Memorial Day Weekend – You Get the Drift

By Bennett Owen

Credit: RMNP

Credit Pole-Land.com

Yellowstone? Limited access only, with snowdrifts of up to 25 feet.

Credit: cultr.sun

Tetons? Emergency avalanche crews out in force after heaviest snow pack in 45 years.

Credit:  National Park Service

Yosemite? The Half Dome Trail is still closed due to heavy snow.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Alpine Visitor Center Credit RMNP

Rocky Mountain National Park? The Trail Ridge road is closed – 17-foot snow drifts.

But there’s always a silver lining. Utah’s Snowbird ski resort is still open weekends, boasting another 18-inch dump earlier this week, for an incredible 756 inch total (so far!) You do the math, I’m watching these folks again:

Credit: Snowbird.com

Credit: Snowbird.com

Credit: Snowbird.com

Montana Politics - Irons in the Fire

By Bennett Owen

Credit: KTVQ.com

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has been vetoing legislation he decries as “frivolous” almost as fast as the state legislature can crank it out.

Credit: KJA18.com

Credit: Cody Bloomsburg

Never the shrinking violet, he’s now brought out his “VETO” branding iron to ceremoniously transform those bills into puffs of smoke, although he does vow to stop short of the castration that takes place during real branding parties. 

Credit: KTVQ.com

In what was surely a gesture of conciliation, legislators responded with a branding iron of their own, which will emboss the governor’s initials on anything it touches…

Credit: KXLH.com

Now, we figure any politician with that kind of moxie should have his deeds immortalized in song, and therefore we offer:

VETO!

(Must sing to the tune of “Branded” Here’s the original, in case you forgot how it goes…)

VETO!

He was governor…
Up in Helena…
And they say he gave them Hell…

VETO! Pen mightier than sword!
What do you do with a VETO?
His popularity soared!

Schweitzer’s branding iron….
Branded him a star…
Now he’s re-booked for Colbert…

VETO! Public Relations ploy!
What do you do with your VETO?
Well you play the cowboy!

But his work’s never done cause they’ve already tried….
To OVERRIDE!

Good Thing She Didn't Come From Poughkeepsie

by Bennett Owen

Credit: erjkprunczyk

Montana native - ranch hand - rodeo rider - actor.  The monumental Gary Cooper died 50 years ago this week. In his first full-length talking movie, "The Virginian", he delivered one of the legendary lines in the history of western films: "If You Wanna Call Me That...Smile..."

Credit: Answers.com

"In Rodeo you get paid to stay on a horse. In movies you get paid to fall off." Gary Cooper

Credit: Spiritofthebear.com

"In Westerns you were permitted to kiss your horse but never your girl." Gary Cooper

Credit: Moviefone.com

"Nan Collins, my manager, came from Gary, Indiana and suggested I adopt that name. She felt it was more exciting than Frank. I figured I’d give it a try. Good thing she didn’t come from Poughkeepsie."  Gary Cooper

Great Tribute video:

Camargue Cowboys – Heavy on the Gallic

By Bennett Owen

The similarities are baffling at first – the weathered faces - broad-brimmed hats - sturdy, fleet-footed horses - the love of a stiff shot of whiskey of an evening.  But mostly it’s the independent spirit, the love of nature, the freedom of the outdoors that binds them in spirit with their American cousins.

Credit: laura.foto

Credit: Arles Office of Tourisme

They are the ‘Gardians’ the cowboys of Camargue in southern France, a vast and untamed region of marshlands and long-horned cows and the sturdy and spirited Camargue horses, one of the few remaining wild equine breeds left in the world. They are short, sure-footed and powerful and as nature would have it, perfectly suited to the region.

Credit: Wolfgang Staudt

Credit: kahala

There’s another similarity. Gardians like to have a good time and that involves bringing their rough and tumble livelihood to town.  Arles is the gateway to Camargue and every May 1^st, it is the center point of a celebration as wild as any rodeo.

It starts with the parade -   

Credit: Camargue-en-provence

Credit: kahala

And then it’s on to the arena – one that used to host gladiators in the first century.

Credit: Travel In France

Their form of rodeo is called Course Camarguatise, in which the young bucks try to snatch a rosette from between the horns of some fairly furious bulls. Good clean fun.

And of course a queen is chosen to preside over the festivities.

Credit: kahala

Credit: kahala

As WC Fields once said, “It’s time to take the bull by the tail and face the situation.

Credit: austinevan

A Traditional Western Wedding – Western Germany, That Is

By Bennett Owen   

Credit: Matteo De Felice

Tübingen is about as close to every American’s image of Germany as you can get…crooked, narrow pathways meander through a labyrinth of intricately detailed thousand year old half-timbered buildings…gondolas carry young lovers on a lazy afternoon excursion along the Neckar River, beneath a proud and imposing castle.

Credit: Destination Europe

A turn through the town square reveals a centuries-old Rathaus…and outside, a wedding party is gathered, gaily festooned in their traditional cowboy attire….

Credit: tagblatt.de

WHAT? No, they’re not photo-shopped, no, these aren’t scenes from the new movie Cowboys and Swabians……they’re the real thing. Tanja Koehler is a western fanatic and horse lover who’s wrangled herself a hubby…eager to share both her wedding and her passion with the good folks of the town. 

Credit: tagblatt.de

There was trick riding…

Credit: tagblatt.de

And ponies for the kids…

Credit: tagblatt.de

And when it was all over, the wedding party rode off into the sunset…
With the exception of the Groom who prefers his own two feet.

Credit: tagblatt.de

Who knows…those boots may hide some twinkle toes…

Credit: tagblatt.de