Category Archives: Photographs

Sulphur Branding 2011

Posted on December 7, 2011 by John | Leave a comment

Photos by Earl McKee

Kyle Loveall, Aaron Elliot, Brent Huntington, Douglas Thomason, Kenny McKee, Virginia McKee, Tony Rabb, Spencer Jensen, Zach Shaver, Clarence Holdbrooks, Jody Fuller & Casey Fleeman. Thank you all!

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Cow Gods

Posted on December 2, 2011 by John | Leave a comment

The week ahead looked pretty bleak Sunday afternoon, after repairing the fence behind the bulls who put themselves out, leaving them to fight and have their way with the nearest cows, the air alive in a testosterone frenzy as I came home in the dark. Our plan to gather and brand in Greasy had to be moved back until we got the bulls in, sorted and hauled, a few days early, to the right pastures.

Monday went superbly well in beautiful weather. We were delighted to see a nice buck and a sizeable herd of deer on our last trip down the hill, invigorated with the job done and knowing the cow gods were with us once again.

Tuesday’s gather above the fog in Sulphur was quick and easy. Wednesday’s gather in Section 17 was foggy, wet and cold, but we managed to call all but one cow, who was off by herself having a calf, out of the fog. Despite miserable weather, the cow gods were with us.

Thursday’s branding was an efficient dance of friends and neighbors as high clouds and fog rolled in and out above us, a choreographed team of interchangeable parts and a wonderful feeling of belonging and usefulness as we move into branding season. Furthermore, to have Earl McKee back on his ranch, among us taking pictures and telling stories, talking cows, we were indeed blessed to share a wonderful day.

It’s been a bad week for local weather forecasters: wrong everyday! But looking back, we wouldn’t have wanted to brand on Wednesday with near-freezing temperatures and a tenth of an inch of accumulated moisture in slick corrals. This time of year we have to work around the weather, acknowledging the cow gods every day.

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YEAR OF THE ACORN

Posted on November 21, 2011 by John | Leave a comment

A short and easy fall between
summer and winter, oak trees
heavy, woodpeckers overstocked

for cold, every crack and post
full, a left over crop drops
in circles beneath the trees.

Briefly disrupted, coveys of quail
return to bob upon ripe, black
mats crushed along the back roads.

Dark rafts of wild pigeons
rake the sky between the ridges,
deer fat and blue. It seems easy

to adapt to plenty, larders of pocket
gophers packed and planted
for spring, dry oak and manzanita

stacked beneath the eaves. Like hawks
sequestered to leaves when it rains,
we’re ready for almost anything.

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2011

Big Dog Coyote

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Robbin | Leave a comment

Subject of several posts and some discussion last September (see: ‘coyote’ tagged below) while we were calving our first-calf heifers, we believe this skull is that of the big male coyote that killed at least one Wagyu-cross calf and ripped the ham of another.

Spencer Jensen (seen below flanking a calf, ‘Paregien 2011’) dispatched the coyote 10 days later, ending our calf losses to coyotes to date. Note the size of the canine teeth—over a ½ inch longer than the female coyote he shot on his way up the hill to help us brand. Thanks, Spencer, for all your help!

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Tagged coyote

Paregien 2011

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Robbin | Leave a comment

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Posted in Photographs

Wagyu X Beef

Posted on November 7, 2011 by John | Leave a comment

Steer - August 5, 2010

Some slip the bunch,
miss appointments,
take leave with mothers

for greener pastures
or adventure, led
by the same threads

as we—the tug
and pull we trust
as special, as just

another way
to graze
what others miss.

Steer - October 15, 2011

Bull - October 15, 2011

The Wagyu X steer and his mother (937) showed-up in the pasture in which she was raised after the rest of the Wagyu calves were weaned and shipped in May of 2010. Likewise, the bull appeared with his mother in another pasture, having missed branding (though he got an iron as a yearling). We could have sold them in town with no premium, but we wanted to see what they might grow into and feed ourselves at the same time. The bull weighed 1,200 lbs., the steer, 1,100 lbs, when we started them on grain for 60 days—not the longer feeding régime as employed by Snake River Farms. Another experiment, Robbin and I have a half of each—the burger’s great, top sirloin tonight!

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2011

Tagged Wagyu X

PROCLAIMING SPACE (rewrite)

Posted on November 5, 2011 by John | 1 comment

                                        One day a heron walked
                                        up our front steps and looked
                                        into the front-door window.
                                        Was it a heron and also
                                        something else?
                                                            – Jim Harrison (“Suite of Unreason”)

Old white feed tank claimed by two
renegade racing pigeons on their way home
to stay and fill our sky with dozens, colored

wings glinting in unison. Once the heron’s
roost, our frozen totem facing north, up-canyon
at the head of the drive—our stoic gray sentry,

early on. Or the dependable silhouettes
of a pair of ravens, come evenings to listen
and lean like lovers, closer together until

they disappear at the water trough. Roadrunners
seem everywhere at once sprinting low on long legs
from barn to cactus, strolling the garden rows

like superintendents in tux and tails, also walk
the rail to peer in the window, or the mirror. One
never knows when curiosity might bring them

for closer inspection, for who does the choosing,
who studies whom? And what wide forces
have drawn us closer to proclaim our space?

– for Laurie, Matthew and so many others
of the Kaweah River watershed.

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2011

PROCLAIMING SPACE

Posted on November 4, 2011 by John | Leave a comment

                                        Was it a heron and also
                                        something else?
                                                            – Jim Harrison (“Suite of Unreason”)

On long legs, one never knows
when curiosity
brings them closer
for inspection, if

the new pair—
replacing the ones
that disappeared,
that sprint low from barn to cactus,
or walk the rail, peering in

window
or mirror—

want something more,
strolling garden rows
like superintendents.
Roadrunners
everywhere at once!

Old white feed tank, a pair
of renegade racing pigeons
                    declare as theirs,
                    dozens like them, now
                    colors glinting in unison,

was once the heron’s roost,
our frozen totem facing north
up-canyon at the head
of the drive—
our stoic gray sentry

selected.

One never knows
who does the choosing,
what forces
draw us closer
to proclaim our space.

– for Laurie, Matthew and so many others

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2011

Chance of Rain

Posted on November 1, 2011 by John | Leave a comment

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY – HANFORD CA
400 AM PDT TUE NOV 1 2011

CAZ089>099-012300-
WEST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-EAST CENTRAL SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
SOUTHWESTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-SOUTHEASTERN SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY-
MARIPOSA MADERA AND FRESNO COUNTY FOOTHILLS-
TULARE COUNTY FOOTHILLS-KERN COUNTY MOUNTAINS-
SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON-
TULARE COUNTY MOUNTAINS-INDIAN WELLS VALLEY-
SOUTHEASTERN KERN COUNTY DESERT-
400 AM PDT TUE NOV 1 2011

…COOLER AND UNSETTLED WEATHER TO RETURN THIS WEEK…

A FAST MOVING DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE INTO THE GREAT BASIN TODAY. THIS SYSTEM WILL NOT HAVE MUCH MOISTURE WITH IT…BUT IT WILL LOWER TEMPERATURES ABOUT 10 DEGREES. IT WILL BE BREEZY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING BEHIND THE COLD FRONT…MAINLY ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY…THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS…AND BELOW PASSES IN THE HIGH DESERTS.

A SECOND AND STRONGER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THIS DISTURBANCE COULD BRING SOME LIGHT RAIN OR SHOWERS TO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA…STARTING AROUND MERCED LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING…SPREADING SOUTH INTO KERN COUNTY THURSDAY NIGHT. A FEW SHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO FRIDAY. MUCH COOLER WEATHER CAN BE EXPECTED FRIDAY…WITH TEMPERATURES SOME 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW AVERAGE FOR EARLY NOVEMBER.

SOME SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA…WITH THE SNOW LEVEL FALLING TO BETWEEN 3500 AND 4500 FEET. THERE IS A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE TEHACHAPI MOUNTAINS LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. HOWEVER THE SNOW LEVEL IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE THE MAJOR PASSES…INCLUDING THE GRAPEVINE AND TEHACHAPI PASS. IT WILL AGAIN BE BREEZY TO LOCALLY WINDY THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY.

YET A THIRD SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE LATE SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY. THIS TOO COULD BRING ANOTHER CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN AND HIGHER ELEVATION SNOW…WITH A CONTINUATION OF WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES.