Category Archives: Photographs

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Branding the Belle Point Bunch

Posted on March 2, 2013 by John in Photographs

One in a Half-Million

Posted on February 24, 2013 by John | 4 comments

One never knows what lies ahead, where or how we might be blindsided by a turn of events.

Robbin and I have just returned from Santa Cruz where my daughter Amanda lives with her husband and two children, one of which is four months old. Stressed and overextended physically, Amanda, with her immune system weakened, contracted herpesviral encephalitis http://www.encephalitis.info/information/recovery-and-rehab/ a serious, 1 in 500,000 chance to contract this disease and its debilitating effects, including death. ‘Day-5’ since her seizure, she is still exhausted, but recovering well in the hospital, much-improved and retaining almost 100% of her cognitive and physical abilities. We feel extremely fortunate and blessed, thankful for all the prayers from those who knew her situation.

Lance, Amanda & Cutler – March 21, 2010

4 Comments

Posted in Photographs

Tagged herpesviral encephalitis

February Snow

Posted on February 21, 2013 by John | 2 comments

Sulphur Peak

Pogue Canyon

There are no weekends off this time of year as we juggle days around the weather, neighbors’ brandings and our own, trying get the work done. Low snow down to about 1,000 feet with the last cold front that brought 0.62” of welcome rain, we gathered the Wagyu bulls yesterday for their return to Snake River Farms in Idaho, for their TB tests and Health Certificates before they leave California.

Roads into the foothills are impassable, corrals too muddy to brand, neighbors try to reschedule plans to mark their calves, often with cattle gathered on short grass. This time of year, one day runs into the next until we’re all done.

Greasy watershed

Though hard on our cows who have endured nearly three months of abnormally cold weather, we’ll gladly take the snow, any kind of moisture with less than eight inches of precipitation this season, well-below normal. The snow melts slowly, retreating only 500 feet yesterday, to saturate the ground beneath like a time-released prescription. We are still feeding hay in the Greasy watershed each chance we get, but it will be next week, after three more rescheduled brandings, before we can get another pickup load up the hill.

Though I know we’ve had cold winters before, I don’t remember one with such a devastating impact on our cows. One day at a time, and before we know it, we’ll have wildflowers and then be complaining about the summer heat.

Robbin and Bart

2 Comments

Posted in Photographs

Tagged Greasy Creek, Pogue Canyon, Snake River Farms, Wagyu

2012 Wrangler Award

Posted on February 7, 2013 by John | 9 comments

We can’t contain our excitement and proud to announce that the Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Poetry Book for 2012 has gone to:

9 Comments

Posted in Photographs

Tagged 'Proclaiming Space', Western Heritage Museum, Wrangler Award

ELKO 2013

Posted on February 7, 2013 by John | 1 comment

In many ways, perhaps our best Gathering in years, even though there were many sessions and shows, people and friends, we didn’t get to see, in part because we moved to the other end of town after twenty-some years at the Stockman’s, much more comfortable at the Red Lion. Keeping our health in mind, we were also in bed early, with the exception of Friday night at the Stray Dog, Mike Beck picking and performing his unique style on electric guitar, new songs and new riffs for old pieces from the 60s. Loud as usual.

For a taste of what went on, check out: WFC Blog

Night Show: Quebe Sisters, et al.

New footage for a future documentary of me reading “To Hell in a Handbasket”

1 Comment

Posted in Photographs

Earl McKee Photos 9

Posted on February 5, 2013 by John | 1 comment

: Zach Shaver, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Zach Shaver, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Zach Shaver, Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Zach Shaver, Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Zach Shaver, Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

: Zach Shaver, Kenny McKee, Dry Creek Branding © 2013 E. A. McKee

Dear Earl,

More than any other, your pictures in Greasy capture the grace of a branding. You have refined your focus on the loop and rope to show just how beautiful branding calves can be—to show how we feel, why we love to go. The photos from Wednesday’s Dry Creek branding are great, but the location in Greasy, the perfect shape and size of those corrals add so much to the feeling of that slideshow, a dance I’ve never quite seen captured before in Western photographs, and I’ve seen a bunch of the great ones. It shows that you have to have been there and done it to get it captured in a photograph. Anyway, thanks so much for sharing both for now, and for whomever is lucky enough to follow us.

I would like your permission to use some of these on the blog while Robbin and I are gone to Elko. One of the mistakes I’ve made by posting something damn-near everyday, is that when I don’t, everyone knows I’m not home, including the criminal element, assuming they are more intelligent than we generally think. I’m guessing in this day and age when even the audience at Elko has ever-ready access to the Internet, your photographs will get lots of views. Your pictures really reflect well on our business, more insightful than most as to what we’re all about. I would like to schedule a few each day, give you credit, etc., if it’s OK with you.

Thanks again for the slideshows, for your help, and for being there for me, for a long time now.