We chose a dried-up creek bed, lit a fire, and fried our lunch. Each cowboy moved in by the heat. Dang sure a hungry bunch.
We gobbled down the usual, brown sugar sizzled Spam. And a box of Town House Crackers smothered with strawberry jam.
The frosty mountain air still held a cold and nasty bite. So we tossed more sagebrush on the flame and watched the shrubs ignite.
The smoke from arid sagebrush had us moving ‘round the fire. One cowboy sat right through the smoke. His words would soon inspire.
He said, “The Good Lord’s blessed me, been a cowboy all my life. I’ve got five kids, a favorite dog and best of all my wife.
“Ain’t sayin’ life is easy, ‘cuz it’s usually dang hard work. And sometimes life can throw a curve that’ll drive you plumb berserk.”
He said, “I’ve had some broken bones from a well-intended hoof.” His gnarled and twisted fingers were a picture of the proof.
He said, “My heart’s been broken, which I thought would never mend. But time has healed the pain and helped me be a better man.”
And then he said, “I’ve worked all day and never gave much thought to how much we’ve been given, well deserved or even not.
“But today I look across this burning sagebrush, smoky fire. I see that we’ve been blessed with those whose friendship we aspire.
“Each friend has his own talent that contributes to this group. We even have a cowboy who gets rid of all the poop.
“So, today I’ll thank the Lord for all you cowboy friends of mine. Just know that we’re a special group of men who’ve grown up fine.”
And when he’d finished speaking not a cowboy said a word. We all were contemplating ‘cuz our souls had just been stirred.
We finished up our Spam and then we headed down the trail. Each cowboy witnessed God’s great land, that day in more detail.
At night we all gave thanks, too many blessings to keep score. Yes, we’re all a bunch of cowboy friends. How could we ask for more?