the deeper the better.
some years ago we a buddy and i were returning from the big loop rodeo ;was the year that loudmouth fella was predicting the return of christ and worlds end. it was all over the radio. and it was supposed to be the 23 of may or something.
any way rob says "turn here" just outside of hines. so i turns. up we go through this fellas pasture rob swears its the county road. through gates )closed them behind) and finally onto the old road that goes across the top of the ochocos.
At that time and on that trip i was running a dodge dually diesel with a passenger window that failed on us ,robs side of the rig , and i had with us 6 dogs, 4 of em pups a tent trailer and as i was drinkin in those days a 12 pack of coors light.rob dont drink as he is mormon.
over the top of the mountians we go , snow everywhere. lakes , just perfect for a couple of hillbilies out on a lark.
im getting a bit stoned and m sliding this behemouth around the curves
so we know its the last day on earth what do we care.
Rob got us lost a few times and im too addled to worry much. not that i worry anyway. we had beer, food and a tent trailer if i dont roll it..
Comes around this corner and in the road, is a 4 door dodge pickup with a 6 or 8 place horse trailer -a big one hooked on back. sittin in this crossroads of two rock roads in the middle of nowhere.
sittin there the doors open (im not making this up) and tack scattered around, hanging over the bed, trailer door open a saddle on the trailer tongue, and some odds and ends; clothing and such .
well now i had to look this over. i knew in my heart it was cowboys out, but this early in the year and at this altitude ?
im sittin there idlein, lookin things over . im not gettin outta the truck but im looking for someones got hurt or something to ezplain this sight.
not a soul around
what a queer sight to see there in the far reaches of nowhere.
then breaking the silence in a very grave tone ol' rob says, "End of the world. its the rapture" and quick as a wink without even a thought my response was "yea and you damned mormons got left behind.
Now rob is serious about his faith and is all about tellin me how corrupt the catholics are and the inference that the mormons are god's saints and so on, 20 years we been arguing this.
we had no contact with the outside world, no radio no cell, no way to verify this or to debunk it.
i just left it hang in the air, got out to pee took one more carefull look around and moseyed on along.
Ol rob was mighty quiet all the way back to Post which was where we were headed for nightfall. Me i didnt help much by reminding him about the terrible things happens to them that get left behind. . maybe Rob is right we catholics might have an evil streak afterall.