Category Archives: Photographs

THE GIFT OF RAIN

Posted on December 25, 2021 by | 1 comment

Heaven sent

to stir the earth

back to life—

 

may a thirst for love

be reborn again

this Christmas Day.

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2021

Winter Solstice – Wagyu X Branding

Posted on December 22, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Though no one dares complain about the rain, we’ve been working towards a branding between storms as the corrals dry out.  Yesterday began cold and foggy as the sun broke through occasionally.

With an exceptional crew of neighbors, it was fun and relaxed for our first branding of the year, a good opportunity for Allie (Fry) Fox to sharpen her skills.  She’s been part of this ranch since she was a baby.

 

It’s always a pleasure having Douglas Thomason in the pen bringing his quiet and calm expertise to the party.  Bodie, his young son below, looks ready to follow in his footsteps.

What a great day!  Robbin and I are thrilled. Thank you all!  With wild and varied predictions of rain (Atmospheric River) through New Years beginning this evening, we’re ready to enjoy the holidays. 

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RESILIENT MOON

Posted on December 19, 2021 by | Leave a comment

We make rules

to keep ourselves in line,

orderly before

whatever captain

steers our ship between

calm and storm.

 

Out here

unpredictable weather

calls the tune

we must dance to—

navigate this landscape

come hell or highwater.

 

The rules change

before our eyes—

nothing stays the same

no matter what—

but we were never taught

to quit the game.

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RAINBOW

Posted on December 17, 2021 by | 5 comments

A promise from forgotten days of rain,

bold whites and blues and greens

flush the flesh clean as a hawk’s cry

 

in spring.  When we were children

here, we walked within our dreams

of endless rivers crashing and cascading

 

from the Sierra snowpack into the Valley

ditches and furrows, row upon row

to fill the cornucopia of the world.

 

But we have pumped the ground dry.

Is this a harbinger of better times, or

have the gods returned to say goodbye?

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PLAYING GOD

Posted on December 16, 2021 by | 2 comments

Best to paint a better picture

without the grizzly details,

without the place the rifle takes

 

the task at hand—I know the way

and how to get back

digging a hole in hard ground.

 

I can’t replay all the faces

in my crosshairs, but

a compassionate man checks out

 

to play God

deaf to sentiment and fear

long enough to not like it—

 

better to have cattle trailing

the feed truck

to wherever it goes.

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Posted in Photographs, Poems 2021

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Rain and Snow

Posted on December 15, 2021 by | 4 comments
Sulphur Peak

2.16” of rain the past two days and snow down to about 2,000 feet yesterday have been a game changer for Robbin and me.  So long dry, it’s not been easy to think in any other terms than drought, but we’re getting there as the south and west slopes fill in with green.  Forecast for more rain on the way through Christmas. 

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DECEMBER 14, 2021

Posted on December 14, 2021 by | 2 comments

I’ve worked hard on my imperfections:

hobbled anger to the point of giving up

my passion.  The drought has beat me up

into a zombie retracing small circles

from house to barn for hay to cattle

and back home for years, it seems.

 

I gathered ghosts and local wild gods

to hope upon a waxing moon for rain,

for a superfluous verdancy to untrack me,

clear the air and make mud of dust—

it’s beginning now, a standing ovation

of applause upon a metal roof.

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THE BOTTLE

Posted on November 29, 2021 by | 2 comments

Before my time

an empty bottle cast

where there was no road,

 

pink with a lifetime

of blistering sunlight

and I wonder who

 

a horseback threw it

now in the short grass—

legends in these hills,

 

weathered men,

drinkers all

coping with the times—

 

with bankers and buyers

betting on the market

and little chance of rain.

 

Or what couple when

lay naked then

in wildflower sunshine.

 

Not much has changed

except for the price

of a cheap bottle of wine.

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JUST IN TIME

Posted on November 9, 2021 by | 4 comments

Gray silver rain,

burnished coins

upon the green—

first leaves of filaree

like faces waiting,

hands open expectantly.

 

The ground sighs

just in time and we,

with wood stacked,

breathe freely now

 

as cows down from ridgetops

collect babies waiting

for breakfast

and old enough to listen

for their mother’s voice.

 

She slipped easily away

under clouds like these.

I hear phrases now—

her knowing

and all her demons

haunt me delightfully,

words that fit

and suddenly

become my own.

 

She would be pleased for us,

gray silver rain

upon the green.

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LIKE ALWAYS

Posted on November 6, 2021 by | 1 comment

Beneath clouds

the forecast rain peters out

to a light mist, heavy dew, a sip

to hold greening hills a week—

like always, I’m disappointed

wanting more

security for cows.

 

Today, we’ll cut skeletons

of brittle manzanita

into woodstove lengths

to bring Blue Oak coals

to flame each morning.

 

We’ll take the dog,

put out salt,

check cows and calves—

stack the brush

load the Kubota

and let her sit between us

all the way home.

 

Through the years

we have worn cow trails of our own.

Like always, we’ll see something

we’ve never seen before.

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