|
|
|
| According to Ed Miller it was authentic enough to be designated a Ceilidh (kay-lee). | excerpt | article |
| Move Over, Wayne Dyer. We're headin' for Winnemucca! | excerpt | article |
| Argentine Pampas--Nevada High Desert. Not so different. | excerpt | article |
| May and Darleen Tour | excerpt | article |
| Ruby Mountains Hike | excerpt | article |
| Lamoille Lake | excerpt | article |
| Bird Watching for the Elusive Himalayan Partridge! | excerpt | article |
| Nevada Adventure | excerpt | article |
| Red Hat Society, Inspired by the Hummingbird? | excerpt | article |
According to Ed Miller it was authentic enough to be designated a Ceilidh (kay-lee).
In the late 90s we brought Ed Miller to Sarah’s house at Cowboy Poetry Gathering time. He was part of the Gathering’s showcase that year of Scottish cowboy tradition.
John and I, throughout the week, invite out-of-towners to dinner at Sarah’s, and Ed agreed to come. That evening after the meal he played guitar while we sang, and told stories, and jokes. The house was crammed with food, drink, poetry, music, and laughter.
Scottish folk revivalist Miller, presides at Robbie Burns dinners, and folk gatherings throughout the world. After Sarah’s evening Ed extended Sarah an extraordinary compliment when he termed her gathering an authentic Scottish ceilidh (informal social gathering for storytelling and singing). There’s no performance at a ceilidh; it’s unrehearsed and everyone contributes.
Move Over, Wayne Dyer. We're headin' for Winnemucca!
The lost purse story is circulating through Elko. O’Carrolls breakfast group in Lamoille heard it from Paula who got it from Cowboy John. Susan passed it to a bridge group in town, and from there it hit the Western Folklife Center.
Wisconsin Sue is the lady holding the bag in this tale, and she’s feeling guilty, but at the same time, she is the star of this story!
We met these ladies in 2004 when they came touring from Wisconsin with
ringleader Val. "We want a tour." Val had retired from teaching. Spent her time keeping her friends traveling.
Argentine Pampas--Nevada High Desert. Not so different.
I should have measured how many miniscule stitches to the inch. Today, a week from when I visited the exhibit, I can’t begin to describe the braiding.
Armando Deferrari and Pablo Lozano are Argentine master rawhide braiders. They and the Brazilians were guests of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering this year, and some of their gear was on display as part of the “Cowboy of the Americas” exhibit in the Western Folklife Center.
Armando, older of the two, is a big man, probably over six feet tall, bearded, strong face, direct gaze. Pablo is younger with classic, fine features. Both were eager to show us their work. Headstalls, bridles, whips, and refurbished classical artifacts. They both work in silver and rawhide, and Armando, retired from veterinary medicine, maintains a silversmithing workshop.
They turn heads when they stride into a room with easy, welcoming smiles. Pablo wears a rakish beret, red dotted scarf, and short jacket; Armando, a black fedora hat, scarf, and brightly colored poncho with white geometric design.
May and Darlene Tour
Two Portland sisters, wanted scenery.
May and Darleen are used to Oregon beauty. Roses, azaleas, rhododendron-bordered freeways, shady paths in forested parks, moss-edged roofs. In Nevada? Nope.
All of you who’ve come on a tour with us know you won’t find moss in northeastern Nevada.
A study in contrast for our two friends!
Ruby Mountain Hike
New friends. Joann and Steve, hiked in the Ruby Mountains with us this summer.
They stayed in JoeAnna Peak’s cozy Guest House in Lamoille (check “Links” on our web page for JoeAnna), and walked just down the street for dinner at the Pine Lodge and breakfast at O’Carrolls. Idyllic Lamoille: Tiffany windows in the vintage church, and deer in the meadow with a snow-capped Ruby Mountain backdrop.
Lamoille Lake
Einstein was right. Time is relative. Every adult knows time moves more rapidly for grown-ups than for kids.
Summer stretched forever when I was a kid. Biking to the sandpit in Weiser with friends, sandwich in a bag, crawling through sticky junipers in the hedge that ran all the way around our house, running through the sprinkler on hot Idaho days. Leaf houses in the fall under the Queen Anne cherry tree.
We planned nothing ahead of time, just plunged into the day. All we cared about was what we were doing right then, in that moment.
Bird Watching for the Elusive Himalayan Partridge
When we last talked Cowboy John and I had hiked up Thomas Creek and were resting at the top, sitting on a large granite boulder no doubt left by ancient glaciers in the middle of a wide valley bounded by a granite ridge.
It’s been only the last few years that John and I have continued the hike past the waterfall through the canyon to the wide valley at the top. Tall rocky cliffs surround a valley at the top with Beaver ponds, Corn Lily and Potentilla, and scattered Whitebark Pine trees. Waterfalls tumble down sheer cliffs. This whole valley and canyon was carved out long ago by glaciers.
Nevada Adventure:
Berry picking.
We sampled as we hiked Sunday up Right Fork Creek above Lions camp. Thimble berries and Servis berries.
The trail goes straight up the mountain. That is, when you finally find it. This year the trail is in the lake, a beaver lake. Beaver are clearing aspen for another dam, so now the little stream is a shallow lake. I shloshed through without getting both boots wet, just the left one.
==> Click here to read more
Red Hat Society, Inspired by the Hummingbird?
Hiking up the stock trail to Lamoille Lake at a particular switchback near a bubbling stream we leave the trail, and head up to a small valley. A glacier gouged out this depression eons ago leaving a lot of small ponds. The wet, mossy ground is carpeted with Elephanthead, Orchid, Shooting Star, Tiny Saxifrage, and Swamp Laurel. Little growing things edge small brooks and moss-covered rocks, everything in miniature.We hiked once again to the top of Thomas Creek above the campground in Lamoille Canyon. It's a tradition for families in the campground to take the 5-10 minute hike to the waterfall. It's steep but the waterfall is spectacular, well worth the effort.
A rocky ledge supporting a twisted Mountain Mahogany tree overlooks the waterfall as Thomas Creek drops straight down rocky granite ledges from high above. It twists through thick vegetation and roars past the ledge where you're standing. It’s breathtakingly beautiful.
==> Click here to read more
The
Home Ranch | Cowboy
Country Nevada | Who
is Cowboy John
Ranch
Tales | More
Testimonials | Books | Design
Your Ideal Vacation
Links | Contact
Us
All contents and images are Copyright 2004 © John & Janice Collett/Cowboy John Tours,Nevada, USA
Website design by JBCR Virtual Solutions