Driving through Texas, a Yankee tourist sees a real, live cattle rancher and stops to talk. “What’s the name of your spread?” He asks, trying to talk like a Texan. “It’s the Bar Seven, Double O, Rocking J, Flying M,” replies the rancher. “I bet you have a lot of cattle,” the visitor replies, scanning the landscape on the other side of the barbed wire fence. “Nope,” replies the rancher, “Not too many of ‘em survive the branding.” An optimist and pessimist are out duck hunting on the marshes between Port Arthur and the Gulf of Mexico. The optimist, who owns the bird dog,