My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys...

I was a girl scout when I was in grade school and one of our favorite places to go on trips as a troop were the many dude ranches that are sprinkled throughout the Midwest. We got to ride horses and sing around campfires and learn about what it was like to live on a real ranch. And especially during our junior high years, we got to giggle alot about how cute the cowboys were!! It wasn't until about 20 years ago, on a trip to the Grand Canyon that I really got my first glimpse of cowboys in action.

We had driven up through Flagstaff AZ, visiting an old volcano crater and some indian ruins just northeast of the city. All of us were anxious to get to the Grand Canyon since it was our first trip there. I don't know how many of you have driven the highways of northern Arizona, but the roads run through thousands of acres of high desert with its sagebrush and an occasional tree or two, but traffic is pretty scarce for the most part. Cattle graze lazily on the scrub and an occassional hawk or turkey vulture might fly overhead, but it's pretty quiet and desolate. This day however, as we made a turn off from a small backroad onto the main road, I caught a flurry of activity out of the corner of my eye. I yelled to the kids to hurry up and look out the window as their dad slowed the car to a crawl. There, maybe a quarter of a mile from the road, we watched as three cowboys in full gear caught a young steer who had broken loose from its herd and was heading for the road. I swear it was just like watching a western as they lassoed the animal and tied him to quiet him down. I don't think I've ever seen such precision teamwork and flawless roping anywhere. It was just amazing, and I guess, with my limited exposure to the world of the cowboy, I never had considered that they actually had to rope and tie cattle for any reason other than to make rodeo crowds cheer! It was something I don't think I could ever appreciate if I hadn't seen it in that way. I've done a bit of reading about cowboys and the cowboy way of life since then, and I must say that these men (and women) are truly an amazing breed!

So, in honor of National Day of the Cowboy, I'd like to share this video with you! it's one of my favorite songs and I hope you'll enjoy it too!