don't believe me the photo is above.

The captain came on and told us that,"As some of you may have noticed we had some engine trouble on the way in, but we reduced altitude and slowed our speed down. After that the engine seemed to respond well." In other words, "The engine that was responsible for 50% of the power on the plane was trying to catch on fire, so we slowed her down and luckily we didn't all crash in a ball of fire. I was basically trying to fly us into Amarillo on a pack of gum with wings, and we managed to get it done this time." Thanks American Airlines.

Upon my return flight to Corpus Christi I am proud to report nothing caught on fire. As I was standing at the baggage claim carousel waiting for my bag to come around I noticed something else. My bag never came. Huh...I can distinctly remember paying an extra $20 for my bag to be checked when I left Amarillo. This $20 matched the amount I paid when leaving Corpus on my way to Amarillo making the tidy sum of $40 extra just for my luggage to arrive in both destinations with me.

About the time I noticed that my bag didn't show up, a nice man informed me that if it wasn't there already it wasn't coming. Perfect. I made my way to the claims counter and informed them of my dilemma. My dilemma was that I had paid $40 for my bag to have it's own little airline ticket so it could ride in the belly of the plane, yet my bag didn't get to make it's destination. I explained that if I had bought a ticket to...say Amarillo, and I didn't get there because of the flaming engine outside my window, I would be looking for a refund. So on my bag's behalf I stood ready to collect for it's ticket that was not honored. She did not agree. I again asked for my $40 back and she would not pay. I left a very dissatisfied customer. Thanks again American Airlines.

All in all I would say that when faced with the choice to fly American Airlines... or wrap my lips around the muffler of a Grayhound Bus and be dragged naked through a field of cactus all the way to Amarillo, I would choose the latter. At least the bus/cactus dragging wouldn't cost me an extra $40.

Flying Southwest from now on,

Walker

Odds, Ends, and Good People

This past weekend Celeste had a jewelry booth at the George West Storyfest. (http://www.georgeweststoryfest.org/) I headed over with Mom and we decided to check it out. It was a nice day outside and it was pretty cool to sit around and do some people watching, which is one of my favorite things. I even considered getting up and telling a story or two myself, since I enjoy telling a good story and I just happen to have a few. The open mic part of the day was later in the evening and by the time it rolled around, all we wanted to do was eat and go home, so alas I did not get to regale the audience with a semi-true story from my memory bank. Maybe next year.



As I was sitting behind the booth watching people I looked down the sidewalk behind me and noticed a man coming my way. He was carrying a guitar and wearing a cowboy hat. These two things alone let me know that when he made it to where I was sitting, we would visit for a while...and we did. He was a Brick Mason by trade, but a songwriter and musician at heart. He just hadn't found a way to make the songwriting pay. We laughed about that. He told me that last year he had written over 200 songs and sent them to Nashville. "No one likes my songs though." He liked to write mostly cowboy type songs and throw some gospel in there as well. We both agreed that was not "Mainstream Country". No one nowadays wants to go to Wal-Mart and buy that. He played a few for us and they were pretty darn good. The last one he played was a song he wrote about a train on the tracks, and how he thought it would be cool if a train was going down the tracks with Jesus as the conductor. Then when the train whistle blew every time, it wouldn't whistle, but spread God's glory. Sounds like a train we could all ride on. He told me that he enjoyed writing songs so much because in a song you could be anything or anyone you wanted to be. After a few songs, he went on his way and I hope he had a good day. He was a pretty cool fellow.



I got to thinking about him though. Can you imagine doing something for fun, but doing it over 200 times and not being successful? I know lots of people who are "good" at something, but have not had "success" as most people would define it. That leads me to my point.



We all have our own definition of what being "successful" is. People measure it in different ways. Money, clothes, cars, having the latest coolest thing, a fancy title or job, etc....we all have seen it. But does that make us a good man or woman? At the end of the day, when we take all those things away, have we been a "good" person that day? Did we act like we should, or treat people like we should? That's what matters. Although we might try to be a good person and fail 200 times, do we keep trying? We should. These things we should all do....



I hope that little fella with the bad hips, guitar, and cowboy hat writes the best song anyone's ever heard. I hope he writes it on his next try, George Strait records it and it goes all the way to #1! He made me keep things in perspective by visiting for a while....I'd call him a "good" man.





Walker

Hard on the Housekeeper

It was quiet and still just like all mornings before daylight. The first cool weather of fall had crept in the evening before, and Cap always liked that first "light jacket morning". He woke up every morning before daylight, no alarm needed. He kept one set though, just for the rare occurrence that he might oversleep. He never seemed to need it though.

He opened his eyes and laid still for a minute just listening. This was his custom. He stirred just a bit and noticed something he had never before. Grit. Surely not. He and Martha had been married for 37 years and she had always kept the house clean, almost to a fault. He had been scolded many times for coming in with clothes or boots that left their marks on whatever they touched. He was trained to do better after those first few years he thought. Martha might view him as a work still in progress. But this was different.

He rolled over and Martha was still asleep. When he rolled he felt it even more. Grit. He tried not to overreact. Everyone slips a little now and then. He should cut her some slack. The more he thought about it in those few moments, the madder he got. He couldn't let it go.

He got out of bed and pulled the sheets back on his side. The room was still dark, and with loud and over-exaggerated strokes he brushed whatever grit was in the bed out. He was making a commotion and trying to make a point. Martha woke up.

"What are you doing?" she asked eyes still not completely focused.

"There's something in this bed woman." he answered. "You must not've washed these bed clothes this week. Here I am sleepin' and tryin' to rest so I can go make you a livin' and you got me sleepin' in a dirty bed."

By this time Martha was wide awake. She was not about to sit still and let her house cleaning be criticized this early in the morning. "It's not my fault" she said almost too calmly. This should have been a red flag for Cap. He plowed on anyway.

"Heck it ain't. I woke up this morning and felt like I was sleepin' on the floor of the tack room. There's some kind of grit in here with me." He was still brushing the bed with his hand.

"Turn on the lamp and you'll see the problem" said Martha.

Cap turned on the bedside lamp and noticed that this grit was somewhat familiar. As he studied it trying to make a determination as to its genesis, Martha cut the slack out of the problem for him. She was good at that.

"YOU woke up in your sleep last night and went to the kitchen. I felt you get up. I also felt you return with a handful of those cookies I made for Ely's birthday two days ago. Then YOU fell back asleep before you ate them all and crushed the rest of them while you tossed and turned like you always do. So the problem is not with my clean house, it's with the night-time-cookie-eater who lives here and then doesn't eat all the cookies during his sleep walking, rather chooses to roll on them all night."

Cap stood there next to the bed and looked at her. She was mad. He didn't seem to be mad anymore. He pulled the covers back over the bed and headed to the bathroom to run some bath water. Martha laid back down. As the water ran in the bathroom, Cap returned to the bedroom and leaned down over her as she was trying to go back to sleep.

"I'm sorry honey, but you know I like those cookies." He paused, then added," I'm just sayin' I like'em to be a little chewy and if they hadn't been so dry maybe they wouldn't have got crushed up so bad."

She groaned. He ran.


have a good weekend,
Walker

Conversation with a Legend

Last weekend I went to a roping in Salado. I had always seen him around, but never had the chance to talk to him before. I knew he could rope and always had the good partners. He never did anything fast or fancy, but when they called out the teams for the Short Round, he was in there somewhere with a chance to win something.

When Walter Arnold rode up beside me at the roping on Saturday, I took the opportunity. I congratulated him on his introduction this year to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame and told him how cool I thought that was. In case you don't know who I'm talking about, here is the video they show when they induct you to the Hall.

Walter Arnold - HOF 2009 - Rodeo UP Video - Official Video Site of the PRCA
Shared via AddThis

He thanked me and seemed nice, so I stayed after him. I mentioned how after I watched the video, that things are sure different. The guys back then were cowboys and not just "Team Ropers"....myself included. He told me how when he was rodeoing most of the guys he competed with were cowboys for a living. They worked on ranches and then rodeoed when they could, so it was more of a cowboy sport. Nowadays there's folks who work in town during the week and then rope on the weekends. He told me that he won fourth in the Average at the NFR one year and won $400. I was amazed. Heck it takes that much to enter a roping a couple times now. He agreed. In those days he told me you could buy the nicest trailer out there for $600 dollars, and a new truck cost $2,000. We've all heard those stories from someone or another and I'm sure I'll tell my share of them in the future because things are sure to change more.

$400 though? That sure didn't seem like much. Mr. Arnold told me that back then you could buy a chicken fried steak for $1.25. That average check would buy you 320 chicken fried steaks so I guess it's all relative. We sat there for a minute and I tried to think of something interesting to say. I couldn't. I guess I had him thinking though. He looked at me and smiled. "Course there's lots more money in it now." I had seen him get his share of it over the last few years that's for sure!(I also noticed later that he was driving a double cab dually truck that he had won. You bet there's more money in it!)

After our short talk, we parted ways. I enjoyed the visit and it's nice to see these type of guys still out there doing what they love....and doing it so well.

Thanks Mr. Arnold for taking the time to talk to a "team roper".....it was nice.

Walker

Hookin' Buford

For the non-ropers out there a Buford is a roping dummy that is attached to a pivot in the center and with the help of electricity it travels in a circle around the pivot. It has speeds that you can set from slow to pretty fast and they are excellent tools. They look like this.

Cap sat on the porch of the old barn in the corral and watched with amusement. Ely had been showing him how well he had his green broke colt handling. Ely loped him one way, stopped and then turned him around and loped the other. This was only his 3rd week of riding and he was showing some good promise. Ely was sure proud.

"I got him to where you can swing a rope on him yesterday!" Ely announced to Cap from the lot. As he said it he untied his rope from the saddle horn and slowly built a loop. He swung it slowly and the colt, unsure at first, relaxed and accepted it.

"I'll be tracking around on him in no time!" Said Ely.

"Heck it ain't too soon to start right now!" Cap hollered back, smiling as he baited the trap for poor ole Ely. He got up off of the porch and walked out into the corral to get a closer look.

Ely eased his colt over to the Buford which just happened to be located in the same corral he was riding in. The colt, more unsure about the situation by the minute, snorted and shyed away. Ely rode him back up to it and reassured the youngster by petting him on the neck. Ely thought to himself, 'There ain't nothin' this colt cain't handle.'

"Let me turn it on for you. Might help some." offered Cap. He eased over to the machine and flipped the switch. It was set on a pretty slow pace. Ely started off pretty good and the colt followed the Buford around fairly well after some work. He was doing so good Cap decided to increase the speed a little.

Things were still ok. Maybe more speed....Not as good as before but the colt was still hangin' in there. Every time Cap sped the machine up, Ely had to do more riding to keep his colt pointed in the right direction. Finally Ely couldn't do anymore to keep his mount going in a circle and he asked Cap to stop.

"That's about fast enough!" Ely hollered at Cap. They made a few more circles and the colt settled down again finding a pretty nice pace behind the Buford. Then Ely made a fatal mistake. He let the team roper come out in him....and decided to swing his rope. The colt had forgotten about the rope by now with all the new jobs he had. HE DID NOT LIKE IT.

About the second swing, Ely let the rope brush the tips of his horses' ears. Mistake. The very gentle, well minded colt that Ely was so proud of swallowed his head and started bucking. From jump number 2 Ely was out of shape. Jumps 4 and 4.5 he blew both stirrups, was whipped down hitting his head on the colt's head and hit the ground. Hard.

It all happened so fast that Cap couldn't react. He was standing by the center of the Buford pivot and couldn't do a thing while Ely tried to make a ride on a colt that started out pretty gentle, but ended up having the talent of Kesler Rodeo Company's Painted Smile. He rushed over to Ely.

Ely was face down and making noises, which meant he was alive. Cap got to him and asked him if he was alright. He was, or he reported to be anyway. Cap knelt down beside him and put his hand on his back. Ely still groaned. Then he cussed some. He would be alright. About that time Cap heard a noise that sounded familiar. From the kneeling position, he looked over his shoulder only to see the Buford coming around again and it was coming in at pretty hot speed. At the pace Cap had set for the green broke colt, no less.

It nearly hooked Cap right in the rear as he made his retreat. Cap found out he can't run as fast as he used to. That was only half the problem. Ely was in no shape to move. Yep,.. the Buford ran right over the top of the immobile Ely. Talk about insult to injury...bucked off and hooked(more like run over)by a plastic cow. Cap did manage to get it turned off before it got him again.

Ely's ribs are taped down and healing nicely. Cap is banned from operating the Buford.

Don't push your young horses to much boys....they push back,

Walker

I Have Not Forgotten

I'm sorry. I haven't posted anything in a while, but in the interest of quality control, I just haven't had anything good to post. Occasionally I will have an idea, but just can't seem to get it strung out long enough to get it to story form. I will try to do better. I need to find some inspiration....usually it finds me. I would like to take a little vacation, but that's not gonna happen, so in the meantime I'll just keep working and looking for something to write about.

I heard the great college football coach Lou Holtz on a radio show I listen to this morning. He was discussing several different opinions he had and I found them to be very interesting. His four keys to life are this:

1. Have something to do.

2. Have someone to love.

3. Have something to hope for.

4. Have someone to believe in.

The more I thought about these things, the more I realized...I have them all. How lucky I am. Perhaps how lucky we all are. Some of these things are not hard to find in everyday life. We all have lots to do. It seems the list gets longer everyday. Most of us love someone and we are lucky if that person loves us right back. We also all hope for one thing or another because that is part of our human nature.

The last one though, is a tougher one. I can say from experience that it's not all that easy to have faith in others. We have all at one time or another uttered the words, "If you want something done right, you just have to do it yourself." Well that may be true when ordering fast food, or getting your dry cleaning done right. But in order to have genuine, real hope in someone....it's difficult.

Find someone to believe in and more importantly....tell them you do. It could make the difference to them. Who knows, it might even affect you too. None of us would be where we are now if at least one person didn't believe in us somehow or another.

I'll try to do better about my writing in the future.

Believing in others,

Walker

The Bright Side

Cap and Ely had seen it all. They had even seen snow in South Texas a few years back. Not just a little ice here and there, but real, full fledged snow. It was unheard of until then. They had seen flooding, although that seemed like ages ago, but it had happened. Now they were seeing something else they thought they never would. Wild cows.

The old ranch truck and cube trailer squeaked to a stop right next to the windmill by the Salt Well pens. Cap had been blowing the horn some, but it didn't matter. The cattle weren't far away from water, and since he had been feeding them everyday they just stood around that set of pens waiting on him to show up. They had grown accustomed to not looking for anything to eat since there was nothing.

Cap blew the horn and the cows abandoned their shade tree positions, striking a pretty good trot across the opening in front of the pens. They were sure hungry. Cap and Ely started their feeding process and while doing so had been surveying the herd to see if any of them needed attention in some way or another.

"Might bring that spray trailer back in a few days and try to get them flies off'em," offered Cap. "That's all we need next is the flies tryin' to carry'em off."

"Some of them older cows are so thin the flies might could," said Ely.

They sat a few more minutes and watched them eat the cubes that they had dumped from their trailer. Cap had said more than once that was the best thing ever bought on the whole ranch. Ely tended to agree since in the past he had done most of the feeding while Cap drove the truck.

About that time, in the distant brush line something moved. It caught Ely and Cap's eye at the same time and they looked in the same direction. A big bald faced brindle cow, with a VERY large bull calf came walking very slowly across the opening toward them. Actually, toward the cubes they had fed.

"Well....I'll be." whispered Cap. "We ain't seen her in a pretty good while. I was almost sure she was on the neighbors and she's definitely been too wild for us to catch."

"She looks pretty good considerin'. That old big calf....bad drought, guess she's too crazy to notice either one," offered Ely in the same hushed tone.

They both sat in the pickup still as could be. You'd have thought they were watching a TV show quality buck. They just sat in awe as she sashayed across the opening with her head up looking like she might want to run off at any second. She didn't though, as the smell of those cubes was more than she could stand. She walked up and started eating.

Cap started the truck, and eased out the gate of the pens and drove on down the road toward the headquarters. They both let what they had just seen soak in for a few minutes on the drive.

"You know it's dry when cows you haven't seen in over 2 years are comin' to feed." said Cap as they eased home to fill the trailer up with more cubes and make another feeding round.

"I guess if you want to find the bright side of a bad drought, gettin' your cattle gentler would be one," admitted Cap as he looked out the window at nothing.


Pray for rain boys,
Walker

Rain Dances

I went home for the first time in about a month last weekend. When you go there after being in East Texas for as long as I have, it's a welcome sight....but it's dry. When I say dry, that is an understatement. The oldtimers are saying it's just as bad as in the '50's. I only know a few people who were around then to remember, and I take their word for it. I helped Arlen feed cows for 2 days and I got a first hand look at it.

This is basically what the cows have to eat. Nothing. Not even dry grass, just dirt.

You don't have to call'em for very long because they are standing around waiting on you to get there with something to eat.

They vacuum up every morsel.

Most of the time, it would be a stretch to feed cows Alfalfa hay in South Texas. In this case, it's good feed, and it has alot less waste than round bales of Coastal.

This picture says it all. What can you do you ask? Pray for rain. If you find a feather on the ground, tie it in your hair, don't be afraid to look silly and do your best rain dance. Who knows...between the prayers and dances, maybe we'll get some soon. This did make me think of a story and I'm going to put it up tomorrow.

Walker

Suburban Life and Freiheit Store

I spent last weekend in New Braunfels. On the way I stopped at a jackpot and was close to winning something, but my partner missed. The story of all team ropers who do not win.

This is what happens when you dally and the header does not stop kicking his horse...I count 6 blisters...can you find anymore?

Celeste is housesitting for some friends of hers and so we hung out in the suburbs. It was weird...really weird. The people she is housesitting for are nice and cool, but it was like we just stepped into someone else's life for a few days. If you have never experienced this phenomenon, you won't understand what I'm talking about.

Picture some family that you know. The picture yourself living in their house, with their pets, their furnishings, their everything. It was pretty different.

Saturday we decided along with some other friends to float the river. After getting to the tube rental place and seeing the line that would have made us wait for over an hour just to get the tubes, we were unsure. So we walked around the side of the tube rental building and had decided to just swim and hang out for a while. Well, the guy who owned the rental place was on the second story of the building bar-b-queing and he looked down and hollered, "Nunez!!". Ryan is a good friend of mine and this guy had met Ryan before. They exchanged a couple sentences and Ryan explained that we wanted to float, but the tube rental line was too long. It wasn't too long for this fella since he owned the place. In about 15 minutes, we had tubes and were on the river. Nice...thanks Ryan for getting us hooked up. Also thanks for running all those windsprints in football....the tube shop owner was a UT fan....

After floating we went over to a friend of a friend's house. The friend of a friend just happened to be Rodney Hayden. If you haven't checked out his music you should. http://www.rodneyhayden.com/. He is all honky tonk country and a really cool guy. He was cooking fajitas and we visited with him for a couple hours before he went to play his gig at Freiheit that night. It seemed like the place to be, so we decided to check that out.

Here's some of the crew from the float and Freiheit: me, Walker Strait, Bubba Strait and, Trey Strait.

The concert was great and Rodney put on a good show. It's not many people nowadays that will just rip into a good old Hank Jr. song and sing it like they mean it. He can and will. Not to mention his originals...it's pretty good stuff.

Me and Ryan.

All in all it was a great trip. I am headed back this weekend to get another dose of it. I think we might go to the lake this weekend. More pics on the way!

Your humble correspondent and Celeste showing the pearly whites.

We are having fun this summer.....

Walker

The Road and The River

I have been pretty lucky lots of ways in my life. I have been really lucky to come across some real "characters" in my life. They have taught me alot about perspective and how to see things from several different angles.

Sometimes though, I find wisdom in people I don't even know. That's when it's the most fun. Last week I was meeting with an older couple about some landman stuff and in the process of getting a lease signed the old man and I struck up a conversation. We visited for a while about East Texas and all the changes that have been happening out here. That was pretty interesting. Then he asked where I was from.

I told him a little town about 50 miles North of Corpus Christi called Refuree-o. He looked at me funny. He obviously had no idea what or where that was. I went on to tell him that it was a small town with a big road running through it. Most folks just passed on through and only stopped for gas and a Subway sandwich.

He sat and listened to me talk while his wife read some documents I had asked them to sign.

I went on to tell him that the little town is getting smaller all the time and that if someone could figure out how to make a little money off of the people traveling down the road, they could do alright. He agreed. We sat there for a minute while I looked out the window and stared at nothing. It was nice and hot outside and I was glad that I wasn't out in it at that moment.

He looked at me and said,"Son....the road is like a river....you gotta know how to fish it."

My jaw dropped. In a few minutes, they had signed the paperwork and I told them how much I appreciated it, then they were on their way. After they left, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about that. How cool.

There's always another way to see every situation friends. You can choose the view of life you like...it's up to you. I'm just out here learnin' to fish.

Walker

p.s.- If that line shows up in one of my songs pretty soon....don't blame me....he's the cool guy that came up with it....I'm just gonna use it....

What I have in Common with Competitive Eaters

Not all funny stories are about other people. Sometimes I provide enough material on my own.

I felt kinda queasy yesterday when I left work. I stopped by the Dollar Store and bought some Tums (TUM, TUM, TUM, TUM, TUUUMS...I hear the commercial in my head everytime) and grazed a couple of them down. I had a supper to attend in Nacogdoches at 6:45 and needed to leave the hotel at 6. I went to the room, set the alarm on my phone, and took an hour nap hoping to feel better when I woke up. Wrong.

As I started the 40 minute drive to Nacogdoches, I questioned whether I should even be going at all. I really needed to, so I pushed on. When I reached the restaurant and made it inside, I was full bore sick to my stomach. I ordered a glass of water and sipped it, hoping that it would stay down. I made it about 15 minutes and slipped out. I couldn't take it anymore.

As I strolled through the parking lot toward my truck, I silently hoped I would make it back to the hotel before I lost my cookies. Allow me to digress.

On some roads in East Texas, it's just a four lane road, with no "Shoulder". The road from Center to Nacogdoches is just such a road. Now I was trying my best to make it like I said. About 10 miles from Center I jerked my truck into the ditch and stepped out.

When Competitive Eaters, and there is an actual sport for this, are in the heat of battle....sometimes their bodies just can't take what they are doing to it. As a defense mechanism the body does what it is trained to do. In the Competitive Eating world, this is called "having a reversal". I am not a Competitive Eater, but I do have this one bodily function in common with them.

When I stepped out of the truck, I didn't even make it to the rear of the vehicle before Reversal Number One. After that, my number one concern was for my own safety. We are animals and when we experience something like I was, I think instinct makes us do things and think things to protect ourselves. My first thought was that I was going to pass out and fall into the road afterwards being run over. I closed my truck door and tried to make it around to the other side of the vehicle. When I reached the rear of the truck was when Reversal Numbers 2 and 3 took place. At this point instinct knew I was safe from being run over, but shame stepped in. I thought to myself,"These people driving by on the road don't want to see this. I should move." So I did. This time I made it to the other side of the vehicle and with one hand on the truck bed, the other on my hip and my eyes bugging out, I experienced Reversals Number 4 and 5.

"Where is this coming from?" "What did I do?" "How can it be this much?", are all things I remember thinking during the process, closely followed by,"Please make it stop....I'll never eat Pizza again...I promise". It was violent and was my bodies natural instinctive reaction. Like when the female Preying Mantis kills and eats the male after mating. I thought the Pizza I ate was killing me.

The good news is that I made it to the hotel and immediately assumed the fetal position on the bed. I did live to type this blog, although I'm still not 100%. I don't want to mention any names, but let's just say that there's a hut that sells pizza and they have lost my business for a lifetime. Now I have to go drink a bottle of water and tell myself it's gonna be ok again.


Believe me...it's a tough way to make your pants fit better,
Walker

The Frio is Low, We climbed High

Well....I left Concan, Texas this morning at 5:30 a.m. and drove back to Center. I made it here about 12:15. It was another wild weekend. I spent this one at the Frio River with Celeste and her family and friends. We swam, ate, and spent some good time up there. The water was too low to make a long float, although some of the crew did anyway and just had to paddle. One thing we did was make the hike to the top of "Baldy" and I really liked that.

This is where went went on our hike.

Here is the crew headed to the top.

Everyone needed to rest once we made it to the top.

The whole wild bunch, before we made our descent.

Across the river in those trees is where we stayed.

All in all, I would have to say that this was one of the coolest things I have done all summer. It was interesting to view someplace that I like so much from a different perspective. Go back up a few pictures and notice the buzzard gliding in the background just as high as we were. He was pretty respectful of our adventure.

Walker

Birthday Weekend

We had lots of fun last weekend. After the Dwight Yoakam Concert on Thursday night, we went to the lake on Friday and had a blast. I started learning how to wake surf....emphasis on "started" since I spent most of my time treading water waiting for the boat to come back and get me. It was fun though and I can't wait to do it again. Here's some pics.

Here's my buddy Ryan Nunez showing good form, while practicing to film a beer commercial.

Here's the Captain of the good ship, Barry Jaroszewski on the Bridge. He was the bestest boat Captain.

Here's my kind of Lake House...you can ski, check cattle, or whatever else you need to do.

This was the sunset view on the lake.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Lake, good food, friends, and fun....just what I expected.

Me and Celeste after a long, fun day.

Walker

The Love of the Game

The mid morning sun bore down. Humidity just made the heat sweltering, and there was not enough breeze to move the tree tops. The air just hung motionless. It was the last pasture they had left to work, and the thick South Texas brush made gathering a new adventure every year, since you couldn’t see much past the end of your horse’s nose. The only way to keep up with everyone’s position once inside the brush was to holler once in a while. That way, they could try to keep up with each other and stay in a fairly straight line and also to make sure they kept pretty close. The cowboys took turns locating each other by their whoops and the first ones out to the clearing would wait for all of the other ones to see if any cattle came out ahead of the last guys emerging from the dense brush. Cap and Ely were the first ones out and sat waiting for Jay and Louis to make it.

“Wooooooo!!” Cap hollered to no response. “Wonder what could be takin’ so long? They shoulda beat us out for sure. What we rode through was thicker and shoulda took longer.
“Whoooop!” Was Ely’s signature call. Everyone kinda had their own way. Still no response.
“Listen. You hear anything?” whispered Cap.
“Nope. Not even brush crackling or horses moving through it. Something ain’t right. We shoulda heard from’em by now.” Said Ely.

About that time, came the loudest commotion either one of’em had ever heard. It sounded like someone had fired up a locomotive and decided to drive it right over the top of them. There was hollerin’ just like a train whistle blowing then brush crackling and breaking apart. Their pulse quickened with excitement as anyone’s does when they know something wild is about to happen.

And people wondered why they did this.

Cap and Ely both pulled their ropes from the leather ties to their saddle horns and built loops. They were ready for anything, well they thought.

About that time a crossbred maverick yearling bull came crashing through the brush and out into the clearing. Right on his heels came Jay and Louis each with their hand on top of their head holding their hats on while they looked down at the saddle horn to keep mesquite limbs from slapping them in the face. The race was on and it was just a short distance until the next thicket. Something had to happen fast.

“Rope him Jay!” hollered Louis as they both came barreling across the opening.

Right about that time Cap and Ely caught up and right before the bull made his escape back to the brush Cap managed to get a rope on him. He tried to hook and Cap kept him logged off long enough for someone to get another rope on him. He was sideline tied in the opening in just a short time, and that provided just enough of a break for the mosquitoes to start biting. The cowboys all took a break to take stock of injuries, and scratches, while the ground crew came with the truck and trailer.

“How many of these cattle are we missin’?” asked Jay.
“Well, to tell you the truth we don’t have an exact count on what’s in this pasture. It’s been a while since we cleaned it out. That’s what we have you fellas hired for.” Smiled Cap.
Louis swatted mosquitoes with a mean look on his face and Jay peered at Cap in disbelief.

The cattle trailer could be heard rattling down the brecha (or Sendera which is a long opening usually for a pipeline) on it’s way to pick them and the bull up. When it pulled up several hands bailed out along with a photographer from town who was documenting the work for a book. The city lady with the camera peered at the bull lying on the ground waiting to be loaded into the trailer.

“You mean they don’t all just bunch up together and head down the trail like on TV?” she asked.
All the cowboys looked at each other soaked in sweat, mosquito bitten, scratched and they continued to work getting ready to load the bull.

“Well ma’am, guess it just wouldn’t be any fun that way.” Said Ely.


Here's hoping your a/c is working,
Walker

Just the Way it Went Down

Cap had a pretty strict rule on the ranch. Roping a cow in the pasture was the last resort. He had done his share of pasture roping during his years, but these days he preferred to start early when the cattle would drive easier, and as a general rule buy gentler cattle. Sometimes buying'em gentle was not as easy as starting early.

It was just daylight enough to not turn on the headlights and they were at the Windsor Pens. The Windsor Pens were on the backside of the ranch and that meant that before daylight the boys had all eaten breakfast, fed their horses, saddled up and trailered all the way to the back side of the ranch. They were unloading at the perfect time. It was only 80 degrees this morning before daylight. Pretty cool yet.

The hands all unloaded their horses and mounted up, each taking a few minutes to move their horses around. This morning it didn't take much to warm one up. The warm up was just in case they came upon a bunch of cattle sooner than expected. Most of the time when they started riding from the Windsor, it was an hour or so before they were in the vicinity of cattle...ample time to warm one up.

Cap delivered strict instructions to Ely. Everyone spread out in the brush and make a "drag" through the pasture pushing everything to the clearing along the fence. Then get'em all together and make a drive straight down the fence to the pens. Easy enough. Cap was gonna go wait at the pens in the truck and honk the horn to kind of help call the cattle in.

"All of these cattle are gentle and shouldn't be any trouble, so you boys just leave your ropes on the saddle horn today.", said Cap... those were famous last words as he drove away.

The boys spread out and when everyone had ridden to their spots and exchanged "whoops" to signal location, it was time to go. They each slowly picked their way through the brush moving whatever cattle they saw in the direction of the fence. This was a methodical process since some older cows were smart and would stand still as a statue when a rider rode right by them so they didn't have to leave the shade. Not only did you have to look ahead of you to pick a path through the brush but you had to look to each side trying to notice even the slow switching of a cows tail as she brushed flies away and just watched you ride by.

Ely was in the middle of all the hands in their line and had been having trouble with the same cow and calf all morning long. He would push her toward the fence and then she'd try to veer off and go between him and Woody. He'd cut her off everytime, but she was getting harder and harder to stop. She didn't want to go. Ely took it as a personal challenge from her. After several hours of cat and mouse by the cow and calf, Ely finally got her pushed out to the clearing and in just a few minutes the rest of the boys had theirs out too. They formed one large herd and started them down the fence trying to ease along as it was already getting pretty hot by this time and they still had a pretty good trip ahead.

The boys fanned out along the opposite side of the cows as the fence and kept'em moving. Ely kept his eye on the problem cow. Slowly she worked her way toward the back of the herd just looking for an opening. He was hoping she would go. If she did he would have a decision to make. Obey Cap and let her go back, or follow his instinct and give her the nylon rope treatment. About 300 yards from the pens, she called his bluff. He was ready with his decision.

She had manueverd all the way to the back of the herd and when one cowboy stepped too far ahead of her she dropped back by herself and wheeled the other way, running away down the fence. Ely had his rope down in a flash and was right behind her in as hot of pursuit as him and old Gray could muster. She sensed the chase and veered to the right hitting the brush without slowing down. Ely did the same. That's the last anyone saw of either of them for a while.

The other cowboys penned the cows without incident and then gathered around the truck to get a drink of water before the sorting began. After about 45 minutes Ely came riding up. His shirt was torn in several places, his face scratched from the brush, his horse was lathered up under the breast collar and his hat looked like it had been used as a handle in a bar fight.

Cap was not happy. Ely had disobeyed a direct order. He better have an explanation.

"Well?" Cap asked as he rode up. There was a long pause as Ely wiped his brow and pushed his smashed hat back on his head.

"I roped a cow, broke her leg, didn't mean to do it, and that's all I want to hear about it." Ely turned and rode away toward the pens.

"Meester Cap?", Jaime asked,"is Meester Ely in trouble?" The rest of the hands kinda snickered at the question.

"Jaime, he's just been here too long to fire." said Cap.

"I think I could have roped her." offered Jaime.

"You ain't been here too long." said Cap looking over his glasses and smiling.

Cow Work Pictures

I can't decide what to call this one..."La Gran Corrida" "Los Machos Bravos" or "Woody, Walter, Conly, Wylie and Walker like Shade"

Sometimes cow working is not fun. I have had some "sessions" where nothing goes good and everyone is mad. I have had some sessions where everything was stacked against you from the start, everyone knew it, and it all has to go just right....luck is involved. That is also a stressful situation. When I get to go on my West Texas trip neither of these situations present themselves. There is alot of riding involved, and because of the country, sometimes it's hard to tell where you're going(Fort Stockton), but most of the time it's really good. The cows are easy going and don't "try" you. Here are some of my pictures.
Here's me and a good gray O'Brien bred horse drifting a set to the pens in Fort Stockton. He was a nice ride.

In this photo: Clayton Wood, Walter Donnell

I call this one "Trailer Fender Lunch on Gas Station Sandwiches" I was inside the trailer soaking up whatever shade I could get.

This one is called "Conly talks about Plan B"

The day after Fort Stockton, we worked the New Pasture. It's called that because it was added to the ranch before most of our parents were born...so it's the New Pasture. We had a break for lunch and Lalo was one of the hands helping us that day. I call this one "Lalo's Horse".

This is the New Pasture Pens and view from them.

I decided on "Stories are best in the Shade" as a title for this picture.

On Friday we worked another set. After we penned them and sorted around on them, we had some time to kill before lunch was brought to us. We were spoiled this day and had BBQ brought out to the pens. Alot of the Donnell Family joined us for lunch and is was great food.

This is where most everyone at lunch. Pretty good shade.

Loading from the Lightning Ranch Shipping Pens.

After this we took a break and then starting working calves. There are other ways to do it, but none as fun as roping and dragging them. As Billito explained,"Hell after all the work of penning'em, you gotta have some fun." Well put.

Tomorrow I'm posting the last of the pictures I took and maybe soon I'll get some up that Celeste took (she took the ones with me in them here).

Walker

Desert Beauty is Inspiring

As promised here are some of my favorite pictures from my vacation to Marathon. This might be a long post, but I hope it's worth it. We came through some rain on the way South out of Fort Stockton. Rain over the road is a good thing out there. For the most part things were nice and green.

This the Red House. We stayed here and it was super cool. There are three rooms along each side and some nice showers on the house end. This was home base and also where the Friday night party was.

This is what I saw the first morning. Those mountains are called the "House Tops" and they are just awesome. All you have to do right here is take a sip of coffee and then a deep breath. God did all the rest.

When you are riding along out there, distance is deceiving because you can see for so far. Something might look like it's just over there, but it's farther than you want to ride once you start to figure it. Let me give you an example.

I was riding along through the pasture and noticed this train that was going through the ranch. This is a picture of the train zoomed in as far as my camera would zoom.

This is the same train, same view, just zoomed all the way out to take a regular picture. How's that for distance? Just for those 'eagle eyes' out there, Conly is also in this picture horseback because we were pushing some pairs to the other end of the pasture. Can you find him?

This was our sunset the first evening.

As you can tell, I like to take pictures. I could go on and on though right now I'll spare you because tomorrow I'm posting more, but of the actual cow working we did....and more philosophy too.

Walker

Rancho Chievo Viejo

Last Thursday we said goodbye to Billy Walker. Billy was my Dad's second cousin, and one of the coolest guys I can say I was ever around. He was a rancher, cattleman and all around good man. Like his good friend Robert said about him at the funeral, "If he liked you....he loved you, there was nothing in-between."

I can say this very honestly because I am one. Walker's sometimes don't do things normally or exactly the way everyone else does....it's just not our style. Billy's funeral was no different. It was one of the most unique, and one of a kind experiences I have ever been a witness to. Look at the pictures below and judge for yourself.

Here is the hearse that carried Billy to his resting place.

The buggy driver backed right up to the door of the Funeral Home.

The pallbearers were all asked to ride horseback behind the hearse and it made for one of the most fitting send-offs I've ever seen. There was cowboy singing at the graveside service, and the whole ceremony was just amazing. It was good to see some of our family who we don't see often and catch up with them. This was truly a celebration of Billy's life and a testament to the kind of guy he was. He will be missed.

Here are the pallbearers dismounting and walking toward the hearse buggy.

Vaya Con Dios Amigo.....we're losing more good ones every day...

Walker

Al the Barber

Al had been the town Barber for as long as anyone could remember. He had been cutting Cap’s hair for over 20 years. It wasn’t that hard to do really because it was more of a trim on the sides only. As the years went on Cap was more and more follicle-ly challenged. Cap blamed that on Ely, and ranching in general.

As any small town Barber will attest to, sometimes things get slow. There’s just not a steady stream of men who need their hair cut every day. Al had taken to keeping his shop open only a couple days a week, the other days of the week he used for golf.

It had been the topic of discussion at the last couple of Sunday coffee club meetings that Al had taken to drinking a little more. Even being open a couple days a week, he wasn’t busy all day. When customers weren’t in the shop, he kept a little cot in the back room and would get a nip of bourbon, then take a nap on the cot. When the front door opened, the bells tied to it would jingle and wake him up. He would come from the back room with a broom in his hand, but everyone knew what he was doing.

Cap expressed some concern that maybe someone should have a talk with Al. The coffee club agreed, but Cap came up with a different idea.

Al’s shop was in the old part of downtown. There were display windows out front where you could put shoes, or clothes just like any small town department store, but being a Barber Shop there was nothing to display…not most of the time anyway. Cap enlisted Ely and a couple others to help him on a Thursday afternoon when Al was supposed to be open for business, but had taken to using his cot instead of cutting hair. Afer removing their boots, they slowly opened the front door and Cap reached his hand inside grabbing the bells to keep them from making noise.

They crept into the shop. Al was a light sleeper, as the bells had been waking him up for the last few years. They sneaked, quiet as Commanches, in their socked feet, to the back room of the shop. There, sure enough, they found Al on his cot. Each man took a corner of the cot and gently lifted it off of the ground making sure to keep it even so as not to disturb their sleeping friend. They smoothly carried the cot to the front of the store and placed it, ever so gently in the front window display. Ely took a couple flowers they had picked and put them on Al’s chest. They almost couldn’t contain their excitement! You’ve never seen old men giggle like school girls until it comes to a great prank on a friend! They hurried out the back door and almost all collapsed into laughter.

After regaining control they rushed around to the front of the building to inspect their work. It was a sight! There was Al, passed out on his cot, hands folded on his chest with a couple flowers resting there too. To the eye that didn’t know any better…Al had passed on! The men sat down on the bench across the street, put their boots back on and prepared to be entertained. As people passed by, they stopped and paid their respects to Al. Some men even removed their hats! After a while a crowd had started to gather out in front of Al’s Barber Shop to attend his wake.

Right about that same time is when the fun started. Al’s nip of bourbon had caused him to have a dream of some sort. This dream led to him reach up and scratch his head…two women almost fainted. When this commotion started, their light sleeping friend was awakened to find himself on display in the front of his shop, with admirers all around…some of which had almost fainted. Next he found the flowers on his chest and it was at that point that Al wondered if he had died! When he stood up off of the cot and could see Cap, Ely and two other men leaning on each other to keep from falling because they were laughing so hard on the bench across the street, it all became clear. He jumped down from the display, grabbed his hat and ran out the front door of his shop heading towards the bench across the street. Cap, Ely and the others scrambled for their trucks and sped away before being caught.

The culprits are all looking for new a Barber now…their pony tails are getting long!

All Horses Go To Heaven

Well....we tried as hard as we knew how. It's nobody's fault. Baxter the wonder horse developed an abcess in his neck related to the temporary trach. Basically, the outside of the wound healed before the inside did and trapped bad stuff in the wound that caused complications. I thought we were making progress, then all of the sudden, we went backwards. The Doctors at Clinic at the Crossings, in Longview felt there was no way for him to come back from it. Now I start a new chapter in my roping career. This sport ain't for the weak of heart and like my dad has said a million times, "If this was easy... everybody would do it." Everything happens for a reason, and I know the Good Lord is guiding my path. I'm following wherever he sends me and believing it will be alright. Everything is done according to his plan. I was given that horse for as long as I was supposed to have him and now I am ready for whatever is next. At the end of every story, a new one begins.

Walkin' the Walk, not just talkin' the talk,

Walker

Mother's Day

A busted knee, a stitch or two,
A spanking now and then,
A furrowed brow at one young man,
Caught somewhere he shouldn’t have been.

Reassuring words, a worried call,
She raised me every day.
She took me to church every Sunday
And taught me how to pray.

I wish I had a dollar for,
Every sack lunch that she made,
I wish I could give her $100,
For the late night rodeos when she stayed.

Here’s to our Moms, all of them,
This is their special day,
Kiss’em on the cheek, you’re not too old,
They raised you to be that way!

Happy Mother’s day to all…see you down the road,
Walker

A Better Job

“You know, sometimes I think we’re crazy for doing this to make a livin?”

This was a statement that had never before come out of Cap’s mouth. At least to Ely’s knowledge anyway. He had to investigate.

“What else would you do for a livin’ ‘cept this?” he asked.

“Well, I could do almost anything. I’m not lazy, and a man who’ll work, will never be hungry and that’s a fact. I could go into town and get me a regular job, where nothing is trying to either hook me, or depend on me to survive.”

This was a conversation that began to take place while a fence crossing a creek, called a “water gap”, was being repaired after rain had washed it out. This was a notoriously hated job in Cap’s book and this had caused his mood to sour. It was perfectly normal….if you knew him at all. Ely decided not to waste this opportunity.

“You sure could," replied Ely. You know I was reading the paper last week and they had some job listings in there. How about the city street department? I can testify that they need help alright. They ain’t fixed a city street in 20 years or better. Our gravel roads are smoother than them paved ones in town. You could iron that deal out for them right quick.”

A few minutes passed.

“Hey! I also saw an ad in the paper you might be interested in. It said the county needed a new Dog Catcher. Heck that’s gotta be an easy job. All you need is a package of hot dog weenies and a piece of rope in your pocket and you’re set. That’s how you catch Sweetie to load her every time we work cows. You’ve got that job down too.”

More silence. At this point Cap was hip deep in creek water, with about a half roll of barbed wire with a rod through the center above his head, wading to the other side. Stringing new strands of wire at a water gap meant a good rain passed through. It was hard to complain about rain, but easy to complain about fence work. Thus the doubled edged sword of ranching presented itself again.

“Ely, I’ve made my mind up about my profession.”

“Well what’s it gonna be?” asked Ely. “I can get the number down there to City Hall for you when we get back to the headquarters if you like.” He said with a big grin.

“Nope. Not gonna need it. I figure this is the job I was meant to do all along.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Here I get to be the road superintendent, the head dog catcher, the foreman over all jobs big and small, plus in addition to being foreman I get the added satisfaction of being a hired hand just like you. Yep, this is the best of both worlds here Ely. I just had to realize it on my own that’s all.”

“Glad you got to that conclusion by yourself Cap.”


Happy Cinco de Mayo mi amigos,
Walker

Ranch Philosophy 202

The old pickup rolled slowly down the ranch road at not much more than an idle. It was a beautiful spring day in South Texas. The temperature was mild with a bright sun shining. This was a rare time of year when everything was green and starting over again. In just 30 short days, most of the green would either be brown or beginning to wilt. The summers lately had just been unbearable. Cap and Ely rode without saying a word, listening only to the truck squeak and rattle. They were just taking it all in.

“Reckon what this country looked like 100 years ago?” asked Ely. He was prone to pondering far off things and places. It was just his nature as a curious soul.

“I hear tell it was mostly prairie. Not a tree in sight for miles in some places. Just nothing but grassland and some maverick cattle scattered about.” Replied Cap. “From what I understand this coastal territory was full of cattle that nobody claimed. They were free for the taking, if you were able, that is.”

“I wish I coulda lived back then. Just ridin’ and checkin’ things everyday. Heck, just goin’ about the everyday chores probably took most of the day. From the time you woke up in the mornin’ till you went to bed at night was very primitive. Just think of all the things we take for granted nowadays. They couldn’t just turn on a faucet and get fresh water, you know, things like that. It was a rougher life. Guess that’s why people didn’t live to be all that old back then on account of them workin’ so hard just to survive everyday life.”, observed Ely.

After that he got quiet. They rode a few more minutes in silence. Sometimes not talkin’ was the loudest communication ever. A man could listen to what the world was tellin’ him instead of someone else. Cap spent a few minutes thinking about what Ely had said.

“You know Ely, I reckon you’re right. Things back then were probably pretty hard. But I guess it’s all relative.”

“How do you mean?” asked Ely.

“Well, remember last fall when I had to spend a week in Austin? I went up there for that Cattle Raiser’s Meeting. I stayed in a fancy hotel, and ate big meals every night. I was really livin’ it up for a day or two. Then it started to wear on me. At night the noise was loud since my hotel was right next to a freeway, and with all of those city lights you couldn’t see not a single star when you looked up at night. By the end of the week my nerves were shot. I’ll tell you, when that week was over, I drove 80 miles an hour to get home. That trip took years off of my life.”

What surprised Ely the most was Cap drivin’ 80 miles an hour. He only drove 70 one time that Ely knew of, and that was when Martha was in labor.

More silence for a few minutes. Just driving and riding.

“So I guess you goin’ to Austin and eatin’ good, but not likin’ the life up there is supposed to be like me wantin’ to go back in time to the old days?”

“Well kinda. I think you are following me.”

“Freeways and street lights botherin’ you are different than what a good hard day’s work puts on you.” Said Ely.

“No doubt. But what I’m getting’ at is that life is shortened by enough things out of our control. No sense in acceleratin’ it any by not doin’ what you want while you’re here.”

“Good point”

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!"