I Do Believe I Feel a Bout of Cowboy Sermonizin' Comin' On

...and the first few days of a year are 'bout the best time to lay things out on the table... With My Good Fortunes Measured... I Step Off Again

This is the season where a fella can sit back and measure where he's been, where he's at... and where he's goin'. It's the time he often has to screw up his courage to step out and battle the wind once again.

2013 is going to be a good year. But for that to happen a drifter needs to make sure he's got his situational awareness fine tuned. Yup... he's got to pay close attention to what he's doin'... as well as what the predators layin' about are doin'.

The winter is the time us yondering gypsies make our plans for another seasons' "journey". But if he's not careful, an old pussgut biker cowboy could find hisself ambushed and trussed up tight by another slick talkin' master wannabe.

We're being led down the path... one more time... with language twisted up until it's un-recognizable. Wearisome ain't it? I hear the straight of it though, so I ain't goin'.

I was drivin' a herd of horses one time up in Yellowstone. 'bout two dozen head. I had to push 'em five miles to a corral. They had different ideas and weren't 'bout to co-operate. Here and there a bunch quitter would dive off into the trees.

I had two choices. I could chase the truant... or work to hang on to the horses I still had in the herd. When the opportunity was there I'd give chase, but mostly I had my hands full keeping the whole bunch from vanishing into the trees.

By the time I reached the corral... I had six horses left out of the two dozen I'd left out with. Was an embarrassing day.

My hope is, there's sufficient Freedom Lovin' folks walkin' around, that are bunch quitters in their soul; with enough guts to dive off into the trees... so that the next couple of years prove embarrassing to those parasitic, lying dogs back east.

Them horses weren't so bullied by my herding that they abandoned their own self interest... and I was left holding the storied "empty sack".

I suppose it's a certain sort of mindset where a lifetime of training and conditioning leads you to ignore your own wishes and dreams, sacrificed in the interest of serving someone else. Make no mistake, caring about other than just yourself is a good thing. Might could be considered the best part of you. I honor those who have sacrificed themselves for others ...BUT...

...and this is a powerful and  commanding BUT...

If the roof is the best part of your house... that part which keeps the rain off... it's the Foundation that supports the roof. Without the foundation... there is no roof.

It's that Best of you that gets manipulated, captured and used. That Best part of you is what Soh-sigh-uh-tee locks onto and consumes in its endless parasitic quest to chain up your body and soul in its service.

But listen close here girls... Self... though maybe not your best... it is your Foundation.  Selflessness is an admirable trait. But it has it's warts. Without taking care of, nurturing and protecting SELF... your foundation is lost and with it everything it supported. Your best is lost in the bargain. There is nothing left for the caring for others.

When you finally break loose into your freedom... there's always going to be a tentacle or two locked into your hide trying to drag you back...

Those suckers can take on surprising form. They work at stirring up guilt for simply being who you are. They work at making you self conscious for finding joy in an often brutal world. It's an insidious lie. Every time you look in the mirror you are confronted with that sorry, selfish dog that they've painted for your eyes to see. They twist your perceptions in ways that turn your Dreams dark and black.

But, if you listen carefully you can find the truth... hiding in the accusations. "all you think about is YOU... What about US?" do you hear that in the social intercourse you are bludgeoned with on a daily basis?

What about US... What about ME? It's the basis of almost every political discussion. The hypocrisy dripping off of it makes it nearly impossible for a  man to walk past it, or argue against it. You are demonized for saying in a minority of your life... what consumes the totality of theirs!

They've so co-opted the language that if you try to defend the right of SELF to secure some pleasure in this life you are demonized as selfish because you are NOT, thinking every waking moment of them.

If you succeed in finding a bit of Joy... you are made to feel dirty... because so many have none. Well, guess what? This world is not, has never been, and will never be... Fair. Get over it. Cowboy Up... and get your freight on down the road.

They best you can hope to achieve is to be Honest. You have the Right to build yourself a place of Joy and Self fulfillment. They have zero right or moral authority to denigrate that.

Listen to me. There are two things in this world which cannot be given. They crumble to dust in the hand off. Those two things are Freedom and Joy.

If you want either... you must reach out and take them Your self. They can not be given or bought. They must be TAKEN.

Ha! You say; "You are Taking Just like those you accuse!!!"...

Uh Uh. It don't work that way. Joy and Freedom are like wild horses belonging to nobody. They are treasures roaming free on the land; Waiting to be harvested by those who prove their worthiness by working hard to achieve them. You are Taking from Life itself.

While you cannot give Joy and you cannot give Freedom... you CAN work to create the world where the opportunity to build those things for your SELF exists. You can speak out to defend the world where the Right of Joy and Freedom exists for others.

If you wish to give to others... the only gift greater than protecting the possibility for a person to build their own Freedom and Joy; is to lay down your life in defense of a friend.

I shall live simply; like the wolf and the coyote; The Eagle and the Beaver.  I shall Take only what is my Right; and slide out of sight when those who believe they own me and what is mine come drooling around looking for a feast.

I cannot impose my beliefs, other than my Freedom, on anyone as they strive to impose theirs on me and those like me. I can only follow the trail I see. I can only be who I am... Those that admire such a way of going can choose to follow a similar path for themselves... or choose something different. That is their Right.

A closing thought about the current club we are all being beaten with...

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.
                                                                   -Martin Niemöller,

Take the basis of that thought... and apply it to parts of your own life... and mine.

First they took from the Billionaires...
But I had no billions so I let them defend themselves.

Then they came for the Millionaires wealth...
But I had no millions so I stayed silent...

Then they came for the wages of the common man...
... but all those with enough power to stop them... were gone.

If you do not defend the Right of Property, and the Right to hold the fruits of their labors... of those who have far more than you... your own Rights and property are indefensible.

If you fail to stand up and defend the Right of a person to hold beliefs contrary to your own... your own beliefs are indefensible.

To not stand on these two principles as you rail loudly for your own Rights... You join the ranks of Hypocrisy.

Governments are not different, not ANY of them... except in degree. They are primarily gangs of thieves. The best of them, left unrestrained,  ALL eventually degenerate into the same thing; A disgusting cabal of vultures, caring not for the welfare of that upon which they feed... fighting only for THEIR SHARE OF THE CARCASS.

This is going to be a good year. I am aware of the vultures. I have little fear of them. They are cowards. I know how to avoid them. I know where my Joy and My Freedom live, and By God I'm gonna harvest my fair share again This Year.

I'm hopeful I won't be hunting laughter and the riches of Freedom alone

Ridin' Free with my Nose in the Wind
Brian

Cold Winds and Sunny Slopes

Dang... I rode through a lot of Colorado winters. From before sun up to past sundown... Feeding six or eight hours a day. Feeding my own stock then on down to the ranch I was day workin'. Comin' back in the early evening and feeding my own again. Chopping ice, Plowing drifts, Cutting and Splitting wood... Lot's of days when the high never broke through 13 below.

Then another seven or eight years after we left the ranch... riding winters out on a motorcycle. Splittin' the wind goin' 70 mph at ten degrees... and still grinnin'.

Things have changed...

The past ten days or so on this Denver circle it's been cold... but... nowhere near the lows I used to work in without much of a thought. The temps we've got now I saw as dang near balmy twenty years back. Even the years I rode my bikes to the Hardware store in January snow... If I got up and saw thirty plus on the thermometer there wasn't the sliver of a thought of not riding.

Now... with highs way up into the 30's I'm stove up and hidin' out. ;) Yes sir... my get up and go done got up and went... leastways when it comes to fightin' through the cold I guess. :)

I am itchin' to roll on back to the winter desert for sure! Just a few more days to lock down the few "business" chores we've left and then it's highball back to the Sonoran  desert for the balance of the winter.

It's likely I am an irreversible Snow Bird for sure!

Let all the tough nuts who claim they prefer to "rough it" have that nonsense. I'm for soft beds, clean shirts and sunny slopes! Make no mistake, any Cowboy that tells you he likes to "rough it" is one of two things; You're talkin' either to a wannabe playin' tough... or cowboy spinnin' yarns! Either way, they ain't bein' honest.

Truth be known, the only thing that kept a Cowboy from comfort was the inability of a Mule, Wagon or truck to carry it. Used to be you judged the age of a cowboy by the diameter of his bed roll. If it took two men to unload his roll in camp you knew; This ain't no greenhorn. That sucker has some age on him! Along with the growth of his wisdom ... the thickness of his blanket roll kept pace!

So... right after the 1st day of the first month of the year 2013... before my bedroll gains any more weight... and in search of sunny slopes, we'll be rolling our dusty selves back south to ride out the rest of this winter.

Finishing Up our Christmas Circle
Brian

Wishing You All a Christmas Filled With Laughter

Merry Christmas Every One. May your day be filled with laughter, joy and a belly full of Christmas feasting.

Thank You All for visiting goin' RV Boondocking  and the blog here, for the past year, and for the many years before this!

As is usual, I've got many hoped for projects and adventures coming in the next year. I hope we'll see you again after the Holidays.

Take Care and Party Hearty!

Chillin' in Colorado
Brian