My pagan sunrise hangs over the black ridge
reaching for the saddle this side of Sulphur
Peak with blinding light, this native place
where women healed themselves—to endure
this longest day of hundred degree heat.
Each day shorter, we move with confidence
towards October, imagine gusts beneath
dark clouds that bring the storm gods closer
to bless this dry and dusty dirt with rain.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2015, Ranch Journal
Tagged solstice, Sulphur Peak, summer, sunrise
It was good to see her,
visiting like a sister
forty days late
with much on her mind.
Never aging and beautiful,
she spent the afternoon
outside in the gray—
left a rainbow behind.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2015, Ranch Journal
Tagged Drought, Dry Creek, rain, rainbow, Sulphur Peak
Sulphur Peak – March 3, 2015
For most who don’t know, my family purchased the Greasy Creek Ranch from Earl McKee, mentor, surrogate father and good friend for nearly fifty years, where Robbin and I run our cows and calves. Upon seeing the photo of the two bull calves that escaped a simple gather to the corrals for branding, he was moved to write the following poem:
My mind recalls this precious glade
Where these two youngsters lived and played,
And like years ago their ears would hear,
The trumpeting wails of their fathers near.
That trail close by, I long have trod,
On a favorite horse, these hands have shod,
We both know the song that the Robins sing,
And the sounds of the cattle, where the cowbells ring.
Where the blooming Chaparral smells so fair
And the scent of wild flowers fills the air.
Who wouldn’t come back to this peaceful place,
To see Sulphur Mountain’s Majestic face?
I too, wish I could return once more,
To what these two calves, were longing for,
God planned for this place to be left alone,
And like them, I will always say, “That’s Home”.
E. A. M. — 3/13/2015
Posted in Photographs, Ranch Journal
Tagged branding, California Golden Poppies, Calves, Earl A. McKee, Greasy Creek, photographs, poetry, Sulphur Peak, wildflowers
Top of Sulphur – March 3, 2015
…you’re not the only ones
who don’t get ‘em all
gathered and branded:
mothers friends, born
and raised together
in trees tangled with brush,
running mates escaping
the Horse Lot in Greasy.
You were there when
they bolted at the sight
of more cowboys
than they’d ever seen—
panicked partners on a whim
hell bent through the fence
for the safety of home
will never know the ropes,
our hot iron or knife,
headache of dehorning
for the fifty pounds
of recuperation. Not worth
it now to anyone.
for Virginia McKee
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2015, Ranch Journal
Tagged branding, Calves, cows, photographs, poetry, ranch economics, reward, slicks, Sulphur Peak, weekly-photo-challenge
Posted in Haiku 2015, Photographs, Poems 2015
Tagged Dry Creek, haiku, photographs, poetry, Sulphur Peak, weather, weekly-photo-challenge
Sulphur – December 11, 2014
No father or mother left to leave
a Christmas gift under the tree—
even the child in us understands.
An ever-ready substitute, the old
Hereford bull plods along the fence
looking past the asphalt, gutturally
conversing with the neighbor’s
registered Angus mothers
while his younger brethren work
the steep brush and rock,
gather families in the wild
from last year’s seed.
Kept another year, just in case
someone gets hurt, we become
the extras for the gods—
walk the sidelines
lending words to the old songs
‘lest the world forgets
the melodies of Christmas
when it rains, or snows low
leaving only grass under trees.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014, Ranch Journal
Tagged Blue Oak, bulls, Calves, Christmas, cows, grass, Greasy Creek, old songs, photographs, poetry, rain, snow, Sulphur Peak, weather, writing
I made a quick tour of Greasy yesterday before the current rain to check our cattle and feed conditions and to cut a Kubota-load of Manzanita. The lighting beneath the cloud cover and view of Sawtooth (elevation 12,343′), above Mineral King Valley in Sequoia National Park, from below Sulphur Peak was eerie and intriguing, enhanced by the 30x telephoto of my point and shoot. Only a light dusting of snow remains from our last storm, but the forecast is for three feet on the Great Western Divide.
Looking out beneath black clouds at dawn
from a daze, it smells like rain too early
to do much good, yet I am cheery—
old friends returned, dark remnants
of a Mexican hurricane, precursors
perhaps to storms waiting in the wings
rehearsing lines, emphasizing pauses
and diction between thunder and lightening—
old flesh revived beneath a blanket.
Posted in Photographs, Poems 2014, Ranch Journal
Tagged Dry Creek, photographs, poetry, rain, red sky, Sulphur Peak, weather, weekly-photo-challenge
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
Change comes slowly,
only the moss on the rock knows
how the trees have grown.
drycrikjournal 