"I guess a lot of people, even Californians, don't realize that there's still a lot of cattle ranching in this state. There are over 30,000 brands registered in California," Monty explained.
"I saw a bumper sticker on a pickup truck outside that said, "I'm not a cowboy - I just found the hat," - was that yours, or are you a real cowboy?" asked Laura, teasingly.
Monty laughed. "Well, I suppose I'm more of a cattleman than a cowboy, but yes, I guess I am - that wasn't my truck."
Always curious to learn more about something unfamiliar and interesting, Laura asked, "So what's the difference between a cattleman and a cowboy?"
"A cowboy works with cattle, but they're normally someone else's cattle. A cattleman owns cattle, but usually he still does a lot of cowboy work himself."
"How many cows do you have?" Laura questioned innocently.
That was like asking how much money you had in the bank, but a city person wouldn't know that - and besides, this city person was very, very attractive. Monty winced inwardly, but maintained a friendly tone and expression when he replied, "There's about 800 head right now. The numbers go way up when the cows calve in the fall, and then drop in the summer when I sell off the weaned calves and any older cows or bulls." Monty's tone was even and matter-of-fact, neither boastful nor modest.
"You must have a big place to have that many cows," exclaimed Laura.
Asking a rancher how much land he owned was just as much a gaffe as asking how many head of cattle he had, but Monty forgave his seatmate's ignorance of Western etiquette. He could have just agreed that, yes, he did have a big place, but decided that he might as well educate her on the subject of California cattle ranching since she seemed very interested in learning. "It's about 16,000 acres, but it's mostly hills and we only average 13 inches of rain a year, so you need about 20 acres per head. It's not like the East and Midwest where they get lots of rain and can have a lot of cattle in a smaller place, and grow feed for them."
Laura was impressed, since she knew a couple in the Eastern Townships in Quebec who raised beef cattle, but they only had 200 acres.
"It must be a lot different living there than where I live, in a high-rise apartment in the middle of a big city," Laura mused.
"Well, I was in a small city further south, San Luis Obispo, during my college years, and I come up to San Francisco every year for the Grand National to buy some bulls, but the rest of my life has been spent on the ranch, and I love it," replied Monty. "But what brings you to San Francisco?"