Welcome to the West as I see it

My book, Cowgirl Sass and Savvy, is in the final stages and will begin shipping at the end of the first week in July (as close as I can get it done around and after the July 4th holiday ) –Thank you to the many of you who ordered early at the sale price –that price is good only until Saturday, June 30 and then goes to $16.95 plus tax and shipping. It has been fun to see the progress of the book and to actually hold it in my hand in each stage of the process. The cover is as exciting to me as the book itself. It seems to make it a real book and not just a manuscript. The front cover is so perfect with Gordon Snidow’s print on it. The back cover has a beautiful serape and hat graphic that ties it all in perfectly. I’ll provide a picture of that as soon as the edits are made on the text.

Just so you know, there will be a sequel to Cowgirl Sass and Savvy with a series of more stories from cowboy country.

Here is a story from this book, one of my favorites. You don’t have to be a cowboy or cowgirl to identify with it.
A kept woman — matter of perception
Two women at a citified social gathering were having a conversation. The event was a collection of people who don’t walk in the same world on a day to day basis. Those kinds of get-togethers usually prove that perceptions are not even close to reality.
“What do you do for a living?”
“I work at the ranch.”
“Oh, so you don’t have a job?”
“Yes, I work at the ranch.”
The knowing “I see”, that was spoken came with an unspoken attitude that said “I’m talking to a ‘kept’ woman.”
Oh yes, a kept woman. A ranch wife is indeed a kept woman. The list of her “kept” duties is endless.

• She kept going to the corrals every night for three months in sub-zero temperatures to check on calving heifers.
• She kept hay hauled to the barn and ice on the tanks broken.
• She kept the fuel and feed suppliers on call so tanks weren’t empty and the cattle didn’t go hungry.
• She kept the horses wormed, the horseshoer scheduled, the saddle house swept and the saddle blankets washed.
• She kept the horse in the corral and the dogs out of the corral.
• She kept gate open while she waited for him to show up or she kept the gate closed because he didn’t.
• She kept the pantry full, hot food on the table, clean clothes in the drawer, and the ever proverbial “home fires burning.”
• She kept the grocery list, the spare parts list, and the Christmas card list.
• She kept the calendar marked with family dates, weather reports, cattle working dates and new calf tallies.
• She kept the socials “social,” his soul prayed for and his Mother’s birthday remembered.
• She kept the bills paid, his boots soled, and the sunscreen where he might think to use it.
• She kept the coffee ever handy, the iced tea ever available and his grandfather’s recipe for a hot toddy as a remedy for his achy body.
• She kept track of where he put his stuff so he could find it.
• She kept his butt out of a jamb and the list is too long to say when and why.
• She kept the vaccine guns washed and in one place and the vaccine front and center in the refrigerator.
• She kept the kids fed, clean and in school and made sure he remembered which one was which and if he needed to say “happy birthday.”
• She kept her legs shaved and reminded him his face needed shaved.
• She kept the clippers sharp for haircuts for him, the kids, the dog and the horse.

And through it all she kept her sense of humor — even on days when humor was as scarce as rain.
Yes indeed, she is a kept woman.
In fact, she has a Ph.D. in “kept” and most days it would be measurably easier to have a real job.
However, as a rule, she would not trade this “kept” life for a two-story house in the suburbs with a new SUV in the driveway and hair and nail appointments every Friday followed by lunch at the club.
She is a kept woman because “kept” is who she is and what she does best.
* * * * * * * *
Please be sure and check the archives (see top right of page for links) for more stories and many more photos I love sharing.

I moved to New Mexico in 1985 and still today I am completely amazed at the almost magical recovery this country can make given a small measure of moisture. It expects little and delivers much.

Three years ago I took photos on a local ranch in the throes of a 10 year drought. It was hard to find a photo that didn’t show bare ground between what WAS grass clumps. The cattle were thin and the browse non-existent. The land had not seen wildflowers and flourishing flora in a very long time.

And now, after hard, heavy rains last summer and a relatively wet winter and spring, the country side is giving up its best in blooms and ground cover. Cattle are fat, lying around water holes full and satisfied. We don’t take it for granted but we do revel in the beauty magnified by the hard times that came before it.

I’m trying to remember when I last rounded the curve where Colorado State Hwy. 96 prepares to drop down into the breathtaking beauty of the Wet Mountain Valley and the little village of Westcliffe. It’s been a few years and still today, like it did all my life growing up there, the spectacular beauty of the mountains simply takes my breath away.

Truly a picture paints what words cannot but better than that, I am thankful for the photos to keep the memories in living color.

It was wonderful visiting with old friends, making new ones and simply standing in a meadow underneath the shadow of those majestic peaks once again. Of course the stay was not long enough but I made enough promises to come back soon I’ll just have to do it.

I needed to go home.

More photos:

Colorado cowboys Tate and Randy Rusk spent the day in paradise doctoring cattle, new arrivals with some problems.

And my dryland son Lane, 13, SO enjoyed the trout fishing.

A look back over my shoulder after I left gave me one more shot to take home to New Mexico –and a promise to return soon.

©2007 Julie Carter

Employee manual for the cowboy

We live in a time when rules and regulations are everywhere. If the government hasn’t regulated it, we, the people have.

We write rules and pass out manuals with job descriptions. We have laws to abide by while on the job or as members of most organizations.

A cowboy’s job is not just a career. It is a heritage that has evolved over more than a century of man working with bovines. With it comes a code that isn’t written in a manual.

These rules aren’t printed and handed out at the bunkhouse or posted on the saddle room door.

They have been passed from generation to generation among the cowboys themselves and between father and son. These are laws of respect and cowboy etiquette that are just part of the job.

The concepts are age-old but still hold true today. But because more and more cowboys are “found” and not raised, fewer and fewer are aware of the content of this unwritten manual.

Genuine legitimate indisputable cowboys have influenced my life. Over the years, I have asked them to tell me what it was a cowboy should know in order to live true to the code.

If the cowboy had an employee handbook, these men all agreed that these simple laws, no matter which outfit it was on, would be included:

· Never ride another cowboy’s horse unless it’s a matter of life and death.

· Never use another cowboy’s equipment without permission.

· Never ride between another cowboy and the herd. Always ride behind him to get where you are going.

· Don’t ride in front of the boss. He knows what he wants to do. He will let you know what he wants you to know. If he’s tracking cattle, stay back or you’ll mess up the tracks.

· Never ride into the herd if you haven’t been asked to do so. If you are holding herd, hold the herd – period. Helping to cut cattle from the herd is not a volunteer option.

· Don’t ask the boss what you are going to do the next day. Again, if he wants you to know, he’ll tell you.

· Always take care of your horse before you take care of yourself.

· Always be on time. Nothing makes a cow boss quite as mad as having to wait on someone.

· Cowboy, take that hat off! If you are in the presence of a lady or if you go into someone’s house, show your respect and hold that hat in your hand. Watch your language in mixed company. If you are sitting in a room and a lady enters, stand up.

· Always help the cook with wood and water and don’t ever get into his grub unless he asks. Always put your plate and silverware in the roundup pan (dishpan) after you eat.

· Don’t ever take a dog when you go to help another outfit. They may not like dogs. Never yell at another man’s dog.

· Always roll your bedroll when you first get out of it. ALWAYS leave a clean camp.

The best advice my mentors could offer was to always be respectful, dependable and do your best at whatever it was you were asked to do. Manners count.

There is no one finer to be in the presence of than a gentleman cowboy.

Pre-release sale price of new book good only until June 30!