WHILE THE CAT'S AWAY, THE MOUSE WILL PLAY!

Several days ago, Jake returned from the ranch with...of all things....a pick up! I happened to be in San Antonio at the time and received a call. Before I answered, I thought...oh my gosh, Jake misses me and just wants to say hi! My heart has such a warm, mushy feeling that it almost brought tears to my eyes!

Here's how it went:

"Mom?"

"Hi Jake! It's so good to hear your voice!"

"Yeah, I just wanted to tell you that I bought a pick-up for $25.00...actually Arron and I bought it for 50."

"WHAT?"(silence)

"A pick-up, mom." Aaron and I bought it for 50 dollars from the ranch! It's awesome and we're gonna fix it up!"

"Son! Does your father know about it yet?Anyway, you already have a pick-up - we drove all the way to Phoenix to get it Why do you need another one? And, where did you get this truck?

"No, I haven't called Dad, I wanted to let you be the first to know.....It's gonna be a huntin' truck."

"Jake...what kind of truck is worth 50 bucks?

"It's the one we drive at work, ya' know, the POC (piece o'crap)!

"YOU BOUGHT THE POC? Have I not raised you better than that?"

"It has no reverse and the brakes need fixin' and my boss was gonna to just leave it at the ranch dump.You'll see, Mom...it's gonna be awesome!"

"Son... hunny... there's a reason that Randy was going to just scrap it...it's not worth fixing...Don't you see that? Do you know how much it costs to fix a truck?"

"Mom, we're all gonna work on it in the barn...we're gonna make it our redneck huntin' truck...weld a big Ranch-hand grill guard on it, make a roll bar, a gun rack and put some awesome lights on it to hunt at night...you'll see...Hey, when are you comin' home?"

"You better call your father before you roll that thing onto the farm property."

"Yeah, ok, Mom. See ya on Thursday! Thanks, Mom!"

click.

Well, of course I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the dang training...Visions of rebel flags, guns and girls in crocheted string bikinis flashed through my mind. What the heck?? He was such a wonderful "little boy" and always did as he was asked! Where did we go wrong? Ugh...I think I need a margarita!

Upon making it home the 7 long hours that span between San Antonio - home of the water trough margaritas to Vernon - home of the cowboy rednecks...I was introduced to the "SHAGGIN' WAGON". It was parked behind the barn and as Jake rumbled it out from the shadows...I just had to smile. He was so proud of it..and you could see true happiness all over his face. They had worked all evening the night before, to design and start welding the grill guard. Somehow they had acquired a random assortment of iron stock to use in their design. Yeah, it was pretty rednecky...but for some wierd reason, I was ok with it. It was at the farm, so that meant that Dyke gave some kind of affirmation to the idea...Oh my...

NICE DEER SKULL DRAPED IN A REBEL FLAG BANDANA....Mmmmm...that's my son!
Even though it now drives...Dyke has clearly and plainly stated that Jake may NOT drive it on any roads until he has insurance...so for now, it's only gone to the river and that was by Jarod towing him with his huge, jacked-up Ford...what a sight...

LOVELY INTERIOR!

BONDING BROTHERS!

"Son, what does 'SHAGGIN' mean?"


It used to say "I want to be a Chevy", but when the feeble idea to remove the doors entered their pea-sized, redneck craniums, they didn't think about their graffiti...

Oh, Hunny...aren't you proud of our first born?

ALSO, WHILE I WAS AWAY...

Dyke bought a stock trailer, a round bale spike (to move huge round bales with) and Biscuit, the mule!

This is a round hay bale for all you city slickers...it weighs about 1,500 lbs!

DA' PONDEROSA