as some might recall, i originally come from where the east meets the midwest, where the corn belt meets the bible belt meets the rust belt, at the upper end of tornado alley... i have now resided in the desert long enough that i now consider myself a "westerner" but i am frankly baffled by the mystique of "the cowboy"...(and i don't mean the pro football team of that name)
...it all starts with the word itself..."cowboy"...firstly, they ride horses, not cows...and some don't even ride horses anymore...never been near a horse...all hat and no cattle, as they say...and the wranglers of other critters aren't called "sheepboy" or "goatboy"...at least not in polite society, anyway...
...hey, what do you expect from a city slicker?...but i do like a nice Stetson and a pair of Tony Lamas as much as the next buckaroo...
19 comments:
I'm from small town Arkansas, don't ride horses or like sports, yet people have called me cowboy since before I even moved to Texas. I just hope they mean it in a good way.
Actually, if you like the hats and the boots, you're closer to being a cowboy than I am.
But do you wear those Mmmmmm Mmmmmmm leather chaps LOL
x
ummm...no...i'm far too sensitive to subject the world to my fuzzy scandinavian arse cheeks...
I have mucho respect for people who work the land. Farming and ranching is HARD. (I'm on the Iowa/Nebraska/South Dakota border -- east of us is farmland, west of us is ranchland.)
Listening to Garth Brooks don't make you a cowboy.
this is NOT an indictment of farmers and ranchers...as i said, i grew up in farm country...my grandparents were hog farmers and i know what hard work it is...i still have friends in ohio, working the family farms in these times where corporate farming is killing many such places...
unfortunately, i live in place where people think that listening to Garth Brooks DOES make them cowboys...it is that direction in which my diatribe was directed...
Well, they're called "cowboys" because they wrangled and drove cattle. Still do in select areas of the state... the 5 C's: Cattle, Copper, Cotton, Citrus and Climate - the Climate being the only real natural resource anymore... though the Copper mines are back up and running in Globe / Superior and Miami.
Shepherds (goats and sheep) are primarily our Native American population in the Northeastern corner of the state... they also herd cattle but I don't think you'd want to refer to them as cowboys (remember: cowboys vs indians).
I'm a second generation Arizonan, have owned and cared for cattle AND goats AND sheep (4-H), have two pairs of Ariats in my closet, one for riding, one with brush guards for grooming, and my favorite coat is a wool-lined denim Wrangler jacket... but I ain't no cowboy.
...just like not all long-haired men are hippies...
...just like dockshoes and a button down don't make a preppy...
...and the fact that my daughter's only clothing choice color being BLACK, a goth does not make...
:)
OH! And KMLE is number two - right between KLSX (1) and KYOT (3).
XOXOXOX
hmmm...my feeble attempt at humour seems to have gone awry...
i thought "sheepboy" was a funny word...
sorry...
Oh surrrrre! "Sheepboy" - it's all humorous unless your the sheep... the boy sheep... and your bottomed out on a fence with some cowboy comin' at ya from behind tellin ya what a 'perty mouth you have'... yeah, that's real funny, Mr. man!!!!
Not that I'd know anything about that.
Ahem.
Heh. I said "bottomed out". Heh.
never trust a sheepboy wearing wading boots...
I prefer my red stiletto pumps, truth be known.
...but... why?
why the wading boots?...cuz you can stick the sheep's back legs down into the boots so's they can't get away, of course...
This is where real cowboys live.... Ive been following this blob for yonks now, just LOVE it...I never comment cos hundreds do, and I would be a tiny voice in a huge crowd, but Im addicted to it....
I get withdrawl symptons if I dont read it daily....
http://thepioneerwoman.com/
Maybe its my love of the great outdoors and animals and cooking and kids and humour that makes me to there, they have the most wonderful life....
x
In a side comment, how DO you pronounce "Tony Lamas?" Is it with an "L" like it looks, or is it like "Tony Yamas?"
In another side comment that really doesn't have anything to do with the conversation, I have a buddy who's a professional comedian. He told me once he was doing a gig in Texas in a country bar. Before the show he was in the Gentleman's Room doing what guys do in a men's room, when a big ol' boy came in and stood next to him.
"Hey there, boy," he said to my friend, "how come you wear your hair in a pony-tail like that?"
My friend zipped up, turned to him and said, "Because pigtails make me look stupid."
well, if it was a double "L" i would say "Yamas"...LOVE the pigtail story...and the next time i decide to poke fun at american icons, i should think better of it...or i should just bend uncle sam and the statue of liberty over a log and get all deliverance on 'em and leave the cowboys alone...sheeeeesh....
...or i should just bend uncle sam and the statue of liberty over a log and get all deliverance on 'em...
Too late. Gov'ment in office currently has been doing that for 8 years.
Hey... Willie wears pigtails.
Pixie love, you're sooooo right about the Gubmint...
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