Encouragement

Discouragement never comes from God.

           https://youtu.be/eVfqsPiu6K8         

Born Again

Open up the Sacrament life of the Church.

           https://youtu.be/vMH6hurmuCE         

Sacraments

The Sacraments are a physical encounter with Jesus Christ to give grace.

           https://youtu.be/rPg8BT7pW1A         

Cattle Time

Every spring I seriously reevaluate whether running cows compliments the current demands of my priestly vocation or not. As far as I can see, it again does. With that in mind, it's time to gather some critters. 

These two blacks came from the Etchemendy Ranch north of Douglas. 

Mixing it up a bit, these Charolais crosses came off the HooDoo Ranch north of Cody. We picked them up at the barn in Worland. 

Happy campers. 

I'm hopeful for a good season of ranching. I'd like to pick up a total of 12 heiferettes. We'll see what the Lord provides. I know it seems counter productive to invest time in ranching when I could be sitting at the church office waiting for someone to knock on the door. But this is how I meet people. Jesus didn't wait for people to come to Him, He went out to them. Ranching gets me into people's lives where priests normally wouldn't go. But the main Man I meet when I play cowboy is God. God's grace builds on our personal nature. When I act in accord with my cowboy nature I meet God in a human way. This encounter in-turn fuels my priestly vocation. It refreshes me in my relationship with the Father that I may serve as a father. It tunes my heart in to the Holy Spirit that I may make effective shots in priestly ministry. And it grounds me in the humanity of Jesus Christ that I may be a bridge to God for the People of God. Let us ranch. 

Moving Dirt

Wanting to straighten a fork in the road and having some junk dirt and old concrete to dispose of, we decided to kill two birds with one stone.

Right here, the road to the house splits and goes to the barn. But it's a sharp turn and steep transition. So we set out to fill in this valley and soften the approach up.

First order of business was to drag the old pivot sprinkler pad into the ravine. This would take up some room and get this dinosaur out of our hair. 

Then we loaded up the old corral burn piles and hauled them over.

Side dumps still come in handy. 

Of course, none of this could be possible with out the ole JD 450. We pushed the junk dirt and debris over the concrete. Then hauled some good gravel down and put it over the top of everything.

Much better.

This little move, I think, will make quite a difference in the long run. Grandpa didn't pull many trailers. So sharp corners and steep transitions weren't a bid deal. But ranchers are trailer people. If we can't get there with our gooseneck we probably shouldn't be there. Mission accomplished. 

Harrowing

One the most satisfying parts of spring field work is harrowing a pasture that you have been feeding cows on. The gratification is instantaneous. Though we hadn’t been feeding cows on it, our little corner of grass hay still needed tending to. 

Dad had his harrow elsewhere so I had to improvise. Every rancher has some used tires on the north 40 that he just might need some day. Well, today was the day. 

So we hauled some over to the shop to come up with a game plan. 

The simpler the better in my book. We just drilled and bolted the tires to together with some 5/8" bolts and washers. 

Then carried her to the field.

Works for me.

Harrowing is just part of ranch spring cleaning. Agitating the grass kicks it into growing gear. Knocking the weeds down is nice too. Springtime is definitely a time when you don't want to burn daylight. Make hay while the sun shines because tomorrow it may snow. Bring it. 

YETI

Now that she’s warming up outside, it’s time to be ready to cool things down. First order of business is cleaning up the YETI 45. 

For the past three years this ice box bomb shell has kept many a Coors Light cold. 

She has required no maintenance over the years, but a little spring scrubbing was still in order. 

Let’s ranch. 

 Drinking responsibly is a virtue, and a virtue lies between two extremes. On one end of that spectrum is that alcohol is evil. But Jesus came eating and drinking (Mt. 11:19) and even his first miracle was turning water into wine (Jn. 2:1-10). On the other end of the spectrum is getting drunk. Getting drunk is a grave sin because it weakens our will and allows us to do actions that we normally wouldn't do when disposed with the use of right reason. In the middle lies the virtue of temperance, which governs all our passions, including our thirst. For more information see the Catechism of the Catholic Church #2290. 

All this being said, Catholic Cowboys don't have to drink alcohol. But if we do, we choose to never get drunk or even get close to it. We also don't break the legal norms for alcohol, such as drinking and driving or driving under the influence. 

Few things spell a good time like a YETI full of CLs. I smell a summer of fun coming on. God bless America. 

Resurrection

Read all the Resurrection accounts.

           https://youtu.be/18GGDc7atfU         

Alleluia

Praise the Lord!

           https://youtu.be/8uhNFwrm5aY         

Cooking Steak

I wouldn't call myself a grill master, but I have found a method of cooking steaks that works for me. In the past I've used the bbq, tried to broil, pan fried, but all seem to over cook the outside before the inside is med-rare on these big 1 1/4" thick steaks. Now days, I sear the outside then stick them in the oven to finish cooking. 

The quality of steak is crucial. LBCC T-bone will serve well for our case study. First thing to do is get the oven preheating to 400. 

I'm just a salt and pepper guy. The longer the s&p have to rest on the meat the better. Even hours ahead of time. 

Nothing but cast iron on this ranch. Get it up to a good searing temp and then slap a pad of butter on her to keep things from sticking. 

Once hot, sear both sides of the steak for no more than a minute each side. I like to turn it over one more time off the side you just seared before you put it in the oven. That way it doesn't over cook that side. Once the oven is ready, stick the pan and all in at 400 for 11ish minutes. 

In the meantime, try a little melted cheese on top of tortilla chips with a CL to hold you over. 

I have reached in and turned the steak over mid way through the cook, as I did with this big dude. Real cooks say that you should let the meat rest for five minutes or so once done cooking.

I was pleased though. 

I can't believe I ate the whole thing. 

What I like about this method is that it takes the guess work out of the equation. I never know when a steak is done or not, when it is rare or medium. There's plenty of tweaking that can be done, but for the most this two step way of cooking a steak is tried and true. Now that we have entered into the great Easter season with warmer weather, eating steak will be more regular. That being the case, we might as well do it right. There are many ways to cook a steak. But with these big guys, I find searing and baking the best bet. Christ has risen! Truly He has risen! 

Springtime

With springtime in the air, ranching fever is starting to set in. It's time to starting thinking about cattle. With Holy Week taking me up into the Hulett area, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and bring home a load of hay.

Good thing we got up there early, the frost is starting to come out and it is getting greasy. 

This time I called ahead. But Jim thought he better still come scope things out. Any man who can wear a 10gal hat like that deserves respect. 

When we got home, we stacked some for the horses.

And the rest for potential cows.

I also need to call Grandma and have her write down today's date in her Bible. Saturday, April 8, 2023, Fr. Bryce took off his longjohns, wore a short sleeve shirt, and put on his straw hat for the first time in Wyoming since last October. 

Were You There

Yes, I am there.

           https://youtu.be/iwN5q-Fp2eo