These are the social events of the year out here. Folks who haven't seen each other since last year get together, catch up on family news, and swap lies. This one today was well attended by good hands and nigh five hundred calves got treated in half a day.
Following the round-up and branding a good feed is put on by the host rancher and by then everybody is pretty hungry. The food is plentiful and the company is good, and it's an event that will be sorely missed when it passes from the scene, as it is likely to do.
The cowboy shown above is a good hand with a rope, a fine horseman, and what anybody in the know would call a "top hand." Real cowboys are special people.
Posts
4 comments:
That sounds like a good time. I've found that cooking good food and drink is a great way to get people to help with physical work.
It is sad to see traditional neighborly activities pass away. Everyone gets too caught up with media entertainment and machine-driven work. Thanks for helping keep the fire alive.
I'm not aware of anything like that here in the Smoky mountains. There used to be. In the Fall, people would drive wild hogs into pens to mark their ears, and to butcher and render some. The social activities were similar. But that died out long ago, and nothing ever replaced it.
These regional, particularized traditions have been dying out at a tremendous rate, and will continue to do so as we are "levelled" by television and the media. Ultra-cool metro-folk (who have no traditions) make fun of this sort of thing.
One of my favorite books is OUR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERS. It hasn't been all that long ago that there was a rich culture in the Smokys. Largely thanks to the gummint "protecting" the area it is virtually dead now.
Post a Comment