Dad worked hard his whole life.
Didn't matter the chore, he gave it all he had and did it the right way for the right reasons at the right time.
Reckon the ranch hand inherited some part of that DNA.
Can't seem to rest on a purty day as always have any number of "chores" in mind to get accomplished for whatever reason?
Enjoy the pleasure of just "doing it" and like to sit back and see the result.
Probably America was built on folks that had the "workin'" ethic??
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Losers Lament
Twas the night before POWERBALL
and all along the flank
the Wright City bunch
was headed to the bank.
The quick picks were hung by the chimney with care
in hopes that Saint MoneyTrain
would soon be there...
Pancho and Faucho were snuggled in their bed
with visions of casinos dancing in their head,
while Smokey in her kerchief, and I in my sombrero
thought of celebrating with some Jose Cuervo.
When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter
we sprang from our beds.....
(OK, we groaned, rolled over, put our feet on the floor, and waited for the feeling to come back into our limbs)
to see what was the matter.
Its seems them damn balls used by the lotto
ain't heard the real news
cause they keep turning up blotto
fueling the POWERBALL blues
It's time like these we gotta reach out
and seek counsel divine and true
that's right sports fans, shout
"WHAT WOULD GENE DO?"
WWGD is the way to go
as he'd say, "Keep throwing that dough"
One day you'll find that pot of gold
as you have a blast trying
and gracefully grow old.......
and all along the flank
the Wright City bunch
was headed to the bank.
The quick picks were hung by the chimney with care
in hopes that Saint MoneyTrain
would soon be there...
Pancho and Faucho were snuggled in their bed
with visions of casinos dancing in their head,
while Smokey in her kerchief, and I in my sombrero
thought of celebrating with some Jose Cuervo.
When all of a sudden there arose such a clatter
we sprang from our beds.....
(OK, we groaned, rolled over, put our feet on the floor, and waited for the feeling to come back into our limbs)
to see what was the matter.
Its seems them damn balls used by the lotto
ain't heard the real news
cause they keep turning up blotto
fueling the POWERBALL blues
It's time like these we gotta reach out
and seek counsel divine and true
that's right sports fans, shout
"WHAT WOULD GENE DO?"
WWGD is the way to go
as he'd say, "Keep throwing that dough"
One day you'll find that pot of gold
as you have a blast trying
and gracefully grow old.......
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Thank You Oh LORD
It's dusk on the ranch.
The world is soft, fuzzy and cool.
The leaves of the trees blend into a cacophony of dark green with golden edges of fading sun.
The horizon is a solemn farewell of sunset beauty that is a promise of morrow's dawn.
The world is a good place.
Thank you, Oh Lord, for this our many blessings of subtle environmental innuendo artistic blessing, soulful love, and plain spoken ranch "I am love" views.
GOD is love and life is good.
Thank you oh Lord for this our many blessings!
The world is soft, fuzzy and cool.
The leaves of the trees blend into a cacophony of dark green with golden edges of fading sun.
The horizon is a solemn farewell of sunset beauty that is a promise of morrow's dawn.
The world is a good place.
Thank you, Oh Lord, for this our many blessings of subtle environmental innuendo artistic blessing, soulful love, and plain spoken ranch "I am love" views.
GOD is love and life is good.
Thank you oh Lord for this our many blessings!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Random Thoughts on Mom
The ranch hand only heard his sainted Mom cuss one time in his life
Back in younger days, yours truly decided to seine some trotline bait out of a small tank on Uncle Charlie's place. For the only time in memory, Mom agreed to pull the opposite end of the seine for me. With the first pull thru the mud hole, we drug out the biggest loggerhead turtle in East Texas.... and it was furious for the disturbance. As it ran at Mom with its snapping jaws sounding like gun shots, Mom began to yell, "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT"....nuff said
Mom made our clothes for years and the love she put in that labor was awesome. The fabric was essentially "free" as it came from the chicken feed sacks collected from donors. Mom made the girls dresses and the ole fat boy shirts and underwear. She had a fancy doodad on her Singer sewing machine to make button holes and such and no doubt had patterns galore. We didn't know any different way and we were country proud of them duds.
Mom was an awesome house cleaner...the floors were old boards, but she would scrub them puppies til ya could eat off them if need be....everything was always picked up...and the kitchen was spotless after every meal...
I could go on all day about the warm memories of Mom, but let it suffice to say she was near bout the most perfect person I have ever known....kind in word and deed to all....loving without reservation during all circumstances with her family...and a singularly beautiful part of my life.
I love and miss you more than you can ever know sweet lady.
Back in younger days, yours truly decided to seine some trotline bait out of a small tank on Uncle Charlie's place. For the only time in memory, Mom agreed to pull the opposite end of the seine for me. With the first pull thru the mud hole, we drug out the biggest loggerhead turtle in East Texas.... and it was furious for the disturbance. As it ran at Mom with its snapping jaws sounding like gun shots, Mom began to yell, "SHIT, SHIT, SHIT"....nuff said
Mom made our clothes for years and the love she put in that labor was awesome. The fabric was essentially "free" as it came from the chicken feed sacks collected from donors. Mom made the girls dresses and the ole fat boy shirts and underwear. She had a fancy doodad on her Singer sewing machine to make button holes and such and no doubt had patterns galore. We didn't know any different way and we were country proud of them duds.
Mom was an awesome house cleaner...the floors were old boards, but she would scrub them puppies til ya could eat off them if need be....everything was always picked up...and the kitchen was spotless after every meal...
I could go on all day about the warm memories of Mom, but let it suffice to say she was near bout the most perfect person I have ever known....kind in word and deed to all....loving without reservation during all circumstances with her family...and a singularly beautiful part of my life.
I love and miss you more than you can ever know sweet lady.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The Rusty Spur
Building the Tin Star Ranch infrastructure has been a labor of love for the ranch hand and his beautiful bride.
Anything from clearing brush to erecting the bunk house has felt like an investment in future soul satisfying pleasure.
This week the ole fat boy started on a back yard bullshit arena.
The Rusty Spur Saloon now boasts massive frame timbers and will soon have a roof of reclaimed barn tin. Add a few comfort appurtenances and let the good times roll!
The aforementioned bride done called dibs on polishing that puppy off with some old rusty kerosene lantern lights. Ya gotta reckon she will follow with a barnwood adorned cooler for adult beverages, audio speakers to facilitate country western honky-tonk, and 'nuff antique cowboy crap to sink a battle ship?
Now pass an old man a cold one, please.
Anything from clearing brush to erecting the bunk house has felt like an investment in future soul satisfying pleasure.
This week the ole fat boy started on a back yard bullshit arena.
The Rusty Spur Saloon now boasts massive frame timbers and will soon have a roof of reclaimed barn tin. Add a few comfort appurtenances and let the good times roll!
The aforementioned bride done called dibs on polishing that puppy off with some old rusty kerosene lantern lights. Ya gotta reckon she will follow with a barnwood adorned cooler for adult beverages, audio speakers to facilitate country western honky-tonk, and 'nuff antique cowboy crap to sink a battle ship?
Now pass an old man a cold one, please.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Dick Tracy
Growing up in Wright City included an enviable environment, but electronic communication devices were not part of the equation.
Yeah, a few neighbors had telephones on the "party line" system, but our house was not one of them? Dad just never had much use for anything that added to the monthly bills without contributing to the monthly income or feeding his family.
The most advanced idea of future technology came in the form the newspaper's Dick Tracy comic strip. Detective Tracy always used a wrist radio to transmit his voice and image to recipients as part of his crime fighting repertoire.
The ranch hand can remember his first time to talk on a phone. It was in a red wooden pay phone booth in Henderson and it cost a dime to operate. Don't remember the recipient of the call or the subject matter, but do remember being slightly petrified at the prospect of talking through them "wires"?
Trying to get a bit ed-u-ma-cated over the years resulted in three college "degrees" on the ranch office wall. Didn't have, nor anticipate, a contraption called the "internet" would ever come into being to ease things during those days??
Bottom line, the ole fat boy has largely been in the dark for most of his life as to the intricacies of modern magic.
Today the ranch office acquired SKYPE.
That's right sports fans: audio, video, whatever; in order to visit worldwide with friends and relatives while watching a real time video of each other.
Don't know about Dick Tracy, but not sure Dad would ever believe this?
Yeah, a few neighbors had telephones on the "party line" system, but our house was not one of them? Dad just never had much use for anything that added to the monthly bills without contributing to the monthly income or feeding his family.
The most advanced idea of future technology came in the form the newspaper's Dick Tracy comic strip. Detective Tracy always used a wrist radio to transmit his voice and image to recipients as part of his crime fighting repertoire.
The ranch hand can remember his first time to talk on a phone. It was in a red wooden pay phone booth in Henderson and it cost a dime to operate. Don't remember the recipient of the call or the subject matter, but do remember being slightly petrified at the prospect of talking through them "wires"?
Trying to get a bit ed-u-ma-cated over the years resulted in three college "degrees" on the ranch office wall. Didn't have, nor anticipate, a contraption called the "internet" would ever come into being to ease things during those days??
Bottom line, the ole fat boy has largely been in the dark for most of his life as to the intricacies of modern magic.
Today the ranch office acquired SKYPE.
That's right sports fans: audio, video, whatever; in order to visit worldwide with friends and relatives while watching a real time video of each other.
Don't know about Dick Tracy, but not sure Dad would ever believe this?
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
The Last Laugh
Daddy said to never plant green stuff in a vegetable garden until after Easter due to late freezes.
Never one to hold to conventional wisdom, your inveterate dumass planted Tin Star tomaters/peppers long ago....followed by a 28 degree morning (dammit).
Wasn't nuthin to do but truck to town, buy up more high dollar plants, and repeat the process (with mumbled pissivity bout how the grocery store is cheaper and easier???).
Got the second batch of puppies on their way only to get up this morn and see 36 on the thermometer. (Yeah Dad, I heard ya laughing at the near pooped drawers thinking the normal temperature drop at dawn could re-assassinate the ranch veggies???).
Bottom line: it's more than two weeks til Easter and Dad may get the last laugh yet?
Never one to hold to conventional wisdom, your inveterate dumass planted Tin Star tomaters/peppers long ago....followed by a 28 degree morning (dammit).
Wasn't nuthin to do but truck to town, buy up more high dollar plants, and repeat the process (with mumbled pissivity bout how the grocery store is cheaper and easier???).
Got the second batch of puppies on their way only to get up this morn and see 36 on the thermometer. (Yeah Dad, I heard ya laughing at the near pooped drawers thinking the normal temperature drop at dawn could re-assassinate the ranch veggies???).
Bottom line: it's more than two weeks til Easter and Dad may get the last laugh yet?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Blue Hole
Wright City once boasted a legendary local swimmin' place known as "Blue Hole".
Local lore held that this ubiquitous farm pond sitting in the middle of a pasture had limitless depths. Many had tried, or so the story goes, but none could hold their breath long enough to find the bottom.
Lately the gosh darn moss has near taken over the Tin Star Ranch pond. Eschewing herbicides, the ole fat boy decided to dump a dye in the water to block the UV light and halt photosynthesis by the moss.
The industrious salesman at Tractor Supply solemnly promised satisfaction with no actual discoloration.
The "salesman" lied like a tall dawg.
The water is now the deepest color blue on the planet and history has repeated. We got a Tin Star "Blue Hole" for all the world to see.
(Now if the damn moss will just cooperate and "die")
Local lore held that this ubiquitous farm pond sitting in the middle of a pasture had limitless depths. Many had tried, or so the story goes, but none could hold their breath long enough to find the bottom.
Lately the gosh darn moss has near taken over the Tin Star Ranch pond. Eschewing herbicides, the ole fat boy decided to dump a dye in the water to block the UV light and halt photosynthesis by the moss.
The industrious salesman at Tractor Supply solemnly promised satisfaction with no actual discoloration.
The "salesman" lied like a tall dawg.
The water is now the deepest color blue on the planet and history has repeated. We got a Tin Star "Blue Hole" for all the world to see.
(Now if the damn moss will just cooperate and "die")
Friday, April 1, 2011
Bantam Weight Bruisers
The ranch hand's earliest memory of fishin' was a bream safari.
The preparation weren't nuthin but gatherin' up a bamboo pole with a black braided fishing line, cork, and hook slapped on it. All that remained was to hustle grasshopper bait through Grandaddy's back pasture to Uncle Reggie's pond.
We caught gritty red ear, blue gill, goggle eye, and sun perch til grins near covered our faces.
The ole fat boy has pursued various finned creatures over the years with sophisticated/expensive gear, but somehow, catching those bantam weight bruisers on a "cane" pole still tops the list for thrills.
Yesterday your humble scribe decided to ease to the ranch pond and float an impaled wriggly worm under a cork to see if the hybrid blue gill bream planted last year were in the mood for groceries.
Five brawny Tin Star Ranch panfish answered the "call" and the rest is history.
The preparation weren't nuthin but gatherin' up a bamboo pole with a black braided fishing line, cork, and hook slapped on it. All that remained was to hustle grasshopper bait through Grandaddy's back pasture to Uncle Reggie's pond.
We caught gritty red ear, blue gill, goggle eye, and sun perch til grins near covered our faces.
The ole fat boy has pursued various finned creatures over the years with sophisticated/expensive gear, but somehow, catching those bantam weight bruisers on a "cane" pole still tops the list for thrills.
Yesterday your humble scribe decided to ease to the ranch pond and float an impaled wriggly worm under a cork to see if the hybrid blue gill bream planted last year were in the mood for groceries.
Five brawny Tin Star Ranch panfish answered the "call" and the rest is history.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Bucket List Stuff
Growing up in Wright City meant the "world" was what one could see to the horizon (in a brush and pine tree infested landscape).
Embarking on a safari of significance likely meant a drive of bout two hours with return on the same day or the next.
As a yonker, your humble scribe remembers not leaving the Lone Star State til the ripe ole age of about 13 to traverse to the far away frontier of Oklahoma for a family pow-wow.
Upon being anointed as a baby Trooper, the ole fat boy packed a sack lunch and a lantern for the arduous journey to assignment in "South Texas". (OK, it was just San Antonio, but it was a damn far piece "south" of Wright City?)
Bottom line: After more than twelve lustrums of hangin' close to the home range, the ranch hand submitted an application today for a world travelin' passport. A naturally more visible accoutrement of us veteran world traveler wanna-be's.
Would love to tote that puppy back to Wright City and watch Daddy scratch his head bout his onliest son's latest hair-brain idea?
Embarking on a safari of significance likely meant a drive of bout two hours with return on the same day or the next.
As a yonker, your humble scribe remembers not leaving the Lone Star State til the ripe ole age of about 13 to traverse to the far away frontier of Oklahoma for a family pow-wow.
Upon being anointed as a baby Trooper, the ole fat boy packed a sack lunch and a lantern for the arduous journey to assignment in "South Texas". (OK, it was just San Antonio, but it was a damn far piece "south" of Wright City?)
Bottom line: After more than twelve lustrums of hangin' close to the home range, the ranch hand submitted an application today for a world travelin' passport. A naturally more visible accoutrement of us veteran world traveler wanna-be's.
Would love to tote that puppy back to Wright City and watch Daddy scratch his head bout his onliest son's latest hair-brain idea?
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