Muchas gracias amigas

By Julie Carter

Right up front and at the top of this missive I want to say a heartfelt "thank you" to my friends.

They have long ago learned that what they tell me will likely end up in print, at some point, and they have been very good sports about it.

These are the women who incite me to write and are very often the subject of what I write.

They tell me their stories and I tell them to you in stand alone fashion or in a woven pattern of threads from all our lives.

These are strong, independent women who can ride, rope, cook, shoot and laugh with the best of them. And they clean-up for town pretty nice too. We like to think there is a calling for bright, beautiful, and brassy ranch women, each with a great sense of humor.

We've all had a job or nine in our lifetimes, other than ranching or during ranching. There is a Karate black belt/cop, a couple of accomplished business women, a horse trainer and me. I'm the one at the keyboard.

Ranch life creates within each of us an ability to view the world from a different angle, usually from the bottom looking up.

It sorts out priorities on a survival rating scale. We don't have much time to spend worrying about things that don't really count.

Our survival gear includes a Bible and the ability to find something to be thankful for daily.

Most days we sooth our souls with laughter, and the best of that, is when we laugh at ourselves.

We have no patience for whiners but will spend our last breath helping someone truly in need.

We get up early each day ready to tackle the next 24 hours, one situation at a time. Rarely do our situations come in single file but we "cowgirl up" and get through it.

We doctor children, pets, livestock and husbands. We have bottle fed babies, birds, puppies, kittens, rabbits, calves, colts and the occasional fawn. We mend fences and britches.

We live in places where the directions to get there include the words miles, last, cattle guard and gravel road.

Our early morning prayers cover rain, cattle, children and 4-H projects.

It is the norm to find our conversations far from the usual "woman talk" of hair color, the latest fashion in pumps and purses or a Saturday night concert. We learn that stuff from the magazines.

Most often we talk about things like feeding cattle, calving heifers, a new baby colt, the veterinarian's last visit, and sometimes the location of the next county fair pig sale.

Occasionally, we regress and share funny books we have read and movies we liked.

Potluck recipes are a given as is the name brand of the most comfortable work boot.

You see, we understand each other. We know that fixing supper and fixing the stock tank float is not an either/or choice.

A knowing nod always follows the first line of a story that begins, "We went to check a gate and he said we would be right back."

I am truly blessed to have these women in my life. Let them not think I ever take for granted their influence in my journey.

They inspire me in ways they know not. May we always find a way to laugh together and may our stories bring laughter to someone that needs it.

Again, I say, muchas gracias amigas.

© Julie Carter 2006