Home On The Range

The men with the big black cowboy hats arrived at the last minute. Other members of the Laurens County Cattlemen's Association and their families had already filled most of the seats, waiting for the meeting to begin. The Yesterukes were set up and ready. The meal was blessed and everyone headed for the buffet line, chatting and visiting as they went. There was no doubt we would be eating beef at a cattlemen's meeting but the delicious brisket was a wonderful surprise. Homemade brisket and homemade desserts!

This group meets monthly to learn more about things like pasture management and hay production, but tonight the program was brought by the Yesterukes. We'll admit there were a few puzzled looks as we filled the seats at the front of the room. Lots of ukuleles and lots of folks with "antique blonde" hair. (One of our players likes to say, "My hair's not white. It's antique blonde!") But faces broke into smiles as the music began. We played some favorites from our regular set list before we got into the Christmas music. And you know we were not leaving without doing Rawhide for this group.

Anywhere we go, it's fun to watch faces as we sing. You can tell when we've done a song that is a favorite for someone. Tonight, a couple of little sleepy heads perked up when we sang Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. A weathered face broke into a grin when we sang Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree. The entire evening was was fun. We love being part of so many Christmas celebrations.

Home On The Range, the state song of Kansas, written in the 1870s and adopted as the state song in 1947