My Gahtering of Poetry Plus Memories by Billy O. Rowland

I write some Country Poetry.
I follow the Cowboy ways.
I record my thoughts in verse.
To express what I want to say.

I'm no longer a cowboy now, but,
I sure do like their style,
Of poetry, living and ways that is,
Let me entertain you for awhile.

Now I am an old man and totally retired, but
I have a lot of memories both good and bad,
Of being born and raised out on a ranch,
The guy that drove us hard, that was my Dad.

It seemed like we worked from daylight till dark,
And the chores had to be done both morning and night.
The cows had to be milked and livestock all fed.
Dad was a hard task master, it had to be done right.

Many times I thought it was a hard way to live,
But as I look back over all of these hard times,
The lessons I learned from living on the ranch,
Have served me well on many of my toughest climbs.

Now I can sit back and appreciate my Dad's drive,
He was just trying to make an all around man out of me.
In the latter years of my life, I could do almost anything.
At the time it was happening, this was hard for me to see.

Now, I can sit back and enjoy some of these memories,
While sitting in my easy chair and thinking good thoughts.
I will always be thankful I was born and raised on a ranch,
And for all of the comforts this hard work has brought us.

A Mean Banty Rooster  by Billy O. Rowland

I met my first Banty Rooster, I was just a curious young kid,
We went over to the visit the Rice Family, When I done what I shouldn't oughta-did.
I was out looking over the out buildings, Just being a litle bit snoopy.
I worked my way to the chicken house, And learned that rooster was spooky.
I was admiring the way the roosts were made, Only one way for me to get out.
He strutted into the house from the chicken yard, Just to see what I was about.
Well, he was between me and the only door, And I was invading his space.
He made it very plain and showed me his spurs, So I'd understand this was the case.
He was making a lot of noise and squaking, The feathers stood oout on his neck.
I started hollering real loud for my Dad, Thank God he finally heard me.
Mr Rice and my Dad were laughing so hard, I begged them to let me free.
I gained a lot of respect that day, Althought it wasn't a morale booster.
Tough guys come in all different sizes, Even that little black and red Banty Rooster.

Looking At A Horseshoe  By Billy O. Rowland
This city dude was watching the cowboy, While he was shoeing his horse,
He had reached the point in this chore, He was fitting the shoe of course.
He was heating the shoe in the blacksmiths forge, Then shaping it on his anvil.
Then he laid it aside to cool a bit, When the dude was tempted by the devil.
He reached down and picked up the hot shoe, The cowboy had just laid aside.
Faster than he picked it up he dropped it, Cause you see it burnt his hide.
The cowboy slowly looked around and , Questioned him "hot shoe"?
The city dude said, "Nope, it just doesn't take me long to look at a horseshoe."

Train carved from one 2x4 with loose balls in each car

Train with carved balls in each car, out of one solid 2x4

Overview of Clarkdale Arizona and Tip of San Francisco Peaks tiny white spot

New Addition to Old Clarkdale

1965 Kenworth Truck Tractor I restored. I drove it in the1970s

some of my ball and chains and a clock handcrafted

Ball and Chains carved from one piece of wood and Clock

Ball and Chains carved from solid piece of wood

Merry Go Rounds, Carousel, Ferris Wheel

Restored 1965 Kenworth Truck Tractor

Antique Fence Stretcher, Fixing Fence

Sawdustbybillyo

I am retired from a long life involving many differrent aspects of living a great life. I was born and raised on a farm/ranch in Northern Arizona and attended Flagstaff High School.  I joined the US Air Force where I was trained as an Aircraft and Engine mechanic before being shipped to Okinawa aboard the USS Missouri where I spent the next two years working on B-29 Bombers. We were bombing North Korea almost every night and maintaining the B-29s all day. After returning to the States and being discharged, I met the most beautiful girl I had eveer seen and vowed I was going to make her my wife. Within the year, we were married and that was fifty five years ago. I drove trucks, helped build the Glen Canyon Dam in Northern Arizona, Was a City Policeman in Flagstaff, An Arizona Highway Patrolman, the Constable for East Yavapai County, drove school buses for Cottonwoood High and Middle school and sold Real Estate for Century Twenty One. This is just a short list of my many jobs. This brings me to my retirement years for which I made preparations by setting up a complete wood shop before retiring so I couold prusue my hobbies of building all different types of items out of wood and thereby making alot of sawdust. I have spent a lot of time out looking in trees for limbs shaped like walking canes. I cut them in the rough, bring them to my shop and do the finish work to make them into finished walking canes. I have given canes to over thirty people who need assistants in walking. This was taught to me by an old man who worked for my dad on the ranch many years ago. He also taught me to whittle many different things, one of them being a ball in a cage on a series of connected chain links all made from a single piece of wood. I have made many of these in all different lengths. My most recent items consist of making small carousels, merry go rounds and a ferris wheel. The merry go rounds and carousels have an excentric in them which makes them move in and out or up and down to make them more realistic. The ferris wheel has seats which swing freely as the wheel turns.  Lately I have been making models of the farm machinery we had on the farm/ranch beginning with the tractors.  The first one had steel wheels with iron lugs but was changed to rubber tires a little later. I have built models of  the plow used to start the preperarion of the ground, then the harrow to break up the clods, then the planter to plant the seeds and and then of course the crops had to cultivated through the growing season and then the wagons to haul the crops to the stationary thrasher for thrashing the crops.  I made a dragon for a friend and then some others just because I could do the design and all.  I have been invited to show some of my stuff in the Made in Clarkdale Art Show in December. I am going to participate in the Clemmensaw Museum Old Settlers Day by deminstrating how to "without any modern convienences.