Disciples and Nooning It The old journal I was reading told tales along the Oregon Trail in 1852. It said, “About twelve miles past the lower cutoff on the south side of the Snake River, we found a little shade and nooned it a couple hours.” Nooned it? A noun into a verb? What did […]
NECK REIN HORSE ADVANTAGE A neck rein horse acts like a car with automatic transmission. Lots of horses only respond to the rider when they feel a yank on the reins and a tug at the bit. Unless you jerk that hard metal against their mouth, they don’t respond. Well, that resembles a standard transmission. […]
THE WONDERS OF A NECK HORSE A friend of mine named Jim lived down on the grade a few miles from us. I drove by his place and noticed a three-year-old paint gelding necked up to his big old black mare. Jim recently bought that paint horse and had trouble with him. Seems like he […]
DOING THE TWO FOOT DANCE Every year there’s a bucking horse sale out in Miles City, Montana. It’s quite an event with rodeo, sale, and plenty of celebrations. A stock contractor friend of mine often goes out to watch for good horses to buy for his rodeo string. Last time I saw him I […]
What Every Baby Should Know By the time this day of December 29, 1979 ends, I will know the gender, weight, and looks of our third Bly baby. Then, the whole exciting process of discovery starts for us. When will the baby smile? And when should the baby roll over, sit up, or crawl? When […]
Are You a Home Manager? You can tell spiritual maturity by how a person manages their family. When family life becomes unmanageable, something’s wrong. A measure of control should be expected. Your home management style indicates possible readiness for spiritual leadership in the church and other areas of ministry. But how do you manage a […]
Toss the Box or I’ll Shoot! A common old western movie scene has become a cliché. The masked holdup men drag trees across the lonely, isolated canyon road. The stage comes to a screeching, bone jolting stop. And men with black hats suddenly appear. They threaten to shoot the driver and his guard if they […]
You’ve Got Unique Kids I’m often asked, “How many children do you have?” And sometimes I reply, “I have one Russell, one Michael, and one Aaron.” It would be simpler to say, “I have three boys.” But that kind of statement lumps them into the same cookie cutter mold. And I’ve got unique kids. They’re […]
Don’t Mess with My Routine A change of plans can make good sense. For instance, I spent three days with a chain saw and a splitting maul to prepare my own firewood. The red fir took longer than I expected. In fact, the whole project interrupted my routine schedule. Here’s my ideal day. Get out […]
Which is Best, Hackamore or Metal Bit? A cowboy’s Spanish produces a rather humorous language. Take the good Spanish word jáquima, meaning headstall, that leather halter you slip over the head of your horse. This word derived from the Old Spanish xaquima. From the Americanized pronunciation of jaquima, the spelling of hackamore entered the written […]
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