Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

You read the weather forecast from the weather service and it tells you to expect .25 inches of rain or so. Ha. Starting Wednesday evening to Thursday evening I estimate we got about an inch of rain/snow here. What a surprise. Mostly rain until sunup Thursday when it turned into snow that lasted most of the day.

You want to talk about mud, it's muddy here now. This rain was....interesting. Most people are celebrating it and I am not unhappy with it, but I'm not celebrating it. I had moisture in the ground at least as deep as a post hole if not deeper so I was not desperate for the moisture by any means. In fact our most pressing need now, and before this rain, was warm temperatures to grow some grass, not moisture. The ground is pretty saturated and a lot of this moisture did nothing but run off. In fact, I was in Billings today, the boy had to make his therapy and I was worried about the muddy roads and My Darling Wife having trouble since I have been negligent and not put decent tires on the vehicle yet (fixed while in town), and the amount of water running between Hardin and Billings was astounding. The ground just couldn't take any more so it was running off. Same thing here. Water running down the creek. It always bothers me when I get rain and it runs off. I want it to soak in and do me some good. Not runoff down country. It doesn't help me much then.

Reading the forecast I might be out of luck on what I want though. Good chance of rain on Sunday and again on Tuesday with temperatures trending down all the way through. My Darling Wife is really hating this. Traveling our dirt road in conditions like this to get the kid to the bus is a trial and with more moisture coming it will only get worse. Normally the 10 miles takes about 20 minutes. Yesterday in the mud it took almost 40 minutes and more moisture will only shove that number higher. Lot's of people think playing in the mud with a truck is fun, out here it's a fact of life we would rather avoid if possible. With the weather forecast like it is we are beginning to consider My Darling Wife and kids moving to town to get the oldest to school. Not a lot of fun for any involved and expensive besides. We will see how this moisture settles and see how much more we get.

The only good thing about it if anything is what all this might portend. Does this portend a wet spring? I sure hope so. Some warm temperatures to grow some grass and then maybe another shot of moisture then. That would be nice. Warm temperatures are a must at this point though. More rain running off down country doesn't help the situation. Temperatures to use the moisture will. Rain after rain after rain with no letup though will not help that much. I know, complain about too much moisture, complain about too little moisture, am I ever happy? Yea, when it's exactly like I want. Grass growing like mad. That's what I yearn to see now, not more rain, green grass. It's coming, you watch.

Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit. Anton Chekhov

P.S. Being in Billings most of the day I didn't get any pictures of the rain or mud. I will try to get a picture of a mud puddle or two to share.

I find this interesting piece out of Australia this morning but I can find no verification anywhere else on what it says.

US reaches agreement with Japan to reopen beef market

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials says they have reached an agreement with Japan on steps to reopen that country's beef market.

Imports of US beef were suspended in January after a shipment of veal was found to include bone material prohibited by the Japanese.

USDA acting under-secretary Chuck Lambert told a Senate panel his team has answered Tokyo's remaining questions about January's foul-up at a New York veal plant and set in motion steps to resume beef trade, starting with a plant safety checklist.

"Once that takes place, we will have people in the plants and do those verification audits, just as fast as we can," he said.

I haven't really seen anything else about this but if it's true it will be good news. How much it will help is a lot more questionable. All the flipping and flopping on US beef has made the Japanese consumer wary of US beef so it will take a long time to rebuild their trust in buying US beef. I think it will happen but we can't push it. Let it take it's time and the cattle industry will win back the market. Push to hard and we will lose it forever.

First, I will have to see it open again to worry about the rest though. Let's keep hoping.

Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them. Dion Boucicault

My thoughts and prayers go out to my friend Karen and the family during thier time of grief. I've always been vexed with what to say at times like this. I am not a people person and my interpersonel skills are very slim.

Karen, if there is anything I can do at this time please let me know. I can't say I know how you feel but I do know that people who care, helping at this time can be a blessing. I hope you are blessed now, as Allan is, with friends and family.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

One of my "odd colored" cows and her calf. These "grey" ones tend to throw grey calves all the time. I kept them because the buyers don't like the color but since they keep throwing the same color calves I am phasing them out as fast as I can. If they are hard to sell, why have them? Taken 3/17/2006.

I always love articles like this one.

Cattle Cycles: Where Are We & Where Are We Headed?

If you are in the business and keep minimal track of what is going on you know where we are and what is happening with out some "expert" telling you. I could see this article if it was targeted to people not in the business but this site is designed for cattle producers.

I guess us uneducated, stupid hicks out on the ranch are too ignorant to know these things so they have to tell us. To hell with them. I guess the reporters and "experts" have to do something to justify what they make.

There's no point in going on living unless we make the assumption that the situation of life is optimal. Alan Watts

Blue Skies, no snow, spring is definitely here. The feel in the air and the sounds of nature all change and feel more alive now than they did earlier in the winter. It's great, a new year in Montana, The Last Best Place.

It truly is amazing how with the warmer weather and the lack of snow the change that you can literally "feel" going on around you. I can "feel" the grass straining to grow, the earth soaking up the sun, and the animals basking in the glow of the warm temperatures. It feels like a new year has just begun.

You should here the frogs out here. I swear I haven't heard frogs sound off like this in years. It's almost deafening. They must be greeting this joyous time of year too, the new beginning of another cycle of life. Change galore for all to enjoy.

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. Doug Larson

House arrest for attack cat

A ferocious feline terrorized a quiet Fairfield neighborhood, to the point that residents are seeking help from the law to stop the so-called "Terrorist of Sunset Circle."

Lewis, a 5-year-old, black-and-white longhaired cat, attacked at least a half-dozen people on the cul-de-sac and even took on the local Avon lady, neighbors say.

"He looks like Felix the Cat and has six toes on each foot each with a long claw," Sunset Circle resident Janet Kettman said. "They are formidable weapons."

In a way this whole story is funny but a cat can be awful mean and vicious if it wants to. Before we got Lucky My Darling Wife would always joke she was protected by he attack cats. If somebody would come to the door and I wasn't home at least one, if not two of the cats in the house would accompany her to the door and hiss and growl at the person there. The one cat is over 30 pounds and lets out a war cry that will flat scare you when he is upset and more than one person coming to our house was scared of him.

My point is I don't blame these people for being scared of the cat, they can be nasty. I hope they know it makes them sound like wimps too.

I've always been scared to death of pain-afraid, even, to think of it. Loretta Young

A dog, a cat and a calf. Quite the meeting of the minds. Momma was to busy eating to notice her baby was near these ferocious critters. Taken 3/15/2006.

Who will pay for wolf costs undecided

Since it first declared gray wolves in need of protection, the federal government has paid the bill to help rebuild the predator's population in the Northern Rockies.

But with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service now declaring wolves recovered and eager to hand off full management to the three states involved, the question becomes: Who will pay to manage the predators then?

It's like two dogs fighting over the same bone. Who will pay? THE TAXPAYERS YOU IDIOTS!! Whether it's the Federal or the State it all comes form the taxpayers, it's just a different base of taxpayers. My opinion? The people of the US want this more than the people of Montana so the pain should be spread over the whole US and not just the state. Will that happen, no.

If Stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? Will Rogers

Japanese shun U.S. beef, eat Australian

Kenji Miyoda, savoring a bowl of rice topped with beef from Australia, raw egg and spicy sauce, believes Australian beef is far safer than American beef.

"It tastes OK, it's cheap, and it fills me up," the 27-year-old banker said gobbling down his 450 yen ($4) meal at Sukiya, a nationwide chain that placed a full-page newspaper ad to declare it's opposed to serving U.S. beef because of safety concerns.

Miyoda's view is typical among many Japanese. Australian beef was once viewed as tough and tasteless compared to its U.S. counterpart, but that stereotype is vanishing on quality upgrades by switching feed to grain, instead of just grass, to cater to the Japanese palate.

No surprise here. Australia is taking advantage of the situation and you can't blame them. We had opened this market back up until the USDA screwed up and let banned meat get shipped over to Japan. I wonder if the USDA's screw-up could be considered a "taking" and beef producers will get just compensation for the governments screw-up? Yea, if you believe that I have some ocean front property near Billings MT for you. Take it and smile is about all you can do.

On the bright side got almost .75 inches of rain yesterday. Spring is looking good with some moisture and the grass growing and calves running all over the place. Looking pretty promising for this year, if the market holds up and the USDA quits "helping us" by destroying our markets or driving us out of business with their burdensome NAIS program. With friends like the USDA, who needs enemies?

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help. Ronald Reagan

It finally turned warm and spring like so it's time to get ready to turn everything out into the hills. I see a little green grass starting to poke its head through so it's time. I've had the hired man checking out fences in the pastures we will be going out to so that they are cow tight and will be safe for the critters. It also allows him to learn the pastures a little better. He got here about the time I started feeding so he hasn't been out in the summer country much at all so it's a good learning experience for him. He sure has proved to be a hard worker so that is good. I'm still not real sure his wife likes it here but I will make good use of him while he is here.

I went to send him out on the 4 wheeler to start checking fences and he got less than a mile away and the machine broke down and he had to walk back. He felt so bad because he was sure that he broke it and I would blame him. Turns out the oil drain plug was stripped out, had leaked all the oil out, and wrecked the engine. Not really his fault so I couldn't blame him, even though I'm not real sure how the oil plug got stripped out, it's just the way things happen sometimes. I am getting the 4 wheeler fixed now and should have it back in a couple of weeks. Makes it a lot harder for him to check fences without it since he is not enough of a cowboy to trust riding the fences horseback but he will get it done. A lot of walking involved in some places but you have to do what you have to do.



Just an example of the warm weather around here. The calves are sure enjoying it. Sleeping in the sun seems to be their favorite past time.

I also tried out the video function on my camera here the other day. You will find a short clip I took here (4MB) to see what it looks like. I wasn't overly impressed with it but it's interesting. I might have to try again. Let me know what you think.

Man has but three events in his life: to be born, to live, and to die. He is not conscious of his birth, he suffers at his death and he forgets to live. Jean de la Bruyere

Rancher has stake in organic beef

Cattle rancher Rod Morrison doesn't want to just sell you a steak.

Rather, he wants to sell you a choice cut of organic beef, letting you pick which ranch in the Bighorn Basin it came from. And he wants to let you make the purchase without leaving home, using the Internet.

Morrison is working on a plan to set up a U.S. Department of Agriculture processing facility in Powell that would specialize in marketing organic and natural beef.

This is interesting but I am not real sure it's for me. Why you may ask? The organic label on beef is pretty scary to me. The way I understand it if a animal gets sick, there is not much you can do for it. The only thing you can doctor it with is Natural items which are not as effective as something as simple as penicillin. Take this spring so far. I haven't had a large scour problem on the calves but I've doctored 15-20 calves for the problem. Under organic standards what I've done, use penicillin, would not be allowed.

How many of those 20 I would have lost without appropriate medication? I'm not sure but I would bet half of them would be dead now. Also the disease would have spread further through the calves infecting more than i have doctored causing more sick critters. That really cuts into profit margins when you lose critters that could be saved.

Overall my herd health is excellent so it would not be a big problem but if I quit doctoring sick critters the herd health would go down no matter how hard I try. No different than comparing the health of humans in a city like Denver with the health of humans living in a poor African city. The lack of health care in Africa means that diseases and medical problems are rampant and overall the people are not as healthy as those that have access to proper health care like most in the US do. It would be no different for my cattle herd. Lack of access to health care would cause overall herd health to go down.

I care for my animals too much to subject them to such poor health conditions the organic label could cause. I don't care if Wal-mart is getting in the organic business. Love and care for my animals would make this a tough decision to swallow. I've thought about it before and nothing here has changed my mind.

It's a bunch of bull. How do you know what's really organic? Today, there's all these impurities in the water and the air. The water for the fruits and vegetables has junk in it. Jack LaLanne

I warn you, this story is so tragic that it's almost hard to belive. What members of the human race do to one another I find more and more amazing the older I get.

Child Bride

Eleven-year old Gulsoma lay in a heap on the ground in front of her father-in-law. He told her that if she didn't find a missing watch by the next morning he would kill her. He almost had already.

Enraged about the missing watch, Gulsoma's father-in-law had beaten her repeatedly with a stick. She was bleeding from wounds all over her body and her right arm and right foot had been broken.

She knew at that moment that if she didn't get away, he would make good on his promise to kill her.

You have to read the whole story to feel the impact of the abuse this "child bride" redived at the hands of her "husband" and "father-in-law." If it doesn't sicken you, you have a serious problem, seek mental help.

If this is humanity, I want no part of it.

There is one really amazing thing that really strikes me about this. It would be so easy for this girl to hate and hate. What is her view on things though?

Yet she continues to smile. She doesn't ask for pity. She seems more concerned about us as she reads the shock on our faces.

"I feel better now," she says. "I have friends at the orphanage. But every night I'm still afraid the family will come here and pick me up."

Gulsoma also says that when the sun goes down, she sometimes begins to shiver involuntarily — a reaction to the seven years of sleeping outdoors, sometimes in the bitter cold of the desert night.

She says she believes there are other girls like her in Kandahar, maybe elsewhere in Afghanistan, and that she wants to study human rights and one day go back to help them.

As we walk outside to take some pictures, I ask her if, after all she's been through, she thinks it will be harder to trust, to believe that there are actually good people in the world.

"No," she says, quickly.

"I didn't expect anyone would help me but God. I was really surprised that there were also nice people: the neighbor, the rickshaw driver, the police," she says. "I pray for those who helped release me."

Looking directly into the camera, she smiles as if nothing bad had ever happened to her in her entire life.

"I think that all people are good people," she says, "except for those that hurt me."

"I think that all people are good people," she says, "except for those that hurt me." If this is humanity, I guess I will stick with it. If the "good people" stick together I guess we can make a difference. To have this kind of faith in humanity after what she has been through is amazing.

We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings. Albert Einstein

Yesterday morning when we got out to feed the cows I noticed one cow wandering around the feed ground, tail in the air, smelling all the calves laying around and bawling like mad. Quite the unusual behavior for a cow so i went over to check her out and saw that she was trying to calve. An older cow does not act like this if she is trying to calve, she usually just lays down and gets the job done, not wander all over the place so I figured she was in trouble. We finished feeding as fast as we could and kept an eye on her. She was definitely having trouble, she could get the feet out but I saw no hint of the head so I figured the head was back and we were in definite trouble.

We ran home and got the saddles and equipment to pull a calf out, went back and got the horses in and took off to get her in. We found her sure enough, standing over a brand new baby calf. Sher wasn't in trouble at all, just took a long time to calve. All the time we were out getting stuff and getting her in sure shot my plans for the day but better to make sure their is not a problem than lose a cow. She sure fooled me.

Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. Charles Richards

CBM water injection rejected"

Water drawn from aquifers as part of coalbed methane production does not have to be injected back into the ground, a state board decided Thursday, rejecting a push by some ranchers in eastern Montana.

Proposals to place new requirements on the young coalbed methane industry, which extracts natural gas from coal seams, dominated a meeting of the Montana Board of Environmental Review.

Besides defeating the proposal to require water injection, the board adopted requirements intended to limit the release of salty water into rivers and streams.

Re-injection is out but limits on realse of water is in. GOOD.

Board of Environmental Review Chairman Joe Russell said requiring injection might exceed the board's authority. Another board member, Bill Rossbach, said it is not clear that injection is practical from a technical standpoint.

Acting on another proposed rule, the board repealed an exemption to Montana's policy on nondegradation of water. The action is intended to narrow the coalbed methane industry's opportunity to release salty water into rivers and streams.

David Searle of Marathon Oil Co. said water-quality data do not indicate the board's action was warranted.

If, the "water-quality data do not indicate the board's action was warranted" is the case, why does the CBM companies such as Marathon Oil fight it so hard? Because the action is warranted to keep our streams clean. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. Lets do this right.

The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause. Mark Twain