Jesus Speaks

Through the four Gospels.

           https://youtu.be/SRqhYJdO4Vw         

First Love

The first love for all of us should be discipleship.

           https://youtu.be/DbQTUHFaUFk         

Turkey Trot

Turkeys hanging around the church is not an uncommon sight. Especially with Thanksgiving around the corner, they find St. John the Baptist to be a safe space. I've actually enjoyed watching them throughout the summer. 

These are wild turkeys, though I don't doubt that they were planted in this area within the last 20 years. All these guys have beards, the tough of hair like feathers sticking out of their chest. That is a male trait, though random females can sport them as well. My guess is that these are all young males.

A group of turkeys is most formally called a rafter. But you can get by calling them a flock, gang, gaggle, end even a posse. This rafter of birds has been wandering around the church grounds all summer. Here the toms, male birds, strut around. Probably just fronting each other, but maybe trying to impress then hens, female birds. 

Turkey track brands are fairly common throughout the cowboy state. Not having any enclosed corners, like a B or 8, it probably goes on a cow real nice.

The only drawback to having turkeys in the neighborhood is their scat. It isn't a pleasant mess to come across. However, it is rather few and far between. Geese are dirty birds, their feces is everywhere they are. Turkeys, on the other hand, don't drop everywhere they walk. That being said, you definitely want to check your boots before entering the church. 

Fun stuff. My first encounter with church turkeys was on an Easter Vigil in Moorcroft. Just as we were leaving the church to start the Liturgy at the outdoor fire, a turkey walked in and went downstairs. I said, Leave it. We'll shoot it later. But an old rancher went down and herded him back outside. That pretty well broke the ice for a beautiful Catholic night in Wyoming. Beside their sporadic droppings and a few rocks being kicked out of the flower bed from their scratching around, I enjoy our little posse of turkeys. Thanks Lord. 

Shooken

Make sure when our Lord shakes the fence at His final coming you land on the right side!

           https://youtu.be/7WxTQXJamrA         

Sight Seeing

Dad and I were on a mission to pick up a little equipment in the Thermopolis area. While at it, we thought we'd do a little sight seeing along the way. So we called Uncle Phil and hit the trail. 

The Owl Creek drainage, west of Thermop, was our region to explore. 

This area is no stranger to either Dad nor Uncle Phil. Dad pumped a lot of oil wells around here and Uncle Phil spent time in these mountains growing up. 

There is quite a bit of oil activity around here. Grass Creek and Hamilton Dome have produced a lot of oil over the years. 

Big old ranches as well. This is part of the Arapaho Ranch, which is ran by the Arapaho Tribe. 

Rock Creek is where Grandpa William Murdoch homesteaded. Rough and beautiful country up there. 

We didn't go up Rock Creek, but walked into Anchor Dam. Cool rock outcroppings. 

Anchor Dam was built in the 1950s and backs up the south fork of the Owl Creek.

A real work of art. 

Unfortunately, the reservoir doesn't hold water for very long. Durning the construction, several sink holes were found. In a good runoff year the reservoir will fill up, but before the summer is over, it is back to a creek running through it. 

In the years that followed, they dammed off a tributary that would loose a lot of water. No doubt it helped, but the water still disappears. 

Though, the dam is a bit of a lost cause, it's still a fun place to visit.

Before we headed out, we enjoyed some lunch that Mom made us. Thanks Ma. 

After our sight seeing, we got down to business. Dad located some old oil field stairwells and landings that we could use on our barn project.

So we hitched up White Horse and drug them out of the weeds.

Then used a loader nearby to load them up. 

Strapped them down and headed for home.

Score. There is plenty of material here to work with. We plan to use them to get us up into the barn loft from the outside.

Fun day. This is country that I'm not real familiar with. I've been to most of these sites before, but didn't really know much of the history. Beautiful. Great find on the scrap iron too. We will make good use of it. On to the next one. 

Already But Not Yet

The Church is the presence of the Kingdom of God, already! 

           https://youtu.be/4cmPt_vupXQ         

Gratitude

Grounds us in God.

           https://youtu.be/cprhZQlSzPY         

Servant Song

We serve God out of love, not as slaves.

           https://youtu.be/KbFCs52OEHM         

Ranching with a Cause

About a month ago, Ian Welles asked if I'd like to ride with them when they ship their calves. You bet. When I know ahead of time, I can put it on the calendar and plan to work outside the office that day. Time well spent. 

We met up at 0600 and traveled southeast of Buffalo, arriving at the shipping corrals at the break of dawn. 

Beautiful view of the Big Horns from here. 

Chief is still a bit lame, so I had to break out the brute. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit scared. She got a little broncy on me in the spring, so I've been avoiding her ever since. But it was time to cowboy up. First I changed her bit. She responded well to the last one, but really didn't like it. Then I took time to ride her the other day. Even when I picked her up this morning I swung in the saddle for a lap or two. This did much for both of our's confidence. 

Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. - John Wayne. 

Once the posse was gathered, Ian lined us out. 

This pasture is on the western edge of the burn, which is seen in the distance. In fact, this is almost dead center of where the lightning struck and took off both north and south. Ian's family ranch was hit hard. 

Cool country. Nice little bottom spring. 

Neat rolling hills and breaks. 

Giddy up! Mollie did great. No hesitation or froggyness. 

All the riders came together for the final push. 

We had guys in the back, keeping them moving. 

And a few on the side, keeping them in line. 

Once through the gate and in the corral, we hobbled our horses.

Hobbles are slick. You just figure 8 them around the front two ankles of your horse, and walk away. They can still move and graze, but not really get away. 

First, we weaned the calves from the cows.

Then we separated the heifer calves from the steers. I manned the gate. 

The steers went straight on the scale to be weighed and sold. These portable scales are handy. It saves a guy from running the cattle to town to weigh and load, which calves will loose weight with all that moving around. Buyers call this effect shrink. Scales like this have to be state inspected within eight months of use. 

After we had everything separated and sexed, we stopped for a muffin break. Pretty tasty. 

Then we backed up the trucks and got to work. 

One final check before we loaded up. The steers were sold and went somewhere in the midwest to be fed-out. They shipped the heifers to Worland to be fed-up before selling later in the year. 

BJ kept the dogies moving.

Up the chute and on the truck. 

Should be a cozy ride over the mountain. 

Game over. 

Cowboys win.

Ian's wife, Megan, brought out a full-on meal to celebrate.

Pretty fancy picnic on the prairie. Real silverware and banquet beer. 

There was one more job to do, though. Pull the bulls. 

Once gathered, we headed them out to a neighboring pasture about a mile or two away. 

Enjoy the winter, boys. Thanks for your service. 

Alls well that ends well. 

A good time was had by all. This is no day off, though. Plenty of work, for sure. But plenty of ministry as well. Conversations about God from the saddle are about as natural as they get. No pretense there, only truth. When you're horseback, reality is real. God is not an idea when you're in the saddle. He's the Man that created the horse you are riding and the cattle you are chasing. He's the God who permitted the fire and the God who saved you from the fire. And, He's the Father that has provided in the past and promised to provide in the future. Life is good. Let us ranch.