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Lookin back from forty

sw

Well-known member
With the passing of Cowboyup into the never never land of over forty, the thread about remembering and you need to be 40 to get it, I dug out the pictures my mother put in a collage for my 40th birthday, put some memories to them. I grew up in Idaho, on my grandpa's Hereford ranch. Don't anyone hold it against me. As kids we were on horses soon as you could get on one, cheating was acceptable, getting on was not picture perfect, extra points were awarded for imagination. When we weren't harrassing magpies, gophers, or any other small animal, we were swimming in the ditches, catching frogs, fish, climbing trees, building forts, hunting with BB guns, hide and seek on a half section, no bears out tonight, everything possible. No Nintendo, very little TV until after dark. The social cops would have my mother in the pen for the way we were if she did this to kids now days. Makes me wonder about todays youth, they don't know what they are missing. Anyway, the hoodlums that raised me were old school ranchers. Whenever the old men got a chance they had the cards out to play pitch, not for money, for fun. I knew how to play by the time I was 5 or 6 years old. These guys also smoked Bull Durhams, I could roll my own by ten, knew all of the cuss words and could spit and do any disgusting thing imaginable. Have not died yet. These guys were characters, they taught me well. Here goes.


LOOKIN’ BACK FROM FORTY

Things are sure different now, compared to when I was a kid.
Very few things these days, are done the way Grandpa did.
Compared to those days, some things are pretty easy now,
About all that’s the same is making a living off a cow.
horseherf.jpg

Back then it was mostly horned Herefords out there on the range
Now there’s all kinds, almost everybody has made that change.
There’s still the same kinda people, making a living off of grass,
That I’m sure is one thing, that never will pass.
calffeed.jpg

Neighbors from near and far would come to help you out
Cause all of them knew what being a neighbor is all about.
When the branding fire was started, everyone shows up,
Young, old, men and women, old dogs even the new pup.
smokebrand.jpg

The ropers would drag the calves in to get the marking done
The ground crew then took over, and this was called great fun.
Branded, ear marked, vaccinated, and you had to get rid of the horn
This was before people removed them, even before they were born.

Bull calves became steers, with a cut from a knife,
Growing big and fat on grass, is their lot in life.
Heifers had it some easier, as that cut was not in their fate,
Their future holds green pastures, and a fancy bull for a date.

Kids that weren’t old enough to do the work just yet
Would crowd around the fire, then the stage was set.
Cooking rocky mountain oysters, on a green willow stick
Staying upwind of the smoke, was almost always the trick.
kidsnuts.jpg

These kids weren’t coddled, they earned everything they had,
Most of them couldn’t wait, to be just like their dad.
They can’t wait to grow up, to work along side the crew,
With horses, men and cattle, that is how they grew.

When the work was all done, the critters all back out on grass,
Out would come the card deck, leisure time had come to pass.
A few games of pitch, before heading down the road to home with spouse,
Time for men to have some fun, while the women are in the house.
oldbrand.jpg

When it was time to go home, the kids are hard to find,
They are out exploring, enlightening their mind.
They smell of wood smoke, hands covered with grime and dirt.
Had more fun, no one notices that someone had gotten hurt.


Best part of the whole process, you know down deep in your heart,
The neighbors still have theirs to do, and you have to do your part.
It will all take place again, different pasture, different place,
All the same people, doing the same job, for a different face.
 

Mrs.Greg

Well-known member
As usual sw well done! I really enjoyed the pictures,not a great country girl,I've really never aquired a taste for prairie oysters :oops:
 

Big Muddy rancher

Well-known member
Great post sw. I like that horse in the top picture. Funny that any of us ranch kids are still alive with all the "Stuff" we did back in the "Good old days".
 

ranchwife

Well-known member
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

ya know, sw...i was just thinking this morning about how long it had been since you had posted a poem!!! This one simply hits the spot!!!

:D :D :D :D

PERFECT!!!

by the way...which kid are YOU????? :lol: :wink:
 

Hanta Yo

Well-known member
ranchwife said:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

ya know, sw...i was just thinking this morning about how long it had been since you had posted a poem!!! This one simply hits the spot!!!

:D :D :D :D

PERFECT!!!

by the way...which kid are YOU????? :lol: :wink:

Pic # 4, he's the smallest one, bending over by the fire. He is also the one bottle feeding the hereford calf 8)
 

ranchwife

Well-known member
Hanta Yo said:
ranchwife said:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

ya know, sw...i was just thinking this morning about how long it had been since you had posted a poem!!! This one simply hits the spot!!!

:D :D :D :D

PERFECT!!!

by the way...which kid are YOU????? :lol: :wink:

Pic # 4, he's the smallest one, bending over by the fire. He is also the one bottle feeding the hereford calf 8)

DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT SW WAS A TOWHEAD WHEN HE WAS LITTLE???? :shock: :shock: :shock:

PRICELESS!!!! :D :D :D :D :wink:
 

ranchwife

Well-known member
Hanta Yo said:
YUP!!! He was! Still is (kinda) it's all turning gray 8)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

so...how'd he get regular old-fashioned pix (ya know...the kind that comes on film :wink: ) onto the computer??!! got some good ones of cowboyup and the other 20 croy kids that would make for some good supper-time conversation!!
 

Hanta Yo

Well-known member
ranchwife said:
Hanta Yo said:
YUP!!! He was! Still is (kinda) it's all turning gray 8)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

so...how'd he get regular old-fashioned pix (ya know...the kind that comes on film :wink: ) onto the computer??!! got some good ones of cowboyup and the other 20 croy kids that would make for some good supper-time conversation!!

He used the scanner :wink:
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
sw, that was very good. Old pictures are sure fun to look at, and it looks like brandings in Idaho were done just about the same as the ones in Nebraska during my growing up years.
 

Jinglebob

Well-known member
Great poem! Great pictures and great posting!

All of you who haven't posted any opictures, just might not appreciate all the time a feller like sw and Soapweed take out of their day to do this. Thanks guys! :D
 

feeder

Well-known member
sw, I still love a yard of Herefords!! I have a yard right now that I can see them from my office window. Loved the poem and pictures.
 

cowboyup

Well-known member
Doggone it sw, hold off on makin the reservations at the nursing home, I'm still just twenty two. :wink:


great job on the poem :!:


maybe you should write a book. Then the cow business would even be easier :wink: :) :)
 

John SD

Well-known member
Great poem and pics, sw! :D I note the Willys Overland jeep pickup in pic #4. I have a '53 like it that I learned to drive on. Used to be quite a few of them around. Only 4wd pickups around here until late '60s-early '70s. Gutless wonders but would go anywhere!
 

fedup2

Well-known member
Very good sw, thank you.
Here is a little site for you.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/singingman777/DYR.htm

Turn the volume up and scroll along with the song. Hope it brings more good memories.
 

Liberty Belle

Well-known member
Thanks for taking me waaaaaaaaaaay back, sw. This is the way that both my husband and I were raised and, truth to tell, our kids weren't raised much different. Didn't seem to hurt any of us and we are all able to take care of ourselves and our families without having to depend on anyone else. That ability is worth much more than a bank full of money. You just can't beat this way of life, can you?
 

sw

Well-known member
LB you really can't beat this way of life, guess that's why I'm living it. Those brandings were alot of fun. The cows were never worked so you just gathered the herd into a corner of a pasture, used trucks and trailers to build a fence around them, had riders help hold the bunch and ropers went in and roped the calves out of the cows. Sometimes it would get western. Kids were doing what ever they wanted most of the time, but we always knew when we were hungry, one way of locating kids is the smell of good food.
thanks for the site fedup, that really dates you when you do remember those things. :wink:
 
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