Chairway to Heaven & Paying A Kingman Cowboy Respect

 April 22, 2023

  We're still dodging the heat out here on the Great Sonoran Desert. Last night was delightful. Caught this sunset scene on the Triple B North Forty.

Chairway to Heaven

   This photo contains almost everything I love on the planet. Crumbling adobe, peccary eaten cacti, blooming succulents and one hammy dog who wouldn't pose in the chair. 

Road trip alert

   Heading up north this morning for a two-lane-barn-burner, with stops at the Phippen Art Museum, Prescott Valley, Stuart's house in Yavapai Hills, then on to Chino Valley, Ashfork, Seligman, Peach Springs, Hackberry, Logasville and Hilltop. Here's the reason why:

A Kingman Cowboy's Stairway to Heaven

   My uncle Bud Linn passed last week at the age of 92. He was living in Old Fort Sumner, of all places, and died after a short illness. One of my earliest memories is our family visiting Bud & Jean when he was the ranch manager at the Muleshoe Ranch in Yavapai County (between Bagdad and Prescott).

My dad, my grandparents, Jean and Bud,

 and me on the Muleshoe Ranch, circa 1952.

   Me and and the ranch, are all that remain (and maybe, just maybe, that cherry truck), although the ranch is a conservatory, and you can visit. I think the most amazing thing about this photo is my grandfather is wearing a suit and tie! Granted it was probably a Sunday and we left Kingman after church, but still, dang that is some formality that is long gone from today's yoga pants formal look.

   The memorial service will be held graveside at the Mountain View Cemetery on Hilltop, at noon on Monday. If you knew Bud, please drop by and say goodbye to a very good cowboy.

"You can't appreciate what you have, until you know how bad it can be."

—Old Vaquero Saying