Category Archives: Ranch Journal

Flower Friday — Lilies Revisited

Posted on May 29, 2015 by John | Leave a comment

WEANING

Posted on May 28, 2015 by John | 1 comment

Surprised, they were glad to see us,
remembered green alfalfa leaf
and came with half-grown children

out of the brush, the canyons,
off ridges to follow
without a thought of escaping.

We are family, know the routine:
dear cowboys and cattle,
me and my machine.

1 Comment

Posted in Photographs, Poems 2015, Ranch Journal

Tagged Calves, cattle, gather, weaning

Saddle at Six

Posted on May 27, 2015 by John | 4 comments

Early morning gathers to wean our calves interrupt the blogging routine, along with age and rising temperatures as we acclimate towards summer. My son is down from the City, welcome and valuable help, good company and humor, we’ve kept him busy since Saturday. My head is full of unfinished poems, taking a backseat to the work at hand.

4 Comments

Posted in Ranch Journal

Echinopsis subdenuda

Posted on May 23, 2015 by John | 2 comments

Our white Echinopsis has begun to bloom under gray skies and the light was fading when I thought of the camera. Because of their placement on the deck, perspective complicated the process, but with interesting results, I think, through the railing.

Native of South America, there are 129 known species of Echinopsis.

2 Comments

Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal

Tagged Echinopsis subdenuda

EASTER LILIES テッポウユリ

Posted on May 22, 2015 by John | 1 comment

The wild of Japan
bloom with ranch vegetables
under a gray sky.

Flower Friday

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

Tagged Easter Lilies, flower-friday, garden, Japan, vegetables

APRIL IN MAY

Posted on May 21, 2015 by John | 2 comments

The creatures love it:
light April showers in May
postponing summer.

2 Comments

Posted in Haiku 2015, Photographs, Ranch Journal

Bulls

Posted on May 19, 2015 by John | 9 comments

The boys are on vacation across the creek as we gather to wean our calves from their mothers. With each new bull added to their pasture, primal bellows ring up and down the canyon as they establish a new pecking order since they were last together.

The Mrnak Herefords have been the basis of our crossbreeding program, adding heterosis, or bybrid vigor, to our Angus cow herd. ‘119’, pictured above, has completed his third year of service with every cow in his pasture recently palpated bred, a remarkable accomplishment considering the steep terrain.

Two years ago he broke one his horns in a battle with an Angus bull, two years his senior, that ended tragically for the Angus. Fortunately, we were able to doctor and repair his broken horn. King of our bulls, he still has to prove himself as the recent raw spots between his horns attest.