Don’t squat with your spurs on

After spending eight days in Dallas, I was griping as if I were going to be hung with a brand new rope, because I had seen only one man wearing a cowboy hat, tight jeans, and boots. To add insult to injury, his belt buckle was not bigger than my fist.

On my first day back in foggy Monterey and away from the extreme Texas heat, I was as happy as a gopher in soft dirt. I went for a walk and hadn't gone far when I spotted a man with a cowboy hat! About 15 minutes later, I spotted a pair of ornate cowboy boots in the back seat of a car. As I turned a corner, I spotted 5 people wearing cowboy hats and jeans. The men wore boots and the woman wore open-toed shoes with furry black and white cow on the top. If you’re confused and you don’t know whether to scratch your watch or wind your butt, it’s okay. This is just a reminder that California is quite diverse.

As it turns out, I knew 2 of the 5 people who, incidentally, form the band called Cow Bop. Pamela is my Christmas-caroling-gig buddy, and Bruce is her husband. Pamela asked me to sing along, but I don’t know their music and would’ve felt like a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest. Cow Bop is currently on the road to raise funds for music-mentoring programs, and you can follow their progress by clicking here. As you read their blog, look at their photos, listen to their podcasts, and give them some money, don’t be surprised if the whole thing strikes you as being as handy as hip pockets on a hog (pretty neat).

Okay, I confess. The whole point of this entry was to use expressions I got out of a cool little book called “Speak Texan in 30 Minutes or Less.” I’m disappointed that I couldn’t fit in “cute as a possum” or “quick as a hiccup.”