Calling For A Lead Man or Woman For A New Year by Stephen Bly On the old cattle drives, the choice position was to get assigned the lead man. Or ride point. This meant the cowboy got to be at the forward tip of the moving herd. He had fresh air to breathe. He didn’t […]
Archive | Steve’s Devotionals
Are You Leavin’ Cheyenne?
Leavin’ Cheyenne Western Slang by Stephen Bly Out west there’s a big difference between country music and western music. The beat’s not the same. Diverse instruments. Different words. Western music claims a long history. Most songs center around the vast outdoors. Horses and cattle, danger and the girl left behind. Ever since the first drover had […]
Cowboy Roping: Is It Lariat, Lasso or Reata?
Cowboy Roping and Faith At Work Styles by Stephen Bly Cowboy roping terms vary from one part of the country to another. That 30×60 ft rope the cowboy hooks with thin leather strap to the right of his saddle horn? It might be called a lasso, a reata, or a lariat. In the old days […]
An Old West Ladino: Western Slang Devo
An Old West Western Slang Devotional by Stephen Bly An Old West type ladino character, J.W. lives back in the woods along the Salmon River Breaks somewhere. You take the gravel road 18 miles. Turn left at the big buckskin tamarack. Then 15 miles down a dirt and mud rutted trail. Park your rig and hike […]
Ketch My Saddle: Western Slang Devotional
Ketch My Saddle, Boys No one likes to get bucked off a horse, old cowboys especially. But if his broomtail decided to ‘hop for mama,’ ‘take ya to church,’ ‘chin the moon,’ or ‘wrinkle his spine,’ he plowed the ground with his face. Then he must catch the rude horse and holler, “Ketch my saddle!” […]
What Empty Nest? Parenting Adult Children
What Empty Nest? Parenting Adult Children by Stephen Bly Sometime between the ages of 18 and 20, our kids challenge us with a dramatic turn of events in our parenting. Like an eaglet stumbling from the aerie on its first flight, our child appears as a fully grown adult. Ready to take his or her plunge […]
What Is a Karimption? Western Slang Devotional
Ever Heard of a Karimption? Western Slang Devotional by western author Stephen Bly Old Jack Ferguson had a special role in our church. He counted the folks who attended the worship service. But he didn’t bother with exact numbers. He had 3 western slang rankings: Funeral size. Sunday rodeo comfort. Or karimption. A funeral size […]
The West Will Truly Be Won: From Cowboy Poetry Western Book
The West Will Truly Be Won, from cowboy poetry western book by western author Stephen Bly The West Will Truly Be Won (from When The Cowboys Come To Town, a cowboy poetry western book) When the world came West in ’49, it was called the promised land. Big and wild and open and free, room for all […]
The Rodeo Dance Two-Foot Landing
Steve at Maranatha in Michigan Rodeo Dance At The Bucking Horse Sale by Stephen Bly A rodeo dance with sales and plenty of other fun events. Quite a doin’s. That’s part of the Miles City, Montana, bucking horse sale every year. A stock contractor friend of mine often heads there to check out good horses […]
Western Slang: Get Your Hog Back by Stephen Bly
Stephen Bly Never know in my area when you’ll hear some western slang … An insurance salesman and I chatted at a nearby coffee shop when Prairie Bob entered, covered from hat to boot in oil and grease. We’ve got several fellas named Bob around our western town … so one gets called Prairie Bob, […]
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