We pulled into the gas station to fill up the truck. Parked at the pump beside us was a green F250 that was hard pressed to be considered green. It was covered with mud, dust, and very likely other ranch excrement. The diesel was running, and it was evident the engine had been revved a time or two.
But that wasn’t what caught my eye. There was a guy, I assumed the owner, in the back of the truck along with a four-wheeler. When he had pumped gas into the four-wheeler, he took rags and wiped off the gas cap and the seat. He took the squeegee and cleaned off the mirror, then wiped the whole thing clean. When it was to his liking, he hopped in the dirty truck and drove off into the sunset.
I thought the scene a bit amusing. As I pondered it, the modern cowboy came to mind. When I was a kid, we drove into western towns and were rewarded with seeing real cowboys – you know, the ones who wore cowboy boots with jingling spurs, cowboy hats, western pearl snap shirts, walked bowlegged, and rode the range on horseback. Their horses were well cared for – fed, brushed, and rubbed down. They not only bore their rider across the range to drive cattle, mend fences, check livestock, etc., but they were also the cowboys’ companion.
Nowadays, four-wheelers ride the range. The guy who carried his four-wheeled horse powered steed in the back of the truck was just taking care of his ride.
Cowboys