05/12/2008
The west is dying… the wind is blowing so hard it’s taking all the top soil east well past the continental divide. You folks in western Colorado should have seen it go by
Don’t know if it’s global warming, cooling or just plain douching… but it’s hell and it has to stop.
The Mayan calendar ends in 2012.… supposed to be some great cataclysm that will bring our illustrious planet to it’s final gear grinding halt… Damn well wish I knew for sure, ‘cause we could all spend that money hidden in the old mattress and go out in style!
But meanwhile, life must go on….. Cattle to be branded and moved up the country. Fences to be mended, head gates to be cleaned… pastures to be irrigated.
Need to fix the roof on the hay shed too. Oh, and lest we forget… new gates to be hung and horses to be started.
Trying to do all this on near $4 bucks a gallon (maybe $5 by mid summer) will also test the most industrious of us…trying to come up with ways to get the biggest bang out of a gallon of fuel. I know I’m dreaming, but hell, I sure would like to see the big Belgians hitting the collars again and be able to watch them pull wagons across the country.
But alas, I figure instead, we are all going to be stuck seeing the demise of the 1 Ton pickup…and watch it’s replacement, the Toyota mini truck…as it scurries across the vast expanses of the American west…. Depositing it’s load of T-posts, wire and salt blocks wherever it goes.
But again I am reminded of how lucky I am…… Got my health (minus some arthritis from years of tough going)…. Got Family and friends that somehow have gotten a little closer and more caring these last few months. We all need each other for support and survival…. Sharing will be the way we will all get by.
So here’s to good friends and family…and a good life.
Hang in there.
The Editor
Oh Hell..…
Where do I start?
After what seemed like a long, cold, but dry winter.. we are in the middle of a sometimes too hot
and always too damn windy spring. My chickens are ready for a marathon having to fight the
flippin wind everyday. The sheep have eaten so many tumble weeds that they should sprout 'em
outta their asses anytime now...
and if the horses stay in one place too long they get sand blasted.
And… trying to find hay this year is becoming a chore all to it’s self…. Not a damn hay producer in
the area here that can decide on a price… all they know for sure is that it’s going up…way up.
From last year’s price of around 100 to 140 a ton up to 200 to 275.…. These hay growing gunsels
here in Winnemucca are waiting to see what prices in California will be before they make a
commitment…. Great….
And if that’s not bad enough…. Fuel has taken a jump three times in the past two weeks. From
$3.39 to $3.69 or so…… Shit, at this rate I’ll need to start ridin’ my sand blasted ponies to town
for groceries that are so expensive that I’m about ready to hijack a produce truck and start selling
food on the black market……
But then, I look out the window….. The pastures have turned green, the neighbor’s heifers are
calving and there’s babies everywhere… The meadowlarks are in full voice and I can smell the
sage in the morning air….
The ewes have lambed and the little ones are bouncing around all over the lot and the chickens
are laying enough eggs to populate a small planet with their offspring.
I talk to friends a lot more now… maybe tough times brings folks a little closer and that’s a good
thing… let’s us all know that we are not alone in this tight spot we are all going through.
And yea, this is going to be a tight year… gonna have to give up a few things to make ends meet.
But we will have enough….Not quite so many toys and fancy frills, got to get back to the things
that are most important… and remember the things that don’t cost anything at all……
Like watching the sun rise, listening to the kids play, saddling up in the cool morning at daylight
and trotting out all alone……Doing a job, whatever your job is, and doing it damn well….
And that’s about my .02 cents worth…
which will cost you around a buck (adjusted for inflation)
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