Monthly Archives: February 2015

WILD HYACINTH

Posted on February 19, 2015 by | 2 comments
Wild Hyacinth (Dichelostemma capitatum) - February 16, 2015

Wild Hyacinth (Dichelostemma capitatum)
February 16, 2015

 

No perfect flower,
yet we hunger for beauty
greater than nature.

 

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Posted in Haiku 2015, Photographs, Poems 2015, Ranch Journal

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EARLY SPRING

Posted on February 18, 2015 by | 5 comments
Goldfields - February 16, 2015

Goldfields – February 16, 2015

 

Warm hillsides melting
the Ides of February
in puddles of gold.

 

 

WPC(4) — “Symmetry”

 

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In the Wall Street Journal

Posted on February 17, 2015 by | 6 comments

 

poster_image-Don_Jose_y_La_Pancha-2013-by_Carlos_Cesar_Diaz_Castro-x250web

 

With Randy Rieman and Joel Nelson on the Tuesday night show at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko 2015.   WSJ

 

Thanks to Dick and Pat Jacobsen for sending the clipping along.

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Posted in Photographs

Journal: February 2015 — Seven Pix

Posted on February 17, 2015 by | 9 comments

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Robbin and I went to the Paregien Ranch Sunday to check the cattle, feed, and rain gauge since the storm on the 7th, 8th and 9th. An 1.43″, which was more than anywhere else on the ranch. We’re still trending warm and dry with wildflowers blooming a month earlier than normal, the poppies above and below in Ridenhour Canyon.

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Despite the lush look of spring, there is no rain in the forecast for the rest of the month with temperatures in the mid-70s. We’ll be needing another rain soon or it will be a short grass season. Nevertheless, the cattle are doing well, both cows and calves, taking advantage of early and strong feed.

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Looking ahead, we shut the cattle out our new gathering field to give the grass a chance to grow before we wean, which is normally in May — but it may be March or April if it doesn’t rain.

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Checking on the Windmill Spring, we were greeted enthusiastically by our independent ‘Little Buddy’ who can be seen helping us cut firewood Here and helping me plumb a trough Here before he was branded and tagged in December.

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Though it appears that we’re both having a drink, I was blowing on the overflow pipe to unplug it. Of course, our ‘Little Buddy’ was well aware of the hay in the back of the Kubota.

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BARBED WIRE

Posted on February 16, 2015 by | 10 comments

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Of all the necessary evils strung
across the West, mile after mile
glistening either side of every highway,

every rail, keeping cattle in and people
out: lines of wire and sentry posts
standing between a disastrous mix

of urgencies, a clash of cultures:
the timeless calm of open space
invaded and escaped at seventy.

The better ground fenced between
Frost’s good neighbors, cross-hatched
into managed pastures cowmen dream

will optimize the grass, the grazing—
and of course the breeding: a tangled
trail of testosterone enraged to war,

a crash of skulls, two tons of bellowing
bulls colliding in a storm unwinding
borders for as far as they can.

Most cowboys despise fixing fence—
ride around the long step down
to keep the evil stuff up.

 

 

WPC(3) — “Symmetry”

 

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2015

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CORRALS

Posted on February 15, 2015 by | 6 comments

 

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Our square creations
become places for the wild
to relax and roost.

 

 

WPC(2) — “Symmetry”

 

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SYMMETRY

Posted on February 14, 2015 by | 3 comments

 

May 18, 2014

May 18, 2014

 

A crop of fat calves
just weaned from relieved mothers
like peas in a pod.

 

 

WPC(1) — “Symmetry”

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Ode to the Crew 2: Six Pix

Posted on February 14, 2015 by | 3 comments

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Branding calves is an acquired art, not to be confused with the timed rodeo event of team roping. The idea is to get the calf to the fire while making it as easy on the calf, horses and ground crew (in that order) as possible. Douglas Thomason above times the rhythm of his loop for a long distance shot, catching the calf before it knows it’s caught, half the job done with no stress and little fuss.

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Though the camaraderie is an essential part of trading labor, the branding pen is not a place for recreation. Robbin and I appreciate the care our neighbors take with our calves, as this 450 pound bull calf above would bring about $1,100 in town today. We hope that by June that he’ll be a 650 steer and bring in the vicinity of $2.50/lb. An injured calf, or ones overstressed and susceptible to sickness can become expensive.

 

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Followers of branding pictures on this blog will recognize many familiar faces. On the ground, everyone has a job to do, an orderly process of vaccinations, castration, branding, dehorning, earmarking, tagging and recording–in the branding pen, it can become a dynamic dance.

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Yet in the midst of it all, there are moments that might be forgotten if not captured in a photograph, whether a daughter recently returned home having a moment with her father,

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or a Brent Huntington wiping sweat and smoke from his eyes.

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Our thanks to all, especially the several anonymous photographers.

 

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Ode to the Crew 1: Six Pix

Posted on February 13, 2015 by | 9 comments

We set the ‘point and shoot’ on the branding table, the following were shot by several different people.
 

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There is no easy tribute to good neighbors necessary in the branding pen, whether horseback or on the ground. Trading labor is part of our culture, and the work’s not done until everyone’s calves are branded and vaccinated. Towards the tail end of the branding season, our last bunch of calves were big, which makes Robbin and I happy of course, but it also means harder and more dangerous work for everyone.

 

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Our gather to brand in Greasy began Sunday, over a week ago, interrupted by welcome rain that kept us from finishing the process until last Tuesday — some cows and calves had spent eleven days in out Gathering Field waiting for yesterday. Additionally, wood had to be cut for the branding and cook fires, and the weeds in the corral, nearly two-foot tall, had to be addressed with a weed-eater before we were ready.

 

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It was a long day, shirtsleeves weather, warm in the mid-70s.

 

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Always some exciting moments, even though everyone tries to be respectful and gentle with the calves, some were a handful, pushing 500 pounds.

 

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Calm and steady, we have acquired an efficient routine of ropers and ground crew. Divided into two groups of ropers so arms and horses have time to rest between bunches, there’s always time to visit.

 

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OLD NEIGHBORS

Posted on February 12, 2015 by | 10 comments

 

                        By the excellence of his work the workman is a neighbor.
                        By selling only what he would not despise to own
                        the salesman is a neighbor. By selling what is good
                        his character survives the market.
                              – Wendell Berry (“Prayers and Sayings of the Mad Farmer”)

We wish success for all our neighbors, fat
calves and money enough to buy good bulls
looking for work on our side of the fence,
and ours on theirs, despite best intentions.

Today, old neighbors come to help brand calves
with respect—rope, stretch and vaccinate
rambunctious children to a slow waltz—
to share the bounty of our heritage

despite the drought, despite the cows
we had to sell to save the others
and ourselves. Character upon this ground,
we have survived weather and the market.

 

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Posted in Poems 2015

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