The Bunkhouse at Elkhead Creek

About the Book

            The Bunkhouse at Elkhead Creek is a reminiscence of life in the country.  Now, most would surmise that life in an unpopulated area of Colorado, consisting of two residents per square mile, should be uncomplicated; however, when external issues impact one’s life, cowboys react.  The first rule of the cowboy is to protect that which belongs to the cowboy.  So, when an action taken by a government agency thirty years prior threatens his home, the protective hormones surface.  After about ten years of cussin’ and discussin’, this threat is no more resolved when another government-induced threat is laid at his doorstep.  This threat results in another two years of cussin’ and discussin’ before it is resolved.  During this period of turmoil, it is suggested that the author take the retirement of a local county commissioner as an opportunity to run for public office.  Unfortunately, he makes the wrong decision, and during his period in office, the country goes into a national economic slow down.  This downturn eventually impacts the county’s expenditures and services are reduced.  These cuts are very unpopular with certain segments of the community.  As Rudy Giuliani, the former Mayor of New York, once said, “When you confront a problem, you begin to solve it.”  As the author works through all of these unexpected problems, like a mystery novel, he learns that everything is not as it seems.  When he digs into these issues, he discovers many misrepresentations.  Warren Buffet, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is quoted, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”  Is it possible that Mayor Giuliani and Warren Buffet are cowboys?  The serenity of life at the bunkhouse is a cherished but fragile gift…insert the first rule of the cowboy here.

About the Author

Having just completed a twenty-year career in the navy, the author’s primary objective was to find work and to get away from the crowds, traffic, and general congestion of the cities and seaports.  When a job offer to work at a newly constructed coal-fired power plant in Craig, Colorado, population nine thousand, was received, this seemed to fit the bill.  After having settled in to this new job and community, a house fire caused him to start looking for a new residence.  His search ended when he discovered, with the help of a realtor, the bunkhouse at Elkhead Creek.  A ranch property located by a reservoir.  Later an opportunity became available, due to technology and the adaptation of distance- learning techniques, to complete a once-pursued-but-long-forgotten college degree, and then an opportunity to study for his masters.  Is life good or what?  During this period of hyper activity that included work, attending classes, studying, writing papers, and just trying to survive an insane pace, the author discovers an entirely new art form, at least to him, cowboy poetry.  Having been introduced to poetry during his early years of education, and basically dismissing it, he now finds he really connects with this stuff.  Unlike most of the poetry that he was exposed to during his earlier years, here is storytelling that uses common language, is fun, interesting, and uncomplicated.  In time, the author begins to take incidents from the past and present-day events and spinning them into his own version of this new art form.  To paraphrase one of the cowboy poets that he has met over the years, “Once this stuff gets a grip on your mind, it is easier to write it down than it is to forget it.”