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Rancher's AlmanacMy daddy was a farmerweather was the world to himhe read books that predictedwhen each raincloud rolled inI wasn't much for plowingso I hitched north to CheyenneI got hired late one winterrunning cattle on a ranchwell, I slept outside, and read the nightshiv'ring 'neath my frosty hatwhere coyotes on the plains, and red moons on the rangeread like a rancher's almanacwe lost lotsa bullcalvesto a black bear one nightmy foreman tossed me a rifleand said to check the sightwell, I was sweating bulletstracking that mean old bearthen something in the shadowsspooked my spotted maremy heart went numb, I raised my gunand dropped that bear in his trackshe had a glassy look, from reading the rowdy bookcalled the rancher's almanacI needed something warm to sleep inso I used that big old bearskinand from my new bed, I saw foggy nights aheadin my jug of Yukon Jackwind sung through the sage, as I drank another pagefrom the rancher's almanac(c)2004 Robert George