A Shady Character

Today was an unseasonably warm 65°. As soon as I began working this morning, I had to shed my sweatshirt and jacket, but the livestock are stuck wearing their homegrown winter coats. All are shaded up right now! I caught this shot of Blueberry chewing her cud in the shade of a Russian olive, which is missing some leaves, not because it’s fall but because she and Meels ate as many as they could reach last summer.

 “Nobody hungry, nobody thirsty, shade from the sun, shelter from the wind, for the Compassionate One guides them, takes them to the best springs.”              ISAIAH 49:10

 

Cloud Peak Gleaming

Earlier today, when the dog and I were fencing, we had to come back to headquarters for more supplies. (Translation: I’d forgotten the posts!) It had been cloudy all day, but I noticed that sunshine had broken through the clouds to shine on a freshly snowed-upon Cloud Peak, which was absolutely aglow. By the time I grabbed the camera, however, the clouds shifted and the glow vanished. Besides that, Solly inserted himself between the mountain and lens as if to say, Excuse me, but I think I’m more photogenic than some stupid mountain! So, unless or until that striking moment repeats itself, you’ll just have to take my word for it.

“Never lag in zeal or in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord.” –ROMANS 12:11

Life Savors

According to some reports that I’ve seen on television news broadcasts, sugar is supposedly Public Enemy No. 1, but I have my doubts. Our neighbor farmer grows sugar beets every year. Every single sugar beet that I’ve seen is a vegetable. And the deer and antelope that eat the beets are the shiniest, healthiest looking ruminants you’ll find anywhere.  Hubby used to feed cut-up sugar beets to his ewes years ago, and their lambs were born healthy and with so much lanolin in their wool that they were yellow.

I used to think that a cow’s diet consisted of grass, hay, and grain, with the occasional corn stalk or beet top thrown in, depending on availability. However, ranchers are learning that cattle feed can be successfully supplemented with all kinds of foods that would otherwise be thrown away. With proper nutritional adjustments, cattle are thriving on feeds supplemented with distillers’ grains and syrups, cull vegetables such as lettuce or bell peppers, dry beans—even waste cereal, candy bars, hot chocolate mix, or cherry pies!

In this season of drought and exorbitant feed costs, such supplementation can mean the difference between keeping a herd of cows or sending them to the sale barn (where they likely will be sold for slaughter). In other words, candy bars and cherry pies are actually saving lives!

Sugar beets being harvested just moments ago.

 



“Kind words are like honey -- sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.”          –PROVERBS 16:24

 

 

Peanut Butter Men

“Man cannot live by bread alone; he must have peanut butter.”                                        –James A. Garfield, 20^th  U.S. President

When my dad reads this quote, he’ll undoubtedly agree unreservedly with Mr. Garfield. My dad, better known as Grampie, not only loves peanut butter, he lives by it. I think he’d prefer peanut butter on crackers to a steak sandwich for lunch. I’ve often seen him conclude a perfectly good meal (dessert included, of course—our kind always eats dessert) with a spoonful of peanut butter, unless the dessert was a Reese’s peanut butter cup or homemade peanut butter fudge.

I don’t remember much about President Garfield, but since he was a peanut butter man like Grampie, I suspect that he was a good man. Peanut butter men are smart, steady, unpretentious, honest, trustworthy, generous, and lovable. Now and then they may be a bit too salty, particularly when they’re expounding on political matters, but a touch of sweetness balances them out nicely.

Come to think of it, we could use more peanut butter men (or women) in Washington! If you don’t know one, feel free to write in Grampie’s name on the ballot:  Dr. Gary C. “Grampie” Lane.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAMPIE!

  Grampie is the handsome dude wearing the “W” cap, fourth from the right.

“A good man obtains favor from the LORD….” –PROVERBS 12:2

Emancipated

As I said yesterday, we never know what we’ll see when we look out our windows. Last weekend, Hubby looked glanced out to find a calf grazing on our front lawn under the weeping golden willow. He knew right away who it was.

The youngest of the calves, Penelope is also much smaller. Unlike the other Porky Pigs on our place, she always seems to have better things to do than eat all the time—like play-fighting (with the bushes, if no one else will play) or sight-seeing. Her self-assurance and diminutive proportions lend themselves easily to escaping from fences so she can better explore the world outside her pasture. Her mama, Petunia, calls her back but is largely ignored.

Penelope’s theme song, Born Free, is from an old movie of the same name which readers of my generation will easily recall:

Born free

As free as the wind blows

As free as the grass grows

Free to follow your heart….

The other day, Hubby announced that the sister of a good friend is expecting a baby girl. They’ve chosen to name her Penelope.

“Good luck keeping her in the crib,” I replied.

 

 

“…He sent Me to…announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners.”                –ISAIAH 61:1

 

A Grande March

We never know what we’re going to see when we look out our windows. Yesterday, I happened to glance out the sliding glass door and see an early Thanksgiving Day parade! Sixteen wild turkeys, of the Rio Grande variety, were marching single file between our fence and the neighbor’s sugar beet field. By the time I retrieved the camera, the procession was disappearing over the hill, so I only managed a blurry shot of the rearguard.

Our wild turkey population is sparse and reclusive, so we only get to see them once or twice a year, and then only a few at a time. I can only assume that the turkeys’ egg-nest-chick endeavors were quite successful this year, and belated congratulations are in order!



"So you'll go out in joy, you'll be led into a whole and complete life. The mountains and hills will lead the parade, bursting with song. All the trees of the forest will join the procession, exuberant with applause.” –ISAIAH 55:12

 

Precious

When Zach was on his Rotary student exchange in India, he met a precious girl from upstate New York. Anna’s attending college in California, but this weekend, she finally made it to Wyoming. In a few short days, she got to run, hike, climb, meet family and friends, and ride Sugar.

Anna’s ridden jumpers, dressage horses, and ex-racehorses. She appreciated Sugar’s laid-back, Quarter Horse personality. “It’s nice to ride a horse that doesn’t spook at every blade of grass,” she quipped. For her part, Sugar seemed to soak up the attention of the quietly confident, soft-handed rider who brushed her lovingly and kissed her neck when she successfully negotiated a dicey steep trail. This sweet Anna-Sugar combo made me think of a verse from 1 Peter:

“You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.”                            –1 PETER 3:4