Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

Turned the cattle into a new pasture and they sure are enjoying the fresh grass. Taken 6/28/2007.

The colors seem so vibrant this year and the cattle look so great. Montana Beauty. Taken 6/3/2007.

Green grass, blue sky, pine trees, and sandstone rock formations. Nothing says Sarpy Country better. Taken 5/11/2007.

Chasing cows across the green grass. It sure is a pretty sight out there. Taken 5/11/2007.

The difference between this year and last year is like the difference between night and day when it comes to the weather. Last year we got very little rain in this area and really suffered for it. This year, all it does is rain. Since last week we have gotten a rain shower of some kind almost every day and yesterday and today have been recieving rain at a staggering rate. Yesterday we got around an inch and a half of rain and I have no idea how much we have received overnight but it has to be another half an inch or more. What a difference a year makes.

The country looks green and wonderful with all the moisture and the hay is growing great guns. Hell, I've cut it mature with less growth than it has now and it is still growing like mad. Short of a disaster at this point, I will get more hay than I have for years. No complaints here.

Every bodies mood in the area is really great. It always amazes me how farmers and ranchers moods really are influenced by the weather. When the weather is cooperating they are in great spirits. When not, they range from grumpy to depressed. Right now everybody is almost euphoric.

The question I have is what will the weather do to us next? If it were all of a sudden to turn hot and dry all the moisture would cause a lot of grass growth which would then cause a really high fire danger as it dried out. Something to keep an eye on.

It is vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual. Jeremy Bentham

UPDATE: We got a total of 2.3 inches of rain out of the storm. Quite nice.

It is amazing how much more contented the cattle are this year than they were last year. All they did last year was wander around the pastures looking for better grass. This year the grass is just fine and they like it. Amazing what green grass can do. Taken 5/15/2007.

Not very often do I get close enough to the pheasants around here to get a picture. They must have been distracted. A rooster and two hens. Any bets on what the distraction was? Taken 5/11/2007.

Crested Wheat Grass. There is quite a lot of this domesticated grass scattered all over the country any more. It spreads like weeds. The cattle don't particularly like it when it is tall and old like this but will eat it if there is nothing else around. A little rain at this time of year will cause it to sprout at the roots again and then the cows really love it. They reach down in the plant to get at the green and end up with a bunch of the old grass too. Really makes for good feed, I just need some rain. Taken 8/14/2006.

I seeded some grass last year in some old fields and this is the stand I got. Damn it's nice. I've always heard how hard it is to establish a grass stand but this was real easy. Just used an old grain press drill and seeded it deep. Did the same thing this year on another field and it looks like I got a good stand there too. We will see next year when, and if, it fills in. Taken 6/7/2006.

I know, I know, I'm a little behind schedule. I should have turned the bulls out to the yearling replacement heifers 2 days ago but I didn't. I felt that getting the seeding done was more important. The seeding is done though. What a relief. That has been praying at my mind for over a week now and I am glad to get that monkey off my back.

Lacking a hired man I have to prioritize somewhere and the bulls got put off. They will go out this morning though to do their job. I will start calving a couple of days later but it really shouldn't make a difference. I won't say I am behind on doing things right now but I am not ahead either. I am just keeping up with getting things done. The next few weeks are pretty scheduled in on what needs to happen at what time to keep on schedule.

I have interviewed on person for the job so far. He is very interested in the job which really concerns me. Anybody that interested in this job with the job market the way it is really smells like trouble to me. There are lots of jobs out around the country and anybody who is this anxious to come out here worries me. The last two times I dealt with somebody this anxious to come work here they both were wanted by the law and were looking for a place to hide and being this far away from things looked like a good place to hide. I will call his references and mull the situation over. I'm not too sure.

On the way home the other day I noticed how nice and green it was around the country. It sure is pretty out. Hope it continues on this nice.



So what I think we could aim for in the way of human civilization and culture would be a system in which we are all highly aware of our existing interconnection and unity with the whole domain of nature, and therefore do not have to go to all sorts of wild extremes to find that union. Alan Watts

Just over another inch of rain around here. It wasn't as bad as the weather service was predicting but plenty to make it miserable. We are just soaked to the gills. Water standing in sandy soil like you never see it. It's been more years than I can remember since it has been this wet.

All this rain, unless something drastic happens we are guaranteed a good grass crop this year around here. That's good news. Probably all ready can say I will have a half crop of hay if not more. That takes more moisture later on to really bring it on so we will have to see on that. Over all looking pretty good around here for this year. Nice change from all those years of drought. Other spots in the state are still a little dry so hopefully they will get some moisture too.

Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life. John Updike

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.