Two Sides of the Same Coin

by Jake Mactire

  “I am happy to see you are better, boss. You looked very bad when the ambulance took you away. When you were unconscious, you had this gray look. We were very worried.” Just about everyone there nodded.

  “You guys are gonna get me dizzy if you don’t stop with the bobble head imitations.” That seemed to break a good deal of tension. Everyone started filling me in on what had happened in the last few days: Wayne, the reward for the capture of the rustlers, dead or alive, and everything else. When I said we had to split the reward as we all worked together, everyone argued against it good naturedly. The doctor came by, and they all went out into the hall as he checked me over. He called a nurse to remove the tubes, which made me feel one hundred percent better. Everyone took turns walking with me the rest of the day to help me get my strength back. The best thing was I’d be going home tomorrow!

  A FEW days later, I was home. I still was a bit slow on my feet, but the doctor felt I was making great progress with the physical therapy. I did feel good enough to have the houseful of people we’d planned for Thanksgiving. Both Tom and Jonathan wanted to interview me for their magazines, and so did a couple of other folks. I reckoned the ranch was going to get a good deal of publicity. Mike had built a fire in the fireplace. We were cuddled together on the sofa. It was snowing again outside, and I could smell the chili he had in the slow cooker. It was nice to be home.

  “Mike, I got a favor to ask.”

  “What’s that, Jeffy?”

  “When we go into Okanogan after the first of the year, let’s spend some extra time at the courthouse after Wayne’s arraignment.”

  “Okay, why though?”

  “Well, I was figurin’ since it’s the county seat….”

  He gave me a quizzical look, so I continued.

  “The courthouse is where we’d register as domestic partners with the state. After Prop 71 passed here in Washington, it’s marriage in everythin’ but the name. That is if you want to, buddy. I know I wanna spend my life with you. So, I reckon what I’m askin’ is will you marry me?”

  He leaned over and kissed me. “That’s the best offer I’ve ever had.”

  “I reckon that’s a yes?” He nodded. “Great!” We kissed again. It’s funny so many folks have said we’re two sides of the same coin. I just know that Mike and I are made for each other, and there’s no one I’d rather have on my team to face the future.

  Epilogue

  DECEMBER nights come early in north Washington. It was about four thirty in the afternoon, and it was already dark. I was sitting on the couch in the living room, my back to the corner of the couch, and my legs crossed Indian style. Mike was laying with his head on my lap. Snow was softly falling outside. A fire was lit in the fireplace. The Christmas tree was about ten feet tall and was in one corner of the room, giving off a fresh piney smell that really reminded me of Christmas. We both had on red long handles and wool socks. A throw blanket was over Mike’s legs and feet; I had another draped over my lap. In the background, Jars of Clay sang “Christmas for Cowboys.”

  It was only a few days before Christmas. I reckoned I was as ready as I’d ever get. I tried this week making jewelry with my bronze casting technique. I was surprised as hell I was able to do it. I made two rings, one with a header throwin’ a rope over a calf’s head, and the other a heeler throwing the rope over the calf’s hind leg. I reckoned since we had practiced so much team roping and we were now in an official domestic partnership, we ought to have rings. So I made them out of fourteen carat gold. I figured I would put them in the stockings we had hung in front of the fireplace on Christmas Eve. They looked really good. The faces were large enough for the calf roping header on Mike’s ring, and the heeler on mine. The rings were a matching set. Like me and Mike.

  “You were right, Jeffy; venison chili is really good.”

  “You doubted me? We gotta use up all that venison from that big nine point buck you got.”

  “Thanks again; I know it wasn’t easy for you with your shoulder botherin’ you.”

  “It weren’t so bad. By that time, my shoulder was more stiff than anythin’.”

  “At least you were able to shoot at the turkeys.”

  “Yep, I figure everyone liked wild turkey as well as the tame stuff.”

  “Thanksgivin’ turned out pretty well, don’t ya think, Jeffy?”

  “Little Harrison sure was happy, I think the adults liked it too. It was fun to take Tom, Harrison, and Jonathan out huntin’ with us for the day.”

  “Harrison loved goin’ for the tree. I think that was a real smart idea to get everyone to go on horseback, pick out the tree and cut it, and then bring it back to decorate. Ryan sure got some good pictures of it, didn’t he?”

  “That he did. Jonathan seemed to have a great time and so did his friend. They all seemed to like the Christmas at the End of the Road festival too. They all want to come back again. Between Jonathan’s Out and About travel magazine, Tom’s publication, that piece in Western Life, and the article about the rustlin’ in the Seattle Times, we got plenty of publicity. Did you see the New York Times reprinted the Seattle Times article?”

  “Yeah. I reckon the dude ranch part is all booked up for a while?”

  “Buddy, we got folks here for months. Smitty, Sandy, and José are gonna take over for us when we go rodeoin’.”

  “I am so lookin’ forward to that, Jeffy, my first gay rodeo. Jeannette offered to drive down with the stock.”

  “Uh-huh. We’re gonna have to fly down. By the way, buddy, what was your favorite article?”

  “I liked the one in Out and About that Jonathan wrote.” He reached over, picked up the issue, and began to read.

  Cowboys and Cattle Rustlers and Rodeos, Oh My!

  These guys are the real thing. Jeff Connelly and his partner Mike Guidry are real cowboys. The stuff on their work boots is real, their Skoal rings are real, and they rope and ride with the best of them. In addition, they run the Lucky Jeff Guest Ranch. The ranch is a working cattle ranch in the Methow Valley in north central Washington. I first met Jeff and Mike in September. I was walking down Main Street in Winslett, WA. Walking toward me was this incredibly handsome cowboy: tight Wranglers, boots, the cowboy shirt, and a big cowboy hat, which he tipped to me. I looked back, and he caught me looking. Then he winked. Later we started up a conversation, and he invited me back to the ranch where he, Mike, and several friends put on a mini-rodeo for me and some other folks, including a boy who wants to be a cowboy. That was my first acquaintance with Jeff Connelly and the Lucky Jeff Ranch.

  Catering to a mix of gay men and women and straight folks, the ranch is a fun place to stay. My friend Sam and I stayed there for Thanksgiving weekend. The accommodations are currently in the main ranch house, a huge log home very close to the Methow River. Two rooms have an attached bath and two have the bathroom down the hall. There’s a hot tub under the stars and a workout room. The food is great, and there is plenty of it. On Thanksgiving weekend, we cut and put up the Christmas tree in the main house. A friend and his family were staying at the ranch for the weekend, too, and the kids were enchanted with real cowboys and cutting their own Christmas trees.

  In staying at the Lucky Jeff Ranch, you’ll feel like you’re guests in a family home. Although they are both only in their twenties, Jeff and Mike are the consummate hosts. Both are artists also; Jeff is becoming well-known for his bronze castings of Western scenes, and Mike is an expert in the traditional cowboy craft of braiding horsehair into hatbands, belts, and various items of tack. Jeff and Mike also are probably two of the most handsome guys I’ve ever met.

  The staff members are a great group of folks, both straight and gay. They have been, for the most part, friends of Jeff’s for years, some dating back to grade school. The love and friendship they have for one another makes the place really special. Jeff and Mike also became famous recently for busting a cattle-rustling ring in northern Washington. Although Jeff was shot in the ensuing gunfight, he’s fine now and
the good guys won!

  In speaking with Jeff, I asked him why a dude ranch.

  Jeff: “Well, Jonathan, I reckon I’m the luckiest guy on earth to live here, be surrounded by such good friends, and just to be out here cowboyin’. It seems to me folks always want to know what cowboys do, and how does a ranch work, and that kinda thing. I thought by invitin’ ’em into my home, I could share that with ’em. Also I really love this area. I grew up here and still think it is one of the most beautiful spots on earth. There’s a lot of outdoor stuff here too.”

  Out and About: “You and Mike are real cowboys, correct?”

  Jeff: “As real as real gets. I been cowboyin’ here and on other ranches around here since I was in my early teens, and Mike got into cowboyin’ in his mid-teens. We both compete in rodeos, both gay and straight, and have won several buckles apiece.”

  Out and About: “Why the mixture of gay and straight folks as guests?”

  Jeff: “I been out since I was sixteen, here. Nowadays for the most part, folks just accept me. They accept Mike too. I think that bein’ out and open helps break down stereotypes and lessens discrimination. The friends who help me run the ranch are both gay and straight, and we all are kinda like one big happy family. That’s the atmosphere I wanna share with my guests.”

  Out and About: “What kind of amenities do you offer your guests?”

  Jeff: “Three full meals a day, a welcomin’ drink, after that alcohol to purchase. We have the workout room and hot tub, and we’re buildin’ a sauna. We have plenty of board games, DVDs, and books to read. We do trail rides, barbecues, mini-rodeos, and we can guide huntin’ and fishin’ trips. We have some cowboy poetry, story, and sing along evenings too. We can teach folks to rope and ride, too, if they want. If one of the guests has an idea of somethin’ they want to do, all they gotta do is ask, and we’ll see if we can make it happen.”

  Out and About: “Don’t you do seasonal events too?”

  Jeff: “We sure do. Over Thanksgivin’ weekend, we had a big turkey dinner, we went out and cut our own Christmas tree and decorated it, and then had a cowboy Christmas party, with carol singin’ and some two-step around the Christmas tree. In roundup season, guests can participate in that. In winter, we are the center of a great area for winter sports.”

  Out and About: “You’re expanding the guest part of the ranch, aren’t you, Jeff?”

  Jeff “We currently have four rooms in the house devoted to guests. We’re gonna build another four cabins outside.”

  Out and About: “Will you do groups or special occasions like commitment ceremonies or weddings?”

  Jeff: “Just ask and we’ll see what we can do.”

  Out and About: “One last question, Jeff, are you named after the ranch or is the ranch named after you?”

  Jeff: Laughs. “Actually, Jonathan, neither. We’re both named after the big ridge that runs right behind the ranch house. It’s called Lucky Jeff Bluff.”

  If you want to visit an authentic working ranch run by real cowboys who happen to be gay, visit the Lucky Jeff Ranch.

  “I like that one too. Tom also wrote a good article, didn’t he?” I began to read Tom’s article.

  My Heroes have always been Cowboys

  My son who is eight has a fascination with cowboys. He wants Western clothes and little toy guns and holsters. This fall my family was lucky enough to meet Jeff Connelly, proprietor of the Lucky Jeff Ranch and a real cowboy.

  The Lucky Jeff Ranch is a working cattle ranch in Washington’s Methow Valley, which takes in dudes. Jeff was in a local coffee shop where we were eating lunch when my son approached him and asked if he was a real cowboy.

  Jeff answered, “One-hundred-percent real” and began to speak with my son about cowboying, and life on a ranch. A friend of Jeff’s, Sandy Johnston, came by, and they invited my wife and me together with our kids to visit the ranch. We had a great dinner, and Jeff, Sandy, their friend Maria, and Jeff’s partner Mike put on a mini-rodeo for us. My son still talks about it. We also spent Thanksgiving at the ranch and had one of the nicest holidays we’ve had in a long time. We took part in cutting and decorating the Christmas tree, and in some delightful caroling led by the staff of the Lucky Jeff Ranch in Winslett’s End of the Road Christmas Festival.

  The staff members of the ranch are all good friends of Jeff and Mike’s, and that is apparent on seeing them interact. Jeff and Mike are partners, and the ranch is open to all, gay and straight. Some folks might think twice about taking their kids to a gay-owned vacation destination, but kids are welcome and well taken care of here. My son and daughter still talk about the great time they had, and the staff all seem to love kids and to go out of their way to make them welcome.

  The accommodations are comfortable, the food is great and plentiful, and the activities these folks put on are great. Ranging from barbecues and storytelling and singing around the campfire (Jeff, Mike, and Maria sing beautifully), to roping and riding lessons, rodeo nights, Western dances, and trail rides, all are well-organized and fun. Other activities, such as horseback camping, hunting and fishing, white water rafting, and winter sports can be arranged. My son and I were part of a deer hunting trip arranged by Jeff and Mike. Everyone had a great time.

  Jeff and Mike are both local artists whose works (bronze castings for Jeff and horsehair hatbands and belts for Mike) are featured in the artists’ co-op in Winslett. Our hosts were recently the subject of many headlines, not only in Washington, but across the country, for their busting of an organized cattle rustling cartel. There was actually a gunfight in which Jeff was injured. But the good guys won, the rustlers are behind bars, and Jeff is okay.

  “After that he started talking about Winslett and the Methow Valley.”

  “I reckon we’re famous now, Jeffy.”

  “It’s shapin’ up to be a real good year, Mike, and I’m really glad you’re here to share it with.”

  “Me too, Jeffy. Me too.” We ended that discussion with a soft kiss, one that spoke volumes about us and our relationship to one and another.

  JAKE MACTIRE’s inspiration for his writing is based on some of his experiences in rodeo and travel. He does his best work coming up with storylines when hiking or cross-country skiing. Writing is Jake’s escape from his boring day job. In addition to writing, Jake loves rodeo, the outdoors, and travel. He’s visited more than fifty countries, ridden the Trans-Siberian Express, taken a riverboat down the Mekong, and hiked the Inca trail in Peru. Closer to home, Jake enjoys hiking, kayaking, and cross-country skiing. He currently lives in Seattle.

  Visit Jake at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001519012715. You can contact him at jake.mactire@gmail.com.