My evening shift at 10 pm has often turned into expeditions lasting until midnight or 1 am. This morning it was EXTREMELY difficult to pull myself out of bed! After my short walk, I turn on the unstable light for the calving shed… half of the time, it turns itself back off as I walk…
Nights
If nothing else, people are impressed by nights in Wyoming. The view of the stars is impressive, and that is magnified in the winter. The stars seem even brighter and the moon … magnificent! Last week gave us the lunar eclipse and I just had to go play with my camera. Above is the fully…
A Quiet Moment
Quiet is part of our lives here. Anymore, that is what I notice when I go to towns. I went to New Orleans a few months back. The only quiet time was sleeping. I visit in Casper or shop in Worland, and even in these small towns, I am relaxed when I leave and silence…
Calving Season
It has arrived. Our first babies have hit the ground. What follows will be restless nights and multiple trips to the calving shed. We have a pretty good setup here for calving. To the east side of my yard sits the heifer lot, where this year, 58 heifers will have their first babies. If I…
My guys
My Guys hard at work in the morning.
Runoff
A few days ago in the midst of an afternoon walk, I stopped. The hillsides were covered in snow, the road I had walked on was ice. But a different sound was literally underlying the countryside. It took a minute to distinguish it. An unseen river was melting underneath my feet. The snow was melting and running…
It’s Disgusting…
People have told me that the reason ranchers get married is to have someone along in the pickup to open gates. I’ve always laughed at that true statement… and since I wasn’t raised on a ranch, I really never had a true idea what living on a ranch would be like. A small tip sheet…
Preparations
The past few days have been filled with preparations. We begin our calving season soon. Our first due date will be on the 23rd, so we are trying to get ready. The days have been extraordinarily nice with the temperature reaching well into the 40’s. While that sounds, and is, a luxurious warmth, it has…
Working Dogs Video
Elsa pushes up some cows through deep snow. I’m not giving her direction beyond her first “Get ’em up!” partly because I’m breathing so hard from walking through the deep snow! She does gather them, even recovering the one I thought she had left. She follows them around the corner of the road, and then…
Tractors
Elsa bunny hunting. When we get used to anything, it becomes an instant frustration when it doesn’t work the way it was designed. You turn the faucet, the water should come out. You flip the switch the light should come on. You start the tractor the diesel engine should growl right along. This morning it…
Snow walkers
Lucas, Elsa, Dally, and I took a walk. The day was warm and softening the snow, burning it off of the south facing hillsides. Today was a good day for black and white! I didn’t get as many good pictures as I wanted. Dally is a fast little girl. She weighs 17 pounds and had…