Thanks to my daughter, Tammy, for posting such a nice article about the Hooker ranching family, and so many good memories of when the ranch was still intact. Thanks also for posting this poem with the article, so Ill repost it here. Im so proud of your columns in the Silver City Daily Press every Wednesday! Thanks, also, to the Silver City Daily Press, in Silver City, NM, and the subscribers who have commented so kindly! Here in the West © 8/23/2014, Stuart Hooker Growin up on the ranch was different, I guess but its all I ever knew, Goin back to school, in the Fall, friends would ask through the summer, what did you do, Theyd get real bored when Id say, Went with grandpa, I gathered cattle with him, Soon theyd be talkin with others about when they went to the river to swim; Well, I guess I missed out on some summer fun but I had to help haulin hay, And no amount of swimmin would fill me with pride as when dad let me ride his big bay, It wasnt much fun packin two buckets of water to the cabin from the spring down below, But ridin out from the cabin at the base of the mountain was some of the best times Ill ever know; When I got to rope in the corral while wes brandin a break from flankin and tyin em down, Is happier than goin to see the latest movie at the theater in the nearest big town, I worked hard to keep the old combine goin Id a rather been turnin a wild stampede, But it felt good when the oats was put up n grandpa said, Thats good winter feed; I wasnt too brave climbin onto a bronc that didnt like me up on his back, Or when a big yearlin Id roped off a colt runnin hard, hit the end of my slack, Or when fixin a washed out fence down the creek pullin wire and stays from the mud, And havin to gun the old truck up a bank cause, by golly, here come a new flood; I guess Is lucky my friends didnt see me as too different from all of the rest, In the end I felt I was lucky because I was the one that was blessed, Cause though I missed out on lots of their fun Id already passed many a test, On the ranch, workin hard, like so many others theres lots of us, here in the West. © 8/23/2014, Stuart Hooker (You may share this post, but any other reproduction, or retransmission is prohibited without the written consent of the author, Stuart Hooker.)
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 01:22:01 +0000
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