"BRAVE COWBOY, PHIL!!!"

Hey y'all!  Hugs, kisses, yada yada yada...


I know it's been a coon's age since I spent any time rearranging the deck chairs on this here Titanic of a glob.  

But...The Mrs. came across some photos that really sparked up some memories.

Editorial note:  I know I promised a post on Independence Day that I've been working on in my head since last Independence Day.  I apologize for not getting it did, but I will try to in the next few days (I probably won't.  Just sayin'...).  Life has been crazy, and even though I've written that post about 14 different ways in my head, it still sucks...(so why subject my 14 visitors to it???).  If you haven't figured it out, it has to do with "being there" when US Army Staff Sergeant Michael Garcia's family was notified of his death in Afghanistan on July 4, 2011 (refer to the post below this one).

Anyway, The Mrs. came across these photos in a drawer she hadn't opened in years...

BRAVE COWBOY PHIL!!!

(Yes, that is a goat he's riding).

I swear, #3 son, Phillip is a cowboy at heart.  In this photo he was 6 years old (and, he was a little bitty cat for 6).  We were living in SW Colorado at the time, and he was in hog heaven!  We lived amongst ranchers, Injuns, and transplants from around the US (such as ourselves).  

Phil would NEVER be caught dead outside of the house without his jeans, western shirts (hand-made by his Grandma), cowboy hat, pistols, boots, and REAL spurs that a neighbor of ours had given him. 

When we lived there, it was so rural that there was no cable TV, and we could only pick up one TV station...out of Albuquerque...KOB, I think.  So, much of our television watching was through the magic of Video tapes.  The little town we lived in had two or three video rental stores, and the public library would lend out tapes.  I swear...EVERY trip back from any VCR tape source included at least one John Wayne movie that Phil had picked out.

It's funny (at least to me), once a neighbor asked little Phillip, "When you grow up, do you want to be like John Wayne?"  Phil answered, "I AM JOHN WAYNE!!!"

Hard to argue with that!  

LOOKS LIKE JOHN WAYNE TO ME!

The Mrs. and I were talking about these pictures this afternoon, and she mentioned how frightened Phil was before he actually got on the goat.  But, he swallowed hard, and took his first step toward real cowboyhood. 

Of course, it never hurts your bravery level to have your Mom alongside when you take a big step up in life...

Bless her heart...she was "GREAT WITH CHILD!"

#4 son was born just a few weeks later.

He's a cowboy at heart.  And, very brave.  There is not one thing that young man won't try.  He is 22 years old now.  Self-reliant, independent, ornery, stubborn, cold as ice and a heart that melts easily.  A smile that will melt your heart, too...

Who'd have thought that climbing on a saddled goat would be a step toward that?

Oh, if I've failed to mention it...he deploys to Afghanistan later this year.

“All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be some place else.” 

John Wayne - In Harm’s Way (1965)

That is all.