Hog Leg

Nothing says America like shooting guns and watching the Super Bowl. A nice sunny afternoon was the perfect time to try out my newly borrowed six shooter. 

I didn't know I needed a .45 long colt until I was running around with my brother Matt. I've always liked this hog leg of his so I asked if I could bring it home for awhile. Like a good big brother, he agreed. 

So I called my buddy Ryan up and we took a little time to plink around. She sure does shoot nice. 

We pulled out his AR-556 while we were at it. 

The ole Silver Bullet didn't stand a chance. 

Guns are fun. I know they get a bad rap from a lot of people, but it's hard to imagine life out west without one or two. Part of survival. American freedom comes with responsibility. We use the gifts God has given us to support human flourishing and the common good of all. In this neck of the woods, guns are an essential part of that equation.

Living for the Kingdom

If your cellphone causes you to sin, throw it away!

           https://youtu.be/WJxIjZeEAfE         

Shearing Sheep

Ranching sheep runs deep within the Neiber decedents. Mom and Dad's place is on part of my great-great grandfather Neiber's homestead. Uncle Chris is on another part of it. While we went more cowboy, they stuck with the sheep. Today was sheep shearing day on the Schmeltzer Ranch. 

The ole Reverse C bar C 

Uncle Chris is no stranger to shearing sheep.

This sheep wagon was Grandpa Murdoch's, Uncle Chris's grandfather and my great grandfather. He married Adeline Neiber after homesteading up the Owl Creek. Among other pastures around the area, he continued to run sheep out at Neiber. 

Shearers are not easy to come by these days. Michael came down from the Belfry MT area. 

Not much has changed in the sheep shearing business.

It's all about technique. If you put yourself in a good posture, you can run though a decent amount of sheep without much back trouble. 

Some guys will use suspension belts, especially when tackling a couple thousand head.

Once the wool is sheared, it's collected and bagged. Stuffing measures have changed over the years.

Back in the day, they'd throw a bundle of wool up to a platform.

Where Grandpa would stand inside a bag and stuff it. 

Hard to beat today's hydraulics though. 

All cleaned up and ready for lambing in a month or so. 

Sheep are cool, but they are a different ballgame to run. If you're not set up for them, they'll be a pain in the rear. However, if your ranch is ready like Uncle Chris's, shearing sheep is just another day in the office. Nice work partner. Thanks for supplying the world with Wyoming wool. 

Welding

Anytime I have a security question that asks me what my favorite hobby is, I always answer: welding. I love to weld. I first learned in my high school shop class with Mr. Wise. Since then, the education hasn't stopped. Our intent last fall was to leave the corrals in condition that we could work on them through the winter. So with a day off needing to be spent, I ran back home to cap some posts. 

Some might call this being a perfectionist. I say it’s being classy. I don't like uneven posts. Besides that, they needed to be capped. I've seen all sorts of ways people have capped tubbing. Some buy a domed cap that just pounds in. Other guys have wadded up newspaper and shoved it down the pipe a few inches and then fill the void up with sack crete, doming it up at the top. Others don't do anything. We decided to just put a flat plate cap with chamfered edges. 

The first step was to cut out the circles just right. We're working with 2 7/8" o.d. pipe so I cut the circles just over 2 1/2". Being slightly smaller would give us a good welding surface. Plasma cutters make jobs like this clean and easy. 

Once down at the corrals we switched to the old standby: oxy/acetylene cutting torch.  

About this time is when Hank decided to join the fun. 

The first step was to mark each post. I just went 1 1/2" above the top rail of the fence. 

A torch does a good job but it's not always the cleanest. 

Thank God for grinders. 

Once prepped we were ready for the cap. 

Cutting it just right leaves room for a nice 45 degree weld.

Our welder of choice is a Lincoln SA-200 pipeliner. She’s fun to run and listen to purr. This is a 1979 model. Guys still prefer these old timers in the oil patch. Their solid copper windings make them weld consistent all day long. 

I take all the advantages I can. Auto darkening lens make a big difference. I've had this helmet for close to 25 years now. 

The type and diameter of rod is important. When the guy told me that 6011 was easy strike I told him sold!

It took one rod exactly to make it around. Arc welds leave a slag of flux on top of the weld. You can leave it.

Or chip it off. 

I like to go another step and run a grinder around it. 

Muy bien. 

I love to weld. In our senior year of high school, Mr. Wise took a couple of us to a state wide welding completion at the Northwest College in Powell WY. I took dead last. I've learned a lot since then and continue to do so. A guy has to get the basics down. But after that, let the ponies run! Metal is definitely my favorite material to work with. It's forgiving and lasts forever. What a gift fabrication is to man. It allows us to co-create with God. I love it, and don't ever plan to stop. On to the next one.

Lust or Love

They were naked without shame.

           https://youtu.be/w1eoXK2Plck         

Custody of the Eyes

Whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

           https://youtu.be/xgpvEW3p3Gw         

Light of Truth

Dispel the darkness of evil with the light of truth.

           https://youtu.be/9lxGYgcORjc         

Salt and Light

Receive God's grace and be a channel of it.

           https://youtu.be/dhuiazOPIV0         

Jumping Jehoshaphat

"Everything happens for a reason," is what my buddy used to say. I'd have to agree. One afternoon Joanne heard a loud thump on the adoration chapel wall, which is shared with the school gym. When she looked up she saw the corpus of Jesus hanging upside down on the wall. She was able to get the crucifix down, straighten up our Lord, and tighten the screw that held Him in place. But as she and Paul were fixing to hang Him back up, the cross, which was resting upright on the floor, fell on its side. It wasn't a very dramatic fall, but the jar of the impact was enough to explode Jesus. Not knowing what to do, they bagged up all the tiny clay fragments and called Fr. Bryce.

That same afternoon, my buddy Joe Orban called saying, "They have taken my Lord and I don't know where they put Him." I said, "Calm down son, and tell me what's going on." He let me know that it looked like the crucifix in the chapel had crashed and if he could help restore Jesus, let him know. So I did.

When I brought Joe the bag holding the fragments of our Lord, he was tempted to back out of the mission, suggesting buying a new one. But I believed in him, and said to give it a go. So with a wing and a prayer, he set out.

Slowly but surely, progress was made.

Needing to fill in the gaps, Joe used some auto body bondo. He had to get a little creative with our Lord's right hand which was missing fingers. I told him it reminded me of Happy Gilmore's golf pro's hand. Eventually, Joe got our Lord restored back into solid shape. The next step was painting. Deb had done some work for us before and was willing to take on this project. I gave her free rein on creativity and she really brought our Lord back to life. 

Giddy up partner.

I don't know why our Lord exploded that Thursday afternoon. But I do know that all those involved where deeply touched by the experience. Joe later told me: "My main take away from this experience is that there's nothing that faith, hope, love, and a little JB Weld can't fix." Amen man. Jesus makes all things new. When all seems lost, our Lord is able to pick up the pieces of our lives and put them back together. And the end result is even better than before! Thanks Joe. Your holy ambition has given us all hope. Keep up the Good work brother. 

St. Blaise

Pray for us.

           https://youtu.be/vgOKtUFKhC0         

Temple

Jesus illumines the temple of our hearts.

           https://youtu.be/RtC4oABfjSc         

Grand Finale

With only one day left in Hawaii we decided to hit it hard. After breakfast at our favorite restaurant, Cheese Burger in Paradise, we saddled up for a little stand up paddle board action. With my mountain surfing skills at hand, this came much more natural than straight up surfing. In the afternoon we took a little sea tour on a sail boat called a catamaran. Fun and easy time.

Of course, Bear has connections so we were treated with honors. 

Hanging in the sun and water without doing the work of paddling was a nice treat. 

I still can't believe it's January. 

We jumped some dolphins. 

(Hit the gear and bump up the quality to 720 pics on both videos) 

And a whale. 

Once back at the ranch we celebrated Mass. No better way to end our Hawaiian vaca than by thanking God.

Of course that was topped off with some of Cindy's fine home cooking. 

This has been a good trip in more ways than one. Sure the activities were fun. But more importantly, our relationships were forged. That kind of goodness will bear fruit long into the future. How... we'll just have to wait and see. Until then, thank you Bear and Cindy for being such generous hosts of Joe and I. Much appreciated. God bless.