A beautiful day for a branding with friends, Teri heels a calf for her Dad.
Sid and Javier
Robbin and Lee Loverin
Tony Rabb
Kenny McKee
Break time between teams, we try to keep the work slow for us older people, time to visit, have a snack and a beer.
Clarence Holdbrooks and John
Virginia McKee, Craig Ainley and Kenny McKee
Bev Drewry, John, and Maggie Loverin
Teri Drewry and Lee Loverin
Bill Drewry
Brent Huntington sets one up for Teri
And the oak tree, one of two in the branding pen that keeps the pace subdued. Clarence renamed it “The Release Tree’.
Bill leads one for Teri.
For our first branding of the season, everything was just right. A good place to start on the ranch before the ‘forecast’ rain, still on for Thursday night and Friday, makes our road too slick to travel for who knows how long. Good to get the calves worked before they get too big.
In this ever-modern and high-tech society of work saving devices, we are yet a throwback cattle culture trading labor within our small community. Miles off the asphalt, the branding corrals become another world apart from the latest media hysteria, an opportunity, we like to think, to talk about important things.
Proud, pleased and exhausted, Robbin and I collapsed on the couch.
drycrikjournal 
Wonderful series of photos, John. I loved them all. You’re in the real world.
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Thanks, Angeline. It’s real to us, about all the reality we can stand. 🙂
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Nice to see photos of the characters in your book. Would love to see a picture of your brand.
A couple of the photos made me think of a title, “Branding under the mistletoe” and wonder if there will be enough interest of a new generation to carry on?
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The mistletoe has taken a pretty good hit this year, most dry and brown now contrary to most Christmases, in the oak trees stressed by the drought. Lots of oaks, both Blue and Live, were sporting dry brown leaves this summer, now much of the mistletoe appears to have died. Only time will tell how it all shakes out, whether we’ll lose the mistletoe, or the oaks, or both. There’s a little youth around, but not much.
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My dad worked for Tony Rabb in the 80’s we grew up in the ranch, my dad used to hunt and fish on the lake, we went to school in Woodlake.
Is nice to see Tony, we are very grateful to him, he was very generous to our family. We also had the pleasure of meeting Louie.
very nice pictures, brings back memories.
Thank you.
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