Last Train Before the Snow

Robert "Chuck" Judd moved back to Periwinkle County from Montana last fall, as an 80th birthday present to his daughter. It was his 80th, not hers, but he thought it would be an exciting present for her. It was so exciting she spent three days in the hospital, on "the sixth floor," if you know what I mean.

Robbie, as he was known as a child, grew up on Western movies and couldn't wait to be in them himself. He ran off to Hollywood at age eight and played "Little Woodchuck" in a series of movies that featured Autry "Flip 'Em High" Rogers, "The Cooking Cowboy." Through the years "Little Woodchuck" got shortened to "Chuck."

After his movie days he moved to Montana and was a real working cowboy, as well as a well-known "cowboy poet," writing in the usual vein of cowboy poets, disclaiming about "piles on the prairie" and similar themes.

He brought his three horses with him, Simmie, Puddin, and Dense, all named for his favorite persimmon meal, and also for their own qualities. You can see all three, any day, munching contentedly at the trough in his daughter's back yard.

The County Council, or "Gang of Eleven" as they are popularly known, soon named him "Poet Lariat" of the county.

His daughter thought he might feel too confined in Periwinkle County, now that he was an official poet, and encouraged him to take a trip to New York to find a publisher. He did. She worried quite a bit. "He might get lost and never return," she said wistfully.

He didn't get lost, but he got disgusted with New Yorkers. They got a 20 inch snow storm and thought it was a big deal. That was nothing compared to the storms he had weathered in Montana. So he took the train back to Periwinkle County. His timing was good. He got the last train before the next storm came. On the way home he got out his guitar and began to write a song...

The snow's real pretty if you've got windows,
But it uglies up fast when it howls and blows.
The snow's sort of cozy if you've got some walls,
But it's downright tricky if there's calves down in the draws.

The blizzard's coming, it's time to go
You'd better get the last train before the snow.

You got to pull the calves out or they're going to die
So put on your mackinaw and give a big sigh
And go out to the coulees with your horse and rope
And noose 'em real gentle and pull 'em up the slope

The blizzard's coming, it's time to go
You'd better get the last train before the snow.

Before he got home, Amtrack had contacted him about appearing in a TV commercial.