The Greenhorn

Bodie is in his autumn years--he's 13--and needs an apprentice herder. (Lily moved to Boston with Zach and Cady, where she chases squirrels, herds neighbor dogs, and drinks so much of the Atlantic that she throws up.) Bodie doesn't actually want a tenderfoot sister to train, especially a cute, happy, silly, boisterous pup that gets too much attention, but he doesn't get a vote. 

It looks like Bodie's got two new sisters!

But--whew!--Ellie is the only one.

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"Be joyful though you have considered all the facts." ~Wendell Berry, "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" from Good Poems (selected by Garrison Keillor).

Taking No Chances

The Farmer's Almanac predicts that winter in these parts will be cold and snowy but "not as harsh as usual." I was hoping for a forecast with "mild" in it, but "not as harsh" sounds promising.

Taking no chances, Little Red has already grown her winter coat.

So far, Calico and her sister...

...Ariel have the fluffiest goat-coats.

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"He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection." ~Psalm 91:4 NLT 

Someone Call ESPN

The doelings have invented a new sport: Queen of the Hill, Ninja Warrior Version. The winner is the one who conquers the daunting Tractor Tire Mountain obstacle and then, of course, pushes her competition overboard.

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 "The greatest dreams are always unrealistic." ~Will Smith

Dots in the Distance

During August and September, the Rocky Mountains may as well be the Great Smoky Mountains. Because of wildfire smoke from neighboring states, particularly Montana, we haven't seen the mountains for some time. I'm not complaining; after all, Wyoming isn't burning, flooding, or blowing away like some states. Still, I feel sorry for tourists who have traveled from afar to see our beautiful skylines which, at present, can't be seen. 

Attention, tourists: the beauty remains, but you may have to squint. For instance, if you're driving through northwest Wyoming and see a few dark dots in the hazy distance, you may want to pull over and get out your binoculars. The dots generally manifest as cows but occasionally as wild horses. 

Squint. Squint harder.

You may have to get a magnifying lens or enlarge the picture (sorry, my phone camera doesn't zoom), but there they are--seven wild horses. A bay stallion (left) led two mares, along with their colts and an older gray horse, away from us at a gallop. The wild horses along Fifteenmile Road (near Worland) are less photographed and much warier than the McCullough Peaks mustangs.

These two McCullough Peaks bachelors saw us but didn't run away. We probably could have gotten closer, but folks are supposed to keep 300 yards from the horses, so as not to disturb them. (But one delightfully surprising day, an entire herd approached our vehicle--within three feet--and hung out with us for half an hour. We weren't disturbed at all.)

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"But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul." ~Deuteronomy 4:29 NKJV

It's Not Easy Being Peaches

This is a picture of Peaches, a more-than-devoted young mama cow, mooing for her calf, Junior (far, far right). It's a common sight (and sound!) around here, since even 4,000 volt electric fences are porous to Junior. 

Peaches doesn't relax until Junior returns. A few of the other calves occasionally wander off, but their mamas don't fret as long as they can see them. When we have to wean the calves in October, no one will be surprised if Peaches takes it the hardest.

We still remember back when Peaches was weaned. She bawled for her mama, Flame, days longer than the other weanling heifers did for theirs. Kinfolk are very important to Peaches. 

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"It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it." ~From the television show, The Golden Girls