A pair of riding boots, blue jeans, a plaid shirt, a dirty old ten gallon hat around my hair, and a stallion galloping under my legs roaming around the Texas countryside. This is the future I've dreamed of since I played 'Cowboys and Indians' with my brothers in the backyard when we were growing up. The stories of hardworking cowboys and ranch hands passed down throughout the American history classes captured my imagination from a young age, and even though I've heard the work is hard, dirty, and doesn't necessarily pay much, it still sounds like the amazing Western adventure I dreamed of.

I talked about becoming a ranch hand with my brother over the summer while sawing a fallen tree and he informed me that the work "is pretty much like this, (apparently) it's hot in Texas, and they do this all day, not just for a couple hours." Fortunately, I don't mind physical-intensive labor- while I was involved in Boy Scouts I was initiated into the Order of the Arrow (who's motto is "Cheerful Service"), and for the initiation we did a lot of physical labor: clearing camp roads of debris and trees, digging out tree stumps, and other manual labor that was intense for a 13 year old who never did too much heavy lifting.

(In order left to right: Dad, Me, Sean, and Trey at Sean's O.A. Brotherhood Ceremony)

After my experience in the initiation for the O.A., my dad starting having my brothers and I do more outdoor chores around our house. We live in a forested area, so we have a lot of trees fall down during storm season. Why hire professional woodcutters when you have three Boy Scouts at your disposal? Anyways, even though it's taken us a while to do it, we eventually got three trees cut up and put in the woodshed (not an easy task when we were dealing with classes, work, and other miscellaneous things going on in our lives).

(An oak and the apple tree that Trey cut up this past summer)

Maybe that's another reason why I like more of the "roughneck" lifestyle- because of the neighborhood I grew up in. It was a little isolated, tucked away from the hustle and bustle that swarms downtown centers like Downers Grove or Naperville.

Sometimes it was tough being separated from our friends, but living where we lived certainly had it's advantages. Trey, Sean, and I did not have to go to a public park in order to kick a soccer ball around or play football- our yard gave us plenty of room and we even had some trees which acted perfectly as goalposts. In fact, when I got a bow and a set of arrows for my thirteenth birthday, I did not go to a firing range- I just set up the target in the back and just shot (to be clear, I always had someone supervise me while I shot and no one ever got hurt).

(A view of the backyard around dusk is incredible)

I do not mean to say people shouldn't be connected: I love hanging out with friends and just talking; it's just getting away and having a quiet place to yourself is refreshing, and that's what I picture when I think about the West, and especially Texas. Now sure, Texas has metropolitan areas like Dallas and Houston, but all the wide open spaces outside of the cities and riding down the back roads in anything from a Ford Mustang to a purebred stallion and having the wind whip through your hair would be such a thrill (at least for me).

So, no matter where life takes me- from the suburbs of Chicago to (hopefully) the U.S. Army, I hope I have a chance to enjoy some time as a cowboy.

God bless- DB