Cherry Valley Bypass
Cowboy Poets of the New West – Features – Meredith Lawrence – Alta Online
Cowboy poetry emerged on the trail drives that moved cattle across the western United States at the end of the 19th century. Trail driving was grueling and monotonous: a job could last anywhere from five to nine months and offered almost no human contact apart from the people working the herd. Many cowboys were immigrants or freed slaves (one in three was Mexican, and roughly 25 percent were black), and there was little room for prejudice. They shared stories to pass the time. Around the campfires at night, traditional work songs swirled together with African American spirituals and the ditties of Mexican, Irish, and Scottish immigrants.
But as the widespread use of barbed wire eliminated the need for trail drives, cowboys set about memorializing often larger-than-life versions of their days on the trail. By the early 20th century, oral histories, stage performances, novels, and movies had reshaped the journeyman cowboy into a rugged, stalwart lone ranger.
As this image took hold in American cultural mythology, the popularity of cowboy poetry faded—but it never entirely disappeared. The practice of composing and reciting it persisted on ranches and among working cowboys before reemerging into public view in the 1980s. The first National Cowboy Poetry Gathering brought together a handful of poets from around the country and established a community that, three decades later, is flourishing. Last year’s event drew more than 50 performers and an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 spectators, and it featured young voices, female voices, and nontraditional styles of poetry, such as free verse and blank verse, that expanded and enriched the storytelling. The 2020 gathering will highlight black cowboys and their contributions to cowboying and cowboy poetry.
Danger. Bridge is out.
January 8, 2020 Morning
Good morning! Happy Bubble Bath Day 🧼! I think you have to have a bathtub for that, my landlord took out the faucet and honestly the stopper hasn’t worked for years in my apartment. 🛀 Not that I’m a big fan of bubble baths, 🗰but maybe it would fun if I had a sauna some day on my land. And, no I probably wouldn’t bother with biodegradable soap. I think that’s kind of silly — as long as your not dumping your soapy water in a creek it’s not a big deal. Sure, some of the commercial surfactants might not be organic, but they do breakdown over time. This morning is partly sunny and 33 1/3rd degrees in Delmar, NY. ☀ Calm wind. There is a dusting of snow on the ground. ☃ Not a half bad day, although the sun angle is still so low, it’s still the golden hour, not even six percent yet angle. Looks like there is some fog 🌁 in the city. I’d say it’s smoke but they tore down the ANSWERS smoke stack although the other fracked gas steam plant is still operating. 🏭
Taking the local bus 🚍 to work, as I don’t like walking 🚶 down to the express bus with a suit and tie on. 👔The dress shoes have a limited life and who wants to get all sweaty and salt covered in one’s suit. This earlier bus is a lot more crowded, especially compared to the express but I might actually be late taking the express due to all the protestors crowding into the Empire Plaza parking 🅿 garage, slowing traffic. Sitting and listening 👂 to Don McLean’s American Pie.
Today will have a chance of snow showers, mainly after 10am. The snow could be heavy at times. Partly sunny 🌨, with a high of 36 degrees at 12pm. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 19th. Breezy, with a light and variable wind becoming west 19 to 24 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. Total daytime snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. The high last year was 41 degrees. The record high of 60 was set in 2008. 8.3 inches of snow fell back in 1923.❄
I’ll be first to say I’m glad I have nothing to do with the legislative session this year – it’s going to be a wild one. 🏫The winds of change are in Albany this year and I’m quite happy in my basement office protected from the storm. Plus I get to go home at five o’clock, so no late nights waiting for and riding the bus home half awake. Plus no managing gun votes on my birthday 🎂, that was not a fun day last year, but at least I got paid and saved for a better tomorrow. It’s not only the cattle farmers 🐄 I follow on the YouTube that shovel manure for a living, even on their birthday. 💩 Gotta make a living whether you live in South Dakota or the Albany.
Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:03 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.1° from the due south horizon (-45.7° vs. 6/21). The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:54 pm with the sun in the southwest (232°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (240°) starting at 4:36 pm and lasts for 3 minutes and 22 seconds with dusk around 5:10 pm, which is one minute and one second later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:46 pm. At sunset, look for snow showers 🌨 and temperatures around 29 degrees. The wind chill around sunset will be 15. ☃️ Breezy, 24 mph breeze ⛅ from the west-northwest with gusts up to 45mph. Today will have 9 hours and 13 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 11 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will have a chance of snow showers, mainly before 7pm. Partly cloudy 🌃, with a low of 12 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal. Maximum wind chill around 3 at 1am; Breezy, with a northwest wind 15 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New snow accumulation of less than a half inch possible. In 2019, we had mist in the evening, which became light rain by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 32 degrees. The record low of -20 occurred back in 1968.
Not quite as wet this weekend as earlier forecasts. ☔ Saturday, rain, mainly after 1pm. High near 59. Chance of precipitation is 80%. Sunday, a chance of rain before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 48. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Typical average high for the weekend is 30 degrees. It will save on the heat and I have no real outdoor plans. I’m doing that filming 📹 for the Resin Adam’s documentary. 📄 That said, I’m not convinenced even on Sunday it will be nice enough to go for a walk somewhere in the wilderness. 🦉
🌹🌻🌼Only 71 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼
Every day is one closer to the mud and black flies of spring. 🐜 Trout fishing 🎣 and later sunsets and warmer nights in spring. And more nights in the wilderness. 🔥
Almost the Blue Moon
Set my alarm for 6:30 am
Set my alarm for 6:30 am… ⏰
Got a nice early start this morning. I think I’m going to start getting up earlier just because too many mornings I find myself resetting the alarm clock and then rushing down to the express bus. Plus come summer ☀, early morning may be the best time to get out and get some exercise before it gets too warm out. Plus I’ve always heard early to bed, early to rise, ☕ makes a man healthy wealthy and wise. 💪