A Bubble Off Plumb

* Editor’s Note: 'This was written several years ago, but from time to time I pull it out for reuse, usually at vacation time, when it coincides with the mentioned holiday.

I married a cowboy. That is akin to saying I adopted a lion.

People adopt big cats, thinking they know about them because they did research. Then they get the cat home and living with one is nothing like they expected.

So it is with a cowboy. Everyone thinks they know what a cowboy is, and so did I, until they get one. In honor of July 24, which is the National Day of the Cowboy, I thought I would write down a few things I have learned firsthand the hard way.

There are different kinds of cowboys, I guess. There are those who are rodeo cowboys, who go down the road from event to event, riding rough stock or roping. Some are girls, too, who rope or run barrels.

There are feedlot cowboys, who keep the pipeline of fed beef open to the packing houses. They are a specialized lot, and good ones are prized, as they should be.

Then there are the working cowboys, the type I married. It is easier, perhaps, to say what they are not than what they are.

A cowboy is not a ranch hand and the two are not interchangeable. A cowboy does not drive a tractor. He does not fix engines or fence chargers or anything except perhaps a broken bridle rein. A cowboy does not farm. He is stalwart in his opposition to “turning the grass upside down.” While cattle need feed in cold country winters, growing feed is someone else's bailiwick.

A cowboy does not ride a four-wheeler for his work. He uses a horse. He may or may not be a horseman. He may have a working relationship with his horse, or it may be just a tool for work, much like a hammer is to a carpenter.

What a cowboy does, at all costs, is take care of cows. That should be a given, but it seems to have gotten lost in this changing world.

He rides through the cattle, examining each one, checking her condition and health. In some areas, at some times of the year, they don't need much looking after. But in other areas, there is always something, such as foot rot or injuries that come from foraging in rough country. Those cattle need to be doctored and there usually isn't any help or place to pen them. It is solitary work in most instances, and he must be capable, self-reliant and good with a rope.

A cowboy who calves out cows is another trophy, highly skilled and highly sought after. He will ride, often all night, through the herd, watching for the onset of labor and the correct progression of it. He is a cross between a midwife and a gymnast. He may have to help the cow, then leap out of the way when the calf is safely delivered and mama decides she doesn't want help. Try to keep in mind that this work is often done in the dark, in the worst weather of the year. It is cold, brutal, dirty work.

Cowboys don't make a lot of money. They don't do it for the money. They often lose their families because of the hours and the isolation. It is hard for a spouse to find work and for kids to get to school when you live back of beyond.

Cowboys are an endangered species. The IRS reported recently there were less than 1,800 tax returns that listed 'cowboy' as an occupation.

They will work without pay because they think they should and quit a good job over an unintended slight. To quote the movie ' Monte Walsh,' “A cowboy ain't got nothing but freedom and pride.” It is a hard life, a misunderstood life, a vanishing life.

Volumes have been written about why the cowboy is our great American icon, but that movie line says it all. When someone sacrifices everything — money, comfort, fellowship — to stay true to himself, he is rightly elevated to hero status.

Most cowboys won't celebrate the National Day of the Cowboy. Cowboys and cattle don't get holidays. That's how it is when you cowboy. And they wouldn't have it any other way.

Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com