Comments | walkertxkitty: LJ Idol Season 5 Week 15 - Riding Shotgun for the Texas Rangers

walkertxkitty

LJ Idol Season 5 Week 15 - Riding Shotgun for the Texas Rangers

Jan 08, 2009 22:05

o/` "I shoulda been a cowboy
I shoulda learned to rope and ride
Wearing my six-shooter, riding my pony, on a cattle drive
Stealing young girl's hearts
Just like Gene and Roy
Singing those campfire songs
Oh, I should've been a cowboy" o/`

----- "Should've Been a Cowboy" performed by Toby Keith ( Read more... )

autobiography, nostalgia, humor

Comments 42

boxsofrain January 9 2009, 04:50:51 UTC

lol, I can only imagine that! That must have been a hysterical sight to see!

walkertxkitty January 9 2009, 05:10:11 UTC

It was. He was a big man 6'5" tall, and built a lot like his heroes. He was so proud of his accomplishment and the horse just kept staring as if to say WTF?! It's one of the few memories I have of my father because he died when I was young.

agirlnamedluna January 9 2009, 13:24:38 UTC

LMAO ... at least he got on the horse *G*

walkertxkitty January 11 2009, 23:48:28 UTC

He did...and eventually he did learn to ride properly. In fact, he was the only rider Comanche would allow. The horse had been badly abused --- he was beautiful once my mother rehabilitated him --- and my father had a special gift with animals. He was very big at 6'5" but his hands were gentle.

I miss him a lot; he's one of the reasons I want horses here again one day.

conscience January 9 2009, 13:50:05 UTC

I am at a loss for words to comment, just thought you should know I had to get up and grab a napkin to wipe coffee off the monitor.
;)

walkertxkitty January 11 2009, 23:49:59 UTC

Yeah, he was quite a man. I get my stubbornness --- and the Stetson --- from him and also, ironically, my love of horses. My mother was the one raised in a country environment but my father was the one who really embraced that Old West heritage and encouraged me to do so as well. There's no one left except my mother who remembers him clearly...and she still says that I'm his spitting image, body and blood.

drippedonpaper January 9 2009, 16:18:16 UTC

I love the song you started with, BTW:)

I really love your first line:

"Somewhere in my mother's belongings, beneath a carefully folded American flag and service medals in a rosewood box, lies a paisley flower covered photo album."

You have a really pretty way of using description. It's a real fault of my writing, I forget to put in sensory details which makes writing seem more real. Great job!

This story is very funny, glad your childhood memories still give you smiles:)

Keep writing!

walkertxkitty January 11 2009, 23:53:42 UTC

I love the song for other reasons; one of my closet pass times is writing for "Gunsmoke" which is the show the first verse refers to, and of course I love anything which mentions my beloved Texas Rangers.

My mother hid away all traces of our life with my father in it after he died. We were never allowed to look at the photos or to touch the rosewood case

Thank you for the compliment! I have a condition called synesthesia which means things like words can have textures or colors and that sound can have a taste or a smell. Because of the integration of the senses like that, I'm able to remember and write about such details.

It's one of my most vivid memories, one of the only ones where I can picture him even to his face and voice. He died when I was relatively young so normally the memories fade out to just vague impressions labeled "dad".

shadowwolf13 January 9 2009, 20:32:48 UTC

*laugh* Adorable!

Thank you for sharing. :)

walkertxkitty January 11 2009, 23:54:53 UTC

You're welcome! I think he was probably pretty mad when he figured it out; my father didn't like being laughed at and he didn't like his ignorance being pointed out to him. This incident did both. Later, he did learn to ride and then he really did look like some hero out of a western.