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Monday, April 26, 2010

Get lucky, damn lucky


You need to at least read about yesterday’s picture for today’s post and picture to make sense. At the top of the blog I state that I am the luckiest man in the world. That may be a bit of a stretch but for the most part in my mind that rings true. Certainly not everyday is perfect, but I don’t think a lucky man would always have everything perfect. Sometimes life’s little and big imperfections can be positive if given enough time and reflection. Even on the very best of days I certainly don’t feel lucky all of my waking hours. As I have grown older I feel luckier everyday. The luckier I feel usually makes me feel good in general and that opens my mind to being appreciative which begets more feelings of good luck.



Today was the kind of day that really made me feel lucky and happy with life. I changed some irrigation water this morning and that in itself is not lucky but the fact that nothing broke and it went smoothly made me feel lucky. I then did some work around the corrals in preparation for this weekend’s spring calf working. The corrals are one of my favorite places to spend time working or otherwise. I have lots of great memories from time spent there. Most everything related to being a cowboy that I know was learned there. To be honest much of what I know about life was learned there because Dad and I spent so much time there. The corrals, the machine shed, the hay barn, the working facility shed were all built by my grandfather and father, with some help at times from my Grandma Sally, Mom, uncles, probably some people I don’t even know or remember and I. I guess being at the corrals there is always a reminder about being in the cow business and how lucky and thankful I am for that.



In the early afternoon I headed to Rathbun Angus ranch north of Moses Lake. I had purchased two bulls there in November and it is now time for them to be turned out with the heifers. I had not seen the bulls since November and was anxious to see how they had grown out and wintered. I was very pleased and excited about how the bulls looked. Mark the herdsman helped me load the bulls and I headed back into the town of Moses Lake for a few supplies. As I drove I really felt lucky that I am my own boss now, doing something I love and although not getting rich, certainly making a living and for the most part having lots of fun doing it. How much luckier can a man be than that?



When I pulled into the parking lot of the Big R ranch supply store I really felt lucky. There were two young (guessing early twenties) men that were standing next to two fairly new, lifted, shiny clean 4x4 pickups. There were also two girls about their age that they were showing off their trucks to. When I pulled in with my dirty, noisy 12 year old Dodge there had to be some luck in the air. Between Festus hanging out the passenger window and the two bulls in the trailer these two young ladies dropped their conversation with the two young men and walked over to where I parked. They asked a few questions while standing on the running board of the trailer looking at the bulls. Festus was nice enough to let them both pet him and they tossed a baseball for him to fetch that he had brought along and they kept smiling and commenting on how “cool” the bulls were and how “smart” Festus was.



The two young men also grudgingly came over as if they needed to protect their mares or something. I am sure these girls were also going to comment about how handsome I was but hesitated with their young suitors so close at hand. I did get a little dig in on the boys. I asked them how often they washed their trucks. They both quickly answered that they usually wash them daily and wax them weekly. I then said maybe if they did not spend so much time washing and waxing their pickups they could get a job, save some money and buy some bulls and a red heeler which would increase their chances of not having to marry each other someday. The girls got quite a laugh at that. The two young men, not so much.



On the way home I had one of those life moments that really made me feel lucky. 68 miles per hour, 70 degree sunny day, window down, new bulls in the back, Waylon Jennings singing “I’ve always been crazy” on the radio and a new cattle sorting paddle in the back seat. Lucky, damn lucky.



Today’s real environmentalist species found on the ranch is the hooded merganser aka Lophodytes cucullatus.

Today’s picture is another view of the wreck I posted yesterday. This proves that even in something bad, you can be lucky, damn lucky.

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