This is a wee bit late. My ISP sold and I guess the transition was a little bumpy as I went for almost 36 hours without access to the internet.

Happy Memorial Day to each and every one of you.


SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE WESTERNER

Fruits of our labor

by Larry Gabriel

Like most farmers and ranchers, I have two jobs. One is being a West River rancher. The other is my city job as Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Agriculture.

While driving from the ranch to Pierre this week, I felt a little like one of those old horses that hates to leave the barnyard. When traveling away from the barn he resists direction just to let you know he doesn’t want to go, but he tries to run when you turn his head toward home.

However, the horse and I have different motives. The horse just likes the comfort and security of his barn. I do too, but it is more than that. What I miss when I leave is the feeling of having done a good day's work with visible results.

Whether I fix fence, bale hay, build a barn or work cattle, there is some tangible work product I can look at when the day ends on the ranch. I know that I have produced something.

Most of the time, I can't do that in my city job. I see mounds of paper (including edited versions of this column), but tangible results of something produced or improved are rare and infrequent in that job. I can work hard and long for many days without seeing one tangible thing produced. I suppose many desk jobs are like that.

Farmers and ranchers are extremely fortunate in that regard. There is rarely a day of labor that does not produce a tangible result. I do not mean to imply this is exclusive to us. Artists, craftsmen, carpenters, masons and even writers can see tangible results of their labor I suppose, but it is different with a farmer or rancher.

The fruits of our labors are many. We feed the people of the world. We build economies, families, citizens and values that become the building blocks of our future. We build communities, roads and rural commerce. We build a life. We build a nation.

What a great feeling it is after a day of hard work to be physically tired but not mentally strained. At such times I often put my feet up in the cool of the evening and review the accomplishments of the day, while giving passing thought to those of tomorrow. It is a rare privilege to live such a life.

Maybe it is just me (or the nature of city jobs), but my desk job almost never produces anything close to the satisfaction I feel after a good day's work on the ranch.

Of course it is not free. About two thirds of farm and ranch families have one or both spouses working off the farm.

I wish more people understood that when people fight to save their "family farm", I understand why they are fighting and what they are fighting for, even if I don't always agree with what they claim is the threat.

There are many threats to our way of life, but we can overcome them, if we stick to our traditional values.

When others learn to value the fruits of our labors as much as we do, we can relax at the end of our day without fear of any threats to our way of life.

Mr. Gabriel is the South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture.


Roping another day of honor

By Julie Carter

It seemed long overdue when last year the U.S. Senate proclaimed July 23 to be the National Day of the American Cowboy.

Fittingly, the senate has again given the cowboy the honor of the day and July 22 celebrations are on calendars all across America.

The resolution again recognizes the cowboy as one "who loves, lives off and depends on the land and its creatures for livelihood." It also names rodeo as a livelihood of the cowboy that transcends race, sex and spans every generation.

Never has there been a day when making a living as cowboy was more difficult than today.

Recognizing that the pioneering spirit that helped establish the American West continues to be a foundation of solid character and commons sense, the day of honor is earned.

The resolution calls the cowboy an American icon, part of America's commitment to an esteemed and enduring code of conduct. The wonder and awe of that icon spans continents and still today, sparks big dreams in small boys.

While honored to be honored, the cowboy himself won't be impacted by his name on a resolution. He will go on about his day of work perhaps even slightly embarrassed there is such a fuss about the whole thing.

As far as being an icon, if you ask the average cowboy about it, he'll say "What's that?"

I doubt the suits on Wall Street will acknowledge the honor given to the cowboy. He'll probably order chicken for lunch and continue believe his food comes from the grocery store. The same for the majority of the masses in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Washington D.C. Sadly a pretty big chunk of folks in former "cow towns" like Denver and Albuquerque have the same mindset.

Santa Fe is dedicating a day of their annual rodeo in June to the National Day of the Cowboy. The cowboys and cowgirls entered in the Rodeo de Santa Fe will bask in a little extra limelight because of it.

But on July 22, the actual day of honor, most of America's cowboys will be checking cattle, drinking troughs, fixing pipeline leaks, branding a few late calves, building fence or other assorted less-than-glorious "cowboy" duties.

"Cowboy" has become more than a job, more than way of life. Cycling through the fads of popular genre, it again has found a place at the forefront of marketing genius and saleable themes. Put it in boots and a hat, a little rawhide with the hair still on it, add some silver conchos and a jingle here and there, and you have a collectible of the American West.

Emulated in a thousand ways in a million places, the bottom line to "cowboy" doesn't come from his wardrobe or even from his occupation. It comes from within his heart and soul.

It is a spirit of honor, integrity and grit that stirs within all men, some just chose to live by those traits. Cowboy is not a hat, a job or genre. It is a choice.

The cowboy is not the dying breed he is said to be by those that drive down the highway looking for him.

As Lee Marvin told Jack Palance in the 1970 movie Monte Walsh, "As long as there is one man on one horse pushing one cow, there will always be cowboys."

© Julie Carter 2006