I often wondered
why some old men
liked college kids
around, leaking
basic adventures
that felt full
and familiar
despite the times—
ageless naïveté
seasoned with passion
to pump the blood
into guffaws
and unsolicited
windies with a moral
learned the hard way.
I look back
to see them now
and myself
as a diversion
for old wrecks
just like me.
After early rounds, we retreat, you and I,
to outside shade as the sun bakes
the earth white, drink hot breaths
of monsoonal air as finches pant on the beam—
and then again to the inside of the house
until the canyon’s shadow is complete.
We retreat, you and I, from the outside
world of wars and treachery, the frenzied
feeding of a fire of fears out there—
an eternal flame to keep from being
afraid of the dark—an instant enlightenment
designed for growth and commerce.
We retreat, you and I, knowing seasons
change—and we endure the heat reaching
into the fuzzy edges of our delirium
watering cattle and garden. We retreat
to one another and wait for the fire
to burn itself out—start over again.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged Drought, Paregien Ranch, photographs, poetry, water, weather, world
Too soon to count the summer dawns
remaining, like cattle bunched before the gate,
yet these leftovers of a Gulf monsoon
that invade my sky like dark ships
over the Sierras from where a scattered flotilla
waits for orders, may cloud the day—
steam instead of bake the inhabitants
of this canyon—leave a little crunch,
like vegetables, life for tomorrow.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged Drought, Dry Creek, monsoonal flow, photographs, poetry, weather
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged Dry Creek, haiku, Homer Barn, photographs, poetry, weekly-photo-challenge
I went back up into Greasy yesterday to check the water situation in Section 17 and Sulphur, pastures we felt less critical when Robbin and I went up earlier in the week. We have left them open to one another to make what water we have available to the cattle from both.
I followed my neighbor Caleb Pennebaker up the hill, hauling water to his cattle. Each ranch has its unique attributes and deficiencies, and what works for one ranch doesn’t necessarily work for others. Furthermore, each cattleman develops his own unique perspective, and more often than not, shaped by the ranch he operates. Caleb’s cattle are not in dire straights, though his water is drying back, but he wants to stay ahead of real trouble and deal with the lack of water on his terms by augmenting his cattle early.
In Section 17, the shaded pool of water in Greasy Creek is holding remarkably well, water currently running at 1-2 gallons/minute for a couple of hundred feet to just above the fig trees.
And the water trough piped from Sulphur Spring near the corrals is full and not leaking
as is the trough in the Gathering Field that Robbin and I opened up to the cows in the Lower Field, about half of which have come through the gate.
In Sulphur, the Chimney Pond has been dry for three weeks, but
the pond at Ragle Springs is currently holding a few cows in the middle of the pasture. The cows have redistributed themselves through the open gate from 17 to Sulphur in the past couple of weeks, utilizing the Sycamore Spring that is keeping two troughs full, the overflow of which keeping another neighbor’s trough full.
We’ve had a long string of days over 100°, not unusual for this time of year, that’s impacting our stockwater already. With the balance of July, August and September to get through, we’ll use these photos as benchmarks as we go. Typically, our springs begin to recover by mid-September with shorter days and cooler nights, but as the second dry year in a row, there is no guarantee of that. This information may be valuable for those who follow us, like which springs held up and which ones didn’t in a drought, and though no two years are the same, help them make more informed decisions.
Posted in Photographs
Tagged Caleb Pennebaker, Drought, Greasy Creek, photographs, Section 17, Sulphur, water, weather
Startled to rise
from primordial ooze,
my presence wears no guilt.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged Feral Hog, Greasy Creek, haiku, photographs, poetry, water, wildlife
What comfort to have
my presence be
less imperative than an itch.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged haiku, Paregien Ranch, photographs, poetry, wildlife
Not many leaves, but
hanging on to the tops
of mountains no one sees.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged Blue Oak, Drought, haiku, Paregien Ranch, photographs, poetry, water, weather
Robbin and I went up to Greasy yesterday to check cattle and to see how our water was holding up. A fairly cool morning under light clouds. Lake Kaweah is dropping quickly in Greasy Cove with agricultural irrigation demands in the Valley, leaving a little green ring for the cows in Belle Point to graze.
The old concrete trough that Lee Maloy and Earl McKee Sr. poured in the 30s still holds water at Sulphur Spring, the overflow of which is keeping the troughs in Sec. 17 and the Gathering Field full.
We found a good pocket of water in Greasy Creek at the head of the Lower Field,
and like the pond at Spanish Flat, it may or may not last until fall. We opened the gate between our Lower Field and the Gathering Field to allow access to more water for the cows in the Lower Field, taking the pressure off Greasy Creek and Spanish Flat.
My father told me that in 1939, the water at Grapevine Spring was the only water available on Top after the Gill cowboys rode up and dug the spring out with shovels. We have since developed it a little more.
Railroad still has a fair amount of water, but down substantially from normal years.
The top pond at Railroad has gone dry. We put out protein supplement tubs as we went to go with the dry feed that looks pretty good everywhere considering the drought. Water will be the big issue until it rains. It’s a relief to see it holding up as well as it is, but we’ll have to monitor our water situation weekly and start bringing a little hay when we come.
Posted in Photographs
Tagged Drought, Greasy Creek, photographs, Sulphur Peak, water, weather
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014
Tagged Dry Creek, haiku, photographs, poetry, red sky, Venus, weekly-photo-challenge
