{"id":18296,"date":"2022-07-13T00:41:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-13T00:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=18296"},"modified":"2022-07-12T19:43:02","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T19:43:02","slug":"the-coldest-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/13\/the-coldest-july\/","title":{"rendered":"THE COLDEST JULY"},"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 saddled up one morning, \u2018twas a warm and gentle breeze. And being mid-July I never thought I\u2019d almost freeze.<\/p>\n

My father walked up to me, said \u201cYour raincoat ain\u2019t tied on.\u201d I gazed up to a clear blue sky. Then mounted. I was gone.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d only worn a T-shirt, but my hat was pulled down tight. My hat would keep the rain off. Heck, I knew I\u2019d be alright.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019d only known what really lay ahead of me that day. I\u2019d have heeded all my father\u2019s words. I darn sure had to pay. \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At noon I hopped down off old Stretch. My mind kept telling me, find a place for shelter, build a fire. Just wait and see.<\/p>\n

There were no dark clouds in the sky. The sun was bearing down. I weren\u2019t about to build a fire, look like the dumbest clown.<\/p>\n

But by afternoon the sky turned black, for sure the dankest cold. I knew I was in trouble. Wished I\u2019d done what I was told.<\/p>\n

The cold dark clouds soon emptied out. They soaked me head to toe. The weather turned to hail and then the wind began to blow.<\/p>\n

I knew if I climbed off my horse and set a steady pace, my body would maintain some heat and walk me off this place.<\/p>\n

My mind was still coherent. I recalled what dad had said, \u201cYour horse will throw off heat. Just snuggle up. You won\u2019t be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, I wrapped myself around old Stretch. The heat was coming through. My saddle horse had saved me. Didn\u2019t have to say adieu.<\/p>\n

Just then I heard a tree branch snap. I saw my father\u2019s face. He came riding in on Shortcut and I yelled out words of grace.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t have to say a word. His look plumb pierced my soul. He tossed a coat and slicker. Didn\u2019t offer an earful.<\/p>\n

Well, that was fifty years ago. It seems like yesterday. Now I always tie a raincoat even on a sunny day.<\/p>\n

\u2018Cuz the coldest that I\u2019ve been was 1969 July. The mountains ain\u2019t forgiving and I dang near said \u201cGoodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when the other cowboys say, \u201cYou carry too much gear.\u201d I don\u2019t worry what they say. It\u2019s Mother Nature that I fear!<\/p>\n

\u00a0 <\/span>\u2013 Bryce Angell<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saddled up one morning, \u2018twas a warm and gentle breeze. And being mid-July I never thought I\u2019d almost freeze. My father walked up to me, said \u201cYour raincoat ain\u2019t tied on.\u201d I gazed up to a clear blue sky. Then mounted. I was gone. I\u2019d only worn a T-shirt, but my hat was pulled […]<\/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-18296","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\/18296","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=18296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18297,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18296\/revisions\/18297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}