It was May of 1996, on the Silverbrook Ranch near Abeline,Texas during two weeks spring works. It was with a crew I had never met, in country I had never been and I was using their wagon instead of mine. Now, that might sound like a challenge but I like an opportunity to overcome circumstances… [Read more…]
April 25, 2012
The windmill has been around for as long as I can remember. It serves as a landmark in the pastures and a reference point for those traveling through. It’s often a meeting place for social gatherings and most importantly life’s blood to those in harsh and desolate places. All it takes is a breeze that starts… [Read more…]
March 16, 2012
It’s just a small mirror that hangs on the windshield of my pick-up. It is supposed to be used to see what’s coming up from behind. I have used it many times to back up to that old wagon trailer, used it to guide my way into barns in the dark and checked and rechecked to see… [Read more…]
February 8, 2012
Now as some of you have already figured out, I have cooked in most all conditions mother nature can throw at a feller. I’ve had some of the best wood in the country and plenty of it, and at other times I would have paid out of pocket just to have one more shovelful of… [Read more…]
January 31, 2012
There’s no telling how many times I heard this little saying over the years from the old timers I was around to present day… It’lldo. It was sometimes meant as, “That will get us by until we have time to do better,” or ”It’lldo this time, and we will gather all of them the next time.” I even… [Read more…]
January 20, 2012
I have been cooking for along time, 33 years to be exact, and built many a fire and slept in some really bad weather. And from experience, I am here to tell you that the cold is far better than the hot and the snow is better than the rain but to me, the worst of… [Read more…]
January 14, 2012
We have all heard the expression, follow in his footsteps. I have had some big footsteps to follow and some so tiny I could barely see them. I tried to follow in my dads footsteps, and man oh man those have been big boots to fill. I’ve stepped out and been stepped on. Some steps came easy… [Read more…]
December 14, 2011
Now I have seen a bunch of them, in the morning and in the late afternoon. At times when it was so cold that old Bertha was even shivering and asking for wood, and when it was so hot that you could cook on her without wood. I’ve been places where I have missed them… [Read more…]
December 8, 2011
Of all the fellers I have been around and cooked for, Jake is by far the top hand. If all hands were like old Jake and had his grit and determination, them fellers would have gotten through in half the time. He never missed a day of the fall gathering and he was always ready… [Read more…]
November 30, 2011
I had noticed him there before and never thought much about it. Ain’t it funny how when we get used to seeing something we just come to the assumption that it will always be there. It was always at the gate going down to the bottom pasture, once tall and strong now stood brittle and… [Read more…]
May 8, 2012
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