{"id":21825,"date":"2024-12-25T00:32:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-25T07:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=21825"},"modified":"2024-12-23T14:34:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T21:34:07","slug":"christmas-for-axe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/25\/christmas-for-axe\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas for Axel"},"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

Axel thought of Christmas, then he tossed a frozen bale.\u00a0 <\/span>The cowhand had no fam\u2019ly.\u00a0 <\/span>He was fresh, right out of jail.<\/p>\n

Christmas wasn\u2019t Axel Harker\u2019s favorite time of year.\u00a0 <\/span>He lived out in the bunkhouse and he needed winter gear.<\/p>\n

The foreman\u2019s wife loved Christmas.\u00a0 <\/span>She could mother anyone.\u00a0 <\/span>She taught the cowboys \u2018bout the birth of Heavenly Father\u2019s Son.<\/p>\n

She reminded all the cowboys, \u201cYou\u2019ll be home on Christmas Day.\u00a0 <\/span>But Axel is alone, could use a gift or two his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cowboys had no money, so they chose a piece of tack.\u00a0 <\/span>Floyd had an extra rope of horsehair dyed in black.<\/p>\n

Wilbur found two right hand mitts and pulled one inside out.\u00a0 <\/span>Axel would have a proper pair just good enough to tout.<\/p>\n

Whitey had a second coat which no one did back then.\u00a0 <\/span>He wrapped it in a gunny sack and placed in Axel\u2019s bin.<\/p>\n

Dalley spent the day in town.\u00a0 <\/span>The feed store had a hat.\u00a0 <\/span>The owner said, \u201cIt\u2019s yours for free.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Can\u2019t beat a deal like that.<\/p>\n

The foreman\u2019s wife was quite a gal.\u00a0 <\/span>She made a brand-new shirt.\u00a0 <\/span>She tore up one old tablecloth and one well worn-out skirt.<\/p>\n

With presents wrapped and put away, those cowboys felt akin to a quiet man who they called friend.\u00a0 <\/span>Now Christmas settled in.<\/p>\n

Axel woke up Christmas morning, went out to do the chores.\u00a0 <\/span>He fed the cows and gathered eggs, swung open all their doors.<\/p>\n

Axel wondered if this Christmas Day he\u2019d be alone.\u00a0 <\/span>The cold wind, unforgiving, chilled him right down to the bone.<\/p>\n

Then walking back toward the house, he noticed teams and sleighs with cowboys and their families too, tucked tightly in the hay.<\/p>\n

They all sat down for breakfast.\u00a0 <\/span>It was dang near half past ten.\u00a0 <\/span>Then the foreman\u2019s wife set out the gifts to Axel from the men.<\/p>\n

The tears of joy flowed freely, which at first were out of place, were now a part of this old cowboy\u2019s worn and grizzled face.<\/p>\n

With children smiling back at him he heard the foreman say, \u201cMerry Christmas to you Axel on this very special day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Bryce Angell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Axel thought of Christmas, then he tossed a frozen bale.\u00a0 The cowhand had no fam\u2019ly.\u00a0 He was fresh, right out of jail. Christmas wasn\u2019t Axel Harker\u2019s favorite time of year.\u00a0 He lived out in the bunkhouse and he needed winter gear. The foreman\u2019s wife loved Christmas.\u00a0 She could mother anyone.\u00a0 She taught the cowboys \u2018bout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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-21825","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\/21825","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=21825"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21827,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21825\/revisions\/21827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}