~Much love and quiet joys to you, friends. ~Richelle
Noise. Activity. Distractions. How do you turn it all off? How do you deal with the non-stop, in your face, up your butt, constant intrusions into your life? In my humble opinion, being "turned -on" all the time is a real turn- off. In a world with never-ending stimulation, it is getting harder and harder to be attentive; to be in the moment; and to be grateful for the things that really matter. When did finishing a complete thought without a barrage of disruptions become such a challenge? I wish I knew. There are days when I can't hear myself think; I become afraid that I am afflicted with some sort of attention deficit disorder because I literally cannot stay on task for more than five minutes before becoming sidetracked, either by Facebook or some other useless distraction. I can't even sit in a cubicle without music on. As if there needed to be more noise at work, that I feel the constant need for some guy singing about his trailer house and his hound dog in the background. It disturbs me that it is rare to get to talk to another human being without needing to check the cell phone for a message; or look at the computer screen waiting for some "important" email to pop up. I admit that I am as guilty as the next person for doing this; but I also have sense enough not to do it to my parents and *try* not to do it to my kids. I often wonder what my generation and the generations behind us will look like in twenty years. Will we even know how to carry on a conversation face to face? I am sure some of us will; those of us rooted in deep morals and hard work will still know the value of sitting down to a meal at the dinner table with our kids and actually taking an interest in the comings and goings of our family's lives. It is fun to be connected to everyone all the time; to know what the neighbors are doing or to "be there" for friends and family in their time of need. But it really is important, once in a while, to shut it all out; to put down the smartphone, and just look up. God has made a wonderful world for us- there is beauty in everything. If you don't believe me, look around you. There is so much natural beauty not just in Montana but everywhere. The sun does not rise or set on humankind- and our days are all numbered. Choose to spend less time bashing things you hate, and a little more time listening to your daughter tell you about the boy she is going to marry or about how she learned about how Jesus loves us and cares for us and keeps us healthy. Look into your significant other's eyes and tell them how much you love them; and mean it. Stop and engage with your friends; build relationships with people you love to be around, and cut the ties to the ones you don't. Life is too short to pretend to have twelve-hundred and seventy five friends. And try to turn off the noise, the screens, the idle chit-chat once in awhile and just enjoy the silence. There is peace in just being.
~Much love and quiet joys to you, friends. ~Richelle
1 Comment
I grew up on a steady diet of Patsy Cline, Waylon Jennings, and Alabama. My parents listened to all kinds of music, from ABBA to ZZ Top. While my dad usually preferred BTO to my mom's Dwight Yoakam tapes, I loved it all. Of course, I had a crush on Garth Brooks at the age of five, and will forever be in love with George Strait. I listen to country music, because there was a time when the songs on the radio were relatable by a young country girl. It has always been like my favorite pair of boots- comfortable, easy, and just part of me.
It is kind of strange, though, how in the span of time since I have graduated from high school, country music has changed excessively. I used to laugh at my dad when growing up, because he hated a lot the music I listened to (which was odd, because I listened to everything- even the stuff he listened too). "It all sounds the same"; "that's not country music!". Either I am getting old, or maybe just my ears can't distinguish the differences, but it seems like all this new "Bro-country" on the radio sounds the same; and all the female singers are a bunch of man- hating, wanna-be pop star gold-diggers. I used to think country singers were classy, handsome, and were the epitome of what men were supposed to be; apparently that ideal has gotten pushed to the side since the new fad is for them to try to act and dress like city boys. It annoys me that these guys can sing about how they want to take a girl out in their truck on a road trip, you know, like cowboys do; but yet they dress like a bunch of freaks (sometimes they even look like they borrowed a pair of their sister's jeans... not exactly something a cowboy would do). I would guess most of them can't even ride a horse. While I admit some of them are easy on the eyes, they shouldn't be singing country music. It isn't that their music is terrible, it just isn't country. I don't know what it is, but I highly believe it is starting to cause young guys to have an identity crisis when it comes to what is country. Have you ever noticed how feminine the men's section at the local western wear store has gotten? While I can't find a single pair of jeans for myself half the time, there are more brands and styles of "retro" and so-called "cowboy cut" jeans in the guy's section than shoes at the Famous Footwear store three doors down. And since when do men's jeans have bling on them??? This is outrageous. I believe the only "bling" a man should ever wear is a belt buckle he won or was given as a gift, or a Superbowl Ring. The only thing that should draw your eye to a guy's rear-end is the "W" snug on his cheeks from his well-filled out Wranglers. NOT sequins or embroidery or tinsel stitched across the pockets. If you have ever spent very long in the saddle in a pair of jeans with any amount of jewels on the back pockets, it will cure you of that choice ever again... they aren't comfortable, and should be left for evenings spent on the town. For ladies, not gents. I am sorry, but guys should look like guys, not like they got in a fight with their girlfriends' Bedazzler. I guess what I am trying to say is that being true country folk is something you are; something you live; not something you buy at the local farm supply store. Just because you know the latest Luke Bryan song does not make you an aficionado of country music. Driving a jacked up pickup truck does not make you sexy, it makes you look like an idiot because if you really used that truck for work instead of for looks, you wouldn't waste your money jacking it up. Wearing blinged out jeans and a pearl snap shirt, with boots that have never seen a stirrup or a dirt road and a cowboy hat that has never seen sweat, is as fake as calling Florida Georgia Line "country". Ladies, do yourself a favor, and listen to some Conway Twitty... "Don't call him a Cowboy, until you see him ride; Cause a Stetson hat and them fancy boots, don't tell you what's inside..."! ~ Til next time, Richelle Of all the things my parents forced my brother and I to learn while growing up, I believe that learning to drive a stick-shift vehicle was probably the most useful. While it is still not my first choice of things to drive, I like knowing I can get in {almost} any of the vehicles on our place and at least get myself where I need to be. Thanks to this skill, I secured my spot as the future Mrs. Barrett… apparently high school boys find girls that drive ranchy Ford pickups with a manual transmission super sexy. Hence why my girls will likely drive Toyota Priuses until they are thirty. If you think you would like to master this skill, first I say good luck… and then give you all the advice I have. Step One: Learn how to curse like a sailor. It keeps things interesting, plus you will need the extra words in your vocabulary when you inevitably stall/ kill/ forget to use the clutch. Trust me, it will happen; and “Dang it” isn’t going to cut it. Step Two: Find the oldest pickup you can, with a hard-shifting transmission. Better yet, the bigger the vehicle, the better… if you can drive an old, used, Chevy grain truck, you can drive anything. Step Three: Choose a driving partner/ teacher. Make sure they are extremely impatient or intolerant, because this is sure to make you remember your mistakes. Forever. It also doesn’t hurt if they incessantly make fun of your poor shifting abilities, too. Step Four: Familiarize yourself with the three pedals on the floor before turning the ignition over. Become friends with the clutch. Be gentle with it; like a woman, the clutch does not like the “wham-bam thank-you-ma’am” approach. Try it just once, and you will figure out why. As for the brake, well, think of it this way: just like it is hard to try to bend your ring finger alone, so too, is is a little difficult to hit the brake without using the clutch when coming to a stop… at least if you want to keep the vehicle running or moving in the same direction you were previously going. Step Five: Drive, drive, drive, and drive some more. I remember driving for hours at a time from my mom and dad’s house, up the road, through the hay field, across the creek, up a steep, rutted out road, then turning around and going all the way back in a little Ford Ranger with no A/C for an entire summer after getting my driver’s license. My little brother was my teacher- no shit; although that was probably better than either of my parents… they intimidated the crap out of me! It was a real character- building experience; I can laugh about it now, but back then, he was real close to getting shoved out the passenger side door and “getting” to walk home. This is Old Pinky. My husband's pride and joy, he bought her in high school. She was there on our first date, got me back & forth from school in Wyoming, pulled multiple trailers full of livestock, and many other good times. Second gear is the shits, and so is reverse, but she'll do 90 on a downhill straightaway! Step Six: Keep practicing. Once you learn the basics, you never really forget them. But being rusty, when you have no other choice than to drive that old pickup home for your husband, may lead to frustration and embarrassment. Especially at a stop light, when pulling a trailer… so practice, practice, practice!
Step Seven: Educate yourself on what these transmissions are called. Four on the floor; the stick; manual transmission; 5- speed; 6-speed; the list goes on. Save yourself the trouble and learn it now. Step Eight: Step eight isn’t so much a step, as it is a hint for all you ladies out there: If your husband falls for the bat of the old eyelashes or jumps when you tell him how high, don’t be afraid to use it to your advantage; especially if you can’t quite master the art of the manual transmission. If you can get away with only owning automatics, lucky you. If not, well, then, by all means; don’t offer to be the designated driver unless you take your own car. The rest of us will pick up your slack. Thanks for making us look good. Best wishes on all your driving adventures... ~Richelle “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.” I always thought this was a pretty good mantra, the Golden Rule. It only makes sense that if you want to be treated fairly, you have to treat others fairly first. But that doesn’t seem to hold much weight in this me-first, throw- away society we live in today. In a world where we try so hard to fit in, to be liked, to be everything to everyone, we forget to think about other people along the way. This self-centered, self-worshipping mentality has made us a society of shallow, self absorbed people that think that sharing an uplifting quote on Pinterest is going to make others think we are really deep, kind, and selfless. Instead of accepting our differences, and letting others’ opinions roll off our backs, we let people’s words bring us down and make us the casualties of unintended circumstances. Instead of holding firm to our values and sticking to our morals, we choose to tear each other down and blame one another for our own problems; because it is easier to play the victim than to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and toughen up. Life ain’t fair, but it is better than the alternative! Race, religion, gender, sexual preference and political beliefs are not the problem. Men and women have disagreed on these things and more since the beginning of time; the difference between life now and even fifty years ago is how we choose to deal with those issues. Don’t advertise your dirty laundry on Facebook, and then get mad when others offer up their advice (or lack thereof). Don’t judge others based on what others say about them; just because someone doesn’t like you does not make you a bad person! Don’t get on your soapbox and preach the virtues of anything unless you are properly informed and are ready to defend your beliefs. Don’t be afraid to be wrong or to fail. If you always win, what do you stand to gain? We live in a country built on the foundation of equality- we all have an equal chance to succeed as much as we have the ability to crash and burn. The choice is ours. We reap what we sow; so we better be sure we can harvest the crop. Fill your life with beauty, and beauty will reflect back on you.
May your fields produce more quality than quantity. Until next time, ~Richelle Let me preface this post with the following: I am not racist; I don't care what color your skin is because good people come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Your religion, or lack there of, is just important to you as mine is to me; so accept the fact that if what you believe is different than what I believe as a Catholic, it makes you no better or worse than me. I believe that God made one man and one woman, and together they were meant to go forth and populate the earth. While I do understand the fact that there are same sex couples, I am not so ignorant to deny them the same basic freedoms the rest of us have. Please just keep it to yourselves, and out of the eyes of my children; and I will do the same for you. Even though I consider myself fairly tolerant, I still have my own moral compass and my own feelings about the world we live in. You don't have to agree with me, but I believe we should all learn to respect each other's freedoms. I seriously wonder about this country we live in. Every day there seems to be something more fucked up than the crazy ass shit that was on the news yesterday; and I am saddened by the fact that it isn't going to change anytime soon. The media and our government has produced a culture of self- righteous, self- absorbed, and entitlement that cannot be changed by the few honest, hard working people that do not agree with the rest of society. There are so many things I can't understand; and how the hell do you explain things like this to your kids?
A man can be photographed for the cover of national magazines in drag, and be called heroic and courageous by our own president because "he" thinks "he" is really a "she"; but a movie about a true hero that paid the ultimate price for our freedom is condoned and banned by people that think it is racist propaganda. Chris Kyle was and is a hero; Bruce Jenner is a man going through a midlife identity crisis, and making a fortune in doing so. Pardon me if I find this a disgusting waste of money that could be better spent on something of value, say, for example, making sure that our veterans can come home and get the therapy they need to become active members of society again. Just saying. Black "thugs" can loot their own neighborhoods and kill police officers in the name of racial justice; but young white men can get shot by any cop and no one is breaking down the doors of city hall to pin the blame on the authorities. Children are being taught that genders don't exist, instead of being taught to honor and appreciate the way God made them. Instead of building up our children's self esteem, parents are so self absorbed with their own desires of having a perfect child that they are tearing down what our mothers, grandmothers, and others have worked so hard for. Who needs gender equality if we are all a bunch of hermaphroditic freaks? Muslims can wear their garb and pray where they so choose, and American Indians can claim Native Pride. Blacks have the ACLU and Reverend Jesse Jackson in their corner pocket. But to even say you are a young white male (or female, for that matter; I have been called a white bitch by more than one resident of a local reservation) somehow implies that you are a racist bigot. Just because I am white, does not mean that I am part of some sadistic white supremacy group. Much the contrary. I believe that people can be racist no matter what color their skin is. I see it every day; and it irritates me to no end that our government and media are always the first to bring race into everything. Perhaps if we could go one day without referring to one another by the color of our skin, we might see that the real issues start inside ourselves- not because of the outside of others around us. The problems don't just end with race or religion. Why is it that people that have no idea where real food comes from can tell the rest of how to eat and how to raise our crops and livestock? I think farmers and ranchers in the United States have done a pretty damn good job raising a surplus of food for the masses, so the rest of you can live in your fancy homes in the suburbs and worry about whether to buy the "organic" or "natural" strawberries. If you don't even know what the hell gluten is, then you probably aren't allergic to it. Monsanto does not own producers; and believe it or not, ranchers and farmers are probably one of the biggest reasons you don't have to worry too much about getting a blood transfusion the next time you eat American produce. We take pride in producing a damn good product for you to spend your hard earned money on, as opposed to producing garbage in mass quantities just to fill the WalMart truck. In my humble opinion, 'Chipotle' can take its' restaurants and shove them up the owner's ass. America, your problem is that no one has to be accountable for themselves anymore. Scapegoats are free for the taking; you have allowed us to blame our shortcomings on our religions; our disabilities; our parents- everyone but our own selves. You don't make us stop and think before speaking; you don't make us do our homework when you invite us to a fight. I wish we could get rid of politicians- they have become the blood-sucking ticks of our society and should be eradicated, along with the dirty money that speaks louder than the needs and dreams of the average citizen. America, I still love you; but just once, I wish you would let kids pray in school and recite the Pledge of Allegiance without making a big deal out of it. Kids that don't respect our flag can either leave the room or sit, just like when I was in school. I wish that you could just teach your children to be more tolerant, less arrogant, and more appreciative of what they have. Because freedom don't come free-- and last time I checked, this is still "one nation, under God, indivisible; with liberty and justice for all." God bless you all; even if you don't agree with me. "... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15 ~Richelle |
AuthorHi, I am Richelle. I am a mother to two wild and crazy little cowgirls, a wife and friend to pretty awesome cowboy, and a lover of all things western. This is just my collection of my own observations of life, some of my photos, and a few recipes here and there. I hope you enjoy! Categories
All
Archives
January 2016
|