Sleeping Dogs and Mad Jack: sample stories

I had lots to do to keep my head above water. Late that evening I was driving through the ranch when I. I stopped, loaded him in the truck, called the owners on the radio, told them I had one of the dogs and. I told them of my location and was told to bring the dog up the road a ways. They were up on the side of the mountain and would call him up. I did as I was told. I could tell the ranch lady was not in the best of moods as I approached her. I knew better than to defend myself.

I wanted off this. I did find a bit of a promise of a job and of course, gentle readers,. So the axe came down and I was called by their business offices and ask what I needed.

Sleeping Dogs / Mad Jack by Jennifer Roberson

I was given that if I would get off the ranch as soon as possible, he. He also told me in private he knew what I was up against and was sorry. He also quit a few weeks later after spending twenty some odd years with these folks. Gentle readers, most of us, if not all of us have a good story or two and sometimes they may appear. Like the time I was breaking six colts for the ranch. I had gotten one going and was starting another. I had no real issues with either. I agreed only to discover that the colt bucked him off.

The thing of it was, I was in my middle forties and all of the cowboys but one were ten. The pony bucked across the corral and hit the other side head on, but then wheeled around and rode. Well, that is my. Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion. As a sidebar, my calendars are in so look for my add near my column. Yep, gentle readers, we all know what John Wayne called cancer.

Trying to be brave about. Of course I told him how unfortunate I thought. And yes, I had hot flashes to the tune of about three to four an hour for weeks or so it seems. I will stand up and testify. Saturday night at the dance hall I was surprised to see a feller there that once was a regular and. We all gave him a hug and wished him the best. He could hardly talk above.

Saturday night he was very thin but had good color, a very strong handshake and strong. I even saw him on the dance floor a few times as if he were never sick. I was so encouraged. Who knows what the future holds for him, but he is living in the moment. Life is special and certainly worth living. Stay tuned, check yer blood pressure on occasion along with your cinch,. In , in the panhandle of Texas near Tascosa, twenty four cowboys off three of the largest ranches. They formed a small. They all paid dues and. Not only that but other cowboys that were out of work came to replace them on.

I have never been a fan of unions for various reasons. I have friends and distant family that are or. Let me paint you a picture,. What if Charlie our ranch cowboy goes down. That is all that. Charlie and the other cowboys know that the cattle will be where they expect them. Charlie and the other cowboys sit on the fence and eat apples slices and drink Arizona. Sweet Tea while they watch the other techs at work.

The problem is, there are not enough folks that want to work that hard any more. Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion, remember that. Those panhandle cowboys learned a good. It is the 14th day of Sept. I had to take the. Harley into Fort Collins, some 28 miles away for an oil change and new headlamp. It was cool enough for me. The mornings have been pretty cool with just a slight touch of fall in the air for the. If you remember, we had such a late, late, spring with lots of rain and cool, cool.

It seemed to go on forever. The result was lots and lots of grass which is still here even with more. The bad thing is that it has. As a result, as I was headed into Fort Collins. Saturday evening late, there was a huge fire coming across the prairie from the northeast. I have some neighbors in that area that. Some of them have tall weeds. Same with their corrals and plus all of that, they have hay stacked. You put not only yourself at. If that fire had gotten within fifty yards of their domain, it.

Why would I notice that instead of the weather? I have found that most of the time these gals are very skillful and present the weather in a professional. Occasionally the weather man is a handsome. That most generally falls on the news anchor man to be double agent. The weather gal and. Slow news day for me I reckon. As a sidebar, I am still waiting on my new calendars. I will give them a call when I close here. I do hope you had a blessed. By the way, be. I like to say that I am a simple man. I like anyone who is easy to like.

Gentle readers, most folks I have found to be self. On the other hand I know folks that could easily jump into any task with. I remember the time when I had. Now it was a rather large grill with lots of parts. She informed me that while I was gone she was going to put that bugger together and it would be ready to. She told me she just dumped everything in the. I guarantee you I would. Martha was a simple, easy.

Me, on the other hand, I have had to pull my size 11 boot with. I am a simple man. I like a good simple horse. One with a easy way about him.

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I like a man that will look me in the eye and without trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Women that are what I would. None is just fine with me. A simple woman can. I know a woman. She thinks she is.

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Not so to me. I feel sorry for her that she has so little confidence that she. Just the same, songs with a simple message, words that are not hard to. We live in a complicated world. It gets more so with every passing day. Folks seem to always be looking down into that little contraption they believe has all. Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion, stack yer firewood. I Beg Your Pardon. Or it might go something. They have come back to the Wally World.

Then we have these folks that each and every month are asking for donations through the mail. I have always tried to help as many as I can when I can. The problem is that. I reckon that just must have not known how shallow my. We have always had beggars among us. They are prominent in the New Testament. Well, a feller might tell ya. It might shock you good citizen if you knew how much money these moochers take in on a short. So I still wrestle from time to time as to who and how much I am going to give if any at all.

I do feel better when I give. On the other hand, I have had my hand slapped, if you will, for doing a charitable. They were out and out bums. In the Midwest, South and most parts of the West, he will dress much the same and use much the same gear. That means absolutely nothing to city folks or those in foreign countries that have always admired the cowboy. The modern cowboy looks nothing like John Wayne and this leads me into my little story that I have touched on in the past. When I arrived in my sport coat, Wranglers, boots, hat, white shirt and tie the feller that summoned me seemed to fall into a state of panic.

I was somewhat taken back. I struggled to explain to him that I was a cowboy humorist. I would tell some stories relating to cowboys, ranch life and also some what I hoped would be funny and entertaining poems. When I walked out on the stage with a spotlight on me my eyes focused on the first three or four rows of folks. Guess what I saw? All Chinese, yep, every one on those rows apparently were from China. I knew I was in for a difficult time but you do what you were paid to do and give it your best shot.

Surly there was a surgeon or two from Arizona, Texas, New Mexico or anywhere where cowboys live and work. Those folks got it. I worked very hard at my craft that afternoon but was relieved to pick up my check and accept a few compliments. Very few compliments I might add. Out of all the entertaining I have done over the years I have only had two incidents where I felt as if I had failed and that, of course was one. Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion, and expect great things for the future when there is new leadership in our beloved America.

The host is Red Steagall, song writer, poet and country swing band leader from Texas. Red insisted that Buster talk about his early days as a cowboy. Both Red and Buster are a few years older than yours truly. Many of these horses would be five to six years old and unbroken. After eating they agreed to a deal for so much a head to break these horses. For some reason these spunky cowboys had no transportation so they hitch hiked close to the ranch and walked the remaining few miles.

There was to be a big gather roundup in the morning was the reason for all of the gear in the bunkhouse. Buster agreed so they took all of the cinches off of the saddles and hid them and then proceeded to fill all of the bedrolls with salt and crackers. They never heard the outcome of such a prank. I have told a lot of stories to my kids about some of the things that happened while out with the crew or working by myself.

Some of the stories my kids were there with me and would have their own version of what happened. Stay tuned gentle readers, check yer cinch on occasion and keep the faith!! They are like folks in a lot of ways depending on what mood they happen to be in or what their particular situation is on a given day under a particular set of circumstances. I mean he got freight trained head on in the middle of his chest and set airborne only to be kicked and stepped on in the melee. Eldon was explaining how all of this happened down at the T Bar Inn a few mornings back.

He pulled up his shirt and there was a bruise the size of a volleyball on his hip. I never got run over like Eldon, but I did on one occasion get my feet kicked out from under me as a cow ran by me and took a swipe with her lift hind foot. She was right on target. Now when it comes to horses…I have been bucked off numerous times, had a horse just get mad and throw himself down on the hard ground penning my leg underneath him.

I had a horse step in a hole as a full run and turn a summersault with me still in the saddle. I have had several horses rear and fall over with me and had one almost get me drowned in a flooded creek. I do have all my firewood hauled, and my hay picked up and in the hay shed for next winter.

Oh, and by the way, check yer cinch on occasion. A Little Texas Humor. Does that make sense, gentle readers? Here are a couple on Texas weather…In case of a tornado warning.. Go to Cowboy Stadium.. It has been cut, got a little shower on it last night and is supposed to rain again this evening and tomorrow! Maybe, just maybe those showers will bypass this hay crop. I always kid about it starting to snow right after Cheyenne Frontier Days and sometimes that first snow is not that far off. I have gone and gotten one load of firewood and will get another when it gets a wee bit drier.

Let me leave you children with a couple of things to think about this week. God I hope so! The Folks You Meet. I exhibited my cartoon art work there for, as memory serves me, fifteen years or so. Not only did I have original full color, nicely framed cartoons, I had prints of those, cartoon books, calendars, coffee mugs, tee shirts and on occasion place mats. I had so much fun doing CFD all of those years. One of the pleasures of doing such an event are the folks you meet and friendships that you make and in some cases for many, many years to come.

I try to run up each year and visit with some of those old friends, some who had booths next to mine or close by. One feller that I remember as a real character came by to buy a cartoon. Her looked as if he had just fell off the local freight train as it came through Cheyenne. I was a little anxious unless this feller had a wad of cash on him.

I come by when I reckon you had gone to the bathroom and kinda made myself at home. Not with money children, just little wads of paper that surly had meaning and were stuffed in every crease and corner of that billfold. I was pleased that he turned out to be honest. Gentle readers, I reckon that any morning that I roll out of bed is a good morning. This morning was a little extra special. I woke up actually a little sad and depressed for some reason. I remembered that today was the day my daddy passed away in I think as we get older we dwell on this sort of thing on occasion.

I decided that I would put off eating until I got back from my ride. We located the steers and looked them over as we rode around them and through them. Even though I had put a lot of fly spray not only on Nugget but a little on myself, the deer flies were doing a number on us so we headed back to the house. I felt so much better already. It is true that the outside of a hoss is good for the inside of a man. I was energized so I drug an empty water tub out of the corral and out in the pasture close to the house so there will be more clean water for the steers as their creek water and holes of water in the pasture are not so inviting any more.

I started up sprinklers in my yard and flower beds and came in for breakfast.

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A big breakfast of sausage, eggs and biscuits and more coffee, I was on top of the world. I stole that little phrase from a feller named Dave that is a financial guru and has a late night radio program where he gives advice to the folks that call in. I have followed some of his advice and as a result I find myself in a comfortable situation when it comes to my finances. What a great morning, thank you Lord for all I have and the things that could come my way.

The Crazy Things Critters Do. I am going to relate some really unusual observations I have made in the last few weeks just watching ordinary critters.

My dun horse is a real character. You no more than have him tied to brush him or throw a saddle on him before he starts to untie the lead rope. He never seems to get it done, but does he ever work at it. I had a hard time believing that myself. I had almost stepped on her eggs. I mean they just lay them on the ground without any cover or protection at all. I also mentioned last year when my dog got snake bit that I looked and looked for that pesky rattler and finally gave up. Later in the day I walked down to the corrals and opened the feed room door to enter and happed to look down and see that rattler crawling along beside my right foot.

I grabbed a shovel off the wall and dispatched him at once. All of the above are most unusual and the last one unsettling. The Fourth of July has just passed. I hope you had a fun safe one and got to eat lots of hot dogs and water melon. A Letter Email From Home. How are things on the farm these days? One would think that as many folks that work here where I do, that you could make friends in a short time.

I did meet a new employee today. His name is Gerald and he is from Kansas. I think we are going to get a bite to eat tonight after work and he is from a farm family as well. Chicago is so big and diverse and I feel like a small fish in a very large pond. How is old Rowdy doing? I know he has slowed down a whole lot. Does he still refuse to wander out to the mail box and meet Mr.

Charlie when he delivers the mail? Man, what an ordeal that was! Is Jimmy still going with that little cheerleader? Little brother or not, I still envy him at times. I have had no such luck here in the big city. Dad, have you got the corn in and any hay put up as yet? I know its a busy time for you and I wish I were there to help out. When I look in the mirror in the morning I see a farm kid looking back not an aspiring young businessman. Maybe I should have taken that job at the co op instead of moving here. Live and learn I reckon. Well, my lunch break is almost over and I need to get back to my pigeon hole and earn my keep.

Take care, say hi to Jimmy and give old Rowdy a scratch behind the ears for me. I will find a way to get home before too much longer and see all of you. I should have done that a long time ago. Ah…nothing could be farther from the truth. Do you know of a woman who thinks she is perfect? Just as the pastor began to move on with his sermon, finally one hand went up in the back of the room. My loss, I wish I had. I would call this late spring and early summer one of the good times.

No way around it. I tried to mow weeds yesterday but the ground is too soft. I am still very active in the cactus patch and making progress with eradicating those troublesome plants. The Miller Moths are all but gone. One wounded and two dead so far. Do Clothes Make The Man? The women also may be very causally dressed. My, my has time ever changed. Enough said, I reckon. Picture George Strait in your mind…he got it right! Gentle readers do you remember those times when you felt a little awkward trying to visit with someone you had just met or someone who was hard to converse with?

Your next move most likely was to start a conversation about the weather. It appears at present that rain is the topic of conversation as I write this on May It has been raining here off and on, mostly on, here at the ONO for almost a month. I will tell you that there is water standing from Wellington, Colorado to Midland, Texas, a distance of almost miles.

I got into a horrible fog between Dalhart, Texas and Boyce City, Oklahoma, plus all of that there was a torrential downpour for almost thirty miles of that.

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I am not complaining about the weather, no sir, I am so glad to have so much moisture this time of year. One feller pointed out to me this morning over coffee that if this was winter and this system was a snow storm we would be under four or five feet of snow, and I believed him for sure. That is down in the Bible belt for sure. Of course I jest, but his fields were flooded and he had water standing in his driveway up to his front door.

Again, I jest and I am not complaining. I am a Happy Jack for sure! Woe is me, or maybe whoa is me is a better description of how I feel today. Twenty years ago when Little Miss Martha and I purchased this little ranch it had an abundance of cacti on a good portion of the eighty four acres. When the piles had adequate time to dry, I would burn them. I spent many days in the patch pulling, piling and burning cacti. I tried dragging it with the blade on my tractor and did have fairly good results at times. The end result is that it still has to be raked up and some of it pulled up with the hoe.

For the last three weeks I have religiously and faithfully gone down in the pasture, weather permitting, and extracted the cactus. There are places where the cacti is so close you can take a step or two and you are on another plant. I would never work that hard, but it dang sure feels like it on some days. If I had to guess, I would guess that I have cleared maybe twenty five to thirty acres at present.

We were worn out. That is if I can find somebody that is willing to do that type of work. Maybe I can shame them by showing them what I have done mostly by myself and remember, I just turned seventy five. I am blessed to have this good health but in a way, I am responsible for my health by staying busy and trying to eat most of the right things like bacon and eggs for breakfast and a good hamburger or steak for dinner.

I read in the Bible in Leviticus that if a man lies with another man he should be stoned. Washington state made marijuana Mary Wanna and same sex marriage legal all in the same day. Waylon and the Cowboys. Waylon always wanted to be a cowboy and according to him, he done his best on the O6 Ranch out of Alpine, Texas while doing a documentary which turned into a music video.

It could have been earlier. I have written in the past of being one of the opening acts cowboy humor when Waylon Jennings was the headliner. Waylon and I and his wife, Jessie sat on a couple of bales of hay backstage and discussed life in general and also his documentary, which is excellent by the way. Waylon grew up in Littlefield, Texas, a short stones throw from where I grew up. Waylon confessed to me that even though he stayed the full three weeks out with the wagon branding calves, moving cows and general cowboy labor, he was ready to get home.

In the video Waylon sings around the nightly campfires, gets in the branding pen and brands a few calves and whatever they ask him to do. The music is excellent all through the video. Yes I love them both. I hope you enjoy the video. A farrier can build yer horse a shoe and a vet almost always knows what to do. A jockey knows if and when to use the whip. A sailor knows how to sail his ship. A farmer knows when to plant the seed. A rancher knows when his cows to breed. A waitress knows when to smile. Me thinks that some of them fellers in Washington need to learn how to plug a hole as well!

Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion, and Thank you Lord for all this wonderful rain. She was wheelchair bound, could not speak because of a stroke in the past but was very mentally alert. At 86 she had lived a long time. She was a talker. Here we were, the silence was almost deafening and I really ran out of things to say because she could not answer me.

It was frustrating to say the least. Her sad blue watery eyes told me that she knew her time was short and most likely she would not see me again. I lived too far away and my job prevented me from making another trip in the near future. Her heart was breaking as well as mine. The only consolation is that my sister and brother lived very near and saw her almost daily and attended to her needs the best that they could. I fumbled for the right words to express before I got up to leave. I had a plane to catch and needed to go.

I left her with big tears in her eyes but they spoke volumes to me as I turned and walked away. I had to agree. The summer dress with the floral pattern and her makeup done to perfection as well as her hair seemed fitting. More alone than maybe other times in your life. I miss her weekly phone calls when she could speak and yes, I miss just putting my ear to the phone until I thought it might have grown to my head.

These guys went to the core of their subject, the farmers and ranchers in the eastern part of our state. They spent days interviewing and filming men, women and children at work, at worship, and at play in their natural environment. Here is a sampling of what they learned. Along with some of her friends they try to educate our urban and city friends about the benefits and the necessity of agriculture. Are you kidding me? I knew that there was a disconnect between those folks that produce the very food we eat, but give me a break.

Good grief Charlie Brown, is this for real? I reckoned that it was as I watched the program. The message that the documentary was trying to convey is that agriculture is more important than how green some park or golf course is that requires large amounts of water. The folks that are dismayed when the crops fail, but have hope and trust and faith that next year will be better. He bought back in at a later time when it appeared that times would be better only to have to sell out once again.

At the end of the program the film maker was asked what impressed him the most while producing this documentary. They are real people and they pray for rain each and every time they pray. Maybe we should all pray for rain for them! Stay tuned, check yer cinch on occasion and give yourself a big hug if you are involved in agriculture in any form or fashion.

As I ramble into this writing it is the day after tax day and the weather is a little on the wild side. The next couple of days will be unsettled with more rain, wind, snow and cold. In a recent column I wrote about every thing and every one having a season. Her arrival on April 10, , was considered a turning point for the company. The store closed its doors for good in October No comma needed between year and month when there are only two elements in the date.

Used to separate geographical elements when describing location. The final geographical element is also followed by a comma when it appears in the middle of the sentence. The question mark is used at the end of a direct question. Have you completed your homework? The question mark is not used after an indirect question. He asked me whether I had completed my homework. Used sentences expressing a sudden emotion or wish. What a terrible fire this is! Our teacher is no more. In the case of the interjection 'O', the exclamation mark is placed after the noun or at the end of the sentence.

In you I put my trust. O, what a fall there was, my countrymen! Inverted Commas are used to enclose the exact words of a speaker. Inverted Commas are used to enclose a quotation. Babar is said by Elphinstone to have been "the most admirable prince that ever reigned in Asia.

I didn't see your name on the rota. Shouldn't you be making tea? I thought you were keeping quiet. You never make tea! I'm going to say something about this. Neil Don't wake up the sleeping dogs. I'll go and make some tea now, OK? Has someone helped you with something? If so, here's a phrase that tells you what to do next. Learn the phrase Helen needs to describe the headache her mobile phone company is causing her.

Do you have a sweet tooth? Is it something that you are born with or do you develop it? Who's that knocking at the door? Someone's here to tell you you're in financial trouble. Hot-desking is a modern way of working in offices. Learn how to use this phrase as a noun and a verb. What do you say when you finally understand something? Learn a useful phrase to do just that in this programme. What do you call your panties, socks and bra? Listen to the programme to find out Drink to celebrate the good things in life, drink to forget the bad. Here's an expression for people who like a drink. Both work and home are demanding lots of your time but what you really want is a few hours to yourself.

Here's an expression to help you deal with that. Is there someone tormenting you online? Here's an expression for when people hide behind a computer to attack others. Learn a phrase about not taking control. You won't need a car for this driving-related idiom! What two colours do we use to describe something that's official? Learn a phrase that leaves you in no doubt! What kind of situation has Rob got into when he bumps into a woman on the way to work? What's a razor got to do with Rob's bike ride to work?

Here's an expression for when you've had a narrow escape. Why did Rob ask Feifei to meet him in the studio? Here's an expression for when you've forgotten something. How can sleeping help you make a decision? Learn a phrase that doesn't involve lying on a bed! Where do you go if you waste time asking pointless questions? We explain a useful phrase. When someone says the phrase done and dusted, do they mean doing some proper cleaning? Who's the wild card in the office?

Rob and Feifei use a phrase to describe an unpredictable colleague. Feifei thinks someone's been killed but then discovers taking a stab in the dark doesn't involve using knives!