As I cleaned my desk words started to form in my head. "I need an escape." – I'm an internal person. I have conversations with myself, I have full on debates at times– Elections drain everyone on all sides. And it's always the ones that will affect our lives the least that stress us out the most. I picked up the King Ranch Saddle Shop fall catalog from under a pile of mail and started to drift away from the present.
On one page, a rugged cowboy wears a quilted jacket while working cattle. On another, a group of cowhands on horses ride off on a trail into a lush landscape, with no clear destination, wearing barn coats and canvas vests. As the pages turn you start to notice the "Running W." It's the brand of the King Ranch. A symbol unknown to few south of San Antonio. The brand is a romantic symbol of a more simple but wild time. A still standing empire in a world where few remain.
The pages of rolling hills and green plains covered with dew are a far stretch from the actual King Ranch, where dry plains rule with mesquite trees, prickly pears, and rattlesnakes. The book was shot in Oregon. South Texans will be first to point it out. Whether you want them to or not. But the Oregon landscape is soothing. It pulls you into the story. The pages are romanticized and styled. But it’s believable and a refreshing vision of a time that was. A place many only see through pages.
It may be a look book targeted at dude ranch dreamers more than real cowboys, but I'm not sure. My path doesn't cross many authentic cowboys these days. But for me, the King Ranch Saddle Shop fall lookbook allowed me to escape the present for a few minutes. That's pretty impressive for a look book.
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