Oh, He Should've Been a Cowboy

The name's Boss Moss and today is his birthday.
Boss Moss grew up in a tiny farming community in Northern Utah. Boss Moss should have been born as a cowboy.

Exhibit A: His boots
When I think about Boss Moss I think about his boots. I remember pulling them off him when he got home from work, I remember wearing them around. I remember all the different colors of boots.
Exhibit B: His hats. Boss Moss has always had a cowboy hat or two. He has a great story about Eastern Montana and his brand new gray Stetson blowing away in the wind. I can not retell the story because my dad is a gifted storyteller and his stories can not be replicated.
Exhibit C: Horses.
Boss Moss loves horses. I remember him testing me on the types of horse coloring and their proper names.
This horse is a Boss Moss.

Exhibit D: Boss Moss loves Westerns, He says that any movie with horses gets an automatic 10 and then you deduct from there. His all time favorite thing to watch is Gunsmoke and Bonanza.
Exhibit E: His belt buckle. One of my earliest memories is going to Western Outdoor and picking out a belt buckle that was sparkly and said Kalispell, Montana. And that is where he lives, Montana, where the cattle outnumber the humans thus necessitating cowboys.
Exhibit F: Boss Moss used to go on cattle roundups for fun. I remember him coming home from one and we learned why cowboys wear bandanas around their neck. He had the worst sunburn I have ever seen on his neck and down the neckline of his shirt.
Exhibit G: He pretends to be a cowboy. Boss Moss and the Cowboy Poet used to go around town and do gigs. The Cowboy Poet would sing his poems and Boss Moss would tell cowboy yarns.

Exhibit H: Boss Moss likes old time country music the more cowboy the better. Entwined in my childhood memories is my dad singing cowboy songs like "El Paso."


Happy Birthday to my Dad, who Should've Been a Cowboy.