The South is not Dead Series - Where Have all the Cowboys Gone? They're Still Around!

As many of you know, I grew up and still live in the South – more specifically, North Carolina.  Where I grew up is not exactly out in the country, but not in the middle of the city either. It was just outside of a middle-sized city and there is a rural area there that was full of farmland that grew tobacco mostly. These days much of that farmland is gone and has been built up into subdivisions. It is much more populated than when I grew up there and everything is much more modernized – not just here but in the South in general. Our rural areas are shrinking, and we have many transplants that have moved down here from the north (and no I am not dissin the Yankees).  Things have really changed down here and sometimes it is hard to find traces of the Old South that I remember and was raised with.  So, I decided to search out a little bit of that old southern living that is still around, perhaps just write about some things I remember about growing up and share it with you.

The first installment starts with a cowboy.....

I was at Food Lion one day and was reminded that the Old South is not dead after all. I saw a man that I swear to God is a modern day cowboy. Now he's probably a farmer working a farm nearby, we do have several farms out near where I live but this guy just fascinated me. My mind instantly said, “Cowboy!”

The first thing I saw was the plaid shirt. Now it was hot as hell that day, so it was short sleeved but it still counts. The second was the Wrangler jeans – who else wears tight dark washed Wranglers but a cowboy? I didn't think to look for a big belt buckle, I could just kick myself for that....but I would bet money that he had some sort of decorative belt buckle on.

I got in line later and he was across from me in another line. I looked down and I'll be damned if he didn't have dusty old cowboy boots on.....WITH SPURS ON THE BACK! Now how fuckin cool is that? Spurs........on the cowboy boots! Spurs! I just had to smile to myself when I saw that and that's when I got the idea for this whole blog.

I haven't gotten to the face yet. His face was weather-worn, and he had one of those thick cowboy mustaches. I call them the Magnum PI mustache. He had a hunting cap on, it was so old and dusty it looked like it might have once been camo.

As I left the store, I halfway expected him to be leaving on a horse but that's just silly. He got into a Ford F-150. That's the next best thing down here for a cowboy to ride off in.  Of course it was white, a cowboy would ride off on a white horse so why wouldn't this guy drive off in a white truck?

Next installment...Southern women. What are they like now?  Come back to find out!