SteveSamet.com

Happy Birthday Jay M.

Happy Birthday Jay…
Hope you did exactly as you wished and had a ball doing it.

my 2 cents worth

unconcious sounds we here

I find myself listening throughout the day ,
At the trains as they rumble on by….
The whistle as it signals “get out of the way”,
While down the track it fly’s….

I love the trains and the joy it brings,
Memories of days long gone…
Whether asleep or working I hear the song they sing,
And the power and force so strong….

Up north the trains are mostly gone,
Many tracks are now bicycle paths…
A emptiness filled me like an sad sad song,
Gravel or pavements now sits where once there were tracks….

But here in Texas, the trains abound,
Going here and there all day….
I stop each day and rejoice in the sound,
As I hear the car’s roll, and sway…

I rode the trains in my younger years,
From coast to coast I went…
Grabbing the ladder, I cast off my fears.
My legs and knee’s already bent…

The force would pull me into the air,
The wind so mighty in my face…
With only seconds to spare,
My feet would find their place…

Climbing aboard I would search a place,
To sit and enjoy the ride…
The train was moving at a faster pace,
From others I would move and hide…

Not careing where I went,
Along for the journey ahead…
Excited feelings were sent,
To settle somewhere inside my head…

The states were just rolling on by,
A peace I grew to know…
Many time’s I thought “not a care have I”,
My independence begining to grow…

When the train would come to a stop,
I would decide to wait or leave…
A constant vigil for the railroad cops,
Their job searching for riders to retrieve…

I sometimes miss those days,
Thinking of them often as I hear the trains…
I am now way to old to think this way,
So from physical urge’s I refrain….

Sitting here a train is going on by,
Its whistle wailing in the air…
At 62 I could give it just one more try,
Taking off without a single care…….:D

(this really happened in my younger years. Storie’s abound in my head…)

my 2 cents worth

posted by Clint Burrell

With Thanksgiving coming up i found this poem posted by Clint and figured i’d repost it.

my 2 cents worth

——————————————————————————–

Had to dig for this one.

A Rangeland Thanksgiving

Thanksgivin’ chuck out on the range was mostly beef and beans,
With turkey just about as rare as store-bought nectarines.
Most cowhands didn’t mind it much if, on Thanksgivin’ Day,
They had to eat plain vittles. They felt thankful anyway
That they were of that ancient clan, the freeborn men who ride.
They mostly done their givin’ thanks with feelin’s deep inside.

But one time on the ol’ Bar G, the range boss of the work
Rode over to a nester’s place and bought a gobbler turk.
They tied a string around his leg and staked him to a wheel.
The cowboys sure did lick their chops, a-thinkin’ of the meal
The cook would fix Thanksgiving Day.They couldn’t hardly wait,
But that ol’ turk was plenty smart. He must have knowed the date.
For on the day before his doom, he somehow busted loose
And headed out across the plain a-runnin’ like the deuce.

A yell from Cookie fetched all the hands. They raced in off the work.
Each one a-buildin’ him a loop to try and ketch that turk.
Ol’ Humpy spooked and throwed the boss. Buck ran away with Red,
And their juicy turkey dinner was hangin’ by a thread!
Ol’ Hondo spurred his half-broke bronc into a switchy lope,
A-yellin’ “Let me at him!” and swingin’ his ol grass rope.

To rope a runnin’ gobbler ain’t no easy cowboy trick.
You’ve got to dab a little loop and yank the slack up quick.
Ol’ Hondo’s loop was hungry….or it might have been just luck,
But Cookie had a bird to pluck that evenin’ after chuck.

Next day he sure did baste that turk a crisp and golden brown,
With even fancy fixin’s like on tables back in town.
For if there’s one thing certain that a range cook most enjoys,
It’s keepin’ happy stummicks in the middle of his boys.
So they had their turkey feastin’, and amongst that rawhide group
They gave their thanks for lots of things…..but mainly Hondo’s loop!

By S. Omar Barker
Western Horseman
Nov. 1968

With cool weather I am working outside more

Last evening I pulled dead fig tree’s from around my future Blacksmithing shop. I hooked onto the roots with a chain and the hitch of my truck and up they came.
This afternoon and tonight I re-wired our horse trailer. (Sharon’s).
Tomorrow I will finish it up with tape and shrink tubing.
I need new lights but I know the wiring is good cause I put a test light on it.

I had a cancelation from a riding horse customer today. Cost of hay and the economy put a hit on them this month.
Opened up today to get started on other chores around the farm..

I am so looking forward to winter here in Texas. I have welding to do on the horse trailer and new trim and some alterations on the inside.

I cleaned out the feed/tack room and finished that the end of last week.

Now getting started on the well house. Need to tear it down and start from the ground up.

Next year Sharon wants a fence around the front of the property.

I am doing the plans in my head on converting her 3 bay garage into an antique shop for her.

In the slow time I shoe horse’s…..

I love being busy again…:D

my 2 cents worth

Bad heart valve

Just got home from the Veterans clinic and the dr. read me the results from all the tests they put me through.

I have old age arthritis in my knee’s
I have old age arthritis in my right hip
I have old age scoliosis of the spine making my rt leg shorter than my left
and the creme de la creme…

The valve going out of the top of my heart is closing and not functioning as good as it should.
The dr. is sending the cardiologist report back to them and have them review it once again.
They listed it this time as severe, but they might tone it down a bit after reviewing it a 2nd time.
If not then it looks like I will have to pick out a pig and get a loan of a vlave.

Now before some one goes off and says farriers not taking care of themselves.
I spent 40 yrs. competing in Martial arts from age 15 and competed into my 50′s. I am now 62 this coming Sunday.
I jumped out of air planes in the army and trained for special forces while in the service.
I have this yr. spent 40 yrs under a horse for one reason or another (don’t we all ?)
SO I think I have held up pretty good and longer than most.
OH ! I am still carrying 42 drafts and an assortment of horses on my present book.

I just have had to slow down some.

I never expected I would go under the knife, but I guess one never knows till it happens. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I miss it this time around.

my 2 cents worth

Retirement for me, still lays ahead…

The heat beats down on cracking earth
The Texas sun is hot…..
Clouds and thunder pass on by,
Occasionally leaving a drop….

Water evaporates from the pasture trough’s,
A daily chore to fill….
The horses wander to and fro,
Nose’s deep under water nary a drop they spill….

The land is flat where I reside,
Years past fields of rice were grown….
To day homes are built where rice once grew,
Land that is now looked upon as flood zone’s….

Cattle are being loaded in trailers,
To auction their being hauled….
The drought has limited the hay they need,
So sell them before price’s fall….

Water is rationed and lawns turning brown,
Gumbo so dry it cracks….
18 days of over 100 degree’s,
How much longer can this weather last…

But winter is coming a few months away,
Locals say the rains may still come….
I see visions of my Harley going on down the road,
Giving me pleasure and fun….

Retired I said, as I headed on south,
Almost a year ago I recall…
Now I shoe and trim horses each day,
Drafts coming in with each new call….

Retired I say, quietly to myself,
Time to slow on down…
Retired I say, each and everyday,
As I visit customers from town to town…

I came to Texas to drop a line in the surf,
I came to Texas with retirement on my plate….
But found I wasn’t quite ready just yet ,
So retirement will just have to wait……

my 2 cents worth
Bruce Matthews 8/18/2011