Paul Colt's Blog, page 46
November 12, 2016
More Roots, Tom Mix
Tom Mix got his unlikely cowboy start following his father to work. His dad worked as a stable manager and driver for a wealthy lumberman in Dubois Pennsylvania. Young Tom learned to ride and handle horses as a kid, skills that would reward him professionally later in life. At eighteen Tom had his fill of small town Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the army, serving most of two enlistments. More on that later.
Tom moved west following his military service, working as a ranch hand and law enforcement officer. He and his then current wife worked in a couple of Wild West shows. In 1910 the Circle D Ranch show took a contract with a Chicago silent film company Selig Polyscope to make western films. Tom hired on as a wrangler; but soon found his way into small parts for his riding and roping ability.
Impressed with Tom’s acting potential, Selig signed him to do a movie series of his own and sent him to Arizona in 1913. Tom quickly became a popular silent screen star. In 1916, he had a part in the closest encounter General John J. Pershing and Lieutenant George S. Patton ever achieved in their legendary pursuit of Pancho Villa. While in Mexico, Pershing and Patton attended a screening of one of Tom’s pictures. Curious about his pursuers, Villa slipped into the back of a make-shift outdoor theater to get a closer look at his adversary. Villa left the theater quietly after the show, convinced he was a better horseman and faster draw than Mix. It was as close as Pershing and Patton ever got to him.
In 1917 Tom’s relationship with Selig ended in a contract dispute, whereupon he signed with Fox. Tom Mix films retained their box-office appeal with Fox. Tom and his horse Tony were in high demand for personal appearances and played to packed houses wherever they went. Life was good, until talkies came along in the twenties. Tom wasn’t comfortable in the new medium. He took time away from the screen to write and appear in touring shows.
Tom Mix personal life lacked the upright character of his western icon peers. His second military enlistment ended prematurely. He was listed as AWOL and later classified as a deserter. Starring in more than three hundred films, he shouldn’t have been hard to find, should authorities have had any interest in doing so. He also scattered five marriages over the course of his life.
He made a brief return to film in 1932 with appearances in Destry Rides Again and Rider of Death Valley. Tom Mix died in a roll-over car crash in October, 1940.
Next Week: Radio’s Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
Tom moved west following his military service, working as a ranch hand and law enforcement officer. He and his then current wife worked in a couple of Wild West shows. In 1910 the Circle D Ranch show took a contract with a Chicago silent film company Selig Polyscope to make western films. Tom hired on as a wrangler; but soon found his way into small parts for his riding and roping ability.
Impressed with Tom’s acting potential, Selig signed him to do a movie series of his own and sent him to Arizona in 1913. Tom quickly became a popular silent screen star. In 1916, he had a part in the closest encounter General John J. Pershing and Lieutenant George S. Patton ever achieved in their legendary pursuit of Pancho Villa. While in Mexico, Pershing and Patton attended a screening of one of Tom’s pictures. Curious about his pursuers, Villa slipped into the back of a make-shift outdoor theater to get a closer look at his adversary. Villa left the theater quietly after the show, convinced he was a better horseman and faster draw than Mix. It was as close as Pershing and Patton ever got to him.
In 1917 Tom’s relationship with Selig ended in a contract dispute, whereupon he signed with Fox. Tom Mix films retained their box-office appeal with Fox. Tom and his horse Tony were in high demand for personal appearances and played to packed houses wherever they went. Life was good, until talkies came along in the twenties. Tom wasn’t comfortable in the new medium. He took time away from the screen to write and appear in touring shows.
Tom Mix personal life lacked the upright character of his western icon peers. His second military enlistment ended prematurely. He was listed as AWOL and later classified as a deserter. Starring in more than three hundred films, he shouldn’t have been hard to find, should authorities have had any interest in doing so. He also scattered five marriages over the course of his life.
He made a brief return to film in 1932 with appearances in Destry Rides Again and Rider of Death Valley. Tom Mix died in a roll-over car crash in October, 1940.
Next Week: Radio’s Singing Cowboy, Gene Autry
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
November 5, 2016
Silent Roots, William S. Hart
William S. Hart began his acting career on stage in New York, playing parts in western theatrical productions. In 1914, while touring with a theatrical company, he decided to move to California and take a shot at making western movies. He was an actor who knew the west. His qualifications seemed impeccable. He won small parts and did some screen writing to launch his film career.
As a producer and director, Hart insisted on authentic costumes and realistic locations. The public recognized and appreciated the authenticity. His films became box-office successes and the public fell in love with two-gun Bill.
Hart not only drew on his childhood experiences growing up in the west, he befriended surviving legends of the late nineteenth century. His friendship with Wyatt Earp is well documented and while Wyatt resisted Hart’s invitations to appear on film, he did consult on productions to help keep it real. Hart’s relationship with Bat Masterson is less well known. By the time Hart hit the screen, Bat was writing a sports column for a New York newspaper. Hart admired and respected Masterson; and Bat in turn thought Hart played rugged western individualism “square” in his films. “Square” in the vernacular of the time meant “honest”, high praise indeed from the old gunslinger.
Part of Masterson’s admiration that likely influenced Wyatt as well, is Hart not only played his western persona on screen, off screen he was cut out of the same humble, unassuming cloth appreciated by his friends. Wyatt and Bat enjoyed larger than life notoriety; but most of that could be credited to biographers, novelists and reporters who made sensation out of burnishing reflections on quiet competence.
In 1925, following completion of his final film, Hart bought the ranch where much of his work was filmed. He built a Spanish style mansion dubbed La Loma de los Vientos, or Hill of the Winds. He filled it with memorabilia from his films and acting career along with western artifacts and art, including works by another friend, Charles Russell. Today Hart’s home is a museum, open to the public; and a lasting tribute to western film’s silent roots.
Next Week: More Roots, Tom Mix
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
As a producer and director, Hart insisted on authentic costumes and realistic locations. The public recognized and appreciated the authenticity. His films became box-office successes and the public fell in love with two-gun Bill.
Hart not only drew on his childhood experiences growing up in the west, he befriended surviving legends of the late nineteenth century. His friendship with Wyatt Earp is well documented and while Wyatt resisted Hart’s invitations to appear on film, he did consult on productions to help keep it real. Hart’s relationship with Bat Masterson is less well known. By the time Hart hit the screen, Bat was writing a sports column for a New York newspaper. Hart admired and respected Masterson; and Bat in turn thought Hart played rugged western individualism “square” in his films. “Square” in the vernacular of the time meant “honest”, high praise indeed from the old gunslinger.
Part of Masterson’s admiration that likely influenced Wyatt as well, is Hart not only played his western persona on screen, off screen he was cut out of the same humble, unassuming cloth appreciated by his friends. Wyatt and Bat enjoyed larger than life notoriety; but most of that could be credited to biographers, novelists and reporters who made sensation out of burnishing reflections on quiet competence.
In 1925, following completion of his final film, Hart bought the ranch where much of his work was filmed. He built a Spanish style mansion dubbed La Loma de los Vientos, or Hill of the Winds. He filled it with memorabilia from his films and acting career along with western artifacts and art, including works by another friend, Charles Russell. Today Hart’s home is a museum, open to the public; and a lasting tribute to western film’s silent roots.
Next Week: More Roots, Tom Mix
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
October 29, 2016
Cowboy Heroes
Open the dusty covers on childhood memories of our cowboy heroes and you are off on a nostalgic ride through a simpler time. A time when good guys wore white hats, rode beautiful horses, sometimes sang songs and always got the pretty girl. The bad guys wore black hats, rode mostly dark colored horses and always got caught by you-know-who. It was utterly predictable and those of us who grew up on those western tales, loved them. So “Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear . . . “
How far back do we go? TV? B movies? Silent film? I say we go as far as curiosity takes us. Some of you youngsters will know none of this, other than what you may have heard from some of us oldsters. Oldsters will remember a lot of it, though I’ll venture when we get to some of the early pioneers in the genre, they’ll predate even our experience. Should we do any of the more contemporary western actors? Maybe. Many of them take their love of western film and inspiration from those who came before them. We’ll see where this trail winds.
As I started researching this series I discovered there’s a reason why the Cowboy Code brought it to mind. Some of the codes I based that series on, belonged to these wonderful cowboy heroes. Not only that, I was struck by how many of the stars behind those heroes actually lived by the values they portrayed on the screen- be it a silent black and white screen, technicolor big screen or a grainy black and white TV screen, most of those cowboy heroes really were.
It also occurred to me that doing justice to the heroes we present in this series is going to take a bit more work than our typical fare. For some reason, it struck me the sequence in which we present the series will be important. So rather than just ‘dive-in’, we researched the entire series first.
As suspected, sequence is important. Sequence illustrates the evolution of western genre from simple black hat/white hat stories to more complex explorations of human experience in the west. Through it all, we find values embodied in the Cowboy Code imbedded in the stories. Simply stated, straight forward and pure at the outset. Woven with more complexity as the western evolves, gray hats if you will. There, I think we’re ready now. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Next Week: Silent Roots, William S. Hart
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
How far back do we go? TV? B movies? Silent film? I say we go as far as curiosity takes us. Some of you youngsters will know none of this, other than what you may have heard from some of us oldsters. Oldsters will remember a lot of it, though I’ll venture when we get to some of the early pioneers in the genre, they’ll predate even our experience. Should we do any of the more contemporary western actors? Maybe. Many of them take their love of western film and inspiration from those who came before them. We’ll see where this trail winds.
As I started researching this series I discovered there’s a reason why the Cowboy Code brought it to mind. Some of the codes I based that series on, belonged to these wonderful cowboy heroes. Not only that, I was struck by how many of the stars behind those heroes actually lived by the values they portrayed on the screen- be it a silent black and white screen, technicolor big screen or a grainy black and white TV screen, most of those cowboy heroes really were.
It also occurred to me that doing justice to the heroes we present in this series is going to take a bit more work than our typical fare. For some reason, it struck me the sequence in which we present the series will be important. So rather than just ‘dive-in’, we researched the entire series first.
As suspected, sequence is important. Sequence illustrates the evolution of western genre from simple black hat/white hat stories to more complex explorations of human experience in the west. Through it all, we find values embodied in the Cowboy Code imbedded in the stories. Simply stated, straight forward and pure at the outset. Woven with more complexity as the western evolves, gray hats if you will. There, I think we’re ready now. Hope you enjoy the ride.
Next Week: Silent Roots, William S. Hart
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
October 22, 2016
Cowboys Do The Right Thing
This one can be difficult for young people. Peer pressure is socially compulsive for the young. When the crowd goes one way and the right thing leads in a different direction; it takes courage to do the right thing. It may seem popular or easy to go along with the crowd. If you don’t go along, the crowd may resent you or make fun of you. When you do the right thing, you make them uncomfortable with what they are doing. What they think doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do. You can’t go wrong when you do the right thing; but it can take courage.
One of the questions posed again and again in this series asked: Where do young people go to learn these values? In answer to the question, we looked for heroes and role models in popular culture and day-to-day life. Sometimes we found them and sometimes we were left to look in the mirror. The cowboy codes I summarized for this series were those of my boyhood heroes. Only one of them mentioned a cowboy’s religious belief. That’s too bad; because faith is an important value for a great many cowboys- this one included. Where does a young person go to learn the values expressed in the cowboy code? How about church?
If you make a cowboy way of doing things your way of life, you’ll be on the right trail. Someday you’ll look over the back trail of your life and see that, for all the twists and turns it took to get there, you ended up in the right place. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us find it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
8. Cowboys are Courteous
9. Cowboys Help Others in Need
10. Cowboys Do the Right Thing
That’s about it for this series, hope you enjoyed it. A lot of you did and passed these bow-legged musings along to your family and friends. Thank you for that. We touched some nerves here and that’s good. We try to keep these posts interesting. One thing about word whittling, there are always plenty of shavings on the floor.
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
One of the questions posed again and again in this series asked: Where do young people go to learn these values? In answer to the question, we looked for heroes and role models in popular culture and day-to-day life. Sometimes we found them and sometimes we were left to look in the mirror. The cowboy codes I summarized for this series were those of my boyhood heroes. Only one of them mentioned a cowboy’s religious belief. That’s too bad; because faith is an important value for a great many cowboys- this one included. Where does a young person go to learn the values expressed in the cowboy code? How about church?
If you make a cowboy way of doing things your way of life, you’ll be on the right trail. Someday you’ll look over the back trail of your life and see that, for all the twists and turns it took to get there, you ended up in the right place. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us find it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
8. Cowboys are Courteous
9. Cowboys Help Others in Need
10. Cowboys Do the Right Thing
That’s about it for this series, hope you enjoyed it. A lot of you did and passed these bow-legged musings along to your family and friends. Thank you for that. We touched some nerves here and that’s good. We try to keep these posts interesting. One thing about word whittling, there are always plenty of shavings on the floor.
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
October 15, 2016
Cowboys Help Those in Need
Young folks do not learn the value of unselfish service from popular culture, the next hot new phone or touch pad gadget. It’s not that there is anything wrong with the conveniences of our wired world; but there is a risk we become so immersed in virtual reality, we lose our connection to human reality. Human interaction is the basis of service. You have to step out of virtual reality to experience that. Next time you sit down in a restaurant look around. Who’s talking? How many folks are sitting there heads down, totally absorbed in their thumbs?
Leaders who teach the value of unselfish service, toil in the anonymity of day-to-day life. They are teachers, coaches, pastors, and youth leaders in a myriad of organized activities. They aren’t accorded celebrity. It is up to us to applaud their service. They are the unselfish role models who teach our young people the talk to talk and the walk to walk.
That bit of Cowboy Code needs our help to rub off on kids by making good examples of our own lives. Find constructive service activities to go along with recreational pursuits like sports, the arts, or the myriad electronic distractions that fill our days. The opportunities are all around us, folks in tough economic circumstance, old folks, at risk kids. You don’t have to look far to find opportunities to step outside yourself. Help a kid find one.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
8. Cowboys are Courteous
9. Cowboys Help Those in Need
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
Leaders who teach the value of unselfish service, toil in the anonymity of day-to-day life. They are teachers, coaches, pastors, and youth leaders in a myriad of organized activities. They aren’t accorded celebrity. It is up to us to applaud their service. They are the unselfish role models who teach our young people the talk to talk and the walk to walk.
That bit of Cowboy Code needs our help to rub off on kids by making good examples of our own lives. Find constructive service activities to go along with recreational pursuits like sports, the arts, or the myriad electronic distractions that fill our days. The opportunities are all around us, folks in tough economic circumstance, old folks, at risk kids. You don’t have to look far to find opportunities to step outside yourself. Help a kid find one.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
8. Cowboys are Courteous
9. Cowboys Help Those in Need
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
October 8, 2016
Cowboys are Courteous
Little things like courtesy count. It’s rewarding to do little things, like offer a friendly greeting, smile, hold a door, share a laugh or wish someone a good day. Extending simple courtesies to others as we go about the business of our daily lives may not seem important. They’re little. They don’t cost anything or take much effort. They won’t change things in a big way; but here’s a secret: They’re contagious. If you are courteous, pleasant and polite, others are inclined to respond in kind. Change enough little things and you can have a big effect on your life and the lives of those around you.
The challenge we face today is that we are all so busy. We rush from one obligation to the next chore, checking things off lists that never seem to get done. We bury ourselves in phones and tablets, texting, emailing, browsing and searching for that next vital whatever. Who has time to smile at the grocery clerk or wish your coworker a good day? In the crush of all that, how do young people learn the value of doing little things? How do any of us? Pause and purposefully practice the little things. When they come back to you, you’ll know you made a difference. Try it. It works.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
8. Cowboys are Courteous
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
The challenge we face today is that we are all so busy. We rush from one obligation to the next chore, checking things off lists that never seem to get done. We bury ourselves in phones and tablets, texting, emailing, browsing and searching for that next vital whatever. Who has time to smile at the grocery clerk or wish your coworker a good day? In the crush of all that, how do young people learn the value of doing little things? How do any of us? Pause and purposefully practice the little things. When they come back to you, you’ll know you made a difference. Try it. It works.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
8. Cowboys are Courteous
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
October 1, 2016
Cowboys Ride for the Brand
‘Ride for the brand’ is a singularly cowboy expression. Some say it owes its origin to Louis L’Amour. I’ve tried to verify that; but haven’t succeeded. Maybe some of you know the origin. Where the expression comes from is less important than the lesson it conveys. We owe our families, friends, country and the organizations we represent respect and allegiance. Loyalty is expressed in what we say and do. Most folks recognize that brand of loyalty as one of the values embodied in the Code of the West.
In our ‘me-first’ culture people aren’t always loyal. All too frequently we see people grab their fifteen minutes of fame at the expense of their employer or their country. Some of these cases can be quite spectacular. People who take advantage of their position to seek notoriety, don’t see the statement it makes about their personal character. For them fifteen minutes of fame is all that matters. The sad thing is, they get their fifteen minutes of fame from a culture that sensationalizes and rewards this sort of behavior. That’s a statement our culture makes about too many of us.
Where do young people learn the value of loyalty? Where do they learn to ride for the brand? The best examples I can think of are our men and women in uniform. Our service members, police officers and first responders ride for the brand of this country every day. They do it for all of us. They do it out of a sense of duty we should all admire and respect. Hold them up as heroes for young people to admire. Make a point of thanking them for their service when you see them. It may give the young folks around you a sense of patriotism and duty they don’t get in school or popular culture these days.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
In our ‘me-first’ culture people aren’t always loyal. All too frequently we see people grab their fifteen minutes of fame at the expense of their employer or their country. Some of these cases can be quite spectacular. People who take advantage of their position to seek notoriety, don’t see the statement it makes about their personal character. For them fifteen minutes of fame is all that matters. The sad thing is, they get their fifteen minutes of fame from a culture that sensationalizes and rewards this sort of behavior. That’s a statement our culture makes about too many of us.
Where do young people learn the value of loyalty? Where do they learn to ride for the brand? The best examples I can think of are our men and women in uniform. Our service members, police officers and first responders ride for the brand of this country every day. They do it for all of us. They do it out of a sense of duty we should all admire and respect. Hold them up as heroes for young people to admire. Make a point of thanking them for their service when you see them. It may give the young folks around you a sense of patriotism and duty they don’t get in school or popular culture these days.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
7. Cowboys Ride for the Brand
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
September 24, 2016
Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
“Whatever you do, do your best. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” We all have different skills and abilities. Nobody does everything equally well; but for everything we do, each of us has a best. You know when you do your best; and you know when you don’t.
Where do our young people learn the value of doing their best? Where do they learn to strive for excellence? Excellence can be competitive. Popular culture has a problem with competition. Grades in school don’t mean what they used to. We have organized sports for kids that don’t keep score. We have contests where everyone wins a prize so no one feels bad. What kind of life lesson does that teach? Why do your best, every outcome is the same? There is value in winning and learning to lose. It builds character. That’s how life is played. We keep score. If the average grade at Harvard today is A-, (and it was when we did this post), Harvard is a joke.
It isn’t just about winning and losing. It’s about how hard you try. Growing up we had a report card ritual at our house. When report cards came home, my brother and I would sit down at the kitchen table with dad. He read our cards in a particular way. He’d read all the effort grades first. Then he’d read the academic grades. Neither of us were straight A students, so invariably he’d find an academic clinker or two lurking in there somewhere. That wasn’t a problem, as long as the effort was there. We got in trouble if our effort wasn’t up to our abilities. A good academic grade didn’t get you off the hook for poor effort either. Effort came first. We were expected to do our best.
We all need to learn the value of our personal best. We need to learn to take pride in it. We don’t all achieve at the same level; but we are all capable of our personal best, if we try. Popular culture doesn’t teach young people the value of striving for their personal best. Kids are taught they deserve a prize because everyone gets one.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us find it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
Where do our young people learn the value of doing their best? Where do they learn to strive for excellence? Excellence can be competitive. Popular culture has a problem with competition. Grades in school don’t mean what they used to. We have organized sports for kids that don’t keep score. We have contests where everyone wins a prize so no one feels bad. What kind of life lesson does that teach? Why do your best, every outcome is the same? There is value in winning and learning to lose. It builds character. That’s how life is played. We keep score. If the average grade at Harvard today is A-, (and it was when we did this post), Harvard is a joke.
It isn’t just about winning and losing. It’s about how hard you try. Growing up we had a report card ritual at our house. When report cards came home, my brother and I would sit down at the kitchen table with dad. He read our cards in a particular way. He’d read all the effort grades first. Then he’d read the academic grades. Neither of us were straight A students, so invariably he’d find an academic clinker or two lurking in there somewhere. That wasn’t a problem, as long as the effort was there. We got in trouble if our effort wasn’t up to our abilities. A good academic grade didn’t get you off the hook for poor effort either. Effort came first. We were expected to do our best.
We all need to learn the value of our personal best. We need to learn to take pride in it. We don’t all achieve at the same level; but we are all capable of our personal best, if we try. Popular culture doesn’t teach young people the value of striving for their personal best. Kids are taught they deserve a prize because everyone gets one.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us find it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
6. Cowboys Take Pride in Their Work
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy,
Paul
September 17, 2016
Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Quietly doing what’s needed is counter-cultural in our look-at-me, selfie-world of social media. OK you’re reading this on social media. Point taken. Guilty as charged. But we are still left with the question: What’s cool about doing what you are supposed to do if nobody notices?
People do notice what we do. It may not be under the bright light of media celebrity, but the people around you know what you do. In fact your actions say more about you than anything you could put into words. Your life is a body of work. It accumulates in something we call reputation. It’s what you are known for. It’s who you are as a person. It’s how you will be remembered; and in life’s final reckoning, it’s the only thing you get to take with you.
Throughout these posts we pose the question: Where do young people go to learn these values? Often we are left to suggest that it is up to us to make a little of the cowboy code rub off on the young by living the code ourselves. Said another way we set an example by what we do. We may not do it consciously, but maybe we should. Our actions do speak louder than words.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
People do notice what we do. It may not be under the bright light of media celebrity, but the people around you know what you do. In fact your actions say more about you than anything you could put into words. Your life is a body of work. It accumulates in something we call reputation. It’s what you are known for. It’s who you are as a person. It’s how you will be remembered; and in life’s final reckoning, it’s the only thing you get to take with you.
Throughout these posts we pose the question: Where do young people go to learn these values? Often we are left to suggest that it is up to us to make a little of the cowboy code rub off on the young by living the code ourselves. Said another way we set an example by what we do. We may not do it consciously, but maybe we should. Our actions do speak louder than words.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
5. Cowboy Actions Speak Louder Than Words
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
September 10, 2016
Cowboys Respect Authority
Cowboys respect authority. Seems simple enough. Organized human activities generally place someone in charge. As I remember learning this as a kid, authority figures were easy to identify. Parents, teachers, pastors, scout leaders, coaches, the police, we experienced them all. We recognized political leaders and business leaders as authority figures even if we didn’t interact with them. They all set out expectations for us to follow. We were expected to do as we were told, because people in authority were deserving of respect and obedience. When we did as we were told, we were good. When we didn’t, we were rightfully in trouble. Then we grew-up.
Things seem more complicated today. Maybe it’s because we’re older and see things differently than we did as youngsters; or maybe some things have changed fundamentally. I don’t know which it is. All I know is that in this day and age it can be difficult to respect authority; either because we don’t agree with what that authority expects of us; or because the person in authority is somehow less deserving of our respect. I suspect it is some of all of the above.
If we struggle with balancing respect for legitimate authority in our lives as adults, how do we teach young people that value? We see individuals who stand for or symbolize authority all around us. Some are deserving of respect. Others are not. Culturally respect for authority is not something we celebrate. Respect for authority is the province of daily life, an expectation that largely goes unnoticed, unless some act of disrespect or disobedience draws attention to it.
Once again we find the need to ask; where do young people learn respect for authority? Who are the heroes who help us advance the value? Maybe we are left to make that bit of the cowboy code rub off on our young folks by teaching them the value at a young age. That starts with parents; but altogether too many of our young people find themselves in family situations where these values are challenged. That leaves it to all of us to set an example.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
Things seem more complicated today. Maybe it’s because we’re older and see things differently than we did as youngsters; or maybe some things have changed fundamentally. I don’t know which it is. All I know is that in this day and age it can be difficult to respect authority; either because we don’t agree with what that authority expects of us; or because the person in authority is somehow less deserving of our respect. I suspect it is some of all of the above.
If we struggle with balancing respect for legitimate authority in our lives as adults, how do we teach young people that value? We see individuals who stand for or symbolize authority all around us. Some are deserving of respect. Others are not. Culturally respect for authority is not something we celebrate. Respect for authority is the province of daily life, an expectation that largely goes unnoticed, unless some act of disrespect or disobedience draws attention to it.
Once again we find the need to ask; where do young people learn respect for authority? Who are the heroes who help us advance the value? Maybe we are left to make that bit of the cowboy code rub off on our young folks by teaching them the value at a young age. That starts with parents; but altogether too many of our young people find themselves in family situations where these values are challenged. That leaves it to all of us to set an example.
Popular culture comes and popular culture goes, but the cowboy way of doing things never goes out of style. There’s a little cowboy in all of us. The Cowboy Code helps us show it.
1. Cowboys Tell the Truth
2. A Cowboy’s Word is His Bond
3. Cowboys Play by the Rules
4. Cowboys Respect Authority
RETURN TO FACEBOOK TO COMMENT
Ride easy, Photo-art by Jim Hatzell
Paul https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddler...
