GraceNotes

Caballeros

GraceNotes

This Stripe is Earned

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            Yesterday’s scripture from the eastern plains was from First Peter.

            Therefore, putting aside all malice and all guile and envy and all slander, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, it you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

            Yes, the past president of the New Mexico Cattle Growers Association, Pat Boone, has created a ministry that touches a growing swath of Westerners who are united by a strong and powerful hand. I must admit that I have come to welcome the ding of the arrival of his text message each morning. In all the chaos that surrounds us, his selected biblical passages spread a simplistic reminder that our being does not exist in a vacuum.

            We exist solely because of His plan.

In reminder of that, each of us is granted sources of strength and hope. They may be many, or they may be few, but, from around us, friends, family and loved ones emerge to provide support and some degree of encouragement. As they appear, they become precious gifts of life.

Without a better word for it, they become our GraceNotes.

Caballeros

My email distribution list is actually pretty small.

It is that mix of questionable characters and comrades that are on the receiving end of the news and smoke signals that affect our daily lives. I have described such missives and alerts as arriving by pack saddle from Mogollon Creek, pouch from the dead end of a Redrock Road, afterthought from the front porch of the house of some repute, and recorded messages from the mists of the outside world. Each is a person who has emerged as a trusted friend. Yes, we often attempt to out score each other in the outrageous or extreme, but, when issues of the heart emerge, there is resolve to be openly honest and to trust and to listen to the responses.

It is within our GraceNote exchange.

I knew the Mogollon Creek reference before I knew the Mogollon Creek reference. As he sat nearby in a chair recently, his appearance was different than the day he came walking up the road, just he and his hound dog, with the hound dog decked out in leather gaiters on all four legs up to his knees.

“Why does he need those things?” was the greeting.

“Because he needs them,” was the emphatic and final point of discussion on the matter.

The Redrock road reference was a gift in later life that has heritage ties. One each of our parents had grown up in the Depression within two miles of each other. There was a childhood story of tragedy that would be repeated many times before the descendent of the victim was even known.

A lesson in unwavering beliefs and actions is the only outcome in this relationship. Steadfast is the byline.

The porch of the house of some repute chains from mixed CC’s. Horses or long friendships are the connectors, and the outcome, as in the case of each and every horse experience, is mixed with hope and despair.

“Why do we do this to ourselves?” must be the exclamation to nobody in particular as sounds from the near hind gut are sought.

“Respiration is pretty normal and there is no real visible stress, but something (as in life) is just not right!”

The mists from the outside are the various close loyalists, mere mortals, and comrades that connect this life. They range from Louden County on the edge of DC, through Overland Park, Ft. Collins, and down into Oklahoma, over to Albuquerque, across Otero Mesa to Iraan on the Pecos, up along the banks of the Rio Grande, on the sides of the Potrillos and Alamo Huecos, down the Mangus to the Gila, and on out to Kings and Fresno Counties, California. They are all special and trusted folks.

We are family, true Caballeros, and … GraceNotes.

This Stripe is Earned

There is light showing on the eastern horizon, so I’ve got to hustle.

There is a problem pump awaiting. It is not working, and a solution must be found. There will be speculation and there will be suggestions and resistance, but there will be a solution and, ultimately, resolution.

That is just the way life is.

I’d prefer to be horseback today, but that won’t happen. So many things are made better by being horseback. As I think about it, that is the common thread in this reflection of GraceNotes. From Pat’s ongoing gift of scripture, through the daily experiences we witness on this land, to those who might find weekly words of a western way of life interesting, there is a connection. There is nothing perfect in our lives or our way of life, but there is that connection.

If we have made what we have touched better, it is only through Him and His plan. Along the way, we have found inordinate preferences for the sounds of clattering rocks and rolling thunder, the sight of green grass, the taste of corral dust, and the sweet smell of leather and our livestock.

Father, forgive us if we have placed too much attachment on these earthly partialities!

But, that is who we are, and that is how our lives have been blessed. There are several ways to close this. What I’ll say is that each of you has become special, and today is set aside for that proclamation.

Now, I’m going to go get in the pickup and head to the ranch. I’ll leave the windows down and welcome the morning air. I will likely think about many things, but if a ding gains my attention, bets are it could be Pat and his morning scripture. If it is, I will read it, and,  pray that each of you will feel its impact from afar.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico.