Wild Wild West

A while back Nick and I took a little mini-vacation to Rapid City and the Black Hills. We decided to try a new hotel/lodge that was built in Custer State Park. Before we left I told a friend of mine that it was the kind of place where we were liable to find a buffalo looking in the window.

As it turns out, I didn't know how true of a statement that actually was.

And we got to our room, I found myself in the closest proximity to a buffalo I think I'd ever been.

Disclaimer:

Do Not try this without a window and at least half a wall between yourself and the buffalo

What I take for granted

Last week, my old college roommate, who happens to be one of my best buds put herself and the youngest of her three daughters on an airplane in Texas and, after a layover in Denver, a bumpy landing in Rapid City, SD, and looonngg car ride south, ended up at Eli Road for a few days visit. For some cute pics from this little excursion, check out: http://www.ourtexastrio.blogspot.com

My good friend grew up, collectively, outside Spokane, WA, in Overton, KS, and Lincoln, NE. She and her family of cuties are now in a very urban part of Texas, and they are, understandably, slightly more accustomed to the city life. It was great fun to show her around. Katie and I always have fun together, and the addition of her 15 month old daughter only added to the good times. But as we bumped around the ranch with Eva happily bouncing in her carseat and "singing" along with country music on the radio, it occurred to me that that are a lot of things I take for granted out here at Eli Road.

For instance, I learned that I take for granted:

1. Waking up every morning and looking out every evening to see deer, turkeys, coyotes, or other wild animals wandering around the meadow. I spend most of my time thinking about what a nuisance they can be and I forget what a unique blessing wildlife actually is.

2. Little kids in cities or large urban areas often don't get to grow up around muddy river banks. At least not relatively safe, unpolluted ones. They may be pretty grown up before they really know how wonderful it can be to squish your fingers and toes in good, clean mud. (and that's if they ever do!)

3. Not everyone has a family full of women who made it a point to be certain that every female (yes, we can be a little gender biased out here) born or married into the family knows how to make a homemade pie crust. Even if it takes a lot of practice, frustration, and even some temper tears on the first try!

4. A big, lovable, but clumsy black dog can come across as something more akin to a black bear to a little girl who had never seen such a thing before. (Thankfully she recovered quickly - I don't think she'll be scarred for life....)

5. Having access to good, fresh foods either straight out of the garden when in season, or preserved with an expert's hand - like my mother-in-law's famous pickles - should not be taken lightly. Especially when threatened by billions of mutant grasshoppers.

6. Sometimes it's nice to be in a place where no one can reach you on a cell phone. It forces people to decide whether it's really important enough to bother calling on the landline.

7. Investing in bug spray can save your sanity and your arms/legs from itchy little reddish/purplish sores.

8. Horses and cows happily grazing in a pasture, watching a husband and his neighbors busily cutting and baling hay, and driving around a ranch for no other reason that to just see what's out there can make for great entertainment.

Ankle Deep

It's been a long, slow winter. (Which is part of the reason for my recent lack of blogs. The other part being, of course, laziness) But it's also been a very cold and snowy winter. So imagine our delight when the mercury rose just high enough over the last two days to hit the fifty degree mark.

But, one should also remember that with warmer weather, comes new challenges. For instance, take the following equation:

4 months of near constant snow and single digit temperatures + 2 days of 50 degree weather =

Yeah...that. And we're not just talking about regular mud, this is a very specific mixture of wet dirt, broken down bits of hay and silage, and of course, cow poo. It's thick, it's wet and slippery, it's deep. The kind of stuff you sink into.

Today, Nick managed to get his tractor and feed wagon stuck while feeding the cows. So while I'm sipping my Saturday morning cup of coffee while reading the news on the internet, Nick comes trudging into the house with one of my least favorite phrases, "Jaammii, Can you come help me?"

So up I go, throwing on a pair of jeans, shoving my hair into a ponytail, and faithfully following my favorite rancher to make my best effort at getting him unstuck. Apparently the plan is this: He'll take another tractor and I'm to follow in the infamous little white pickup. He's going to try to pull the feed wagon sideways to get it out. If that fails, I'm to get in the big tractor and try to drive it one direction or another while he pulls some more. If that fails, well, then he'll have to come up with a new plan.

Now, before I go any farther, I should mention one more thing. I don't know how to drive a tractor. I know, I know, that sounds terrible coming from a "ranch wife." The thing is, before Nick and I got married, one of my great-aunt's (with more than probably 50 years worth of ranch wife experience) gave me a piece of advice. "Never learn how to drive a tractor," she said. "The minute you do, you'll be expected to do it all the time."

This is advice I've taken to heart, and for more than 3 years I've avoided any lessons in operating a John Deere anything. I knew it would never last however, and today, I got my first lesson. Fortunately, the feed wagon wasn't stuck as bad as Nick thought, so my lesson was a short one - consisting only of learning how to drive approximately one foot forward and one foot backward. I'm just hoping we haven't opened Pandora's Box.

Nick trying to decide which of his plans seemed most likely to work.

At some point Gimli materialized. Presumably, he came to check on what we were doing, but seeing as he's afraid of cows, he elected to jump into the back of the little white pickup and watch.

What I Learned At A Wobig Family Thanksgiving

(Warning: this may only make sense to a limited number of people)

10. Lisbon is the capital of Portugal

9. Jake makes the best mashed potatoes, which apparently includes approximately 12 tablespoons of butter per every 10 potatoes

8. purple hair is NOT the same thing as pink hair

7. Somethings just shouldn't be roped

6. You can balance a spoon on your nose no matter how big or heavy the spoons are

5. If you need to know where our fathers are, you'll most likely find them "staring a GIANT jug of wine in the basement."

4. You can watch the movie 'Up' three times in two days (including once in French)

3. Greeks made columns, Egyptians made pyramids

2. It is actually physically possible to get a drinking glass stuck to your face

1. I have the most entertaining family on the face of the earth.....

Open Season

I really don't know what it is about deer that makes grown men go a little bit crazy for about 10 days every fall - yet, it never fails. Nick starts salivating about the beginning of September and it carries right through November. Every weekend he makes the rounds between the motion sensitive cameras he posts all over the ranch to watch for any "monster bucks" that might wander into view. He'll spend hours sitting on a hilltop watching deer through his spotting scope. Why, you might ask? I have no idea - but it seems to make him happy.

This weekend was the opening of rifle hunting for deer in Nebraska. About the middle of the week hunters from Wisconsin, California, and West Virginia descended upon the Simmons Ranch, ripe with the anticipation of a child on Christmas morning. For three days, they scouted, they set up tree stands, and deer blinds (if there is such a thing), they sat in pick-ups studying herds of deer off in the distance, and who knows what else.

Saturday morning started off early, with Nick waking up at 5:45a.m. to go out and put Gimli in the barn so he wouldn't run around and bother the hunters OR the deer. I had strict instructions to watch him at all times if I let him out, or to just bring him in the house (which I found amusing since Nick is very anti-dog-in-house on any normal occasion). A couple hours later, Nick came back in, flushed with excitement, and quietly called me to come to the back door. Apparently a "really big" deer had bedded down in the ravine close behind our house. Why was it important I know this? It seems that he wanted to be sure I didn't stomp around the house, start slamming doors, or spontaneously decide to take up a new hobby of playing bagpipes - lest I scare it away. Sheesh.

i REALLY need to get out more

So last week I woke up on a random Tuesday morning to the following announcement from my loving husband "So...what are we doing this weekend?" Seeing as this was at about 6:00am , my response was something to the effect of "Prrwhffft?" Not one to be phased, Nick forged ahead with, "Can we go somewhere to get a refrigerator?"





Now before I go any further with this story, perhaps I should back up about 3 years. You see, when Nick and I got married, the ranch (very kindly) renovated the house we lived in. At the time, we didn't have a refrigerator. My parents had (also, very kindly) purchased a dishwasher and stove for us, but refrigerators were just so...well...expensive. Actually, there was a fridge in this house, but it was older than Nick and I put together, so Nick's mom stepped in (again, very kindly) and offered to take the ancient refrigerator off our hands. In return, we could have a (slightly) newer model out of a house on the ranch that no one lived in and was only used when hunters came for a week or two every fall. She then, in turn, gave our original fridge to the hunters, and for three years, we've used a small, white refrigerator that really didn't match my red kitchen and stainless appliances, but managed the task of cooling our food very decently. Actually a little too well, as anything that managed to get shoved to the back ended up frozen no matter what setting it was on - but then again, beggars can't be choosers and frankly, we were lucky to have it!





Now back to last Tuesday and Nick's question, "Can we go somewhere to get a new refrigerator?" As I'd longed for a new fridge for 3 years, and had steadfastly saved for it, despite my sleepy stupor, my interest was peaked. It seems that the old refrigerator in the hunters cabin had finally quit, and with deer season looming and hunters imminently on their way, my husband had suddenly decided it was crucial we buy a new refrigerator so the hunters could have ours. After all, what sense did it make to buy them a new one when it would only be used once a year? I certainly couldn't argue with that logic - not that I would've wanted to.





So, after spending a couples hours at the office neglecting my real work and researching refrigerators that happened to be in stock locally, I found one that fit what I wanted perfectly. So, off we went to fetch it. (Has it occurred to anyone else yet that my excitement over a household appliance might be just a little bit sad???) Of course, when we got home, Nick decided he'd rather spend time stalking deer with his bow and arrow and archery permit in hand, so my pretty new stainless, french door and bottom freezer refrigerator sat quietly in the shop and waited....and waited....and waited.





Ultimately he did finally return, and the two of us somehow managed to get the 33 inch wide appliance through a doorway that was approximately 33 and 5/8 inch wide, with only minimal cursing and argument.

And Now, for the first time, I present to you:

Of course, that was before we realized that the water hook up we had installed 3 years ago in anticipation of an occasion such as this was hooked into the HOT water line.....

Seeing Double

Over the past few years it's become a bit of a tradition for Nick and I to go to a specific horse sale every Labor Day weekend. We don't always go prepared to buy, but this year Nick was ready. He'd spent months scouring the sale catelog and researching the bloodlines he wasn't familiar with. He had certain horses marked. He was ready to buy. So off we went. And home we came, with not one, but TWO weanling colts.

So meet the new addition to our equine family

Introducing: Oscar

Introducing: Spade

Best Buds