Cowboy writer Curt Brummett likes to tell how proud he felt the day his father gave him his first real rope. All young cowboys dream of owning their own rope, which they can use to rope steer. As his father tied the rope into a lasso, he gave Curt one important piece of advice, "Never . . . put it on anything you can't get it off of."

That evening, company came by for coffee. Curt and his little sister were playing in another room. He was trying to rope her feet as she ran by. She retaliated by tying a knot in his rope. He decided that next time she c…