Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

Getting a drink early in the morning. It's gotten dry enough the cattle are taking a little more water but it's holding up like a champ. Taken 7/22/2007.

I saw this story and it reminded me to mention my latest. Last week we had a thunderstorm go over our area that had some moisture in it and lots of lightning. The other day while checking the water in the far pasture, I only check it about once a week, I found a dead cow laying in the middle of the road on a big open flat. The only thing I can figure is that she was struck by lightning. It looks like she just fell dead there, no struggle or anything.

This kind of thing happens occasionally and there is nothing a person can do about it. How many cattle I have lost that way I couldn't tell you but quite a few. The one I really remember is the time a horse got killed by a lightning strike on the place. I don't have a lot of horses as compared to cows so that one really sticks in my mind. It does remind a person about the dangers of lightning though.

Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work. Mark Twain

Montana Republicans eye caucus in February

Montana Republicans would hold a presidential caucus Feb. 5, 2008, four months before the state's increasingly meaningless June presidential primary, under a proposal released Monday by Chairman Erik Iverson.

.....

It would make 2,262 Republicans statewide eligible to vote in caucuses. The list would include members of the state party's executive committee, elected county central committee officers and elected and appointed precinct people, legislators and statewide elected officials.

That's a fraction of the 112,747 Montanans who cast votes in state's 2004 Republican presidential primary.

This appears to me to be a step backwards. Why would the Republicans want to limit the number of people who can vote in the Presidential Primary? Why don't I have a right to vote if that's what I so choose to do (In Montana you don't have to declare party affiliation and can vote in which ever primary you wish to)? Or is that some how the reason, to keep those pesky Democrats and other party members from crossing over and voting in the Republican Primary? You know, it's not like Montana has a lot of say when it comes to Presidential elections so why do this, it seems like a proposal meant to exclude the public which will give the wrong impression.

This is just flat wrong and needs to be scraped quick. The Montana Republican party seems to be trying to kill itself slow but sure and this proposal is just another nail in the coffin.

Everyone always has a different perception of you. Peter Fonda

Just another damned good looking pair. Taken 7/14/2007.

I remember my first new saddle I ever had. Yes, I have a saddle story. Most guys my age have car stories but that's not me, I have a saddle story.

My dad bought my sister and I brand new, never before used saddles for Christmas in 1971. Oh were we proud of those saddles. They were shiny and new, with padded seats and we really were in love with them. My sister kept hers in the house to keep it clean, if I remember right, but I wanted mine out in the barn where the working men kept their saddles.

Now you have to remember, I was in school at this time and there was no bus service to the ranch area so you had to move to town to go to school, no choice. I lived in town with mom during the school year so I didn't spend much time at the ranch so I didn't get much of a chance to use my new saddle. Now I am sure I used my saddle a few times by the time of our branding that year but I don't remember for sure.

What I do remember is our branding. June 1972. At this time my dad was branding the cattle in two bunches. The one big bunch we did in the morning and after dinner we went up and rode on the mountain and gathered the ones there and branded them. This is the bunch that he was breeding special to build his herd and are the ancestors of the cows I am running on the ranch today. We gathered this bunch and got them in the corral when along came a dark old cloud and started pouring rain on us.

There was only a couple of vehicles there to get out of the rain so most of us crawled under the two ton truck and sat there to get out of the rain. It was really raining out now. Like a cow pissin on a flat rock is how you would describe the kind of rain around here. Within a couple of minutes we couldn't sit under the truck as there was water coming in. Now this was on a flat spot, as flat as it gets around here, and the water was building up under the truck it was pouring so hard. I can remember squatting under this truck, water to my ankles, looking out at my saddle worrying about it getting wet. Not my horse getting wet, me getting wet or anybody else, just my saddle getting soaked and I had barely rode it yet.

It quit raining after about 30 minutes. There was water standing all over the place and it was slick and muddy. We had to not brand that bunch as it was too wet but I remember this storm for two reasons. One, my poor saddle got soaked and I had to ride the wet thing home and the second thing was the Rapid City flood. The storm system that dumped so much water on us was the same storm system that caused the dam to break near Rapid City and cause such devastation.

The saddle didn't get hurt with the water, just the other things involved with it cause me to remember the situation. Used the saddle the rest of the summer no problem and then school started again. Trek to town to live there and again, not much contact with the ranch. One day before shipping, Dad comes in with some real bad news. The barn burnt down. To this day we are not sure how it happened but the barn burnt down and nothing was left. This included the shop and all the tools, calving and farrowing facilities, my dad was raising hogs then, and the tack room and all the saddles and horse equipment. Yes, I hadn't even had my saddle for a year and now it was gone. I was heart broken.

The only saddle that survived this incident was, you guessed it, my sisters new saddle since she kept it in the house. Did she have a premonition or what? My Dad commenced to using my sisters saddle while he was getting a new one. He ordered one from a saddle maker in Sheridan and it took a few months to get. I eventually got an old used saddle to use as my dad replaced the tack equipment that was destroyed. After I got out of the Navy, I got me another new saddle custom built and so I finally got another new saddle. The used replacement saddle I used for so many years My oldest now rides and my youngest girl rides my sisters saddle that is still hanging around here in good shape. Someday my sister will probably want it back but at the moment she doesn't have much use for it so my girl gets to use it.

One coincidental thing about my dads new saddle from this incident. When the maker had finished building it down in Sheridan, he spotted a guy working for a neighbor here and gave it to him to deliver to my Dad. This guy happened to be in Sheridan and the maker knew it would get to my dad sooner this way so sent it with him. This guy, who worked for a neighbor, is my hired hand today. He vividly remembers bringing the saddle to dad. Kind of a small world isn't it. I know, not much of a story overall today but that's what I have.

I have a little announcement to make. A frequent commenter here, Bill, approached me about buying some heifer calves from me to give to the Morgans and Karen who had there cattle slaughtered due to brucellosis. We have come to an agreement and this will be happening. Bill is originally from this area and he says Montanans "help each other" and he wants to help. This is quite the way to help and really shows some generosity.

I am going to wait until I wean to pick a couple of good quality replacement heifer calves for everybody concerned. I should be able to find a couple. I sold quite a few dry cows this year so I need to keep quite a few replacement heifers but I should have a couple of extras. I am selling these to Bill at a discount to help him out a bit and will transport them to their new home myself.

This really does show a helping hand that you don't see anymore as much as you used to.

Helping others is like helping yourself. Henry Flagler

There are too many of these damn things around here. They really tear up a haystack bad, but this little guy sure was cute. Taken 7/22/2007.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently sponsored a study about what were peoples final words when they were in a SUV crash. I know, weird thing to study but you know the government. They found something very interesting in this study. Throughout the US, with the exception of Montana, the last thing people said before their SUV crashed was "OH SHIT!!!" In Montana though, it was a little different. The last thing in Montana before a SUV crash was "Hey, hand me another beer."

I recently heard this joke and this post about beer consumption reminded me of it. In a way the joke is way to true to be really funny. The amount of drinking that goes on in Montana is truly staggering.

Montanans, on average, each guzzle down 41 gallons of beer per year, or a little more than one 12-ounce can of beer per day.

I will guarantee you, someone is drinking a whole lot of beer to make up for what My Darling Wife and I don't drink. I might, I repeat might, drink 10 glasses of beer all year long and My Darling Wife doesn't drink any. Why is it that Montana has such a high alcohol consumption? We live in "The Last Best Place" and it shouldn't be necessary to drink until we can't see straight any more. I will admit at one time I did drink a lot more and I am sure glad I quit. I feel better and healthier now that I don't.

I guess this is just one of those things I will never understand. The need for Montanans to drink and get drunk to think they are having a good time. the real funny thing about this then is when people do get together for any reason, the stories are always about drinking and who got drunk when. You explain it to me, It's a cultural issue that I have broke past luckily.

If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organization. Mary Douglas

Cattle Health: USDA Changes Idaho’s Brucellosis Status To Class Free

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is amending its brucellosis regulations concerning the interstate movement of cattle by changing Idaho’s classification from Class A to Class Free. APHIS has determined that Idaho has met the standards for Class Free status.

Class Free status is based on a state finding no brucellosis in cattle for the 12 months preceding designation as Class Free. Restrictions on the interstate movement of cattle become less stringent as a state approaches or achieves Class Free status. This action relieves certain restrictions on the interstate movement of cattle from Idaho.

This is good news for Idahoi for sure. Now I just get to worry about Montana. I wonder something. Usually a state can regain it's Brucellosis free status after a year of no critters testing positive. Why is it in the reports I've been reading Montana is going to have to wait two years to regain it's brucellosis free status? I know we are special but this is special in the wrong way.

We not only interpret the character of events... we may also interpret our interpretations. Kenneth Burke

In a lot of ways, I really wonder about this permanent disaster relief idea. I really truly believe that if there was a permanent disaster relief fund, there would be pressure to find a disaster every year to use the funds that are there. They will never build up to be used in a true disaster. Yearly questionable disasters will eat it up. Have you ever seen government money that doesn't get appropriated if it is available? I haven't and this would be no exception. Is the system for disaster aid for agriculture working now? Not really but a permanent fund won't fix it.

I really like this comment in the story.

"Our highest priority is let's set up a permanent program," he said. "... We would urge your support in helping America's farmers and ranchers creating a permanent program; give them a helping hand, not a handout."

Isn't taking money from the government, which comes from taxpayers, a handout? It sure seems like it to me. I know they are trying to sugar coat it to get it passed in Congress and make it seem "noble" some how, but a handout is a handout. I'm not to sure calling it a "helping hand" makes anything but a semantic difference.

Then I note something else in the story. The way this "fund" would work, is they would add 1 to 1.5 billion dollars every year for disaster relief. They claim it might not all be spent every year, and I have some ocean front Montana property to sell you, and the fund will build up. They then give us that "Since 1998, Congress has approved 23 ad hoc disaster bills totaling $47 billion." That works out to be almost 6 billion dollars a year in disaster aid for agriculture. So how does a fund of 1.5 billion a year cover these costs? What does Congress plan on doing if there are more disasters than their "relief bill" can fund? Maybe bring up ad hoc disaster bills just like they do today? I'm sure they will.

I just don't think this is going to work out real well. A permanent disaster relief fund would just make farmers and ranchers more of a beggar as they go hat in hand to Congress, or bureaucrats, whichever control this mythical fund, every time there is a little problem that they want money for out of the "fund." Is this how we want the American public to see us, hat in hand, begging for money, cleaning out this disaster fund every year because it is there? I just don't think this is a good idea but I'm sure I'm in the minority. Most guys want this. They like begging I guess.

Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn. Miguel de Cervantes

I know they might be as little hard to see but there are three young pheasants here in the grass. There is a guy I know that raises a bunch every year and he releases some of them out here. He just released some about a week ago and these are some of them. The natural babies around here aren't this big yet. Taken 7/22/2007.

The sun rising on yet another hot day in Montana. Taken 7/21/2007.

Liz has tagged me for the 8 Random Things meme. I kn ow, I didn't get it done right away but better late than never.

These are the rules which I am by no means obligated to follow.

1. Let others know who tagged you.
2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

Well, I will tell you right now I will not tag 8 more people. Not my style, so that rule is broken, otherwise I will give this a try.

Random things? That's a damn broad category. What kind of random things should I post, what should I say? This is tougher than you think, believe me.

1. When I was in high school I took a trip to the East Coast during one summer and visited some of the large cities. One of them was New York City. My biggest memory of the stay in New York was when I got up to the motel room and opened the window to look out. All I could see was a big sign that had one word on it. WHOREHOUSE. That's all it said in huge letters. Come to find out it was the advertising for the Broadway play, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

2. When I was younger I could drive all over and not have any problem. Nowadays it is all I can do to stay awake while I am driving. I am okay if My Darling Wife is along but alone it's tough. I would be curious to know why I get so tired now days. I'm not that old.

3. Speaking of age, My Darling Wife is simply amazed that I am still living at the same address as is listed on my birth certificate. What, is this unusual? Yea, I know it is, but is that a problem?

4. I haven't voted for a winning President in about the last 6 elections now. I'm sure not batting very good on that. In fact it's rare that I am ever on the same side as a winning candidate or issue. It does happen once in a while, but not very often. Does that m mean I am cantankerous?

5. If I had the time, energy and money, I would love to visit Europe. It used to be Australia but now Europe holds an appeal as something interesting to see. But, the three things I mention hold me back.

Damn, this whole 8 random things is tough, what now?

6. I've always been fascinated with computers. I bought my first one in 1981 and have owned one ever since. In fact I almost have always had more than one and now I am busy building them myself. Next on the agenda is to build a photo picture frame from scrap, making the wood frame and everything, using a mini itx board. It will be a little mini wooden computer that shows pictures. I have the concept in mind but if it will work like I want, I don't know.

7. I am a grease and oil magnet. Get me anywhere near the damn stuff and it just magically jumps and gets all over me. I've had guys working here that can grease a piece of equipment up and stay clean as a whistle, I look at a grease gun and I am filthy. Give me good, clean cow shit any day. At least it's organic.

8. You might all know that while I was in the Navy, I served on submarines. What you might not know is I am scared to death to put my head under water. I can't dive, snorkel, anything like that. I can swim as long as it is the backstroke or side stroke since I don't have to put my face in the water. Pretty weird isn't it.

There, eight things. It's a lot tougher than you think. Enjoy.

O! many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the archer little meant! And many a word, at random spoken, May soothe or wound a heart that's broken! Walter Scott

I found this calf yesterday while checking water that wasn't feeling very good. See how his right ear is tipping down. Damn good sign there is a problem. I managed to get him in and doctor him. Hopefully all will be well now. Taken 7/21/2007.