Psalm 23:1-3

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, HE RESTORES MY SOUL...."

Just let that verse take effect for a second or two.  Put yourself in that place.  Green pastures.  Beside a quiet little stream.  Smell the sweet smell of the spring time grass.  Feel the warm sunshine on your face as you lay there.  Maybe you're waiting for a few pair left to pair up after a drive to summer pasture.  Maybe there us a calf calling for his mama in the distance.  Maybe your trusted steed is grazing peacefully nearby.  Maybe you put your hat over your face and drift off for a short little cat nap after a very early morning start........ 

Is there anything more peaceful?  Nope, I don't think so.  I can't count the number of times in my life that I have lived a scene just like this (except the quiet stream was more than likely a tank and windmill pumping in the breeze) and I just took it for granted.  This morning, as I read a devotional with this verse, I was filled with peace.  I was in THAT place.  And I realized I've had that peace in my life all along.  I realized I can lie down in green pastures and be beside the still waters any time. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Man's Best Friend

I love dogs.  I've always loved dogs.  Granted, I love about every kind of critter there is, but I really do love dogs.  Throughout my life, my family has had quite a few different kinds of dogs and I have loved every one.
And dogs like me too.  I can only think of one dog that I've known that didn't like me.  And it really bothered me that it didn't......

When I used to rodeo and go to barrel racing jackpots a lot, I knew everybody's dog.  And I knew everybody's dog's name.  I'm pretty sure I could have gotten into just about anybody's horse trailer tack room and stolen their stuff because their dogs would have let me.

But of course, MY dogs are the most special to me.  My dogs are getting old now.....that's how it works, you know.  If they live long enough and are cared for good enough, well..... they get old.  Just like people.

Deets is a Border Collie.  He's eleven now.  I owned his dad until cancer took him from me just 2 weeks before Deets was born.  I gave him his name from the character in the movie, Lonesome Dove.  After the character, Josh Deets is killed, his friend Woodrow F. Call, carves a tombstone for him.  It reads, "Cheerful in all weathers.  Never shirked a task.  Fought with me in 21 engagements between the Kiowa and Commanche."  I wanted my dog to be like that, so that's why I named him Deets.  He wasn't a bad cow dog in his time.  Kind of like a young horse, you had to get him worn down a little because he liked to push pretty hard.  But he tried to do what you wanted.  He always tried his best.  I admit, I lost my temper with him a couple of times but he always forgave me and came back wanting to please me.  I'd say he has been "cheerful in all weathers".

Deets has been great with kids and adults alike.  His passion, after chasing cattle, has been chasing a stick or a ball.  No one comes to our yard (or Dad's if he happens to be there) that Deets doesn't bring them a stick or a ball to throw for him.   He loves to "go"......I think he prefers the front of the pickup to riding on the back, but I don't think it really matters, just as long as you take him along.  He has gotten to the point that he can't jump on the back any more....I have to pick him up and put him up there.  I think it embarrasses him a little.  He's still a proud old man, you know.   And he will sit in the front with me when I'm feeding cows and pant.....and pant.  But he certainly wouldn't want to stay home.  He might miss something, I guess.

Actually, I think Deets just wants to be with me.  I don't know that he would protect me much if someone tried to hurt me.  He'd probably just wag his tail and pester them with a stick or ball WHILE they were hurting me! 

We have been pretty busy getting all the Fall work done, so I guess we hadn't taken much time to give old Deets a proper petting for a while.  A few weeks ago, I noticed he had been losing quite a bit of weight.  His backbone was just as bony as  an old cow's.  And then he just quit eating.  He slept almost all the time and didn't want to go in the pickup.  He seemed depressed.  He just wasn't "Deets".  So we took him to see my friend, Doctor Susan, a great small animal vet who grew up not too far away from here.  She was pretty concerned.  It could be cancer like his dad.  Or quite a few other things.  So she kept him at the clinic for a couple of days to do tests and watch him.  I was worried sick.  It was pretty hard to think about anything but my old dog. 

But the next afternoon, Doctor Susan called and said he didn't have any cancer that she could find and she had gotten him to eat.  The meds she'd given him seemed to be working.  She was "cautiously optimistic" that he was doing better.  We got to bring him home the next day......and every day he has been getting better and more like his old self.

The sad thing is, I know we won't get to have Deets forever.  Dogs are a temporary part of our life.  Like his old dad, I'll have to dig a hole one of these days and lay him to rest.  It's mighty painful to say goodbye to our old friends....whether they are animal or human.  But that's part of it.  When Deets' dad died and I was out digging his grave, my dad came over to see how I was getting along.  I was crying and wiping tears and snot and still digging.  My dad said, "that's why I don't have a dog.  'Cause it's too hard."  And I looked up at him and said, "I wouldn't trade this hurt I feel right now for all the joy this dog has brought to me."

I read a little saying about dogs a while back that I will share with you.  I probably won't quote it quite right, but I'm pretty sure I'll get close enough that you'll get the idea of it.

"When our dogs die, they take a little piece of our hearts with them, leaving us with a piece of theirs.  It is my hope to live long enough, that my heart will be made up of all of my dogs' and none of mine."

6/4/2013.....Deets passed away on May 13, 2013 from congestive heart failure.  He died after a big day of playing with kids who were here for our branding.  We laid him to rest up on a hill over east of our house where he spent a lot of time.  He surely is missed.

Tragic

For my entire elementary schooling, I went to a one room country school on the "outskirts" of Ringgold, Nebraska, located right on Highway 92, between Stapleton in Logan County, Nebraska and Tryon in McPherson County, Nebraska.  It was a pretty happy time in my life, filled with book learnin' and prayer before lunch.  At recess, playing games like "steal sticks" and "pum-pum pull-away",  "fox and geese" when it snowed and building great snow forts when there were big snowstorms. We took great pride in being from District #59 and dubbed ourselves the "Ringgold Gophers" for some reason I can't now remember.

My parents and the parents of all the kids I went to school with during that 8 years, never gave a thought to our personal safety or well being......any more than they would have if we had been at home with them.  There was never a fear that someone would come into our little school and harm us.  I understand that many, many years have passed since I was a student at District #59.  Times have changed for sure. 

My heart breaks for the families of the children and teachers gunned down in Connecticut yesterday.  I cannot imagine the grief they must feel.  I am deeply concerned for the children who witnessed this terrible sick act.  I pray that with time, this tragedy will fade from their memories.  I know from personal experience that kids are resilient and I pray these kids receive and extra dose of it.

And today, many folks are trying to make this horrific tragedy into something else.  A debate.  Could this have been prevented?  Maybe.  However the evil that caused this young man to do something so unspeakable, regardless of  his motives.....is just that.  Evil.  Is it a mental illness?  My mind cannot process it in any other way.  Is this the fault of anti-gun laws?  Could it have been prevented if instructors were armed?  In my opinion, it is doubtful......however, I do believe it might be a deterrent in the future.  But on the other hand, what's to stop unarmed people with evil in their hearts from coming into a school and taking the firearms to commit the unthinkable?

Did God "allow" these children to be killed because prayer has been taken from our public schools?  I do NOT believe so......however IF prayer was still allowed I believe some kids might grow up a little differently.  If  God, family values and traditional morals were placed higher on everyone's list, perhaps the world might be a little better place in general.  If sick individuals with a death wish were forgotten and their names not publicized so intensely MAYBE it would deter others from choosing something like this. 

And yet with all the terrible news we hear every day, I still do not doubt the existence of wonderful, beautiful, loving people in this world.  People that can be trusted and looked up to.  People who come to the aid of others.  Heroes.  I know there were heroes on hand yesterday.  Most of them are probably not with us today........and THOSE are the people I hope we will all remember.  As their names are released, remember them, talk about them.  Honor them.

The Important Things Are Good

Well, we are finally getting caught up on our Fall work.....the calves are all weaned and the cows are out on winter range.  Granted, there isn't quite as much winter range as we'd like, but we are blessed with something to get us by until about the first of the year.  Then it will be time to feed hay to the cows, regardless of the weather.

We still have one bunch of calves left to give booster shots and two bunches to sort for sex and the replacement heifers to sort and the rest of the heifers to get EID (age and source) tagged.  That MAY seem like we have a lot to do, but compared to everything that's behind us, we are definitely on the downhill side of Fall work.

It's gone pretty good.  A couple bunches of cows have not penned very well......we're trying to cull out the nasty bunch quitting old sallys and give them a much deserved trip to see the sights of town.  We culled down a little heavier than we usually do, but it was a necessary evil.  Some of those old gals were getting quite a bit of age on them and it was starting to show.  But the ones we kept, pregged up good and look really good into this first week of December.  The calves have been healthy, such a blessing.  And I'm so doggoned proud of my replacement heifers, I darn near bust a button every time I go feed them.  I wish somebody would come look at them.....so I could brag on them a little.  And I hope I'm still bragging come the first of March when they start calving.

We made a couple of improvements this year that helped us a bunch.  The first was the purchase of a hydraulic working chute.  Boy, I tell ya, my shoulders sure enjoy standing there letting my two hands do all the work!  It seems to be easier on the cattle and getting rid of our homemade, "made for elephants" palp cage, made it much better for the calves to not get turned around in the alleyway.  The second improvement was just me using Maggie (who has turned into quite a little cutting horse, I must say!!) to bring cows up the sorting alley.  The cows have a lot more respect for Maggie than they do little old Dad and me waving our arms and sorting sticks.  Maggie pins her ears and most of the time that's all it takes for them to trot right up to the chute.

So despite the fact that summer was rough....the roughest anyone around here has ever seen, we are getting along.  And doing well.  We are blessed.  And we are still grateful to have the opportunity to do what we love in a place we love and I'm with the people I love the most.....Matt and Dad.   My friend Virgilene often says, "the important things are good".  And she is right.

Time Will Tell

It's going to be a tricky winter.  Some folks are saying it's going to be a bad one for snow, while others are saying we'll probably have more of the same conditions we've been having.  Either way, it will be something to deal with.

I contracted my cottoncake for the cows and calves yesterday.  Let's just say that it's going to be VERY expensive.  But you'd expect that.  With the drought we expect less corn, beans, wheat, etc than were initially expected, driving the prices up.....Way up.  Much of  the yields will not be poor since a majority of farmers have some kind of irrigation here in the middle of the US.  Dryland crops will be much less than projected early this spring.  Because no one really projected that we were heading into a drought season.  It's one of the "sh*t runs down hill" type things that has an effect on everyone.

Hay prices are absolutely through the roof.  I've talked to several ranchers who have "wet meadows" they put up hay on.  They are able to mow places they haven't been able to mow in many years because it is so dry.  The hay isn't as good as it has been, but it's going to beat a snowbank.....if we get any.  We hear folks are bringing in alfalfa hay from Canada for $400/ton.  Let me put that in perspective just a bit for you.  In a normal year, we feed roughly 10 ton A DAY.  We are a pretty small operation compared to some.  Fortunately for us, we have had a surplus the last few years and have added to our hay this year from our pivot of alfalfa.  There's still a chance we might be able to get a fourth cutting which won't be a lot of hay, but it will be hay we didn't have before.  Depending upon the winter conditions, we should have enough to get us through the winter.

It's definitely a learning time for many of us.  We have had things so good the last few years that for the most part, it's been a "no-brainer" getting through each season.  For me anyway, it's been a year of a lot more "putting the pencil to the paper" , so to speak.  One good thing about us ranchers.......we spend a lot of time alone where we are able to do a lot of thinking. 

But to me, the thing that is perhaps going to trip some of my fellow ranchers up (and I could be wrong about this....it's pretty much just speculation here) is what's going to happen next year.  While our cows still look good now, I believe that is the benefit of the last few years of good grass and nice winters.  I think a cow's system is actually a year behind what her body looks like.  So it could be difficult to care for the cows this winter.  I think, more than ever,  nutrition will be key this year.  And perhaps we'd be ahead to feed better than usual, to try getting our cows through this difficult time and have them ready for calving and breeding season NEXT YEAR. 

Time will tell what the cattle industry holds for the next few years.  I'm sorry to say this drought will probably put some producers out of business, like it did for cattle producers in the southern states.  Others will squeak by and still others will somehow make a lot of money from others' misfortune.  Again, I will be trusting my "Heavenly Cow Boss" to help make the right decisions and to bring us through a difficult time.  Whatever happens, I know He will be there to take care of us and bring us through better on the other side.

Fighting Fire

It's still mighty dry in the Sandhills.  And while we haven't had a lot of lightening in recent weeks that hasn't led to a  little moisture, there is still a terrible threat of fires.  The humidity is down to around 20 percent on a lot of days, so even a tiny spark (caused by a piece of haying equipment, a cigarette, a catalytic converter on a pickup, or anything else you can or can't imagine) could lead to a fire right now.  All of us who live and love the Sandhills are walking on eggshells being so careful.  But still, accidents happen.  Just like yesterday.

I don't know for sure what caused the fire.  Word was, a combine or other such equipment caused a spark, but no one seemed to know for sure.  What was certain is there was a big ol' fire.  And it was comin' at a high lope.  The high winds were out of the southwest, then out of the southeast and sometimes straight out of the south.  Some folks don't know that a fire can make it's own wind too.  So not only did this fire have a lot of fuel to burn, it was taking on a life of it's own.  And let me tell ya.....it was angry.

It all works like this......our local volunteer fire department will get a call for either a fire in our county or a mutual aid to another county.  If it's like it was yesterday and the fire is burning pretty much out of control, the fire department will call ranchers on their list who are known to have "grass rigs" (sprayers set up on a smaller scale of the fire department's) to come help.  Most of the time, if we see smoke, we are trying to find out where the fire is already and heading in the direction of it.

We got the call about the end of the first quarter of the Husker game.

Since we have been to quite a few fires already this year and it is never a pleasant thing to know folks are losing property, I can't say Matt or I was looking forward to going.  But we go.  We go because we know how it would be if it was us.  We'd sure want folks to come help us if it was our grass on fire.  My heart breaks every time we go to a fire and I see folks trying to move their cattle out of the way.......I have to fight awful hard to hold back tears.  I am not holding them back now.  When I think of how it would be for me to be afraid for my livelihood, what I work for and love, I can almost not bear it.  I love the hills and the grass and I most certainly hate seeing anyone's property damaged.....but the cattle....they are my passion, I guess.  And I assume they mean as much to others as they do to me.  So it is especially hard to think of something happening to them.

I am guessing this fire was a good 30 miles from us.  Now it might seem silly to drive all that way to a fire and leave your own backyard where something could happen, but especially on a day like yesterday, it was pretty obvious from the smoke billowing up in the air, that we could plainly see from our house, that they were in definite need of help.

Our grass rig is set up on my cake feeding pickup.  The tank holds 200 gallons of water and can either be filled with a hose on the top, or we can suck up water out of a stock tank.  At the bigger fires, there will be several "tankers" from the fire departments who are back a little bit from the fire but still close enough we can get to them, fill up and get back to the fire pretty quickly.  Our fire department has blue lights flashing on the top of theirs, so if it's dark out, you can look for blue flashing lights and know where to go fill up.  If we don't see a tanker close by, we look for a stock tank to fill out of.  Generally if there are cattle in that pasture (or a year like this one) the windmill will be on and pumping and we can get water for our tank there.

Actually fighting the fire is kind of a case by case deal.  But there are a few rules, if you will, that everyone needs to know.  One big rule is to get in the black if you are in trouble.  The black is where the fire has already burned.  If it's already burned, it can't burn again so you can be safe there.  Another rule most of us ranchers go by is to stay at the back of the fire.  The fire departments are way better equipped to put out the big head fires.  Those can get BIG!  And ferocious.  But on occasion, the ranchers are forced to the front if, for instance, the fire department isn't there yet, or there are just too many head fires going at once.

If a little bit of fire gets left going, it can cause a "finger" to come up the back side of the fire.  That happens pretty often, especially if there aren't enough people fighting in the same spot.  Ideally, on a bigger deal like yesterday, several rigs can follow each other, and each one puts out a little more fire, making sure it's completely out.  Right on the edge of the fire there can be bits of grass or a soapweed or a cow chip left smoldering that can spark into the dry grass next to it and start the fire burning again.  So even after the whole thing is out, we need to go around "mopping up" (usually the fire departments do this....thankfully) and just keep dousing the edges with water to make sure nothing gets away.

I will absolutely not drive on the fire line.  For one reason, because I have a tendency to get a little shook at these deals.  I am also short enough that I can barely see over the hood of the pickup and in some of the places we go, it would be pretty easy to drive off into a big hole or blowout.  But the main reason is because I trust Matt to take care of me.  And he is smart in scary situations. So I am on the back of the pickup, spraying water.  I get bumps and bruises and have gotten pretty hot on a few occasions, but have never really been scared to be back there.....mostly because if I holler at Matt to get us out, he gets us out. 

Yesterday was a little different than any fire I have been to before.  The smoke was worse than anything I've ever been in.  There were moments when Matt literally could not see the grill guard on the front of the pickup.....that's bad.  Because you know if YOU can't see, no one else can either.  We would have to pull out of the fire to a place where we could see, leaving the fire to keep burning.  Then go back to the back and start again.  We finally got a little different game plan on this fire, to go against the grain, so to speak and stay out of the majority of the smoke.  It's not how it's usually done, but it worked.

We are most definitely looking forward to some snow cover this winter, although, I have to admit, it doesn't look too promising for that to happen.  We will keep looking to the sky and praying for whatever moisture the Good Lord will send us.....and thanking Him for blessing us with no fires.....

Scared

It's been a particularly dry, hot and windy summer here in the Sandhills.  My beautiful green, lush pastures are mostly brown and dried.  There have been prairie fires, mostly started by dry lightening, all around us.  Folks are getting scared.  Scared of more fires.  Scared of a tough winter.  Scared of not having enough range to get through the summer.  Scared we'll have sick calves.  Scared....scared....scared. 

I have to admit, I've had quite a few moments when I've been pretty scared, too.  I have felt great defeat.  I have stopped out in the pastures, got down on my knees and wept.....and prayed....prayed for rain, prayed for strength, prayed for wisdom to know how to regroup and handle something I've never had to tackle before.   I've admitted to God how scared I've been. 

We've helped neighbors fight big prairie fires and we've seen what our neighbors to the north, up near the Valentine area are experiencing.  We look to the skies and pray for rain and it seems like all we receive in return is a few sprinkles and more dry lightening strikes.  The hot days and the dry hot winds make it easy to forget the days of winter.

Truth is, we are spoiled.  Moisture has been so plentiful the last few years that we have forgotten what dry conditions are like.  We have to remind ourselves that generations before us have experienced these things too......and most of all, we have to remind ourselves "this too shall pass."

I have been given comfort in knowing that I'm doing what the Good Lord put me on this earth to do.  He wouldn't have put me back here in the Sandhills so long ago and put so many things in my favor if that weren't so.  And so I live with the faith that He will give me what I need when I need it, to get me through this rough time.  And while I have most definitely had moments when I have questioned why God would do this to us, when we are doing our best to do His will, I have to remind myself again of the truths I know from His word and not from what I see.  Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  I remind myself of this, sometimes hourly.....Philippians 4:20 "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."  Proverbs 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."  Psalms 55:22 "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall." And even if I DO fall, He is there to pick me up and give me something better....There are several others, but these are the main ones I try to hold on to.

Because I have faith in my God, I know, without a doubt we will overcome this rough time.  He is bigger than a drought.  He is bigger than a prairie fire.  He is bigger than any problem I can face.  And He has always brought me through tough times in better shape than before.  So I know He will again.