Gosh, I miss the horses and cows.............

[Kelley (Texas)]

I accidentally found this video a few minutes ago and it really made me think about all the good times in my life. The video is about a cowboy in California, but it could have just as easily been in Texas...same life style. You folks will never realize how much I miss the "Home Place" and all the great times Debbie and I had...we were very fortunate and blessed! As I now sit here typing on this key board, right behind me is a saddle that I sat in while roping many calves...I will never sell it. Hanging from the horn is a Smith Brothers Rope that I bought at a feed store in Gonzales County almost twenty years ago...gosh, the memories!

Last week I again drove out to my cousin's ranch near Castroville, Texas to see my three horses. "Tuff" is getting old, having trouble walking and I fear that he will not be with me much longer. Almost the same with "Freckles," she is getting old too! "Blue Berry" is now in her prime and my cousin Cindy loves that horse as much as I do. She was the last horse that I trained and I put everything I had into training her...I have always loved that horse from the moment I first saw her when she was six months old. The day that my horses pass this life and enter into that other place where all horses go, Horse Heaven, part of me will die...there will be an empty spot inside of me, never to be filled again. Life can be so hard and cruel sometimes, but it can be good too! I learned a long time ago that you best get up every morning with a smile on your face...you must face the challenges of life and make the best of things. Reflecting back, I must admit that I have had a good life...a good wife, good family, good friends, what more can a man really ask for in life. I am at peace within myself...still dislike this city life, but I am at peace within myself and will be OK with any challenge of life that passes my way. Sorry for the rambling, just typing out loud what I am thinking at the moment. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs_P5n1iKeA&NR=1

 

[WillyP]

Life does through some curve balls from time to time but all-in-all it's a great life and a great time to be alive. Family and friends are a blessing for sure. I know what you mean about city life. I spent a few years on a small farm. No horses but about 40 head of cattle. I lived with a school chum's family while I finished high school. I miss droppin' hay in the fields around sun down while the cows followed us around. I miss the rotten egg fights when we discovered an old cash in the barn. I miss driving the old Case tractor (top speed 32 miles an hour). I miss ridin' in the back of "Pop" Harris's old dodge pickup up into the hills to mend fence. Irrigating the hay fields. Bucking hay (man that put muscles in your sh_t!) pardon the french. All character builders and it all taught me the value of an honest days work. My mom had to move away to find work and I chose (with a little squaking on her part) to stay in my small home town and finish school there. Never regreted it or my experience on the farm. I never have really taken to city life or most the crazies that live here. Mike and Alice, Wayne and Carol, Royal, Sunny and many on this forum.....are my kind of people....salt of the earth.

 

[SurfCutter]

Thank You ..
.
The last couple of weeks have been a bit tough most of it spent in worry or frustration on my part having to deal with stuff that should not be ,,,, a marriage that is no more ,,, a person that I no longer know , (wife) that will tell you that she means well and has the best interest at heart for our son only to act in such a way as to put in doubt his whole life by trying to have him labelled with a special need, an autism , that I feel he does not have and for the most part no one else has made a point of at least not the school and any of his teachers ... currently he is doing good in school this year his grades are up for the most part over last year which was not his best . I just hope that the Core Testing by the school I have asked for proves me right and he will get to grow up without any lasting harm from all this ... or prove he does need help and now we all can work to give him the best chance at over coming the difficulty ...
Add to the mind games that are now being played to which I can not answer to until I have my things in order so ii take notes , write down all that needs to be remembered and be as neutral as I can , no anger , no hurt , just quiet acceptance of what is and what will be .... my strength comes from trying to do right by my kids and for them I hold my tongue and not venting the hurt or the anger ....
Thanks for the encouragement and way of looking at things a bit different to keep on keeping on ...of your post holds a lot of truths , I hope your trail is smooth and easy .....
Thanks Cowboy ...from I guess some one who would be by your standard a City Folk ..Thank You ..
Bill G.

 

[VT Dave]

Great video and I'm sure it stirred some good memories. When it is Tuff's time to go, you'll miss him but he'll know he was loved!

Thanks for sharing the video Fred!

Dave

 

[Micheal_R]

the more I realize that our decision to get out from that lifestyle was the correct one.

Oh we may whine and complain at times [who doesn't].... but the peace and serenity that you find up here makes it all worthwhile.When we go 'over the hill' [the local term for going to town], once we get there, all I can think about is getting out of town.

Take care

Fair winds

Mikie

 

[Micheal_R]

I would expect nothing less from you. As you know, I have had some problems adjusting to our move too. You miss the farm and horses..... I miss the ocean. But the longer I live up here, away from my beloved ocean, I find more joy and satisfaction in the life up here. I only have to look out in the fields and watch the two new babies galloping and playing to realize just how lucky I am and have been; or watch the sun rise; or sit by the river; or.... oh the list is endless. We have a lifestyle that many would die for.

Like you, life has been pretty good to us. Oh it has thrown us a curve or two along the way; but all in all, it has been a pretty good life.

Calm seas, fair winds, sunny skies

Mikie

 

[Dan-MO]

I have lived in a rural area most all of my life.Nearly every place I have ever lived I have been surrounded my woods and could sit on my porch at night and hear the sounds of the woods -the singing of the coyotes,the hoot of an owl,the songs of the whip-o-wells.It has never been unusual to see wildlife in my back yard.I have also always been fortunate enough to keep own enough land to keep neighbors at a distance.Lately my wife and I have had some talks about someday in the not distance future about selling out and buying a house in town,due to many reasons- including health problems.The thought terrifies me.Nothing against folks that live in town-but it is a place and different way of life that I have ever known-and I don't know if I could ever be satisfied in a place where I couldn't pee off my porch - guess we will just have to see what life brings and make the best of it

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

it appears that you have pulled yourself up by the boot straps and made the best of things. Just remember to put that smile on your face every morning when you roll out of that bed...it will set the entire day in a positive attitude! Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

The first thing that you will lose is your privacy...neighbors will be wanting to pry into your life. You will hear the man next door fart while you are reading the newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee at you kitchen table. One bright spot will be the neighbor kids...they are fun to watch and they will ask you all types of questions about your prior life. It will be different and you will learn to make the best of it. I am slowly, but surely finding out that these city folks do have a story to tell if you will take a few minutes to listen. You might do like I am doing and buy a motorcycle to escape the city for a few minutes every chance that you get...will give you something interesting to do besides just cutting the grass. Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Royal]

you do have your memories. I envy you. I do not have those memories and have no idea what it was REALLY like unless someone like you tells me. I have seen many cowboy movies but I doubt that Tom Mix was really telling it as it was, Roy Rogers either. We need Fred to tell us in his interesting way.

Now you are living another adventure and one I wish I could live. I hope I will through your posts. Interesting days ahead for you Fred

And you still have your memories