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. My Dad turns seventy nine today, Born
in nineteen twenty four, He seen some changes along the
way and he figures to see some more.
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"Timing
is the secret, to a successful Raindance" some will
say, I'll tell you here and now, It just don't work that
way.
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, 1914 - August 8, 2003 A tall man on a bay
horse, That's the picture in my head, "Best all around
horseman I ever met" , was what my father said.
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- I recall that ancient Chinese curse,
"May you live in interesting times!" Well it's
sure been a challenging summer, For writing humours rhymes.
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The
West is creation's best sculpted by, ice, wind and fire.
Her children made to match the land, twisted rawhide and
barb wire. The half moon hangs blood red, Over a valley
choked with smoke,
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We haven't seen a drop of rain in
a month or more, the pastures are getting dry, but the hay
looks good , and in our garden patch the corn's over six
foot high.
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Perhaps the best thing about writing
and performing for a living, is not being tied down to a
routine, as long as I file my stories on time and get to
my performances. Gordy called to say " I got the swather
greased, the slough grass is six foot high. So quit ramblin'
around telling lies, and give some honest work a try!"
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( from the Chitwood Ranch Airdrie
Alberta) Well I've done a bunch of travelling the last two
weeks or so, And I'll be headed home pretty quick, just
got one more show.
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We
used to call it Cowboy Christmas, The first two weeks of
July, You could hit a Rodeo nearly every day, Beneath a
clear blue summer sky.
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We've got 30 million cattle
tagged, with a bar codes on their ears. Canadian cattlemen,
designed the program, to deal with modern of health fears.
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In Ottawa ol' Fork Tongue Jean, Is fiddlin' the same
old tunes, In hot pursuit of his pet projects, while the
economy falls in ruins.
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So, some Catfish Farmer,
from the "Show Me State", Bought a ranch in Northern
Alberta, and ends up with the first mad cow, Western Canada
ever heard a'.
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Will Rogers once said something
about,horses being the only critter on Earth that seem to
be designed, with serving man in mind! I rode the big sorrel
colt again this morning, A week into training and we aint
had a wreck. Another three weeks he'll be gentle enough,
and I figure I will have earned my check.
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He was five years old and still unbroke,
The Owner said "He's been handled once or twice, Been
out on pasture much since he was three, but..... his mother
was real nice."
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How it got here we haven't
a clue, imagine the hubbub if they would of found two. It's
some Englishman's fault, of that much I'm quite certain,
so let's pen them up behind a tweed curtain..
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I
got note from a friend in South Dakota, just the other day,
It seems that all the farmers she knows, are in a terrible
way. It's the same up in Alberta, and all down the Eastern
slopes, Late winter storms brought moisture, and rekindled
farmer's hopes.
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"Ask not for whom
the road tolls, you know it tolls for thee," Quoth
the Premiere of Vancouver to the Heartland of BC. "A
sacrifice is needed to make our Olympic flame burn bright,
So you need not bother raging, at the dying of the light."
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- Rumour
has it one of the Walton's is about to buy Douglas Lake
Ranch, The biggest cow outfit in Canada, is going to become,
Wal-Mart's agricultural branch!
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Riding along the river trail, A soft
April rain is falling , Above it's subtle whisper, I hear,
wary , wild geese calling.
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, Where Dog Creek
meets the Frazer, There's good grass and not much snow.
So Raphael started wintering his horses here, about a hundred
and fifty years ago.
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Ancient
wounds begin to bleed, When we take up our guns And seek
to right a wrong by laying low, some other mother's sons.
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My Mom called
me just yesterday, she said "I know you've been busy
Son, But If you've got some time in the next few days, There's
some things that we need done. "
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, ( My Annual Ode to Mud ) "
Use the back door!, Scrape your boots! Don't track that
mud in here !" I retreat real quick, head ' round the
back, While mumbling, " yes dear".
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...without anything funny. I
don't often agree with Fork Tongued Jean, but this time,
he's dead right, not to join George and his toadies in this
one sided fight.
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Our
retiring Prime Minister is half way out the door, but that
doesn't mean he can't find ways, to waste a little more.
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To George
Dumb - A... Ooops! I mean.. Dubya... Bush. From Prime Minister
Jean Poutine, Commander in Chief of the Canadian Army, Navy
and Vintage Flying Club. We wish you good luck in your war,
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From Saskatchewan to Texas the
snow is three feet deep, Gas bills are high, cow feed is
short, and it buried all the sheep.
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"What ever happened to chasing cows,
and riding on the range?" The Idea of a Cowboy Poetry
gathering might seem a little strange!
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Relax old friend, and sit a spell, we'll
swap some yarns and lies. Sing cowboy songs, and tell some
poems about bad broncs and circle flies.
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It's been said that good intentions,
can cause a lot of grief, We're up against a stacked deck,
boys, at least that's my belief. Diamonds are for rich folks,
and Chocolate makes her fat, Valentine's Day has become
a trap, there is no denying that!
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They say his name's "El
Nino", And he is a terror on the coast, while he sends
warm winds to the Interior, just when we need them most!
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"For a promise made is a debt unpaid"....
Bob Service, penned that phrase, In the morbid tale of Sam
McGee, Back in the Gold Rush Days.
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I'm declaring a seven week respite, from
all forms of political jokes. Until the Cowboy Fest is over,
I'll only speak of only upright folks!
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I guess we should
feel like we're getting a deal, after all they claim it
is only going to cost One hundred and fifty thousand dollars
for the study on what went wrong with the gun registry program,
that was only going to cost two million dollars but actually
cost a billion.
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It
always make me smile a bit, when the West Coast, gets hit
by a winter storm. Because those Southwest flows, that cause
them woes... blow in here pretty warm.
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"Welcome
to, Two Thousand Three ..minus 25... Oh say, can you smell
it for the smoke? God's still up there laughin', so he's
got to be alive, so who said, He can't take a dirty joke?"
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A red crayon colored Santa , and a rumpled
paper Dove, memories of Christmas past, made with paper,
paste and love.
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Christmas is almost here, and I haven't
got a clue, Just what to get my darlin' Wife, But I guess
that's nothin' new.
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(with apologies to the Bare Naked Ladies) As the festive
season's drawing near, Should we register our guns my dear?
Or should we protest this expensive farce, and tell Ottawa
to kiss my .....?
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and his good friend "George Dubya"
where crossing a bridge and Jean fell off.... why didn't
George? He said , "She said..." is the name
of the game, And if you say what we're thinking You can't
dodge the blame.
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I rode the river trail today, on
the sorrel, two year old. She's still a little cold backed,
but she steps out nice and bold. It's an easy half day circle,
no cows to move today, It's mild for late November, the
sky's a dull slate grey.
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won the World Seniors Calf Roping Championship
last year. He tragically passed away July 13, 2002 at the
age of 63. His wife Paula Jo was leading the circuit in
the barrel racing when Ken died. She dedicated the rest
of the season to his memory.
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"
I don't make Jokes, I just watch the Government, and report
the facts." Sorting fact from fiction, Where politics
is involved, Would drive a sober man to drink, and still
get nothing solved.
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My ol' Diesel, wouldn't hardly
start today so I kicked and cussed it some. I should have
changed the glow plugs, before the cold weather come.
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- You know for a middle aged X-Bullrider,
my little brother still runs pretty good. We jumped the
horses in the trailer, and as I tied my mare in place,my
little Brother stood at the back door.
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- I hauled the Bay mare up to my brother's
place,and left the foal behind, Having her momma out of
calling range, sure speeds up the weaning time.
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- As the Queen and Prince Philip made their
flying tour out West, I wonder If the Duke recalled, when
he'd been Chunky Woodward's guest.
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I've been spinning
in circles for a week or two, Between recitin' and writin'
and fall chores to do.
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- We had our first frost
the other night, The geese will be bunching up soon. My
garden is empty, except for a few lonely pumpkins,
in the light of that big harvest moon.
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- My little brother just finished
his first trip as an assistant guide.
Leading a party of American hunters on a big game hunt far
and wide.
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- I put new shoes the two gray mares,
I'll get the others reset next week, It's almost time for
our annual game of bovine Hide and Seek!
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- Well, they have finally gone and done
it, this time there aint no joking. And we'll never have
to ask again.... what them Senators were smoking.
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- Fall fair time is on us,
we rise at the crack of dawn one last long weekend beckons
us, before the summer's gone.
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- (composed while
shoveling out the barn) - It's one of them chores a
fellow keeps putting off, but ... it lies in wait for you.
Until you run out of reasons to procrastinate, or just got
nothing better to do.
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| who
are organizing a Canadian Farm Aid Concert to help raise funds
to assist drought stricken farmers and ranchers on the Prairies.
It has been set for October 12, 2002 at Big Valley (near Camrose
Ab.) |
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- Early August is a real good time,
to camp far from any town. And enjoy the wonders of a summer
sky, with no city lights around.
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- Pushing
cows on summer range, was my favorite riding chore. Each
day a different circle, and we find a few head more....
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- Adios
Ken, Today the West is a little less Western,
a great cowboy's been called home.
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(Twelfth
Annual Kamloops Cattle Drive) The
big cattle drive is under way, Two hundred riders will prevail.
From Nicola to Kamloops on the ancient Brigade Trail.
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- Right now I'm down in Texas Where
them hot Panhandle breezes blow visiting with some southern
friends for about a week or so.
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Pierre Trudeau, gave
us a constitution of
our own, and our current PM... |
| and turned my ponies out to graze.
We are off to Alberta to spend a few days. |
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- Fork Tongued
Jean rides again, He just don't know when to quit. He's
as ruthless as he ever was, but I think his mind has slipped
a bit!
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- The late calves have all been branded. The cow herd's
been turned out. The garden's up, the grass is good, aint
got a thing to whine about.
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- Now forty-eight was before my
time, but I sure remember seventy-two. It's amazing what
a few days of rain, and a late run off can do! It's been
pouring here for a week or so, dare I call it a liberal
shower?
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- The bay mare dropped her foal last week, a sorrel
filly with a tiny star.
all legs and curiosity, like most baby horses are.
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| Heck! No one cares how long,
I just want to take the snow tires off, and wear a T-shirt
all day long. |
| is dead and gone, Though many tried
their best, To save the toughest critter, that ever lived
out west. |
| - They'll
hire ten thousand bureaucrats, to perfect the paper trail,
and catalogue each critter, from grizzly bear to snail. |
|
,
is national poetry month! It's half way over! Why wasn't
I told? If they were going to have a poetry month why leave
poets out in the ... Dark.
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- Finally! It feels like spring. The snow
is gone from the riverbank, them eggbound Canada geese can
quit squawking and get to nesting. It seems as though we're
a month behind on all the spring chores. The yards a mess,
I got colts to start and about forty head of yearling heifers
need to be dehorned...
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- It's a good thing April Fools Day fell
on a holiday this Year, 'cause there are too many crazy
things going on, I couldn't pick just one I fear.
|
| - The first day of spring was the coldest on
record in most parts of British Columbia, 36 below in Big
Creek , makes you wonder where our global warmin' went? |
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- Cowboy poetry fans may be the most
dedicated supporters of the Arts on the planet, in spite
of horrible driving conditions attendance at this years
Kamloops Cowboy Festival March 8-10, was up by more 40%
over last year.
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- The cold weather just keeps hanging on,
It looks like winter aint quite through, The woodpile is
getting down a bit, I'd best cut another load or two!
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- I suppose most folks think I'm crazy, and
I... suppose, they aint far wrong.
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- Well we're on the
final countdown, to the Kamloops Cowboy Festival Friends
are calling in from near and far, Things are shaping up
real well.
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- My childhood heroes where cowboys, that
much should be plain, and I figured the greatest was Kenny
McLean.
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- You might buy your darlin' Chocolates,
wrapped in a bow or two. Or a dozen pretty roses, The choice
is up to you.
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- Well, Ground Hog Day has slipped away For
better or for worse.
But I'll leave stories about the weather, to some other
poets verse.
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- Not a whole lot near as I can see,
I real aint sure what a Liberal" is, Except that it isn't
NDP.
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- Now the Weathers mild for
January, But we've got some crusty snow, so anywhere the
trail aint broke, most critters just don't go.
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- If you call this place
a cowtown,
some people get upset, They claim that's a part of our heritage,
they'd sooner just forget.
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- When I was a kid there were a lot
of ethnic jokes going around that accused Ukrainian people
of not being very bright!
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- We
make well intentioned resolutions, or party until dawn,
Hang up a brand new calender, catch our breath, then carry
on.
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- A long time ago, a child was born
in a stable in small city in a far off corner of the Roman
Empire.... There were no malls, no Christmas lights, no
chocolate Santa in a plastic sleigh.
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- Dashing through the snow, in a one horse
open sleigh., o'er the fields we go Laughing all the way!
Bells on Bob-tail ring making spirits light?
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- Some folks think
that it's a sin,
to cut a fir tree down.
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The moon is near full and the night
shadows are long, The crisp air seems alive with the coyote
choir's song.
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......
Less than a month to go until Christmas! Heck!
I aint done no Christmas shopping yet, and time's just flying
by. Here I am in.... Hazelton? where there aint many stores
to try.
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| Well, I've
got things pretty well caught up around home and ready for
winter. Which is good because I'm heading North for a couple
weeks to do some readings and performances for folks along
the trail from Prince George to Hazelton. |
|
"Let the Snake Hunt Begin!" That was the
first caption of a cartoon I read many years ago.
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| I've got a dozen post holes left
to dig before it freezes hard. The cows are gone to winter
range an' I'm 'bout caught up around the yard. |
| - Pouring rain on a slimy black highway, you'd
swear both the headlights were dead. Falling water and pavement
swallow the light, I can't see fifty feet up ahead. |
| - A friend called me early
this morning, claimed her little mare wasn't doing too well,
"dull-eyed and listless and plumb off her feed, what's
wrong with her I just can't tell!" |
|
- A little frost this morning, a rim of ice on the water trough,
but once the sunlight hits the valley, I take my jacket off. |
| - Moving cows on a rain soaked trail, my slicker
keeps me dry, it takes more than a shower to dampen my spirits
so let me tell you why. |
| - Slidin' into fall, Between haulin' wood
and huntin' cows, September just slips by. There's a hundred
little chores to do, before the wild geese fill the sky. |
| - It's a long way from New York City to the
Chilcotin, in more ways than one. But the tragedy of so many
innocent lives lost, touches every human being in the free
world! |
| - Leaving things to the last minute has sort
of become a deeply ingrained habit with me. There is always
a bunch of things that need doing and only so many hours in
afternoon, some of which need be spent fishing. So consequently
chores usually don't get done until they worm their way to
the top of my priority list, and simply can't be ignored any
longer. |
| - The last long summer weekend,
means Fall Fairs and Rodeo, In nearly every little town Where
ever you might go. |
| - They call it "Big Sky Country"
And it's a fair 'nough name I guess, But it's one that you
could hang on any corner of the West. |
|
- I couldn't decide what to write today, So I cleaned out
my tool box again. It's my favorite way, to un-muddle my mind
When I'm not sure just where to begin. |
| - Jim Cobb Has left us; he passed away
July 21 2001. Jim's story telling has always been one of my
primary inspirations as a poet. |
| - Come all you brave cowpunchers, where-ever
you might be. If you long for the days of open range when
the west was wild and free. |
| - Linda and I, and Hugh and Billie McLennan
are headed down to Fort Worth, Texas For the Will Rogers Awards.
Hugh has been nominated for Western Broadcaster of The Year
And I have been nominated for Male Cowboy poet of the Year,
My last Book (Meadow Muffins) and my CD ( Sage and Pine) have
also been nominated. |
| - Canada, is a poet's dream, a land, so diverse
and wide. It takes a lot of imagination, to see the other
side. |
| - A lone coyote hunts with me, poking through
swaths of fresh cut hay, the hunting is good, he'll have no
problem, filling his belly today. |
| - There is a robin singing his head off,
out on my back lawn. Another grey and cloudy morning. Looks
like the drought is gone. |
| - Last weekend I was asked to share my poems
with a group of young folks from North Vancouver. They were
a great audience! |
| - There were fresh deer tracks in the garden
this morning, so I guess I've been given fair warning! |
| - OK! We know who won, but what
happens next. Will the NDP and Green Party duct tape themselves
together and become the "Red Green Party" ? Will the Fast
Ferries learn to float? How much will we have to pay out in
pensions to all the unemployed ex MLAs? Do we have to wait
for the Florida votes to be counted? |
| - "Son could you drop over for an hour
or two?" For reasons beyond my understanding my Mom and
Dad (who are both in their seventies) just bought a brand
new home with a big yard in need of landscaping. |
| - I sat down by the river bank and let
an hour or two slip by. Watching a fluffy group of goslings
and their mother swim near by. |
| - Seems like winter finally
fizzled out, the hills are turning green. But in shady spots
on northern slopes, some snow can still be seen. |
| - It's been a long cool spring but that
don't make me sad, because the river has stayed low and the
fishin' aint bad. |
| - There was a small flock of Hungarian
Chuckar Partridges in the back yard this morning. They are
very pretty birds, but usually so wary that you seldom get
to see one up close. I spent a fair while watching them through
the dining room window just a few feet away. |
| - My Mom said it snowed a bunch when I was
born in early April, 1953. It was snowing again when I got
up this morning, it must be David Suzuki's fault. I don't
know how he done it, but I know he's been trying to mess up
this global warming thing for years! |
| - The horses are shedding hair everywhere
and calvings near half done.On the days it doesn't rain or
snow, there is finally some warmth in the sun. |
| - When the wind is from the West. There's
bad news from the British Isles, About that hoof 'n mouth
disease. The stench of burning cattle, Poisons every vagrant
breeze! |
| - The seventeenth of
Ireland, is but a day or two away. Time for the wearin' of
the green, for 'tis Saint Paddy's Day. |
| - Friends are pulling into town to swap some
yarns and rhymes. Sing some songs and reminisce, about them
good ol' Cowboy times. |
| - It ain't fair! Alberta gets to have an election
before British Columbia does! Not that I am in any way politically
biased, but I am sure glad I didn't invest my life savings
in a Big Game Guiding Outfit! I think it's one more step towards
eliminating the rural poor, by forcing us all to move to town
and join the homeless! |
| - This day of rhymes and roses, is every poet's
chance to shine, As long as we can think up words, to rhyme
with Valentine. |
| - I'll Slip accross the Medicine Line, as
quietly as can be. Heading South to Nevada To spout some poetry.
|
| - the Ground Hog and our
Premiere are both going to pop out of their holes for a look
around. If either one of them sees a shadow, we'll be in for
six more weeks of ICBC commercials. |
| is coming up January 27 so in honour of
the most famous of all Scottish Poets. |
| - My column is to small to rehash the year,
from a Cowboy's point of view. All in all, it wasn't too bad,
and millenium bugs were quite few! |
| - Sounds like a great idea
for a movie! About a bowlegged relic from a bygone time, Exploring
the new millenium, In homespun stories and rhyme. |
| - Well, if you haven't made up your mind
who to vote for yet, there isn't a darn thing I could say
that might help. Just remember the words of Mark Twain; "In
a Democracy you always get the sort of Government you deserve,
like it or not!" |
| - Through back slashes and
dot coms, I've wandered all day, Instead of the jackpine hunting
cattle that stray. |
|
- The night is filled with the bawling of the cattle, To their
annual weaning song, The Steers are shipped, But the Cows
and heifers, Harmonize all night long. |
