Being a cowboy is an attitude and an orientation. When you dress like a cowboy you are sending unequivocal signals to the rest of the world that you are walking God's green Earth under these principles and nobody else's. Most of these same words apply to being a cowgirl, but I'll address them in another writing.

A cowboy has his own mind. He does not need anyone to tell him what he ought to do. If you try, you might be met with some hostilities and at least a frank word or two reminding you to let him well enough alone.

A cowboy treats ladies in a gentlemanly manner and women as partners in fun. He makes a distinction between the two based on how the female counterpart presents herself and her reputation in town. If she protests he'll give her a chance either way.

A cowboy shows righteous indignation as his primary emotion. However, he considers the desire and action of work to be an emotion as well. If he is right, which in his mind he usually is, then labor is his most frequent emotion. Righteous indignation is still far more common among cowboys, even those lazy dogs that in many other ways resemble the true cowboy.

Cowboys observe Sunday as the Lord's Day and they at least rest from work. Many of them have been known to grace churches with their presence, but typically when led by a lady there.

The cowboy's family are those he rides with. If he has a chance to contact his blood relations there are often arguments and brawls. Many cowboys though either do not even have families or their kin are spread across the sky, too distant to gather often.

A cowboy needs very little to entertain himself. Often a mere melody in his head prompts a performance singing or whistling. The best of cowboys can also strum a guitar to their voice. If a cowboy can't sing then he must be able to at least play the harmonica. If he can't even do that then he truly is a lonesome ol' doggy.

A cowboy doesn't have many possessions, but what he has is his. If you mess with it you might be messing with your life. So be warned! He is quite fond of his horse, saddle, gun, hat and boots. He'd just as soon cut off a leg than to lose any of them.

As for personal hygiene he practices it as often as he has water to do so and a lady to impress with his intellectual humor. This brings us to the cowboy's jokes. They are often quite crude, but crafty. Their jokes take the least expected twists and turns, bucking you off just like a good wild horse would any greenhorn.

In short, the cowboy is his own man - lonely, but polite, humorous, yet possessive, expecting everyone to follow the same codes of decency and feeling strong about making things right. He loves to be left alone, because too many bad apples spoil the lot. His horse and those he rides with are his favorite companions. So let him ride through the wide open country that he loves, but don't fence him in.

The cowboy has a lot of time to reflect on his life. His reflections are tempered by his job and environment, though. He is a caregiver to cows and a friend to his horse. His colleagues are as pitiful and lowly as he, some honorable and others just plain. All around him stretches either the Great American Plains, a grassy sea, broken from time to time with sage country and desert-like terrain.

His soul feels the freedom of space and the safety of seeing what is coming in the distance. He can sing as loudly as he wishes, he can swear as dark at the cows as he likes, he can see any storm coming from a distance with time to prepare the cows and his horse, and to brace himself.

The cowboy admires his environment. Of course he dreams of places far away and of a woman he loves or once loved, but his feet are always close enough to the ground that he never just drifts off into the atmosphere.

He does not particularly like the tasks he has to do, but he does them with honor. His word is his honor and proven by his reliability. However, when he parties he parties hard and loud and tries to include everyone else as well. He is not ashamed of his lack of skill at dancing or singing, but fashions himself an excellent card player and lover of the ladies.

This is the cowboy, wherever he is.