Are you a texan?

A west texas wind is blowing tonight.
The cattle know something ain't right.
The cowboys herding them are restless too.
What new trouble is blowing through?
They've seen it all, fire & flood;
watched cowpokes drown in their own blood
Whatever's coming, what bitter cup,
They'll meet it head on. They'll cowboy up.

Admin Just an old texas dog
nothing special the eye can see
but that old texas dog
sure means the world to me
She'd gladly give her life for me
if she needed to
That's something my old friend
most people wouldn't do
So if you abuse my dog
you'd best be ready to fight
& make sure you pack a lunch
cause it could last all night

The old man slowly bowed his head
Remembering friends alive & dead
Friends who'd heeded their nation's call
Mostly boys but heroes all
Going off somewhere to fight
Many dying to make things right
As he prayed the old man smiled
Somehow their deaths were reconciled
By children playing in the park
Not cowering somewhere in the dark
Fearing for their lives each day
Thank God they live in the USA
Lord bless my friends one & all
Who once heeded this nation's call
& breathed their last in a foreign land.
Reach out Lord & take their hand
Let them know twas not in vain
That they suffered so much pain
For children like these they bled & died
& Your own Son was crucified
© JW Freeman

Two of my gal dogs on a ranch near here have already killed 4 coyotes that came around to cause trouble. My dogs are half pyranees & half coyote or german shepherd one. They're naturally territorial animals, & will die defending their territory against outsiders. A couple found the original two, Patch & Brownie, abandoned in an auto junk yard outside of town. I have scars all over my arms from removing Brownie from that environement. That's Brownie with one of her pups. Patch jumped 6 foot fences on either side of us when intruders got into our neighbors' yards & ran them off going over the back fences after them to make sure they left; & then calmly jumped back over the fence into his own yard again. That's the kind of man I want to be; loyal to the ones I love & willing to die to protect them. I want to be willing to die to keep the evil outside from coming on my property & causing trouble here. Hell, I'm thinking of naming my breed of dog texans no matter what their ancestry might be. Cause they're willing to die to protect their little part of texas.

I got a taste of the cowboy life first back in the early 70s when I was a mounted guard @ a juvenile detention center outside of Baton Rouge La. My favorite horse there was a giant who was known as registered mule. That horse was mean as hell & wasn't scared of anything. He had a trick that put several guards in the hospital. He would rear up on his hind legs; & when they would raise up in the saddle, he would throw his head back & fracture their skulls. I figured him out pretty quick; but on several occasions he reared up & then tried to lay down on me & crush me. All in all, he was still a likeable old cuss. My favorite memory of him was when 3 boys out of one of the dormatories decided they would run from me & Mule We chased em & cornered them in a fence corner & then ran them back into the dormatory. Then I laid down in the saddle & rode Mule right up into the dormatory & up the stairs after those 3 ornery little cusses & scared hell out of them & the woman supervising the dormatory. I got a reprimand for that one. It wasn't always that memorable though. I spent many a night in the saddle under a poncho in the dead of winter while it rained & sleeted & snowed there. I don't envy the true cowboy his life; but you know, I'd still do it all over again if I had the chance.