Articles written by baxter black
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On the Edge of Common Sense
A good cowboy will go beyond the call of duty and even put himself in harm’s way to help a suffering beast. Doug and Patty run a ranch in that big, wide country in eastern New Mexico. They’d received...
On the Edge of Common Sense
Aunt Effie was the ‘Neighborhood Healer’ in her community of Noble, OK. When I was visiting and scraped my arm or had a stomachache, she always had the right potion, poultice, roots, soak or fern to t...
On the Edge of Common Sense
The big boy land developers hired them a worn out hack To go and buy the water rights off farmers down the track. “Just pay ’em anything they ask. Heck, any price on earth. Those farmer’s haven...
On the Edge of Common Sense
Today there is an increased recognition of the bonding process between man and animals. Pets are now referred to in politically correct circles as companion animals. Companion. By definition; an...
On the Edge of Common Sense
Mother gave me a small box of old pocket watches and a book entitled “A Practical Course in Horology.” It was a Christmas gift. A family heirloom, of sorts. “I don’t know if you’ve got anything...
On the Edge of Common Sense
The steer that topped the show this year was partly Chianina. The bull that threw the biggest calf was partly Simmental. The carcass class was swept away by three-eighths Limousiners The Gelbvieh...
On the Edge of Common Sense
If it were possible to clone human beings from history, what would they be doing today? For instance, if we were somehow able to find a strand of DNA from Robin Hood, clone him and raise him in our...
On the Edge of Common Sense
I wanna tell y’all a true story that happened to a friend of mine. Big Jim was judgin’ the rodeo at Burlington last year. They call him Big Jim ’cause he’s big as a round bale and twice as tough. But...
On the Edge of Common Sense
“Doctor, I’m here because I’m a . . . I’m a . . . “ “Relax. Many people have psychological conflicts. Lay back on the couch and tell me about it.” “Okay. It’s just that I don’t know if it’s normal or...
On the Edge of Common Sense
For those of you who forgot how easy it was to get started in farming let me tell you about my friend Con. Many years ago, he bought a farm in the wilds of Minnesota. The feller that sold him the...
On the Edge of Common Sense
I grew up in a county that was 65% Spanish-speaking. The biggest distinction between races was not color, it was Catholics and Baptists. My first experience with prejudice was the summer I spent on a...
On the Edge of Common Sense
“Where were you born?” The reporter asked one of my Colorado cowboy friends. “Iowa,” he answered. “Iowa!” she said. “Why did you move?” “Because it’s hard to be a cowboy in Iowa.” Well, it mig...
On the Edge of Common Sense
A while back I was asked who has had the greatest influence on my life. I hadn’t ever given it much thought, like most folks, I guess. After considerin’ for a while, I came up with five people tha...
On the Edge of Common Sense
When it’s springtime in the Rockies And my lips are turning blue I’ll be slogging through the blizzard like a brain dead caribou… Ah, springtime. That first hint of life beginning anew, the annua...
On the Edge of Common Sense
“Have I got a deal for you! Got this horse on a trade. He don’t squint half as bad ridin’ him in the shade. I know he limps a little. Yer eyeball is astute. But fair is fair, my friend, so I’ll...
On the Edge of Common Sense
Imagine you were a livestock man in medieval England a thousand years ago. It’s early spring. Snow on the ground, mud in the cow lot. You walk the small pasture where the heavy heifers are kept. I...
On the Edge of Common Sense
He’s the tumbleweed chef and rides with the wagon Ahead of the thunderin’ herd. His pots and pans clack like a diamondback’s rattle. He growls or he don’t say a word. His face is a roadmap. Looks l...
On the Edge of Common Sense
“A fine lookin’ horse you’ve got there (if yer into modern art) I had a horse like that one time (but he wasn’t very smart) I’d guess that he’s part thoroughbred (and part Catahoula hound) You get him...
On the Edge of Common Sense
It is the best of times. Calving at its finest. The calling of those chosen to tend God’s creatures. To take part in simple miracles. To alter the balance of life on earth by one small addition. It is...
On the Edge of Common Sense
This is a quiz to determine your calving sanity (or help you pass time in the calving barn). Match the columns. 1. Aching A. Tongues 2. Black B. Back 3. C C. Batteries 4. Cold D. Boots 5. Cracked E....
On the Edge of Common Sense
Lee Trevino has a street named after him in El Paso. Abraham Lincoln has a town named after him in Nebraska. Monty Montana has his namesake state and I’ve even got some hills named in my honor in S...
On the Edge of Common Sense
Do you believe in ghosts? How ’bout angels? Miracles? Taro cards? I grew up believin’ in Heaven and all its assorted angelic inhabitants and their counterparts in the singed black hats. Rei...
On the Edge of Common Sense
- “As long as you’ve got good elimination, you’ve got it made.” Uncle Leonard - “If a man can’t drive in a bar ditch, he’s got no business on the highway.” Tink - “When asked how she got to be pre...
On the Edge of Common Sense
If Herefords were black and Angus were red would breeders of Herefords breed Angus instead? I mean, would the people who bred Herefords first be now breeding Angus if things were reversed. Or would...
On the Edge of Common Sense
Dr. Fosse, once of Pretoria, told me about Martha and Arthur, two star crossed rare white rhinos. In a governmental gesture of goodwill, South Africa agreed to ship Arthur to Tanzania to mate with...
