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  1. Cowboys and the Art of Being Human

    30.Apr.08, 15:26 EDT
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    One time while working on the McClellan Creek Ranch, some fifteen years ago, I had an interesting conversation.  Me and another cowboy were chasing cows out of the brush along the creek and began to talk about our kids. He said mine are grown now. Stan, what do your kids do? I said, “Well, they like music and play the violin. But it didn’t turn out like I planned…I introduced them to Jerry Jeff Walker, Gary P. Nunn, the Dixie Chicks (before the fall) and a ton of others but they like classical music.” He said, “You mean like Chopin, Bach and stuff like that.” Who would have thunk it. He knows classical music. He told me how he happened into getting some classical CD’s and with no TV or anything, he and his wife’s affections grew for this music. Buck Ramsey, my past friend, former cowboy and genius could quote ancient Greek texts from heart. His most famous work “Anthem” is rhymed and metered on an ancient form of literature. It is one of the most moving pieces of writing I’ve ever read. Billy Whitfield that used to live on the Lipps Ranch when Marshall Cator had it … could play any instrument we had in the house. The Humanities’ as they are called seem to have little value these days. The very topics and classes that were intended to teach us how to appreciate being more “fully human” have been relegated to the academic sideline. Only topics that lead us to our ultimate goal of making money are relevant. I guess it is true that art of being fully human is fading.  Any community that supports the art’s is more human than most. Live entertainment is always better than TV. Live music is always better than a CD. Original art is always better than most photographs. They exist in the moment, in the mind, at that point where the Creator and created merge.  Any person that works to bring beauty in art, harmony in music, truth in word to a community is raising the community up to being more human. The way they were created to be. Who would have ever thought cowboys were so human. SUPPORT THE ARTS AND BE A COWBOY Off the range, stan cobb<p></p>

  2. Sell by … Date

    27.Apr.08, 12:20 EDT
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    I am one of those people that look at the Sell by Date on packages. When I get ready to take something off the shelf, out of the refrigerator, out of a package I look at the date to see if it is still good. It doesn’t matter if I was opening a package of rocks if it is passed due, I won’t use it. An epiphany hit me. (Do epiphanies HIT people?) This is affecting our culture in a huge way. Whatever is the newest is the best. I get a great deal of entertainment from this when reading the Sunday New York Times every week. Newer, better stuff is in every edition. Always more expensive, these products are sometimes known as “the get.” Phones fall into this area. I did an on camera interview for a documentary in front of the Apple Store on the magnificent mile in downtown Chicago a couple of months ago. I was just taking a stroll after a show I did at The Drake Hotel. I have never been so surprised to see the crowd buying the latest “get.” It is almost irrelevant what “the get” is. The important thing is that you have it. The great phone that was available as the get just a few months ago for 1000 bucks can now be purchased online for 3-400 dollars. I predict in a year or so they will be given away with a two year contract. The Get, becomes the got, then the gone away… in no time at all. C.S. Lewis said that novelty would become a driving force when he pondered the industrialization of the early part of the last century. I wonder if he ever thought it would apply to people. Well, it does…now anyway. Young Hollywood, even old Hollywood has fallen into this category. The get is always the newest and youngest, just the way it is. Hasn’t always been that way and still isn’t if you travel outside the states. Yes, we have Robin Williams still funny at a ripe age but comedians may be the exception. Everything has a date on it … sell by, use by, not good after… My date is rapidly approaching; you might want to check yours?  I may not be “the get” , but I ain’t “the gone” either.  I still have a few days before the date.OFF The RANGE,stancobb<p></p>

  3. Life out There

    25.Apr.08, 12:24 EDT
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    A joke Pam and I told ourselves early in our years together was “We will do that next summer.” Anything we wanted to do but didn’t have time or money was referred to “next” summer. It pretty surprising how much one might delay into the future. We eventually got passed that hurdle and either did what we thought we ought to do or forgot about it. <p></p>When I was a kid, I called it “living for the weekend.” I lived all week long for a few hours on Friday and Saturday night. <p></p>As an Ethics Professor in a Health Science Center I am surrounded by bright young people. Many of which have no joy whatsoever in their lives. They come here from nice families, from good universities, and they are for lack of a better word miserable. If a recent Harvard study is to be believed 25-40 % of all grad students are taking medicine for depression. This has also been my experience over the last ten years. <p></p>They over indulge in everything thing that is not good for them. Then complain about not being happy.<p></p>Their lives are completely on hold when it comes to real love, developing spiritually, and other ways. They have learned to live all areas of their lives in subjects, like they are in school. Their lives are fragmented and broken. This has lead to a delayed adolescence and a tendency to ride an emotional rollercoaster. Today, I did well, so I am good. Today I failed, so I am a failure.<p></p> I have learned in my years that failure is an event, not a person.<p></p>Events while they have consequences are over with a day at a time and learning to evaluate my situation in light of the truth is a daily thing. For instance if I go to a scary movie I may be scared but am I in danger? No, it is just a feeling separated far from the truth. The truth, I am a beloved child of God…everyday whether I experience the joy of victory or the agony of defeat. The only way to get where this is a part of us is to develop/live all areas of our lives in an integrated way. Be a part of a community without competing, grow spiritually, work hard, play, live gratefully, and spend an hour a day not doing anything-no TV, food, reading, just spend the hour thinking. In just a few days you will find yourself living in life and not looking at it in the distance. But I’m just a cowboy and I could be wrong…<p></p>OFF THE RANGE<p></p>stancobb <p></p>

  4. Cowboys, Genesis, and Springtime

    20.Apr.08, 17:29 EDT
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    Easter, springtime, hopes of warmer weather and green grass all bring thoughts of new life. Cowboys are no exception to such thoughts. Twenty something cowboys gathered on the Johnson Ranch one spring for a round-up. This one was different. The Public Television bunch was on site this morning for the filming of “Men behind the Brand.” The Cowboss was Buster Mclaury, he made the assignments. I left the headquarters expecting to experience a film crew. What I experienced was quite different and better. There are prices to be paid for living in the moment; I’ve paid mine. It is worth being a dreamer. I felt like I was at the beginning of time.
    Genesis
    As I rode out upon the morning,
    as I rode out upon the day.
    I saw the earth at its first dawning,
    the sun’s first light, I was its rays.
    I felt the earth with horse hoof falling
    And rolling gait in metered time.
    Creation’s poetry-appalling,
    I was the verse, I was the rhyme.
    I sailed across the dim lit grasses,
    with fading stars and rolling land.
    All at once among the masses,
    I was the two from God’s own hand.
    And as I flew across the prairie
    I turned back east to take a look.
    My heart stood still at dawn’s first breaking,
    and breathed the breath that Adam took.
    The price for experiencing Genesis…was the fall of man as well. Shorty, my horse, side stepped the cactus, but I didn’t go with him. I never told anyone this story before… because I looked so good on T.V. I only experienced one better moment. It was on the Masaii Mara, Kenya, East Africa. It is easier to stay on top of a Range Rover.  Thanks to Buck Ramsey and Larry McWhorter for the poetic inspiration.
    OFF THE RANGE
    From stancobb, ranch head quarters…DeepEllum, Dallas Texas<p></p> <p></p>

  5. Butterflies, Frogs and God

    18.Apr.08, 12:58 EDT
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    I’m no “Delbert” Einstein but it seems to me that in teaching kids about butterflies it is expedient to have a picture or a butterfly mounted on a pin. But if we want to make a real impact we would take the larvae, feed and grow them. We would watch the caterpillar grow, make a cocoon, and patiently wait. Soon the creature escapes its home and has new life. Both ways of study involve a butterfly yet, one brings knowledge; the other fascination, wonder and mystery. <p mce_keep="true"></p>Did you have to study frogs in biology? I did. It came from a jar of formaldehyde and I dissected it. My daughters learned from a thing called “grow a frog.” We failed a couple of times but finally got past the tadpole stage. It became a real frog. We feed and nurtured it…yes, a frog. It was slimy, had an odor, splashed, and made noise at night. It was a daily duty. And George…yes, the frog became a part of our daily lives. How did we get attached to it? For the life of me I don’t know. It was a mystery. But we could sleep better hearing that thing in the house.  I was smarter after dissecting the dead one but my life was changed after I experienced the living one. So God. Well, I guess we can study about God in a very academic way… from a picture, or by what someone says. Or we can curiously read his words; nurture the spiritual larvae, the spiritual tadpole that is found in each of us. Yes it is easier to study a dead butterfly, or a dead frog…but we miss out on the mystery of life.  Sure, I desire academic knowledge of God but to embrace the living God, to experience what it like to have that presence of God, to nurture, and live with God is transforming. Yep, I’m still a spiritual tadpole but I want to experience the mystery and besides if it takes longer to grow a butterfly, or a frog, or a relationship to a mysterious God what difference does it make. Where am I in a hurry to go…what’s time to a cowboy… besides I sleep better with Him in the house. OFF THE RANGE <p mce_keep="true"> </p> <p mce_keep="true"> </p>

  6. OFF THE RANGE

    15.Jan.08, 15:46 EST
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    I believe it was Will Rogers, who said "There is something about the outside of a horse, that is good for the inside of a man." He should know He spent his youth horseback in Oklahoma and Texas before becoming a star and traveling the world. Even when working for the Follies in New York, he kept a horse to ride almost daily to keep his sanity. 

    I think it is important to keep that connection to nature. It helps keep us centered, knowing that there was transportation before fossil fuels.
    Keeping a connection to the land, the pastoral life, helps us even if it is just touching and smelling the dirt from where we came.

    I ignored the city and a lot of people today. I slept till I woke up. Then donned my hat and boots and headed to the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. Yes, I would have rather walked to the barn, saddled a horse and rode out to chase cows but it wasn't a possibility. 

    It was really nice to see the kids with their livestock. They take such pride in how they care for their animals. There was no hitting, beating or yelling at the cattle...that's the movies not real Texas cow and horse people. It was also nice to see all the city children watching the activites. It really is sensory overload for them ... I'm just used to it. The smell of livestock, the noises they make, the sound of their feet on concrete.

    I went to the cutting horse barn and arena and watched the horses work and the riders get the credit. Old man Connelly told me when I first moved to the Panhandle of Texas back in the 80's... Doc, if you wear out a pair of boots up here in this part of Texas, you wont ever leave. Well, I know this... I may leave the plains but they will never leave me. And although I don't get on a horse everday, just to be around them makes me feel alive even if I'm ... off the range.

     

    DOC

  7. Happy New Year

    03.Jan.08, 15:44 EST
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    Happy New Year,
    Have you ever known someone who constantly saw the world in the worst way... just pessimistic.
    The kind of person who when you say "Well, you've got good health." They reply, "Well that just means I'm dying at the slowest possible rate."
    The kind of person you got Caller ID for, because it is worth the payment every month to dodge that bullet of getting stuck on the phone with them.

    And on the otherhand, that person in your life that is so sugary sweet with optimism, your teeth hurt after you have spent a bit of time with them. The ones that say my husband or wife left, but it's OK because it will be good for my personal growth as a human being. Who are they fooling...besides themselves.

    These people seem to stand out at the new year. Maybe it is because one sees the end and the other the start of something. They are coping skills, I suppose that I don't understand.

     Life is easier for me without compartments. I like my vacation mixed in with my work. I like the full experience of loud laughing and deep sobbing, spicey food, and bland banana pudding. I like the full experience. I try hard to live at level4 happiness but I slip backwards pretty regularly...don't like to but I do. My new years resolution is to soak more in the tub of mundane life enjoying it for all that it is and is not. I want to be able to say part of my life -I was rich, part I was poor, part was healthy and part was puny but through it all I was me. I can be content in all areas...because for better or worse... things will change. I'm very happy today, gotta change a light bulb, I'm the luckiest guy in the world. Tomorrow, I'm gonna cure cancer...Maybe I'll switch 'em up. Either way, I'll do the best I can and enjoy my victory lap or cry in my defeat...no hiding...live it all...live it all 

  8. Christmas time is a coming'

    03.Dec.07, 16:55 EST
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    I'm not a very knowledgable person about such things as Holidays. But I know they are important to a good many folks. Any excuse to take a day off to remember something that happened is good enough for me. The people who thunk it to begin with are perhaps the smartest.

    Christmas is a mixed bag of happy and sad. I'm happy cause Jesus came into this world and hats off to anyone who could love me without reservation. Happy cause family is around(the ones I want around anyway).

    It is different here in the city. Lots of stuff going on, and on ,and on...
    When we lived out west it was cold, quiet, silent...even the radio station went off the air. We didn't have TV...so imagine that. I bet you can't. It took me a while to get used to it... now I miss it.

    Sad cause there are so many homeless people here...I talk to them. They live near me...under a bridge and near the railroad tracks. Jesus was born homeless... not under a bridge ... in a cave, a stable...couldn't be good.

     I gave a crack addict with Aids some money the other day. They cried cause they spent all there money on dope and were hungry. The money I gave em was probably in a pipe within an hour but I hope they went to the Salvation Army for food, bath, bed.

    No room for Jesus, no room for the homeless. When Jesus said "Whatever you did to the least of these you did it to me." He may have been talking about those around him ...other jews like him...or mankind. No better time to follow these words... give to those around your area in need. The best birthday present you can give Jesus is treat others like you would treat him. Make Christmas time special for the helpless...give to the food bank, churches that help them, Salvation Army... Two things Christ said were important...Loving God...Loving Others

  9. Thanksgiving-without a watch

    19.Nov.07, 20:49 EST
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    I have a great deal to be thankful for ... like almost every good and bad thing that has ever occured to me. A watch almost killed me about twenty years back. That ticking that made me feel constantly rushed. I don't think the internal combustion engine will go down as the biggest instrument of change. The watch will. I love speaking and working in Africa. The Africans do not feel the rush that we North Americans do...that is why my African friends say "God gave Africans time and Americans watches." The ability to quantify time has given us the ability to quantify most everything into a comodity of some sort. And since many people feel time is money, then anything that does not return money for the investment of time is not of instrinsic worth. So how does this play out? Well, a stay at home wife is not good because of missed income. Friends that don't contribute toward our business, our wellbeing, our self-image...even they are not worth having. Watching a sunset, listening to a dove, chatting with a parent are foolish things. So I am thankful for time but time as I understand it. I understand it in a way that thinks if it takes a day to read a book ...or a year it's OK. That it makes sense to think for an hour or more a day, without interruption about stuff that is not productive in the world's eyes. Things like God, or problems of a friend or a project that will not make any money. Things like why do I get to live here with nice house with clean water even for bathing? About twelve years ago on the Johnson Ranch in the Texas Panhandle. I road out with the boys as a good neighbor to gather cattle. When I broke off from the other riders to gather my assigned section I suddenly found myself alone. I felt the cold chill of the morning. My horse floated across the wind swept grasses. No fences or powerlines incumberred my view. I could hear my horse breathing...I was fully aware and present. Just at that moment the sun broke across the land casting long shadows. I was glad that I was me and thankful that each moment I experience both good and bad are unique and personal. They can't be repeated or redone... they can only be what they were and are... I am thankful for the whole of it...every single bit...Hope you are too.
    stancobb cowboy painter
    any misspleeings or grammmmer problems are much like me...deeply flawed

  10. Writin me

    16.Oct.07, 12:48 EDT
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    Yep,
    I will respond to you if you write. But a couple of things apply, I have a girlfriend, been married to her for 26 years, so I don't want another one. I don't want a boyfriend either. 
    This site will be updated with pictures from art shows and cowboy stuff. 
    I like moli because it is not facebook or myspace, it is better. 
    I didn't have a computer until around 1997, or cell phone, beeper or other stuff. I have had all of them in triplicate since and hate them. They have not saved me time...time as I know it.
    I am very happy and believe this is a good way to connect. I hate the weird stuff sent on these sites so....
    I type slow which is OK cause I think slow as well. Lookin forward to meeting some of y'all.
    OFF THE RANGE
    stancobb