Our Reminisces

I wish I’d been recording while these three reminisced their own stories the other day during our lunch break. It went kind of like this… I’ve added some input as well.

• As we cracked open Gatorades and water bottles, we remembered how Johnny barely ever drank water. He never packed food on his horse and never took a sip or a cookie if offered. He told me it would just make him thirstier. Victoria said when we’d get home after gathering she’d drink and drink and Johnny might have half a glass! I mentioned him telling one time where he laid down and drank from a mud puddle, which showed how hot and dry he had become. Another story was Johnny helping Ped Mills, a neighbor, out in the badlands and when he got to the Nowood River he about drank it dry! Now, that was gross. The Nowood would not be my choice of places to drink from!
  
• The kids remembered waking up at 3 am, eating breakfast, saddling at 4, and loading horses up in our big red truck to head for the badlands. We’d have to wait for the sun to come up enough so we could see the cows! But we weren’t late! It also was cool which helps cows, cowboys, and dogs alike. Mommas would have their babies at their side as well because later, she’ll go to eat and leave her calf to nap.
• We thought we were lucky if we got to ride back by the vehicle and get a drink of warm water out of a rinsed out bleach jug! Think back… it was hard to find plastic bottles to pack water in. I used a pancake syrup bottle for a while, it tied on my saddle well! Then, after we finally bought a horse trailer, we had room for a cooler on the flatbed and had cold drinks and sandwiches. What a treat!
  
• I would freeze two bottles, maybe pop bottles?, add a bit of water to them to fill them up, stuff them in my banana bag behind my saddle, and that was for me and the three kids. A few Jolly Ranchers in your pocket and you were good to go. A bandana could be wetted and tied around your neck and you’d enjoy the delicious trickle of cool water for a bit down your back until the heat and wind dried it out again. I remember dipping Daniel’s shirt once in the bottom of the cooler in the ice water and throwing it on him. It about sent him into shock from heat to ice water so fast. Oops.
• The kids did stay with my mom for a week back when they were little and we didn’t have to worry about babysitters and such. I am pretty sure Daniel started when he was five though… That was the story I always tell about how we took Daniel on the first day, which usually is an “easy” day of gathering. Vernon had warned him, NO WHINING. However, there were a lot of cowboys that day and they all had to bring cows. There were hundreds on the sorting grounds and it took FOREVER to sort and pair. The kids were in charge of holding our bunch but I wasn’t too far, playing middleman between the big bunch and the pairs getting kicked out. I trotted back to check on them, and there was Victoria and Daniel SITTING UNDERNEATH Victoria’s horse. Oh, my word! Tucker was a good horse and he was hot too, so not likely to do anything but, heavens. It was the only shade around unless you were a mouse, so they had sat there for some relief from the blazing sun. Most horses would probably have kicked them to smithereens. Finally, we trailed home and rode to the barn. As Daniel slid off his horse, he pitifully said, “I think my legs are bleeding.” I’m sure the insides of his little legs were rubbed raw, but he hadn’t whined. We told him he could take the next day off, but he begged to go again. I assume we let him!
• It was fun to listen to my kids tell their stories and I laugh when the grandkids think they’ve had a long, rough day… they have, but just so you know… it could be worse!

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