Writings By Location| Where Have All the Cowboys Gone? | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Okay, so in the words of Paula Cole, only less whiny when I say it, where have all the cowboys gone?
Well, one of them, in my perhaps somewhat disturbed opinion, lives in Orange Hills. My friend Zeke, once my boss at Oracle, now CIO of a major retail company, has the makings of a great modern-day cowboy. He's spent decades racing and riding sailboats all over the world, but now lives in Orange Hills with his wife, two dogs, three birds, and two horses.
Zeke is as close to a cowboy as I've ever known. He doesn't eat beans out of a can around a campfire, but he does love his steak. He doesn't wrangle horses, but he does own one. He doesn't lasso anything, but the decades he spent on sailboats certainly leave him knowing how to tie a good knot (and give him the signature calloused hands, to boot). He doesn't wander the plains with his life in his saddlebag, but he has moved eight times in the last twelve years. He doesn't have a lot of cowhand stories, but he's got great stories about every other kind of adventure anyone can have. So he might as well be a cowboy...even if he does drive a Jaguar.
Unfortunately, Zeke isn't for Heather, given that he's married, and about 20 years older. So I'll digress for a moment to share another story and get back to looking for cowboys in a minute.
I had the opportunity to catch up with Zeke on our way from one of Erin's brothers to the other, on his little mini-ranch, which I've come to think of as Rancho del Duge (his last name). We had a tour of the grounds, and met his new horse, Shoe, only a few days in his possesion. This was a gift from his wife, who already had a horse of her own, Bravo. We spent some time catching up and helping him (okay, watching him) clean and groom his horse, then prepare for an afternoon barbeque with some of his friends, soon to be arriving.
Among his friends was a man named Dave, and his family. Dave and Zeke go way back, though I'd never met him myself. Erin and I particularly enjoyed his company as we sat around talking about sailing, travelling, and a little bit of the inevitable business talk. Of particular interest about Dave — to me, at least — was the fact that his name sounded really familiar to me, until it came out that he was one of the founders of a little company called Earthlink. About a year ago, he went to Seattle to head a startup based mostly on ex-Microsofties called Crossgain, which I also followed in the news, until it recently threw in the towel, no thanks to Microsoft suing all his employees for violating their anti-compete clause.
We spent a good part of the afternoon playing bocce with him and his son, admiring Zeke's expansive lawn that was scheduled to become an in-ground swimming pool...right next to the riding grounds. Gotta love it. Meanwhile, I'm hoping that the common interests Dave and I share in our fondness for Zeke and hatred for Microsoft will come in handy a couple years from now when I return. (Hey, what good is a world tour if you're not making connections along the way?)
