Today, in downtown Reno, I ran into a real buckaroo. Not really that unusual perhaps, considering that Nevada is the last frontier in America, however, this run-in was at a drumming circle, which Im certain was one of those hippie artifacts that has since spilled out of BurningMan and has infected a sizable portion of the urban populace here, along with a prehensility to wear faux fur and take up fire-spinning as a serious olympic sport. Im not sure how he came to be in this event, in this place, at this time, but his appearance jumped out at me like the neon on the Man on a moonless night and let me tell you, I have become familiar with this style, having finished off many a jug of red wine on the playa with the legendary Cowboy Carl, the top-notch fence crew manager and T-stake pounder, who at 60 could outwork any of the DPW kids a quarter of his age and has spouted so many colorful sayings that his quotes have been put up on the gate road signs, and he has, despite living for weeks with the mad-max mohawk denizens of DPW, managed to keep the buckaroo style that comes from a lifetime of herding cattle and rounding up mustangs in the far reaches of Nevada. Buckaroo style has a certain authentic look, aside from the typical jeans, western shirt, wide belt and a buckle large enough to deflect a stray bullet headed towards a cowhands midsection, starting with a well weathered and beaten, bring your own shade wide brim hat, without a hatband, which has been long since gone after he was thrown from a rattlesnake-spooked horse or scraped off by a low hanging branch when he rode into a thicket at full gallop in pursuit of a wild yearling, but also the boots, which are not the typical cowboy boots with the high heels, originally designed to keep your foot in the stirrup, the kind of boots of which, I myself am quite fond of wearing, but these are working boots, with low heels and actual laces, which keep a snug fit and provide sure footing when slinging oneself out of a saddle and locking your arms around the neck of a bull fresh out of the chute. Buckaroo style is also a way with a manners, as I noted when he quickly moved to pull the chair out politely for a lady about to be seated at the next table and then reached up for his hat in the proper manner of greeting to a lady, grasping the crown and lifting the hat until it completely exposed the top of his head accompanied with barely a glance of eye contact, after which, he returns his hat to his head and then extends his hand to her for a gentle handshake, the fingers extended at a ninety degree angle from the palm, a suitable fit for a delicate hand, unlike the man-to-man greeting which followed, and began with his hand rising up to the hat and then pinching the brim, holding it in place as the head dipped forward slightly, exposing the forehead, all the while maintaining direct eye contact which continued as the hat was dropped back into place, and the hand came down and out, fingers extended in one smooth motion for a real handshake, one to which I responded in kind and as our hands locked together, I noted that his hand had more muscle in it than I do probably do in my entire body, yet with our eyes locked together, there was an equality in the gripping force that we shared in that handshake and in that moment. And thank you, Carl for teaching me the difference between a cowboy and a buckaroo. https://flickr/photos/59509631@N00/295628392/
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 06:02:28 +0000
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