rattlesnakes, hornets, and lightning

while living in congress Arizona we has a neighbor who was a great all around cowman, horse trainer and dog trainer.  he was up in years and should have been retired but was still rollin rocks and rattlin hocks. he had spent time down under chasin wild cattle there , helpin set up rodeo and ropers there.  one evening in august he was at our door step along with his wife and it wasn't for a social call. it seems that the owner of a set of cows they pastured at his ranch had sold those cows and had to gather and ship them. now august in congress Arizona isn't a ideal time to work a rough piece of country and ship cattle. lyman had a hired man but no day help was to be found. he was at my house asking if I could come help along with my two sons who were 12 and 10. I stated I didn't have enough horses to mount all three of us and he assured me he did. so the next morning we rolled outa the soogans at 3 a m  drove the 25 miles to their head quarters. we figured we would be there a week at the least as this 400 head of barzona cows were scattered like a mad womans chickens over 90 sections of some of the roughest country in central Arizona. these cows were gentle and not hard to work but would live in some of the most inaccesable areas you could imagine. after 4 days of day lite til dark we had a big bunch in the shippen trap and were lookin at the roughest circle yet into the canyons at the head waters of the santa maria river.  we left headquarters in the dark this one morning, lyman, my self  marty his hired hand and my to kids ty and carter.  after 2  hours of continuous  climbing and rimmin around we reached the back side of the circle.  on the way  we had picked up about 19 head of cows and threw them into a hold up on the only flat piece of ground in that upended hell. lyman told the boys to hold those cows while he, marty and myself  made a circle and cleaned out that corner of the ranch. as we rode away I heard carter let out a holler. looking back I could see those cows walking off in a dozen different directions. I  loped back and helped the boys throw them back together. riding off I again heard him squal. his little white horse and ty s were wringing wet with sweat as they tried their best to keep those cows in one pile I didn't believe 19 cows could go 25 different directions at once. once again I loped back to help and as I got there cartewr came up with tears in his eyes. " dad" he said " theres a rattle snake EVERYWHERE"  sure enough as I looked around that flat there was a rattle snake under every bush and greasewood! to many to count.  about then lyman came back and we moved this bunch of cows to another location on a hillside. there they stayed.  boys horses were able to rest a little and we continued our circle. on the backside of my circle was a deep canyon with steep sides, and easy trail into it. sure enough way down in the very bottom were three cows looking about the size of a little kids farm toy on the living room floor!! after ascertaining there was no easy way into that ditch I pushed my little bay pony off into it and rolled rocks clear to the bottom. pointing that three head uphill toward the hold up we finally craweled out f the canyon. my horse was shaking with fatige as we reached the rim. pulling my saddle off I let him catch his breath for a few minutes before going to the hold up with my charges. when I finally reached the spot our little herd had grown to about 50 head, lyman and marty were there waiting on me. off to the south west a big black cloud was rumbling with thunder and lightning flashed out the edges. we pointed our cows down off the mountain and headed to the corrals. my horse was jaded and I had to constantly flick him with the tail of my rope to keep him traveling on in the lead of the drive. as we came to a little flat with dead mesquite trees scattered over it I plotted a course through that forest of dead wood. as I approached a big tree one of the limbs was reaching out into my path about chest high. I put my hand on it as my horse wandered under it and pushed and broke it off with a crack. problem was it was full of hornets. that tired ole pony found 3 more gears and left there in a big hurry while I was slapping the green little stingers. wonder on wonder neither of got stung and the drive detoured around that tree!! when we were about half way home a bolt of lightning struck about a quarter mile away and shook us right down to our socks!! then the rain hit. one of those summer rains that comes on with a vengeance and soaks you right down to the bones. the water was runnin off our hat brims and the ground under foot became a lob lolly. on we trudged with lightning stiking everywhere and the rain wind driven. at that time of year no one carried a slicker. so all we could do was hump up and take it.  the boys looked like drowned rats and that lightning popping around had us all scared to death. but we made it inwith all our gather and was soon dried off and wearing borrowed dry clothes had a great lunch while the rain rolled off the roof of the house.  days like that made for wonderful memories , but at the time sure could test your mettle.