FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection

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Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Dan Patch, a true America sports hero

I never grew up idolizing sports heroes. I guess that was my dad's fault. He never paid much attention to sports; at least he sure was no fanatic about it.

harness race, horse, sports, million

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Mechanical ability elusive to some

The world keeps on changing and I suppose at the same time stays the same. My friend Dale Hande mentioned some startling facts to me a few days ago. "Did you realize," Dale pondered, "that the nation's best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, and the tallest basketball player is a Chinese fella?"

mechanics, horses, technology

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Farmers, fencers know the value of a good patch

Summer is the season of the patch here at Sims. All I have to do is walk within d within 30 feet of any equipment and I wind up soaked in grease, oil, and diesel fuel. When I am forced to work around machinery a lot, as in the summer, I dip into the well-used clothes pile so as not to ruin my better duds.

fence, patch, pants, repair

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Traveling with Lyle proves to be an adventure in eating

I went to a few rodeos in Nebraska last weekend with Don and Lyle. I have traveled a number of times with Don, but this is only the second time I have traveled with Lyle.

snack, rodeo, meal, trip

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

School days 1975 - my first year as a teacher

Summers in North Dakota go by so fast it hardly seems worth having them. I see the school buses are on the road again. It has been a while since the start of the school year meant a big change in my lifestyle.

agriculture, school, manure

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Plans underway for Almont's 60th Lutefisk Supper

You can tell that fall is here in the Almont area. I hear they had their lutefisk meeting. A meeting is held each year a few weeks prior to the big supper to get the project in action.

lutefisk, planning, meeting

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

North Dakota provided a perfect fall day for its celebrity visitor

I am writing this on Oct. 2. It is one of those glorious North Dakota fall days. The temperature is perfect, the wind is barely perceptible, and Sims has never looked any better.

restoration, church, first lady

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Trip to Waverly was fun, interesting, profitable

I went to a horse sale a few days ago. I have been to a lot of horse sales, but this is one I have always wanted to see. Waverly, Iowa, is a long ways from Sims, N.D. I guess that is why I had never been there for the sale.

draft horse, harness, amish, north dakota

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

There's thrifty... and then there's Benny thrifty

I read with interest that the Republicans spent $150,000 on a new wardrobe for Sara Palin. The Missus claims she spends about $50/year. Sara's allowance would last the Missus about 3,000 years. She is proud of her thrift store shopping.

thrift, cheap, hoarding

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

Wrestling steers can be good for your health

America is growing more health conscious all the time. I continue to worry about my own health as I grow older. I'd hate to get in as bad shape as my neighbor Jim Sailer who claims he was recently run over by a stationary bicycle. Some people walk, run, play basketball, or golf for their health. I prefer to enter the steer wrestling now and then for mine.

exercise, steer wrestling, injuring

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

Rod Nelson

The older I get the more I become like my father

When I was a kid and my dad was old - you know, younger than I am now, but old - it always frustrated me when I would ask him what he wanted for Christmas.

simple, list, christmas

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

100

Rod Nelson

The father/daughter hunt for the Nelson family Christmas tree

I was visiting with some people from California a few days ago and they mentioned they had seen some Christmas trees priced from $800 to $1000. It inspired me to dig out a poem I wrote for my daughter to recite at a Christmas program years ago!

christmas, tree, decoration

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

102

Rod Nelson

A new dog in 2009 would be nice... or would it?

I probably won't be able to afford many new things in 2009, but I'm pretty sure I'll acquire a new dog. I need one pretty badly.

dog, herd, puppy, work

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

104

Rod Nelson

Another day in rural America with neighbor helping neighbor

It's been a grand winter here at Sims. I had almost forgotten what winter was like. It's been 11 years since I really had to push any snow. I got to thinking we would never see snow again. We are making up for lost time.

winter, neighbor, help

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

106

Rod Nelson

Don't know about the famous one, but this Liz Taylor was a real gem

For some reason or another, Towner (N.D.), the community I grew up in, was loaded with colorful characters. I don't quite know what caused it, but it seemed they were everywhere. Lots of them were great story tellers. Many of them did or said outrageous things. Some of them were hysterically funny. There were so many of them that I assumed they were average people.

artist, friend, memory

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

109

Rod Nelson

North Dakota's unassuming Capitol, governor's mansion

It's comforting to know that our legislators are once again working around the clock trying to solve North Dakota's problems. They have a big problem this year as they have to find a way to blow the massive surplus North Dakota has accumulated; I believe something near $1 billion.

capitol, surplus, mansion, humble, simple

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

111

Rod Nelson

Bragging rights to coldest temps lost with new thermometer

I loved growing up on the Mouse River. There were lots of things I liked about the area. Winter was one of them.

thermometer, cold, record

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

113

Rod Nelson

Minnesota shopping trip was fun - and profitable!

Times are tough here at Sims. Although this has been been my favorite winter in many years, it has been an expensive one. The furnace keeps running and the cows keep eating.

oldsmobile, trip, shopping, sale

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

116

Rod Nelson

Another day in rural America with neighbor helping neighbor

I don't know if things have picked up here at Sims or not, but we did get the black box. We have been warned for several months that our televisions were going to quit working on Feb. 17 unless we bought the black box.

antennae, neighbor, install

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

118

Rod Nelson

Spring storms have ranchers hip deep in water, snow, mud

On the average, we get pretty good moisture here at Sims. OK, we were dry enough the last couple years, and desperately dry from 2002 through 2006, but all the moisture we missed just ran off of Sims last week on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.

rancher, snowstorm, calving

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

120

Rod Nelson

Be wary of horse traders - they may be telling the truth!

I recently read a book I really enjoyed. It was called Mister You Got Yourself a Horse by Roger Welsch. It is a collection of interviews with old-time horse traders who were operating in the 1890s to the 1920s. It was a delightful read.

horse trader, colt, sell

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

123

Rod Nelson

Choosing, training, loving, then losing a puppy

Kenny called me one day early in January. "Heard you're looking for a good dog." I had just written a column about my old cow dog getting old and pretty much worthless, other than just being a pal.

puppy, training, death, love

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

126

Rod Nelson

Celebrating 'World Day of Laughter' with complete strangers!

I don't care much for group activities. I really dislike parlor games. I enjoy being around people, but I like a little independence when it comes to having fun. It wasn't typical behavior for me when I got involved in the World Day of Laughter.

capitol, entertainment, laughter, stranger

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

128

Rod Nelson

Late May-early June, when North Dakota is perfect

If you live on the Northern Great Plains and thought the winter and spring were a bit miserable, open the curtains and take a peek outside. Sometimes a dose of miserable weather yields some beautiful results.

weather, tourists, temperature

Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip

FOLK COLL 11 N-18

130

Rod Nelson

Know your horse, its disposition... and hire someone to train it!

It seems like things are running late this spring; in fact, we are running out of spring. Summer starts June 21, and the days will start getting shorter. Many people still have lots of spring things to do and not much time left to do it. I guess I am caught up on everything but horse training. The late spring snowstorms and mud made it hard to get started.

horse, train, sell