Thoughts from the Middle of Nowhere

I was visiting with a neighbor last night and he was telling me he was having some sickness trouble. Pinkeye. He said they have doctored about 50 head now and have a few blind ones because of it. The weird thing is that it is not horn flies causing it. He says there are something like house flies attacking his cattle and just hanging around their heads. They are going to get them all in and spray them for flies to try and kill them.

This is really weird. I have seen a lot of flies on cattle before but never large house style flies. Usually just horn flies. One of the things I never worry about much is flies. For some reason I don't have too much trouble with them. You see a few on the cows and calves but not too many. Right across the fence there will be cattle that are just infested with flies. I've always wondered what the difference is. Why do mine have so few? Is there some genetic component to this?

It's been years since we have used any kind of pesticide to control them and now there are very few. Is this the reason why? The flies and there competitors haven't been getting killed off so they have reached an equilibrium state? I don't know for sure but if you are doing something right, don't screw with it.

I sure hope my neighbor gets his fly problem and pinkeye under control. Stuff like that is miserable to deal with.

Truth is the torch that gleams through the fog without dispelling it. Claude Adrien Helvetius

I had a neighbor drive through my place "looking around" the other day. He stopped and visited when he was done and told me "That is one nice looking bunch of two-year olds, I think they are the best I've ever seen." I know, I should have just said thank you or something similarly modest but I couldn't. I said, "I have to agree with you, they are damn fine, I don't know what I did right with that bunch but they are great."

It's the truth, I don't know what I did right with this bunch but they are coming along great. The only remaining question about them at this point is how easy they are going to be to calve. The way my two-year olds have been coming along I think they should calve easy but I will have to see to make sure.

Damn, those two-year olds are looking good.

Authentic values are those by which a life can be lived, which can form a people that produces great deeds and thoughts. Allan Bloom

The Padalock Ranch is one of my neighbors. They rank somewhere around number 5 for the largest privately held cattle ranch in the US. This little blurb in the Gazette caught my eye.

History of Padlock Ranch topic of meeting

Dan Scott will talk about the history of the Padlock Ranch, headquartered near Dayton, at the Oct. 19 meeting of Westerners International. This ranch began in 1943 as a 300-cow 3,000-acre outfit that has grown to about 400,000 acres, due to modern agricultural methods.

It would be interesting to hear the talk and see if my families contribution to thier sucess is mentioned. My Grandfather sold control of a large chunk of land in Montana to the expanding Padalock ranch in the 40's. It made them what they are today. In fact in the last few years they have approached me about buying it back. I politely turned them down. It wasn't worth the money they wanted.

History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside. John F. Kennedy

I failed to mention it earlier. There was a large number of neighbors that responded to the fire yesterday and it is really appreciated. A community response to such things is important to the well being of all. I thanked everybody that was there and recognize and thank them here again.

When community flies out of the window it leaves a population of isolated individuals. Mary Douglas

Well, we won for another year. We got the big branding done. It went very well. I had a very experienced crew of neighbors helping which makes all the difference in the world. All the riders knew what they were doing and did it well, no wrecks getting the cattle in, and the ground work was easy. For the most part camaraderie flowed well and people enjoyed the event. Yea, my branding is sometimes an event.



Old neighbors, new neighbors, and friends all travel to enjoy an easy day of working together and enjoying the lifestyle. As much stress and work as your own branding is, it is even enjoyable for us. There is always some people that don't get the enjoyment out of the branding but the majority do and that's what's important. Well, that and getting the calves branded.

We had a heavy thunderstorm that went through Friday night and really that helped the situation out. It rained enough to settle the dust and make for a very enjoyable branding. As dry as it was it could have been very dusty but with the rain there was no dust. It was a little muggy and warm by lunch time, but nice.

With few exceptions, a nice, fun, productive and friendly day.

A herd of passion
a portentous heat be,
discord some revel.
Sarpy Sam

I have this, let's say neighbor, who whenever he speaks I literally want to kill him. It has been a long time since I have been around someone who makes me feel this way. They act and speak like they are so superior to everybody around them that it just infuriates me. They look down on us like we were some lowly life form put on this planet for them to toy with. It just so irritates me I don't know what to do about it.

It's kind of funny though. This person thinks everybody admires him and scrapes down and bows before him when they really don't. They just ignore him. Most people can just laugh him off but he just irritates me so I have a few things to say to him.

Well, let me tell you asshole, your shit does stink and you need to get your head out of your ass and live in the real world. People were not put on this earth for you to look down upon. Some of us are smart enough, and confident enough, that we don't need all those fancy titles and big words to inflate our ego. Some of us don't need to feel superior to everybody else to feel confident in who and what we are, a dumb cowboy trying to make it in this world.

So, you want to know something, asshole. GO F**K OFF!!

Having said all that I would like to point out, when he is not spouting bull, I kind of feel sorry for him. Anyone that feels the need to always blow his own horn to make him self feel better should be pitied. He has definite psychological problems and someone like that has my sympathies.

The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell. Confucius