Just Ranchin

Well, it was time to get out of Dodge. The big Triduum liturgy was past and the octave of Easter is always a time to celebrate. So back home we went. Of course a cowboy never wants to be caught without his trailer just incase he finds a backhaul.

It's best never to ranch alone. Here's my nephew and niece Carter and Elizabeth after working a few cows in Worland. 

Before we blew out of Gillette, we set us up a little tack room in the nose of Patty. Took a little engineering, but works slick so far.

The first morning home I ran with Dad to check on the ditch. Dad sits on the board for the Bluff canal system south of town. Springtime is busy getting the water flowing freely so he's generously lent his service and expertise to the cause. 

Here a flume takes water back across the river to higher ground. The canal systems make the Big Horn Basin. Engineers around the turn of the 20th century mapped out elaborate water ways that get irrigation to land that would otherwise be barren. Because of the hard work of these early settlers, as well as the men and women of today, the Worland area continues to raise the most bountiful crops in all of Wyoming. 

Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the sagebrush. 

We live at the intersection of WY 431 and US Hwy 20. I love this sign because it reminds me of the Council of Ephesus in 431 where the hypostatic union of Jesus was further defined, Him being one person with two natures, human and divine. Therefore, in this council Mary was rightly declared the Mother of God.

Mom and I jumped on our steel horses and cruised up Tie Down Lane. Sit tall in the saddle Ma.

The best reason for coming home was to celebrate Grandma Ruth's 90th birthday. L-R Uncle Vance, Dad, Grandma, Aunt Vic, and Uncle Lloyd. The legacy lives on.

Thanks Grandma for teaching me how to love and how to laugh.

Before we headed out we picked up these two heifers form Luke.

They fit right in. The herd is now sitting at seven. We'll see if it gets much bigger. If you want beef let me know.  All are welcome.

I love home. It's ranch headquarters. But the spread I ride for encompasses all 60 million acres of Wyoming. That's a lot of territory to cover, but I have a lifetime to do it. Better get busy though. There's Mass to celebrate and cattle to fatten. Just Ranchin. It's a way of life.