L.P.S.

I’ve been doing some farming—only a few acres here and there, harrowing or ripping—but it’s enough to give me a huge appreciation for full-time farmers who drive tractors and work hundreds or thousands of acres! It’s not as easy as it looks; the “cockpit” is full of all kinds of gauges, gears, and levers, the understanding of which is crucial to safe and smooth operation of all attached implements. (I’m not there yet, believe me! Not enough flight hours, so to speak.)

For me, one of the hardest things about farming is keeping the tractor on a straight course which is exactly parallel to your other (hopefully) straight paths. Now, I didn’t pay much attention in 8^th grade geometry, but I do remember that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But unlike highways, fields don’t have yellow and white painted lines that keep drivers from wandering.  In fact, fields often have contours, furrows, corrugations, or seeding lines that lure the operator off track.

Newer tractors are outfitted with GPS systems that steer the John Deere on a path that would make Euclid envious. Our Deere is neither new nor globally positioned, so I rely on LPS (Landmark Positioning System) instead. I pick out a distant tree, clump of weeds, or fence post which looks like the best focal point, and if I discipline myself to keep my eyes fixed on it, I’ll keep the ship sailing relatively straight. But if I let my eyes drift beside or behind me, looking at the ground I’ve already covered, then the vessel will soon be drifting off course!

“…I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me…. I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus.”

                                                         PHILIPPIANS 3:12-13

Resurrection

Perhaps those of us who reside where winters are harsh appreciate spring a bit more than folks lucky enough to live in milder climes. After so many months of grayish-brown tree trunks and grayish-tan grasses, interrupted only by snow and grayish-colored rocks, the first glimpse of a spring wildflower never fails to elicit surprise and delight. For what is a spring wildflower if not a resurrection miracle? Fortunately, Hubby had his camera with him when he chanced upon this lovely creeping phlox growing in a mulch of dead sagebrush branches the other day.

“One man [Jesus] died for everyone….so that everyone could be included in His…resurrection life, a life far better than people ever lived on their own.”                          2 COR 5:14-15

One Handsome Dude

This fine-looking pronghorn buck regularly visits Hubby and his colleagues at “the office” (see previous post). A curious and playful fellow, he amuses his human friends by racing their vehicles—showing off, no doubt, since he and his kind can run up to 53 mph!

Although pronghorns are frequently called antelopes, scientists say they aren’t antelope at all and are actually the only surviving members of the Antilocapridae family. Wyoming’s pronghorn population is estimated at roughly half a million, which means that we have about the same amount of pronghorns as people. Besides being the second-fastest land mammal in the world, pronghorns are known for their unique horns that are made of hair, their hollow hair, and their strong, musky smell. Pronghorn meat has a bad reputation, due in part to their diet of sagebrush and other pungent foods, but I know for a fact that pronghorns that feed on alfalfa and sugar beets taste quite delectable!

But if you’re a pronghorn hunter, don’t bother asking me or Hubby where this buck can be found!



^“O Lord, how many and varied are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your riches and Your creatures.” PSALM 104:24

Sagacious

If you despise crowds but long for skies that stretch to eternity, if you’re not terribly attached to shopping malls but crave solitude, if you can take or leave beaches but yearn for prairies, deserts, or mountains—and if you’re not terribly attached to trees--then you’ll probably love Wyoming. Speaking of which, our official state tree is the cottonwood, the prettiest of which just happens to reside just outside our back door!

As stately as the cottonwood may be, however, it is hardly typical of the Wyoming landscape. Cottonwoods require more water than our state’s average annual rainfall of 12.68 inches, so they only thrive in riparian areas, and then only in elevations below 6500 feet. One could argue that the pines, spruces, and quaking aspen, found in alpine ecosystems, surpass the cottonwoods in beauty and therefore are more worthy of state treedom.

I wasn’t around in 1947 when the cottonwood was adopted by Wyoming, but if I was, I’d have nominated the Artemisia tridentata ssp. Wyomingensis, aka the Wyoming big sagebrush. Sagebrush may not be as handsome as cottonwoods, as stately as lodgepole pines, or as luminous as aspens in the fall, but they’re definitely the hardiest and most abundant woody perennial in our scant soils and droughty climate. The sagebrush has only recently begun to gain respect in these parts, as people are realizing its significance to much of our rangelands. According to the USDA:

“Big sagebrush is perhaps the most important shrub on western rangelands. Evergreen leaves and abundant seed production provide an excellent winter food source to numerous species of large mammals including mule deer, black-tailed deer, white-tailed deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and jack rabbits. Nearly 100 bird species depend on sagebrush ecosystems.... Additionally, there are several animal species having an obligate relationship with big sagebrush including sage grouse, sharp tailed grouse, pygmy rabbits, sage thrashers, sage sparrows and Brewer’s sparrow. Sagebrush also provide habitat and food for hosts of invertebrates which in turn support birds, reptiles and small mammals....There are several plant species having close relationships with sagebrush as well.”

Much of Hubby’s work, I’m proud to say, involves the reclamation of bentonite-mined lands, from disturbed, bare ground and rocks to a restored, diverse ecosystem containing bunch grasses such as bluebunch, wild rye, and Indian ricegrass; annual forbs such as sunflower and beeplant; and native shrubs such as sagebrush, rabbitbrush, saltbush, and greasewood. The process requires a huge commitment of machinery, skilled labor, expensive seed, and prayers for rain! Success is contingent upon many factors outside of one’s control, may take years to manifest, and will be seen by very few human eyes, but is strikingly beautiful nonetheless.

Hubby's "office".

“Wilderness and desert will sing joyously, the badlands will celebrate and flower— Like the crocus in spring, bursting into blossom, a symphony of song and color.”                             ISAIAH 35:1

Flower-itis

I’ve been spring cleaning—not our windows or closets, though they’re in dire need—but the flower beds. Most of last year’s beauty is this year’s trash and must be cleared out, trimmed, or, in the case of my darling roses, pruned. Dandelions, grass, various mustards, and white campion have to be dug out without harming the desirables that have made an early appearance: sage, tickseed, poppies, violas, hollyhocks, coneflowers, and blue flax.

As I wrench all those obnoxiously deep-rooted weeds from the earth, I try not to look ahead of me at what seems like acres left to be worked! If I do, I can slip into anxiety (how will I ever finish all this, on top of all the other chores?) and flower bed remorse (what was I thinking when I put in all these?). Instead, I try to envision the bright blooms that will soon be flourishing here, there, and everywhere. After all, there is no such thing as too many flowers!

Apparently I’m not in gardening shape yet; my hands and back are stiff and sore—but not sore enough to keep me from drooling over the pictures in the gardening catalog that just came in the mail!

The Sovereign LORD will show his justice to the nations of the world.
Everyone will praise Him!
His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring,
with plants springing up everywhere. ISAIAH 61:11

No Nobodies

Whenever I happen past the goats, horses, cows, or heifers, I usually greet them by name. “Hi, Cupcake,” I said to the first heifer I saw this morning. “Hi, Blossom and Clarabelle,” I said to the next.

A while later, I realized something: I don’t remember seeing the unnamed heifer in a long time! Yes, she’s there with the rest, but because she has no name, it’s almost as if she’s invisible. How very sad—no one, animal or person, should ever feel irrelevant, anonymous, or overlooked!

I had a long list of to-do’s for today—dishes, laundry, floors, harrowing the middle field, running to town to get groceries—but then and there, I resolved to name that heifer.

It’s not that we haven’t tried. It’s just that, because of her face is so fuzzy, the shape of the black marking on her face changes every day. Sometimes it looks like the silhouette of a kitty, other days, it looks like the Grinch or a king. Likewise, the white outline above that changes too. Depending on the hair day, it can look like an iris on a stem or Elmer’s glue running off her face.

Today, the white marking on her face looks like one of those sparklers that we kids played with on the Fourth of July. To make up for not naming her sooner, I’m giving her a special name, one that says she’s out-of-the-ordinary and stands out from the crowd: Sparkle.



“ I’ll say to Nobody, ‘You’re my dear Somebody,

And he’ll say, ‘You’re my God!’”

                   HOSEA 2:23

                                                                                                                                             

The Rancher

Think of the word ranch and you think of cattle, horses, sheep, stock dogs, grass, hay, a barn and corrals, and fences that stretch for miles. Think of the word rancher and you think of all the above, plus a pickup, stock trailer, tractor, coveralls, boots, hat, leather gloves, and jeans—none of them new and all in need of a good cleaning. But here’s something I bet you’ve never thought about: God is a rancher.

I’m serious. Just look at the facts (italics mine):

·         “God made the wild animals according to their kind, the livestock according to their kind, and all the creatures that move along the ground….” GENESIS 1:25

·         “He supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle….” PSALM 147:8-9

·         “For every animal of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” PSALM 50:10 (His spread makes the King Ranch or the Pitchfork look like Little Tykes play sets.)

The whole idea of raising and caring for livestock, which in turn provide meat, fiber, and milk, was God’s idea in the first place! He knows more about farming, ranch management, animal husbandry, and environmental stewardship than all of the greatest minds in our industry put together. I don’t know if God wears Wranglers or Stetsons, but I do know that it’s wise to be on good terms with Him, particularly if you’re in the profession of ranching!

(Photo taken on the Downing Ranch, Fort Morgan, Colorado.)