A cool, prairie wind kisses the sun-parched soil of my Texan ranch, sending countless tiny tornadoes of dust sweeping across the open landscape. Ain't nothing quite like a Texas morning, with the world half in shadows and half in sunlight. There's a certain calmness that seeps into my old bones, something raw and untamed, a hollerin’ echo of conviction echoing from the foundation of my being and shooting up right to the tip of my Stetson hat.
Kinfolk, being a cowboy ain’t just about big hats and spurred boots. It’s about conviction. It’s about the choice to get up every dawn, despite weary bones and fading eyes, to welcome a new day of unexpected adventures. It's about pausing under the gnarled branches of a wild apple tree, simply soaking in the delight of natures' sweet bounty, yet being ready in the next heartbeat to face down a sly coyote or outrun a wild mustang.
Conviction is laughing in the face of adversity, even when life decides to throw you a curveball. It’s saving your mother from a raging bull, or standing your ground against a pack of wolves, intent on making your prized cattle their next meal. Yes, dear readers, my back aches from a life lived in service of others, but it’s an ache that sings songs of courage and resolve, a testament of battles won, not merely endured.
It’s the conviction that keeps a cowboy standing tall, even when the prairie lies underneath a punishing, scorching sun or dances in the icy grip of unexpected snowstorms. It's hands marred by calluses and sun-etched wrinkles from countless ropes gripped and knots tied. Y'all know me, I can tie over 500 different knots – from the humble overhand to that sassy bowline – all testament to countless challenges met with determination and, yep, conviction.
It’s this unyielding conviction that connects me to the land, the animals, and the sprawling sky above. It's whispering promises to the wind, treaties with the wolves, and telepathic conversations with my cows. Ridiculous, you may chuckle. But, friends, the conviction of a cowboy embraces the absurd, finds laughter in the lowest lows and courage in the highest highs.
Fatherhood is my final frontier, another prairie where conviction steps up. Rearing up nine sun-kissed, ranch-ridden, mad-cappy children on this Texan soil isn’t a chore forced upon me. Rather, it’s a clarion call to which my heart responds with conviction. It’s about raising ‘em to respect the land, the animals, and the legacy of determination they will one day inherit. They will grow, knowing their father stood tall, acted with love, and lived with conviction.
We each carry the dawn of a new day within us. Conviction, fellow cowboys and companions, is the decision to greet that dawn with a brave heart and a determined soul. It’s the resolution that despite all odds, we will never back down. That’s the cowboy way. Above all, that's what it truly means to be Cowboy Jack. Be it under Texan skies or beyond, y’all carry that spirit of conviction within, as surely as the sun will rise over the prairie.