b'Cowboy WisdomTHE ROPE, MILK, AND LESSONBy Pete FloresTexas rancher, passing on Cowboy wisdom and serving the Lord.Iwas about five at the time and my brothers and my first chore of the day was to go get the milk cow, so the Dad could milk it. It was a fun thing to do since my favorite toy was a rope and that meant one of two things. The first was that I could follow the cow back to the barn and heel that poor ole cow - some of my best loops happened as I roped that cow. The other was that my brother or I would grab the cow by the tail. We played a game of who could ski behind her the longest leaving skids on the sand and the one with the longest skid on the sand was the winner. It was fun and I enjoyed doing both, but if I had to choose, Id rather heel that ole cow.One day, my brother and I brought the cow in. I threw a few good loops and had a good morning following her back to the barn. Well, that ole cow was one good milk producer and to this day, I can still remember that Dad would milk two buckets full. Yes, one thing I did as a youngster was drink lots of milk. I can remember Mom making butter and there seemed to always be enough milk that we would share with the grandparents and cousins 10% OFF down the road. Dad finished milking the cow, two buckets full, and he turned and gave them to Mom. As Mom is walking to the house carrying the two buckets of milk, I saw a great opportunity to practice my heeling. Yep, I grabbed my rope, walked up behind Mom and threw the prettiest heel loop a 5-year-old can throw. It was a perfect one, got both feet but then catching both feet was not good enough. I should have stopped there but no, I pulled ANY REGULAR PRICED ITEM the rope tight. I saw my moms feet come together and when she was at about a 45-degree angle I saw the milk buckets flying and her arms coming out to break her fall. I knew I was in trouble. I looked around to see if my brother was close by to see if I could just give him the Excludes Tools & Equipment. ropemaybe if I acted innocent it would all be okay. Well, my brother was not around, so I did the next best thing and started to run, but believe me when I say I could not outrun the Mention Arizona Real Country Magazine. voice of my mom when she yelled STOP. I hear Mom and I shut it down. I think I left some really good skid marks in the sand. I turned to face her and I learned that day that a rope is an awesome toy, but can also be used as an effective correctional tool.As I look back I smile. There was a life lesson. I learned to respect my parents, learned to respect my elders, and most of all, to respect the ladies. I learned that respect is a kind gesture that is a gift. The Lord has given us so many simple gifts in life. I realized that if we use these gifts on folks and animals it makes this world a much happier place. 34 December 2022'