{"id":18211,"date":"2022-06-29T00:36:07","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T00:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=18211"},"modified":"2022-06-28T19:38:58","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T19:38:58","slug":"thank-you-baxter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/06\/29\/thank-you-baxter\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank you, Baxter"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Bryce Angell – The outdoors has always been a large part of my life. My father was an outfitter and guide for 35 years and I was there to shoe and care for the horses and help him do the cooking. We took many great trips into the Yellowstone area. Even now that I\u2019m older, we still ride into the Tetons, Yellowstone and surrounding areas. My poems are mostly of personal experience. I am now retired and enjoying life to the fullest. I plan to do more riding and writing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019d just settled down in my easy chair with a diet Dr. Pepper and half a dozen peanut butter cookies when the phone rang. Kent Newton, director of the Bear Creek Cowboy Poetry Night, offered me an invitation to participate with the cowboy poets at their annual event.<\/p>\n

After saying yes and putting the phone down, I felt like throwing up. I had never participated in an event like that. I almost called Kent back, but then I had an idea. The idea was a long shot, and something I never thought would happen.<\/p>\n

I waited a day, put together some thoughts and a plea for help, and emailed Baxter Black. I didn\u2019t know Baxter and assumed I\u2019d never hear back from him. But, two minutes after sending the email, I received an answer from Baxter. He wanted my phone number so he could call me. That day was the first time I experienced the measure of this man.<\/p>\n

Baxter didn\u2019t know me. I was a total stranger, yet for the next full hour he asked questions about my life to get to know me. I was pleased to hear him tell of his life becoming a veterinarian, then later an entertainer.<\/p>\n

His advice was stellar. \u201cNever cuss in your poetry or when presenting orally. It makes you sound like you\u2019re trying to be a tough guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cAlways be respectful to your audience whether it be a reader or face to face.\u201d He went on to say, \u201cIf you accept an appointment to an event, no matter what, be there and be there early.\u201d<\/p>\n

He asked me, \u201cHave you ever heard of Banjo Paterson?\u201d I told him no and then he proceeded to tell me that Banjo Paterson was author of the poem, \u201cA Man from Snowy River.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baxter asked me to spend some time reading the poem and to notice the perfect rhythm and rhyme that Banjo had so eloquently written.<\/p>\n

He then challenged me to also use Banjo\u2019s perfection of rhythm and rhyme in all my cowboy, country poems. I have tried ever since.<\/p>\n

I will never forget the last few words he said to me that day. \u201cSo, you say you\u2019ve never participated at a cowboy poetry event?\u201d I answered, \u201cNot one.\u201d And then he said, \u201cAnd you are fairly new to writing and publishing your work?\u201d I had to answer, \u201cYup.\u201d Chuckling, he came back with, \u201cYou\u2019re already at the bottom. You\u2019ve got nowhere to go but up.\u201d I appreciated his humor.<\/p>\n

As we ended our telephone conversation, he said, \u201cBryce, you can do this.\u201d I believed him.<\/p>\n

Baxter, with the remote chance you might be listening, I just want to say, \u201cThank you for heading me in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baxter Black passed away June 10, 2022.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 Bryce Angell<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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I\u2019d just settled down in my easy chair with a diet Dr. Pepper and half a dozen peanut butter cookies when the phone rang. Kent Newton, director of the Bear Creek Cowboy Poetry Night, offered me an invitation to participate with the cowboy poets at their annual event. After saying yes and putting the phone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160,2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18211","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-cowboy-poetry","7":"category-commentary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18211"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18211\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18213,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18211\/revisions\/18213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}