For awhile, the Outdoor Recreation Network has been publishing some of my writing on their site. I figgered there were enough folks on the list with rural backgrounds that y'all may get a kick out of some of them...<br><br>This was the introductory article from a couple years ago:<br><br>Cowboy.<br><br>The word invokes an image of a solitary figure, riding a fence line into the setting sun, a herd of red, black, and white cattle grazing on endless miles of native grassland. For some, there may be mountains in the background, or an eagle soaring on the winds high above. For others, a babbling brook may take the place of mountains, and the eagle could be a hawk.<br><br>No matter what the image, there are feelings attached that remain constant:<br><br>Tranquility. Contentment. Freedom.<br><br>Anyone else hear those snickers? Maybe a few guffaws thrown in for good measure?<br><br>For those of you who haven't experienced the life of raising four-legged critters, those snickers and guffaws are coming from folks in the crowd who have spent a good chunk of their years living that picture y'all have set in your minds.<br><br>So what are they laughing at, you ask?<br><br>They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Lets have a closer look at that picture of the cowboy riding the fence line.<br><br>Y'see how the horse is kind of standing in front of that chunk of fence? You take a closer look at the fence post behind the horse.<br><br>Go on, have a look. Right under the horse's belly.<br><br>Broke, ain't it? And despite the best efforts of modern engineering, even the lightest, most durable wire needs the occasional bent, twisted, or rotted post stuck in the ground to hold it up. It's hard to say how that post got broke. Maybe an amorous bull caught wind of some pretty little<br>heifers two pastures over. That would explain the four broken wires that the horse is also standing in front of.<br><br>Now cattle are creatures of habit. They'll take water around the same time each day. You can often set your watch by cows bellering for feed, or a little nip of chopped oats. But variety is the spice of life, and bovines, when faced with a broken fence line, see an ideal opportunity to taste the grass on a different side of the pasture.<br><br>So all those contented critters grazing in the picture? What you're not seeing is the equal number of critters high tailing it into yonder hills, looking for the proverbial greener pastures. The cowboy staring off into the distance? He's watching them go, a couple tears rolling down his cheek, muttering a few not-so-polite words about the 17th danged hole that he's<br>fixed today, questioning the lineage of his fine critters, and wondering why he didn't stay in town and get a normal job that would see him home at 5:00 pm everyday.<br><br>I can see you're starting to get the real picture now. The gloves hiding the wounds obtained from fixing the other 16 holes in the wire. The horse that spooked a while back, giving the cowboy a free ride that amusement parks only dream of, but ending with a two mile walk to where the ornery old nag finally decided to stop and grab a nibble of grass. And the list goes on.<br><br>Yeah, so what are they laughing at, you ask again?<br><br>Faced with 365 days of that beautiful picture y'all have in your minds, most cowboys have got no choice but to laugh. It keeps them out of the little rooms with padded walls. And most of the time, that picture was their own danged fault anyway. So what's done is done, might just as well get a<br>chuckle or two out of it.<br><br>And this is where we here at The Cowboy Way come into the picture. Ranching in northern Saskatchewan has its own little set of challenges, frustrations, and rewards. Thanks to the good graces of the Outdoor Recreation Network, we've been given the chance to paint our own picture for y'all. Over the<br>next few months or years, we hope to be able to give you a few how-tos, a few more don't-dos, and maybe a couple laughs in between.<br><br>Or, more likely, a few &quot;how-could-they-have-been-so-stupids.&quot;<br><br>Rod

 

Oh dang it, this was supposed to go to the Other area. Can one of you fine moderators bump it on over there?

 

This better?

 

Thanks Jack...

 

Nice. Here's a picture to go along. <br><br>

 

I was picturing a Marlboro Magazine Ad myself,<br>but that's close.<br><br><br>phox

 

I was picturing Woody and the calf.

 

Down here you add nests of fire ants who like to live near the fence posts. Makes fixing fence even more fun. ;D

 

Hey Rod, post your sheep songs.<br>That one song about the sheep and the fence was your best work so far.<br><br> <br><br>BAAAaAAAaaaAaaAAaaAAaaA<br><br>

 

Nahhhh, I suspect they'd get a bigger kick out of the videos of you and the penguins...<br><br>&lt;squeak&gt; &lt;squeak&gt; &lt;squeak&gt;<br><br>Rod

 

A coupla shots of WD-40 will take care of that squeak.

 

[quote author=Shovelhead link=board=10;threadid=6015;start=0#54796 date=1034968487]<br>A coupla shots of WD-40 will take care of that squeak. <br>[/quote]<br><br>Then he'll have the &lt;squawk&gt; &lt;squawk&gt; to take care of. Guess duct tape around the beak would do that....<br><br>Rod

 

I don't even want to know. To scared to find out.

 

Rod, didn't ya have a link for a website on this?<br>If I remember right it was pretty cool ;D