Moments when the world seems right are hard to come by these days. We had one on Sunday, when we gathered for an event we dubbed Bunkhouse in the Book Store, a fundraiser for Craig Rullman’s documentary film The California Rose.
The film is close to completion, and we needed to gather some plews to get the theme song recorded. What better way than to host a screening of a portion of the film, accompanied by some music — and do it at our indie book store?
It was grand. Great turnout, generous and gracious people. Lane Jacobson, who owns Paulina Springs Books was generous with his space, which features an artifact from his favorite novel — Lonesome Dove. And, yes, that is a dragon crawling through the vent.
Mike Biggers and I wrote The California Rose together, and we played that and a few other originals — and a bunch of Ian Tyson songs. Lane ordered copies of the great cowboy memoir We Pointed Them North, and sold out of them because, as you all know, I’m a damn good flogger of books. Heh!
The California Rose documents the building of a Visalia style saddle by some of the elite makers in the world — a saddle that sold at auction last September for $105,000, the funds to be used for scholarships for artists of the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association. Sunday’s event was part of a circle, part of a commitment to the Continuity & Persistence of art forms and life ways that have intrinsic value and should be preserved.
One of the songs Mike and I played was Tyson’s Jaquima to Freno, his tribute to the vaquero horsemen of Old California.
Jaquima To Freno, he’s an old vaquero
From another time, hands as fine
As the dealers of Reno
He’s been to the ocean, he’s been to the sea
Big long tapaderos hanging both sides of an old Visalia tree
As far as I’m concerned, there’s just nothing better than this: creative work with people I respect and love, in support of folkways that carry lasting value.
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