Heart's Home

There are three places in the world that are more sacred to me than any other. No, I'm not talking about a temple. I'm talking about sacred places that hold my heart forever in their grasp, no matter what. One is the ranch that I grew up on, another is the Uncompaghre, and finally the third is the Whiting Homestead in the White Mountains of Arizona.  Tonight as I write this my beloved homestead is under threat once again of a fire. 

This has happened before, but this one is closer than the last several.  Within 8 miles last reported.  My family holds the homestead in a trust, that is run by a board and hopefully will always be there for the descendants of my Great Grandfather Edwin Marion Whiting.

My older sisters got to spend their early childhood summers at the homestead, my parents lived in Mesa and it was a great place to spend the summer out of the heat, by the time I came along my parents had moved to Colorado, and the homestead was an easy 9 hours away. My memories of the homestead are for reunions only, and the last 10 years of his life my Dad refused to go down for reunions.  I went back in 1998 for the 50th Anniversary reunion, then my branch had a reunion there in 2009, and we went back for the big 2010 reunion to perform our play.

It is difficult to describe why this place has such a hold on my heart, I can't put a specific memory down, or event, just a feeling of walking with ancestors who worked so hard to make a living in those high Arizona mountains. It has a smell all it's own, in fact last year I found a candle in Bath and Body works that reminded me of the homestead.  I bought it, took it home and asked Nancy to smell it and tell me where it reminded her of, she told me that it didn't evoke a place memory, it reminded her of Grandma and Grandpa Whiting, but she didn't know why. Once I told her it smelled like the homestead, we both realized we were sharing the same memory.

I will get down on my knees tonight, and ask the Lord to at least spare the buildings of the homestead, I know fire is the forests way of rebirth, that it promotes healthy growth, and is necessary for many pines to actually germinate. But still, I will pray for one of the most treasured places on this earth for me.

He's Just a Big Dumb____________

All my life I have heard the following

"He's just a big old dumb cowboy"

"Well, I'm just an old cowboy"

"You know he's just a big old dumb farmer"

 

 

 



Do you have any idea how much that ticks me off? Do people have any idea what is required to be in agriculture? They are small business men who are at the absolute mercy of mother nature.

For instance:
Cattle men need to know:

Profit margins on optimal feeding of cattle to get the price for the amount of feed they put into them

Cattle futures and prediction of how the market will be, versus the market for corn, alfalfa, or other feed.

They need to project how many head an acre will handle based on the environmental conditions,
making sure to not over graze an area so they cut themselves short next year.

They need to be on call for any and all emergencies, from calves born in the middle of the cold February night, to treating pink eye and hoof rot, without needing to call the vet (a guaranteed $300 bill minimum).

Ranchers need to make sound decisions on herd management, including genetics, replacement heifers, first time calving size concerns for cross breeds, and growth genetics.  For instance it usually takes a Longhorn 3 years to mature to full weight, versus 2 for most breeds.  But Longhorn calves are usually smaller and Longhorn's do better in heat with less feed.

Are you getting this yet???

Farmers need to know:

Snow pack levels

Water rights law

How to survey and cut a field with furrows, for instance, a furrow that lets the water fall to slowly will cause crops to drown, but furrows that allow the water to fall to fast don't properly hydrate the plants. Not to mention all the presort and field leveling, without stripping the precious top soil layer.

Farmers need to know proper nutrient requirements for their crops, rotating nitrogen fixing crops like alfalfa with nitrogen promoting crops like corn, to allow maximum nutrient loading to allow maximum crop yield.

Farmers need to budget for equipment, did you know that a brand new combine will cost you well over a quarter million dollars, yeah $250,000.00. A decent tractor will easily hit you for $50K, not to mention all the implements you will need, plow, disc, blade, creaser, seeder, fertilizer spreader, or swathed, bailer, and bail wagon.

Farmers are then at the mercy of Mother Nature, one bad hail storm at just the wrong time, rained on hay cuttings, pest damage, or a host of other plagues, must all be planned for.

Are you still thinking agriculture people are dumb? We haven't even begun to discuss taxes, employing others, business models, inheritance issues, or any other of the myriad issues that are required for Farmers and Ranchers. Still people are willing to do this to feed you and the world. America's farmers produce more per acre than anywhere else in the world. So watch what you say about them, they are probably smarter than you are.

Fishing With Cub Scouts

Whenever I do this I get a whole ne appreciation for my Father willing to take 5 little girls and teach them to fish.  Anyway, this week for Cub Scouts we went fishing at Corn Lake.  It is amazing to me that for some this was the first time they had ever gone fishing.  Of course little boys can't sit still long enough to see if the bobber is wiggling on its  own or being helped a little. For some reason about half of them can't seem to put a worm on the hook, even though I am pretty sure all those boys have touched something grosser.

Wiggling bobbers
Crossed lines
Broken fishing poles
A lot of little bluegill to get of the lines and throw back in
One huge watermelon consumed
Gnats and mosquitoes
A flock of geese that decided we must want to share the aforementioned water melon
The nice old man, smoking his stogie, who got completely flanked by little boys


So overall a pretty successful evening. There were only three fish caught big enough to keep, Kaden got a nice rainbow (I let his Mom and Dad deal with that) the other was a cat fish by Matt (I let Uncle Scott deal with all cat fish) and the other was a nice little rainbow that made the mistake of swimming straight up to us and letting Scott simply scoop him out of the water with his hands. We headed home, Scott gave the rainbow to Matt, and I encouraged him to let his Uncle Jason show him how to clean and gut a fish.

Look Who Turns 15 on Sunday

 

 

LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE LITTLE BOY!!!!

 

I can't believe he is taller than me, and turns 15 on Sunday.

The Gift of a Generous Heart

I was truly blessed with a father who had a generous heart.  My Dad wasn't  rich when he died, but he had over 500 people come to his funeral.  I remember when my cousin was upside down on her mobile home that she had bought, my Dad arranged to buy it and incorporate it into a land deal he was making.  A few years later when my sister was in the same boat, I don't recall any of my uncles stepping up to the plate.  I'm not sure where my Dad acquired this nature, I don't think any of his siblings are so inclined. 

Having a generous heart is very different from just being kind.  Having a generous heart required that you give the most precious of all resources, yourself. It's the difference between feeling compassion for someone, and actually doing something for them. It's spending your resources to make people happy, like remembering when someone needs a coke, or something in their past that connects you with them.

I'm not sure if this gift is a learned trait or inherited, but I was blessed to see it firsthand.

Y Chromosome Requirement

Sunday was Father's Day, it also happened to coincide with Scott getting to pick the family movie, how apropos. Anyway, he picked John Wayne's "The Cowboys". Such a good movie, and our kids hadn't seen this one yet, because I have a hard time picking it.  No one wants to see John Wayne get shot, let alone in the back, then gut shot, by a low down scum bag like Bruce Dern. But so many awesome scenes in that movie, right to the end.

So I mentioned it to my young co-worker today, who said, "Huh, I don't think I have ever watched a John Wayne movie."  It took all my fortitude to not smack him right up side the head or as John Wayne would have said, "Get the hell off my spread". No wonder our young men are so lost in this generation, is there a more man's man than John Wayne? John Wayne didn't talk about his feelings and he didn't worry about hurting anyone else's.  He stood up for what he believed in, saw things in black and white, didn't tolerate this "middle of the road, get along with everyone business" that people in the PC world want now. He knew what was the right thing to do, even we he got shot in the back by a low down dirty skunk, he didn't even turn around to acknowledge that weasel. That's a man, a real man, even if it was in the movies.

My children have seen quite a variety of John Wayne movies, including Angel and the Bad Man, McClintock, Big Jake, The Quiet Man, Donovan's Reef, The Flying Tigers, and more. I know the premise "The Cowboys" may be new to some of the younger generation, but the story is how John Wayne needs to get 1,500 steers to the railhead 400 miles away, before the snow flies.  All the men are caught up with gold fever and he ends up using 10-14 year old boys, who get the job done. That may seem a little far fetched to some of you, but my Grandpa Whiting drove a wagon over Lee's Backbone when he was only 11, so to me that makes this movie pretty authentic.  Little boys did have more responsibility back then, there wasn't all this play dates, soccer practice, therapy crap.  Boys needed to become men, and guess what? They still do.  So if the men in our boys lives today aren't up to the job, I guess John Wayne movies should be required watching for all humans with a Y chromosome.

Father's Day

I was blessed in this life with two incredible Father's. They both had a lot in common. They both loved me unconditionally, they have always been there for me, they both have taught me life changing lessons and have watched me fail repeatedly. They have been patient with me, tolerated my irreverence, given me joy, helped me get up when I was down, appreciated my humor, given me hope, healed my soul and I miss them both terribly.

Both my Father's are on the other side of the veil, I know I will see them again, that they still love me and watch over me. One of my Father's I knew in this life, the other I knew before I came here.

Thank you, to both my Father's.

Branding at 45

My nephew Jason has decided to dabble in the cow business.  I love cows but know how much work they are, so while I enjoy looking at Jason and Allison's herd, I have zero interest in doing it myself.  The only hitch so far was that Jason had 5 calves born in early March and it was May; and they haven't been branded.  Jason talked about getting them branded since they were born, but I think he was a little nervous for his first time.  He kept giving dates, and then one thing or another would happen so the branding didn't.  Finally he claimed that Monday before Kassie graduation that he would do it.  I had the day off, Laura, Nancy, Jay, Jackie and the boys were here, even his old friend Spencer was available. 

Of course it rained a ton the night before and that morning. So when I went over to see what time, Jason suggested we push it off again.  His wife and I convinced him that a little mud beat trying to do 400# calves in June any day of the week, and did I mention that there were only 5?

Just before we started he asked me how long it had been since I had done this, OK maybe 30 years, but at least I had done it before, and as the pictures will prove - I still got it.... plus a few extra bruises.

Girls Camp

Yesterday I saw my cousin Amber come home and start unloading a trailer, then I remembered that this week had been girls camp, and she had been lucky enough to be the girls camp leader this year...hahahahaha. Girls camp has certainly changed in the years since I went. Oh how I loved girls camp, but I have a feeling that this new improved version and I wouldn't be terribly compatible.

My sisters were fortunate enough to have girls camp up on the Uncompaghre, my mountain, and all but one year, when there was a mud slide that closed the road, I had girls camp at Ragged Mountain.  Ragged Mountain for me is OK, I don't think I have ever felt the "exceptional spiritual feeling" there that others have. Maybe it's because I remember when they purchased the property and my Dad was on the high council.  President Cleghorn had all the high council members up there for the first camp out, and made the mistake of asking me what I thought of the place.  I gave an honest opinion that I didn't understand why with two amazing mountains within an hour of Grand Junction why we had to travel almost three to a place without a single flat spot.  Later that night my Dad laughed and told me to lay off President Cleghorn. (see I ticked off church leaders at a very young age).

But I digress, I had two of the world's best camp leaders, Aunt Lois and Maxine Klaich.  Back in the day, as they say, we actually had to primitive camp. That means, we hauled water from the "spring", cut our own firewood, pitched huge canvas tents that we borrowed from Kruckenbergs, trenched them, cooked all our meals over an open fire, built our own showers, and our "crafts" consisted of tying two sticks together and painting them.  I learned how a hot water tank worked by Aunt Lois using an old five gallon metal can sitting on the edge of the fire pit with a funnel in one end.  I learned you can actually cook a steak on a hike with a rock, I learned how a compass worked, how to find kindling even if it has been raining for days, and that when you put cold water in a hot cast iron Dutch oven it makes a sound similar to lightening cracking right when it splits in half.

We were not allowed gas stoves or cook tops, we didn't have cabins, we didn't  swim in the lake, we didn't have canoes in the lake, or a zip line over it.  We didn't have cool t-shirts and water bottles from the stake, we didn't have crafts worthy of Martha Stewart, and we certainly didn't have time for a lot of drama.  Yeah, that might be the one thing the stake over looked when they changed my beloved girls camp into summer bible camp.  When teenage girls have too much time, the drama increases exponentially.  Needless to say I am extremely grateful that I neither have a girl going to girls camp anymore, nor am a leader at girls camp. 

My daughter did attend three years of girls camp, and came home with exactly zero wilderness skills.  She did however come home with a whole lot of baggage because of the "she said" and "then she" variety. Girls all over our stake might be glad I'm not in charge of girls camp, on the other hand, I'll bet some of those folks stranded out in Long Island after hurricane Sandy might be wishing they had a few of those skills. See... those skills aren't just for camping people!

Regurgitating in Sacrament meeting

I remember the very first talk I gave in sacrament meeting, back in the old 2^nd ward on Gunnison Avenue.  It was on reverence, of course my Dad helped me, we looked up the story about the Savior cleaning out the merchants in the temple, then he assisted me in writing the talk and the appropriate comparison of our behavior in the church.  I think I was about 8 and I wore my favorite blue dress.

 I have listened to some very memorable talks in sacrament meeting, including the one about our two year supply and how we needed to be sure to include armaments to defend it (this was back in the 80’s). So it is with a heavy heart many times when I now sit in sacrament meeting and hear the speaker say, “I was asked to speak on a talk that Elder______________ gave in the __________ session of General Conference”.

REALLY!!!!!!          ARE YOU SERIOUS??????????

 

I have so many things to say…..

1)      Great original thought, member of the Bishopric

2)      Isn’t that talk available in my copy of the Ensign that came in the mail?

3)      Isn’t that talk available on line?

4)      Isn’t that session of General Conference available to watch online?

5)      Isn’t the Ensign available in my ward library?

6)      Do you think I was unaware that there was a General Conference in April?

7)      Do you Sister/Brother Soandso really think that you have something to add to the words of an apostle of the Lord?

8)      No, Sister/Brother Soandso, you were not the only ones that Elder________ gave this talk for

9)      No Sister/Brother Soandso, Elder_________ does not need you to give us the interpretation of what he meant.

10)   Actually reading the entire thing, doesn’t make this better

Heaven forbid that we should actually have to look up some information, cite a scripture, look up from the podium, or bear our testimony at the end of the talk.

Jinx Was RIght & I Was Wrong

Shall I start all over at the beginning? No, I don't think you need any more history of my pig adventure. Now, when we first got Lola, my awesome friends Jinx and Fern (OK, so they have known me since I was born), came over and saw that sweet little Lola, Jinx said, "I hate pigs". I should have known, Jinx knew, knew what was in my genetic code. He helped my Dad, and Grandpa's on both sides herd cows.  He knew I was not a pig person. I should have taken the hint.

Well, we found a pig buyer for Wilbur, an old broken down pig guy who found himself in need of a boar when his keeled over dead unexpected last week.  Lucky break for me because the Delta sale was starting to look attractive, even if they were only going for $20 a piece. Unlucky break for us that because he was a broken down old pig farmer the deal required us to deliver Wilbur. 

I brought Wilbur here, I've seen him load so easy, I didn't think this would be a problem.  We staged the trailer, panels then spent the next 6-7 hours in hell There were several points when I was sure I needed to get my gun and end the misery for all of us.  Then like a lightening bolt of inspiration I remembered the teachings of Dr.Pol.  Fastening wire snare over the top of his snout definitely got his attention.  The wire I had was a little to thin, so handy Scooter did a quick half hitch with some nylon rope and we were finally in business.  We managed to drag him into the trailer finally, all except for one hind leg.  Erik ran over to get my brother-in-law Jay who came over and added the final muscle we needed to get that stupid pig in the trailer. 

Of course once we got him there, he walked out no problem, like he owned the place...

So, back to the beginning, Jinx was right, I hate pigs too.