Pull Tight

Very cold morning today with a little snow on the ground. Took me back to days in the 60s on the family ranch and feeding cattle on winter days. This was in the time before the big round hay bales of today.  Would load up 10-15 bales of the old square bales on a pickup truck.  Out to the pasture, call the cows with the truck horn http://pulltight.blogspot.com/2013/03/calling-cows-and-purple-haze.html Then throw the hay off the truck and walk around looking through and counting the cows and taking the wire off each bale of hay. Sometimes recall a story I heard many years ago about a colder and snowier day than today.  Occurred somewhere in rural W Texas, near Amarillo as I remember. Was a really cold Sunday after a blizzard. One old rancher shows up early to the small country church, starts a fire in the wood stove and waits for the rest of the congregation and the preacher.  The preacher living next door arrives and stands by the stove with the old rancher. ...

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 "One God — Many Forms / One River — Many Streams / One People — Many Faces / One Mother — Many Children -Ma"----Sign in the former church of the    "Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat"  in the song. This sign offers good advice for civilization in today's world. My favorite holiday song and maybe the only one only heard on Thanksgiving. Been listening to this song most Thanksgiving Days for almost 50 years. You can easily find the song on the internet. Discovered my coworkers had never heard.  Might be time to start singing it again. Alice's Restaurant Massacree - Arlo Guthrie

Doing a little yard work today in prepartion for a party.  Broke the ax handle. Finished up with a chainsaw. Finished putting tools away, cleaning up and thought about my redneck cousins.  If some of them had seen me working, I might have been rejected as a family member. You might not be a redneck if the only chainsaw you own is electric.

Saw an excellent production of The Tempest under a full moon in Addison, TX last night . A near perfect fall night for an outdoor activity. Think the Bard himself would have enjoyed this production. This may have been Shakespeare's last play. One of my favorites, it contains my favorite Shakespeare quote. Hell is empty. And all of the devils are here.     This quote comes to mind frequently when our congress is in session and all in Washington.

A trip to the Calgary area wouldn't be complete without a side trip to the badlands.  Nancy was a little skeptical, but it turned out to be a highlight of our trip. We used GPS driving guide that was so helpful and entertaining I am thinking of contacting them to put one together for the area where I grew up. http://gypsyguide.com/package/drumheller/ Day started in the Rockies.  Sunrise from hotel window.  Wheat fields as far as you can see. As a teen I fantizied running a wheat combine and following the harvest.  Too busy on our own farm to pursue, but took a minute to admire the combines on the way to our destination.  Irricana is a town of about 1,000, with murals painted everywhere. Just off the highway along the way. This one reminded me of an old pick up I drove for a while, many years ago. Royal Tyrrell Musem in Drumheller is a world class musem of natural history and possibly the best dinosaur musem exhibit in the world. ...

Lake Louise - Nancy's late friend Myrt camped here as a young woman, probably in the 1920s or 30s. Said it was a beautiful place; still is. According to many sources it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Trail around around lake is about 3 miles. A lot of old goats my age hiking the trail in brand new hiking shoes designed for heavy duty hiking in any terrain or weather.  This path was paved or crushed gravel for the entire walk. The best part of their day was probably when they took off those new heavy shoes at the end of the day.  The travelers  Looking back from half way, hotel  Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise  in the distance.  There were climbers beginning ascent here. Chipmunk friend, center of photo.  Hotel Lobby Walk to overlook for Lake Moraine, steeper and longer than it looks. Was huffing and puffing by the top. Saw a bus load of seniors unloaded at the bottom, not too many of them were destined to m...