Ranchin Around

Wanting to scope out some pasture for my horses, I verntured out to the Vignaroli Ranch northeast of Buffalo. The grandson in charge, Jeremy Smith, and I ranched around while we were at it.

The nickname for the ranch is after Grandma Jean's middle name and was given to the place by Grandpa Larry, of happy memory.

The first order of business was to get a couple cows on the right side of the fence. So we jumped in their horse on wheels and hit the trail.

Finding the culprits in the trees by the creek, Jeremy pushed them back across the fence.

Then we jumped on Silver,

...and finished the job.

Once the sun was setting on the meadows,

...we headed back to the ranch for some home grown New York Strips. 

After a little smoke on the grill, Jeremy melted some Amish Butter in a skillet,  

...and threw them on for the final sear.

Precut and added some cooked asparagus,

...and we were ready to ranch!

Fun stuff. Jeremy's a good Catholic kid. We're about the same age and know a lot of the same people. The only problem is, his day job is in Texas. Hopefully we can get him back around here for good. The world needs more Catholic Cowboys!

Dependance

Follow Jesus' example and entrust ourselves to Mary!

           https://youtu.be/z5VVxpj2T6U         

 

Shipping Steers

A few years back, Nathan and Bridget Williams turned their family ranch into a yearling operation. Now, instead of calving cows, they fatten steers and heifers, getting them up to about 1000 lbs on grass before they sale them to a feedlot to be finished. Well, today was shipping day. 

Just northwest of Kaycee WY lies Mayoworth, a little community at the end of Hwy 191. 

Each year they build their bunch up of various cattle from around the country. After backgrounding them in the Worland area, they bring them over to graze the hay meadows and pastures of Johnson County for the summer. 

When Bridget isn't sitting a saddle and chasing yearlings, she's homeschooling her kids and assisting the parish council. 

Once we got them gathered in the corral, the trucks showed up.

The whole family was on deck for this final push. Levi not only rides and ropes, but is a hand on the ground too.  

They'd bring in about 20 at a time and weigh them before loading up. 

1013 lbs average. 

They really look good. Slicked off nice and stocky frame. 

Then it was time to load. 

My job was sorting and keeping the alley full. 

Their oldest son Ben was the sales rep on these steers. It was up to him line the trucks up and make sure all the numbers match. 

18 truck loads in total. These critters are bound for Scott City KS, where they will be finished on a corn ration before heading to the end of the trail in Dodge. 

Job well done. 

This was a fun day to see some new country. Great folks and cool operation. That's the beauty of ranching, there is no one-size-fits-all way of doing things. Each family has to discern what works best for them and the land the Lord has entrusted them with. For the Williams', that's running yearlings. Keep up the Good work, y'all. America depends on you. 

Catholic Cowboy Friends

One of the greatest aspects of being Catholic is already being friends with people you haven’t even met yet. Through our baptism and practice of the Faith, there is an interconnectedness within the People of God around the world that makes already family. Such was the gift behind my hanging out with some Catholic Cowboy friends in upstate Pennsylvania.

 

Paul and Susan Walters, from Sweet Valley PA, reached out to me a couple years ago. They had found my blog and wanted to encourage me in our Catholic Cowboy ministry. Since then we’ve kept in touch, and being this close to them with the recent retreat, I had to stop in.  

We started the day by celebrating Mass at their local parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. 

Then, after a good ranch breakfast, we went out exploring. 

Venturing up to Wilkes-Barre, we stopped at a beautiful private shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. 

Then stopped at King’s College Chapel of Christ the King. This guy was originally a Presbyterian church that was later acquired by the Catholic Church. 

The entire church is stunningly beautiful. Especially the Altar made out of coal!

Near by, Jerry and his son were selling Krispy Kreme donuts to help support youth ministry efforts. Good work, boys. 

But my favorite stop was at Paul Scavone’s place. We met at Mass this morning and he shared that he used to hunt in the Big Horns Mountains. Cool. Then he randomly shared that he bought a 1949 Chevy from Dan Miller in Worland! I knew that truck well. So he pulled it out for me to see and drive. Wild!

Providence knows no bounds. What fun connections. No where other than in the Catholic Church can you take off running with friends you’ve never met before. I love it. Special thanks to Paul and Susan for showing me around upstate PA. Your friendship, support, and prayers have more value than we realize. Keep in touch and keep up the Good work!

Malvern Retreat

A year or so ago, Ken Johnston from Philadelphia PA and I did a radio interview about my book. After which, he asked if I’d be interested in leading their annual men’s retreat in Malvern PA. After a bit of prayer I thought, why not?

The city of brotherly love. 

I was here back in 2015 when Pope Francis came to town. The big papal Mass was held by the art museum. 

Once arrived, Ken and I had dinner with Fr. Doug McKay. Good men

Then settled in at the retreat center. Malvern Retreat House is a lay owned retreat center near Philadelphia. Founded in 1921, it is still going strong. 

Technically it’s called St. Joseph’s in the Hills. Beautiful grounds and buildings. 

About 125 men were at the three day retreat. Young and old. 

My goal was to teach the Catholic Cowboy Way. Worked out, I think. Three big talks, Three homilies, and many conversations in between. 

And of course, celebrate Mass each day. The source and summit of the Christian life. 

Thanks Blessed Mother. 

Fun stuff. I’m thankful for this opportunity. I probably received as much on the retreat as I gave. Special thanks to Ken and Fr. McKay. Sometimes a guy needs to get pushed into the deep end. On to the next one

Log Removal

On our annual Sons of Mary priestly fraternal retreat in the Big Horns, we always like to do some act of community service. This year, Fr. Brian and myself decided to remove an old tree that had fallen and wedged itself in the creek. 

West Ten Sleep Creek can run wild during spring runoff. A few years back, she washed up a couple trees. This one has been an eye sore for a while. It was time to get it out. 

Being wedged between a couple other trees, we had to cut it in half before it was free to move. 

Then we chained up the front of White Horse. 

And eased her down to the creek so we could winch on the log. 

When working with timber in the creek, having long enough rigging is always an issue. Thank God for winch lines. 

A good double wrap on the trunk and we were ready to tug. 

We are running a 12,000lbs Ramsey electric winch on the front of White Horse. A good rule of thumb is to leave the engine running when operating an electric winch. It will drain your battery in no time if you don't. 

Slow but steady, the old log made it's way to the bank. 

Once arrived, it started to nose dive in the dirt and power-out the winch. 

So we just put the old mare in 4-low and backed the log up the bank. 

And pulled it out to the road. 

Then turned around and drug it to the burn pile. 

Afterward, we reclaimed our footprint. 

Muy bien. 

I'm all about the good of the community. This lodged log was bugging us all. Not any more. Fr. Brian, White Horse, and myself, made light work of it. We left the other dead trees standing to ensure logging fun for the future. Someday they'll fall down, and someday we'll pull them out. All for the Glory of God! On to the next one.