Cattle Haulers and Politicians
It was the sudden jolt of the truck that woke me in the middle of the night. It was a windy evening in Oklahoma, where I gather almost every evening is windy. The sound is like being inside a giant Coke bottle with someone blowing across the top as the wind howls over the gaps between the tractor and trailer, and between the trailer and the ground. A shift in the direction of the wind changes the pitch of the howl, as the truck itself gets shoved back and forth by the gusts. I enjoy my accommodations just fine, but some nights are a bit more enjoyable than others. Still, I like running out west. I'll take the blowing wind of the west over the blowing horns and extended middle digits of the northeast any day.
The following morning, while making my way from the restaurant to the truck, I was assaulted by the most awful stench. The culprit was a cattle hauler, parked upwind from my truck. There were no cattle in the trailer, but they had left the documentation of their staff meeting behind and the wind was brusk. Well the chips were down, as they say, and I was rethinking the whole steak and eggs breakfast routine when I saw the driver of the cattle hauler and his companion make their way to their truck. The driver, wearing his obligatory cowboy boots and western shirt, had a large white cowboy hat on his head. The little boy walking next to him couldn't have been more than 5 years old. He wore tiny cowboy boots, and sported a white cowboy hat almost the size of his dad's. In fact, the hat seemed to swallow the boy's head so that it actually looked like a pair of boots with a hat on top, scurrying across the parking lot. Even a few of the other drivers stopped staring at their log books and maps long enough to enjoy the sight of that little guy walking as fast as he could to keep up with his pop. As the cattle hauler pulled out of the parking lot, all we could see on the passenger side of the cab was a big white cowboy hat poking up over the dash, with a little hand pointing the way out of the parking lot for his Dad. These are moments that I live for in this line of work.
A few minutes later, I pulled the rig onto the highway. The engine growled and the turbo screamed as ten gears slowly brought 80,000 pounds to highway speed. Thanks to the wonders of Pandora, on my smart phone, I heard Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristoferson, Waylon Jennings sing "Highwayman" through the truck's stereo. On this day, it was tough to improve on that song, so I turned the music off and drove on with only the rhythm of the highway itself to keep me company. Thoughts wander at times like that. Thoughts of the roads in our lives, the decisions that we make that bring us to where we are today. Thoughts of family and friends, of good times and bad. Thoughts of where this coffee came from and what type of brake fluid they added to it this morning. Thoughts of gratitude for a life well lived and the knowledge that our freedom and our happiness don't come cheap.
Then, looking at the clock, I realized it was time for the ritual to begin. Time to start scanning podcasts, news casts, talk shows, etc., in an effort to stay on top of the news. Is Mitt cementing the deal? Is Newt scaring Obama? Has Obama declared the Senate in recess again and made a Supreme Court appointment? Has Mahmoud Ahmadinejad grown a funny little mustache? Has Pat Caddell had an aneurysm? Has some guy in a black robe made a ruling and taken more of my freedom today? It's almost dispiriting to sink one's mind into the abyss that is the news, especially after having soaked in the beauty of a such a good morning. To go from the quintessential American experience of driving a big rig in the west, to hearing that a President who gave us over 150 new agencies in a two-thousand page health care bill now wants to "streamline" government is to soil the mind and spirit. On the other hand, it is the steady neglect of important issues that has allowed the political class to play loose with the Constitution and steadily rob us of our national inheritance.
So the news goes on, the mind absorbs, and the fight is renewed. Ben Franklin famously said that the Framers gave us a republic, "….if you can keep it." I would maintain that we can keep it,…but only through doing the dirty work of staying informed and keeping the pressure on those we elect. Those who fashion themselves as our betters have made a mess that only a bull in a cattle hauler could envy. Now it's up to us, the citizens, to get our hands dirty and clean up the mess. The hour is late,…but not too late. We on the right have our disagreements at times, but perhaps it helps occasionally to look up from the minutia and focus on the primary goals of conservative governance; a government that protects the lives, property, and freedom of its citizens from foreign aggressors as well as from domestic busybodies. If we communicate this clearly, and expose for all to see the misery that the collectivist has brought everywhere his designs are imposed, we might just have a shot at saving the country. Meanwhile, I need to start parking upwind of the cattle haulers.
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Dec '11
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Beautiful piece, Dave, thank you for the imagery. Now, I want to see your fellow citizens filthy but smiling in 10 months time.
Dec '11
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Nobody told me Wallace Stegner posts on Ricochet! ;;;)))
Oct '11
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Livestock smells are like spicy salsa - you want to take it as far to the edge as you can without going over. Horse sheds smell great, but cattle's just about perfect to me, just that little bit richer. Pigs are too much though, as are chickens. I can't comment on distance cattle haulers, because all I ever experienced growing up was a few hours' drive to the auction house. Perhaps the smells fester, I don't know.
Dave, do you think truckers are the cowboys of the 21st century? I was talking to a friend about this, and we narrowed it down to truckers and oil rig mechanics/engineers. We had shale workers too, but moved them into the "pioneer" category due to the probable development boom.
Audio-only makes the news more digestible; at least you can be looking at the mountains when you're hearing all that. Did you know that the furthest West Jesse James ever settled was Hole-in-the-Wall? He was a southerner, though he did love Kansas City. He tried to run, but he came back home, and that's what did him in. May we have more luck.
May '11
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Nice. Drive safe. No barrel rolls.
Jun '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Thanks for the wonderful view, Dave. Safe travels.
May '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
See if Pandora will let you hear Waylon's and Willie's cover of "Nowhere Road" (or go with the Steve Earle original). "There's a road in Oklahoma...."
Oct '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
"Long strips of rubber that you see were burned off of [the] rig by [good ol' D.C., as he rides] along the highways in this land..."
Great post.
Feb '11
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Thanks for the image of the kid in the hat... I'll be looking for him in the trucks I see on the highway for years I am sure....
May '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Park upwind of the politicians too.
Aug '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Do any truckers listen to dubstep?
Dec '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
How do you do that, Dave? Where does that come from? That gift of expression, I mean. You may be smelling cattle truck, but all I get is incense. Sublime.
Aug '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
I think I smell a career as a country music lyricist!
Dec '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Dave, I love the way you write (and think). Keep up the good work!
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
QuickerBrownFox: Dave, do you think truckers are the cowboys of the 21st century? I was talking to a friend about this, and we narrowed it down to truckers and oil rig mechanics/engineers. We had shale workers too, but moved them into the "pioneer" category due to the probable development boom.
· Jan 18 at 10:58pm
My great grandfather, whose name I carry, hopped a train and traveled out west as a young man. He became a real cowboy. My family tells me I'm more like him than I realize, so perhaps I'm carrying on that aspect as well. I may be overly romanticizing it, but yes, I do think that truckers are today's cowboys. Austere life, moving freight across the countryside, and a sort of subculture of their own. Not many campfires, though. Too many hazmat loads.
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
I stay as far away from the DC beltway as humanly possible.
Jul '10
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Fine job, Dave, but it's brusque.
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
On one of our podcasts over a year ago, Pat Sajak asked a variation of the same question. I told him it was a genetic flaw. There's a rich tradition of weaving stories of all types on both sides of my family, so I never stood a chance of avoiding it.
On the serious side, I celebrated my 50th birthday a few days ago. Looking back, I've seen and experienced a few things that I will probably never talk about. But they temper one's perspective and add a dimension that make a truck load of bull seem like a walk in a flower garden by comparison. Every day above ground is a good day.
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Ruh roh. The spell checker didn't kick it back at me,...and I saw both words,...but I'll take your word for it and sit corrected. Thank you.
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
What a great piece! Makes me miss Oklahoma. Thanks, Dave!
Re: Cattle Haulers and Politicians
Thank you, Sir! Perhaps the wind will shift and carry you back there for a spell. If you get misplaced, there's a little guy with a big cowboy hat that will be happy to point the way.