A New Year

The cowboy leaned forward in his saddle. His herd was fairly quiet tonight and he was glad to have a little time to himself. Even the coyotes and wolves seemed to be at rest this night. Of course he still had to keep his wits about him. You never know what might happen out on the range. Suddenly his dog growled. The horse jerked a little.


Then the cowboy chuckled to himself. The dog was dreaming and the growling made the horse a little skittish.

It was a warm enough night... he only needed a light jacket to keep the chill of the midnight breeze away. The occasional lowing he could hear was the normal sound of a nighttime herd.

It was a perfect night for pondering his life. He did that often when he was on watch. There wasn't much else to do after all. And he remembered that there was a new year coming soon. Yep, a perfect time to ponder.

He'd had a good life, mostly. Oh there had been the normal disappointments and losses that all folks have but the gains and good times  more than made up for them.

The cowboy had never married and had children. His love of the outdoors and being a cowboy sort of made it rough and he decided long ago to leave those things for others. He sometimes wondered what it would have been like, but he really had no regrets.

So now he wondered what the next year would bring. The open range isn't so open any more. He sure hoped that it wouldn't close up completely until he was no longer around. A cowboy can't live all penned up.

He looked up to the skies for some insight. Shooting across the night like fireworks was a comet with a fiery tail. The beauty was more than he felt he could bear. He guessed a good year was coming. He went back to his peaceful herd with a good feeling inside. Yep. There's a good year coming.


Happy New Year

Copas