| COWBOY |
copyright
| EXCATTLE WRANGLER |
| I was Born in the fall of 1966, in a little shack on a hill, in the Canadian wilderness Without electricity,running water, or indoor plumbing. I was free to roam the moss carpeted forest that surrounded that little hill top house, and I grew up to respect and appriciate that isolated beauty, and the unending wilderness that surrounded me . I year after I was born to this sparse north western ontario region, I was introduced to what would become the home of my heart, on the south western prairies of Manitoba. A sprawling cattle ranch purchased by my aunt and uncle in 1967. A place I would spend most of my "schoolless" days and learned early about the fine tradition of cattle wrangling. I was herding cattle on foot by the age of 3 ,spending days in the fields with my uncle baling hay and straw when i was 5. |
| and so I spent my winters in the wilderness of Ontarios rugged north west, Trapping,hunting and fishing with my father..as well as going to school., and my summers and holidays working cattle with my uncle. Its no surprise that school held no interest to me at all, and i waited impatiently to head for the prairies . While I now live in Ontario again, I still consider the prairies home, and one day, when i settle in for the long haul, it will be there, in the midst of cattle country |
| After many jobs, doing many things, from office work, to saw mills, gas jockey and janitor, slaughter houses,emergency vehicle dispatcher, to building air planes, the one truth I discovered was that once a cowboy, always a cowboy. I could leave the wilderness and the prairies, but they would never leave me. In 1998 I was in a serious accident and sustained serious head trauma, causing permanent brain injury, this changed me from the outdoorsman i was to the semi recluse I am. No longer who I was, but still who I am While I can appear healthy on the outside,Im limited by what i can do because of the side effects of the injury. I have light sensitivity which leads me to live life mainly at night. Bad balance, headaches, poor memory,and a lack of concentration and focus and a few other things .. I dont go out much anymore.I dont fish or hunt, I dont travel much either now a days, but I still write, and paint, and craft and create. Not the same as I once did, but still in a way thats still satisfying . And thats what truely matters. |
| While I grew up with amazing independence and freedom, I nonetheless owe it to my parents,and my aunt and uncle, all of whome gave me the confidence,ability,knowlege and wisdom to survive and i thank them for that. |
| IN BITS AND PIECES |