Going back this time to the "Mule Year" when I was out of school and being a real working cowboy girl. It was not quite all work as some days were kind of exciting!
April 18, 1960
Today I was glad I did not follow my impulse to run away Sunday. I would have missed a lot. A guy named Dee Peyton from Walt Disney studios came by. He wants to rent Mary, Carrie, Tiz and Friz for a day or two. Cliff came over and rode out to the pasture with us. He is a darn nice guy, makes me think how BO will look maybe 25 years from now. Or if he were about 25 years older. We rested this afternoon and drove over to Cottonwood. I saw Gordo and as usual he waved at me. Old Vern ‘"the great stone face with sideburns” just sat there with a sneer on his unwashed face. Later while we were shoeing Lobo, Dee came back with his cousin Johnny Fisher. They left a big trailer here. After supper I went up to Eve’s and talked to her and Arlene. Arlene was unhappy because her “Sandy” is ditching her. We talked a little about RE. She still insists he wasn’t married and only knew that he liked strawberry sodas and hamburgers with lots of onions. A great help! Of course he’ll never answer my letter but I just can’t get him off my mind. I’d also like to know more about Buster. Why doesn’t a handsome mule buyer come along? However I am not content just to admire at a distance anymore. I want a real affaire de amour. I’m sour seventeen and never been smooched. That’s sikke. I aim to cure that if possible in the next few months. I am going to have to be a flirt if necessary but anyway I’m going to catch me a man by hook or crook. I don’t care how I do it. Adios, Gaye
Well, son of a gun. I can't recall why I wanted to run away--I sort of remember taking off with Tina and after a few hours coming home. I did not have feed for her and was a bit hungry for a meal myself. I just had to ride off my peeve I guess.
In the end we did not rent the mules but talked to Dee and Johnny a few times before that plan faded. I developed a crush on Johnny. He was pretty cute and impressed me more than Dee who was older and had a glib line--maybe a little too glib! Cliff was a friend of ours named Cliff Pfeifer. He lived in Cottonwood and did come and ride with us several times. He had an old mare who looked very good for her age in the late teens. He took a shine to the mule Blue who later dislocated his hip and we were unable to fix it without very expensive surgery so he went back to the dealer eventually.
Mercy, I could be cold about some of my former fancies! At that point RE--the guy who worked for El Paso Gas when they were laying the lines around the valley--was not quite on that list even if I had been really mad when I saw him at the Christmas parade back in December with a very pregnant blonde and he got a guilty look and dove into his car! I reasoned if she was his sister or a friend's lady he would not have been embarrassed!! But I still missed him; I guess he was working elsewhere by this time. I think he was from New Mexico.
I don't think I was"'boy crazy" as I was pretty particular--in my weird way--and did not want just any fellow but a cool cowboyish sort of one like a few of my special crushes. Did I manage to snag one that year? Well, no. It actually took me quite awhile longer to find Mr Right but when I did, I stuck with him for several years. Sadly though that story did not have a happy ending. Eleven years later I finally got married! Being a misfit high school-age girl was no picnic! Later though I knew I was not alone in that state, at least not as much as I felt I was for some time. It was just that I had almost no social life right then and the lack really chapped my --well, sit-upon!! Sikke was one of my made up words--kind of like gross and sick to the max, I guess. And I was not quite seventeen yet--that was some nine days away!
I really do not have many photos for this period. The first one is the prior August and the mules I mentioned to be rented and probably Blue too were in that corral. The next two are me with Tina. She was always my pride and joy and most loved equine. She had such spirit--like charging up that steep hill. The other one was in the hills across the river from Clarkdale. That was some real rough country. Dad had probably been riding the mule and was off to take the picture.
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