I Like A Dusty Road

Even on a ranch it is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day minutiae of life.  With small children, my tasks primarily consist of seeing to the children, doing the chores around the homestead, and trying to keep up to the cleaning, laundry, and cooking.  This past week, however, has had much demand for extra hands as it has been the time to gather 3,000 Mexican steers off of the high pastures.... and when I say "pastures", it does not clearly describe the vast amount of acres that have to be covered to make this gather happen.

We left the house at 4:00 a.m., and by the time we saddled the horses and trailered to the gathering area, the sun was just starting to peak it's head above the horizon.  I was assigned to take the long circle for the gather, which took Cheese and me to the top of the mountain along the fence line.  As I sat on the top of this mountain, I was overcome by the emotion of the scene before me.    As it's brightness began to light up the valley below me, I could not help but feel in such a personal way the love of my Heavenly Father and his mindfulness of me.  There I was sitting on the back of my very favorite horse witnessing the awakening of the desert in a way that it just seemed to sing to my soul.  I just kept thinking to myself that I must NEVER take the life I live for granted... because there are so very few in this world who get to make a living doing what moves & touches them.

The following pictures are actually taken a couple days later, when I actually thought to pack my camera phone in my pocket.

Ty Openshaw & Greg

Glen Adams

   
And for some reason, one of my favorite songs seems to be what I sing during moments like these:

I like a dusty road, cattle guards, cottonwoods by the stream
I like the dusty road, hills in the distance that call to me
See the horses in the morning when the air is soft & cold
If they want to find me, they can find me.... down a dusty road.

I like the dusty road and the story it tells
Red rock & pinion and all of those fences are somewhere else
Yeah the mountain quail where the Manzanita grow
If they want to find me, they can find me... down a dusty road.

It makes no difference if it's cold & cloudy
It makes no difference if the sky is blue
The best part of being out here
Is being out here with you

I like a dusty road and old corrals baking in the sun
I like a gentle breeze, long shadows when the day is done
See the cattle go to water, walking in single file
There are shapes in the clouds, you can watch them for a while.

I like the dusty road and our old bedroll on the ground
I like the campfire with you when there's no one else around
It'll be the cure any time we need to lighten up the load
If they want to find us, they can find us..... down a dusty road.