Rattlesnakes and Scars

A while back I wrote about an experience I had while I was out riding.  Rhett and I came up on a culvert that we had ridden across many times as a way to avoid a really boggy area. Rhett does not like mud! Never has, never will.  He will cowboy up and go through it when I really need him to, but only then!  Anyhow, we rode up on that little culvert and the thing came alive!  The ground vibrated and in .05 seconds I knew the sound of rattlesnakes. Lots of rattlesnakes.  Rhett knew it too and screeched to a halt. In another .05 seconds we were backing up just as fast as we could.  Twenty five feet later we stopped and both of us caught our breath.  Our hearts were pounding and we could not wait to get out of there!

I rode past that little culvert again this afternoon.  Each and every time we go by I hear those snakes in my mind.  I know they most likely have moved on to a deeper den for winter.  But neither Rhett or I want to take the chance.  I know some of my dear readers are laughing at me right now and that's just fine with me.  I'm not the only one with a snake issue.  My dear cousin Joellyn scared one up with her lawn mower last summer.  Now she doesn't go anywhere near that part of her back yard. Just in case.... Rattlesnakes have such an ability to freak us out!

It occurred to me today that my snake issues are like some of my other "scars".  Maybe something doesn't actually cause us physical damage, but it still leaves a scar. Something can frighten us so badly that we're never quite the same.  It makes it so we just can't quite ride across that culvert anymore.  It can be something that others deem silly or small.  Something that nobody else even notices.  Yet it stays with us and leaves a scar.

It's now a goal of mine to somehow get over the fear of that culvert.  Maybe I'll walk over it after throwing a bunch of rocks at it.  Just to be sure.  But I'm gonna do it! Of course, if I even think I hear a snake, or see a snake, forget it!  I'm outta there!  I'm not dumb enough to get myself snake bit for the cause of conquering a fear....

'Til next time,
B

The Cheeky Dog

 

This morning I took the puppies for a nice long walk around town.  It was quite cold and the snow was lightly falling but these pups are tough! They were enjoying our walk so much and I was too.  They now have the leash business figured out so it's very enjoyable for me as well.  I always walk Judge on the left and Jury on my right.  She's a bit more active/naughty and so by default she gets my stronger right arm to contend with.  She's also more alert than Judge.  He is happy to trudge along at my heels and doesn't question me.  Jury is sometimes sure I am leading her to danger.  Buses and cars are monsters, even if parked.  Fire hydrants are puppy eating demons!  But she is calming down and is beginning to trust me more.

Jury and her wooden snake.  She's practicing up for the real thing!

 

When we were nearly home we ran across a very cheeky Border Collie.  He was delighted to see someone else out so early and began running laps around us. Judge didn't like it at all but was dutifully following me even though he was worried.  Jury was flat out ticked off.  She was trying to behave but did not like that ornery dog!  When he made the mistake of dashing in towards us Jury spun and lunged at him and gave him her most ferocious, "I'm gonna tear you up!" barks.  She was so serious and scary that the Border Collie ran away! She was not gonna have anyone even think about invading our space.  As soon as he ran back into his yard, she calmed down and went along nicely. 

 

I was so surprised and I dare say, impressed by her behavior.  A little, not quite 10 week old pup and she was laying down the law with that naughty dog.  I can only imagine what is to come with her.  Which is the reason we are doing daily obedience lessons!  They are both so terribly smart that we know they will be very loyal guards.  But it is so very apparent that now is the time to install the "abort mission" command.  

"You talkin' to me?"

 

 

Each day with them has been quite interesting.  I hope you enjoyed our update.

 

'Til next time,

B 

 

 

 



Around Montana

Yesterday I drove 3 hours south to a tiny town called Wilsall, Montana.  I have a horse named Fancy that is getting fancier by the day thanks to my horse trainer there.  It's a bit of a drive to go see her, but a beautiful one. Then I get to ride and learn a lot!  It's so worth the trip!

I took a little time during my drive to stop and shoot a few photos.  Just whenever something caught my eye.  So here is a little tour around Montana....



Near Monarch, Montana

The whole drive down to Wilsall I think I saw no more than ten other vehicles on the road.  It is one of the most amazing, unspoiled drives in the state. 

But I did see cows.... lots and lots of cows. :)

 

The Crazy Mountains near Wilsall.

The Crazy mountains used to be called The Crazy Woman mountains when I was a kid. Legend has it that they were named after a white woman whose family was massacred by Indians and went mad.  She refused to leave their graves. The mountain man Liver Eating Johnson found her nearly starved.   He then looked after her, bringing her food whenever he passed through.  Robert Redford made a movie called "Jeremiah Johnson" that was loosely based on this legend.

On the way home I was witness to one of the most remarkable sunsets I have ever seen.  I pulled off the highway to capture it.  Believe it or not, I didn't have to tweak the exposure or color at all.  Here it is in it's glory.....

I hope you enjoyed the tour....


'Til Next Time,
B

A New Skill

More often than not in the months of September through April the roads look like this....

Or worse.

 

It doesn't always make it easy to run to Fort Benton or Great Falls to get supplies or run errands.  Sure, we can usually get through if it's important, but it doesn't mean it's fun.  The other day we had a foot of snow fall and since then we've had some serious wind every day.  The snow is now melting off but there are huge drifts all over.

 

I decided today that I didn't want to drive through the drifts and winds, but the boys all really needed a haircut.  Now this is no big thing for lots of super moms out there.  But it was a big deal for me!  For the first time ever, I cut all three boys hair.  Long ago when I was a very broke single mom I would occasionally take my horse clippers to poor Payson.  A buzz cut worked and was free, but not that cute.

Today I got out my mom's clipper kit and followed the example of the last gal that cut their hair. ( I was watching!)  And did the best I could on two very squirmy toddlers and Payson.  Thank goodness Payson is a pro!  I think the results turned out pretty good!  Nobody will have to wear a hat every day for a month or anything like that....

Notice my big boy is trying very hard to look tough here. ;)



I'm feeling quite proud of myself for this.  A new skill that means one less thing I hafta make the trek to town for!  A little more self sufficient every day, just like a good prairie mom....

 

The rugrats aren't impressed.... They just think their mom is hilariously funny!

 

 

'Til next time,

 

B

Gandolf

Today at 2:00 pm.  The town of Geraldine is just beyond the sign.

On January 12th, 1888 on front rolled through Montana and brought one of the deadliest blizzards in our history.  They called it The School Children's blizzard because so many children died on their way home from school.  The storm hit quickly and many were unprepared.  The day prior had been unseasonably warm and they weren't dressed for it.  Teachers didn't know how bad the storm was before they sent them out. 

Wednesday was spring like.  Warm, sunny, no wind.  I thought how strange it was for January.  That night we learned of the pending storm.  Now we know far ahead that we need to prepare.  We know how bad it will be and how long it will last.  We can plan ahead and have the pantry stocked. I often think of the people that settled this place.  I'm always amazed that anybody even survived here before the days of decent insulation and central heating.  They had to keep themselves alive and their animals too.  Ice was chopped with an axe to water the stock.  Hay was so much harder to put up and store, but somehow they managed.  Kids walked miles across the prairie in all kinds of weather to get to school and sometimes it cost them their lives.  We have so very much to be grateful for.  Yes, in some ways our world is worse off than in 1888.  But in many ways it's better.

Pony looked so miserable that I put him in the barn for the night.



Payson walking home from school.  The whole
20 yard trek.

Now we have the National Weather Service that tracks and now also names our winter storms.  This one is named Gandolf.  Gandolf has made his way East to North Dakota tonight.  A bit of snow is still falling but it's lightened.  Tomorrow will be warmer and sunny once again.  The snow drifts will be the highlight of my big boy's weekend.  The rugrats and puppies will enjoy it as well.  I will make hot cocoa and smile at their rosy cheeks and be thankful for the storm....


'Til next time,
B

The Whole Galaxy

Some of you know this.... I used to live in Seattle.  And Houston.  And the Dallas- Fort Worth area.  And some other pretty dang big towns.  I can say with first hand knowledge how beautiful city lights can be.  The lights of Seattle reflecting on the water of Puget Sound are a favorite memory of mine. But the one thing that used to bother the begeezers out of me is that you could barely see the stars in those places of my past.  Seattle not only has the light pollution but almost constant cloud cover.  It was very sad to know the stars were there an not be able to see them.  Like ever....

These last few nights I have now had a reason to be out traipsing around my yard after dark.  The Judge and Jury need to have one last pee-pee before bedtime!  I'm thankful the weather has been unusually cooperative for such things.  I have actually really been enjoying our little night patrols.  My big boy has been joining me.  He's been in his jammies and slips on my giant thermal Muck boots and coat and we go.... 

Each time I'm outside after dark in Geraldine my eyes are always cast upward.  I probably look like such a goon, staring up all the time.  But the stars are so bright it feels like you could reach up and grab one!  All the little teeny ones are there!  The Milky Way is there! Orion and the Dippers and lots of other constellations that I have no clue the names of, are there!  It actually does make a person feel closer to God to all his wonder like that.

Tonight there is actually a slight cloud cover.  Kinda uncommon out here, but sure enough there's clouds.  A few of the big, bright stars are shining through but that's all we could see.  Payson looked up and said, " Mom, where are all the stars? "  I explained the clouds covering them and that they will be back.  "Ok", he said. " 'Cuz last night we could see the whole galaxy."  Yup.... we sure could.

It's pretty hard to get a decent photo of stars.   At least hard for me.  So here's one of the sunset out west of town.

'Til next time,
B

Fourteen Kids and a Pot of Rainbow Stew

Well, actually it was chicken fettuccine alfredo.... I'll explain.

The other day I wrote about getting my new puppies from Amy, who I've known since childhood.
Now, as Paul Harvey used to say, here's the rest of the story. 

Amy is Tasha's little sister.  Tasha and I were practically inseparable after school and on weekends in the dirty, little ranch town of Cascade, Montana. Our parents all worked really hard and we were all pretty dang good kids.  We had a lot of time on our own.  Tasha said my house was always more fun to play at, but her house was the one with all the great snacks!  We spent the dog days of summer running back and forth and having sleepovers.  Her parents took us night fishing on the Missouri River.  It's almost seems like a magical childhood as I look back.  It's ironic that dogs brought us back together because we each had a dog back then that we adored and they went everywhere we went. Good old Blondie, Pepper and Spike....

Fast forward about 20 years, give or take....



Prairie Momma Amy

Now we've all got long stories leading up to our current lives.  There are now husbands and kids.  Lots and lots of kids!  Tasha has been blessed with four boys and one princess.  Amy has five boys and one princess.  I have three boys.  Add 'em up!  When we got together the other day we had fourteen kids between us! All but two were rowdy boys! They oldest child in our group is eleven, the youngest is six months.  Tasha's house is a nice, spacious farm house but we sure filled it to the brim!  Tasha's boy Wesley was having a birthday so it made for one heckuva party!  There was a level of chaos I am in no way accustomed to.  Toy guns, swords, trucks, legos and a pretend restaurant all going on.  The big boys went hunting and sledding in the yard for most of the afternoon, but the little ones were right there underfoot.  Ya'll shoulda seen it!

But there was some pretty amazing things going on if you looked through the chaos.  With help from my mom, who was there to help referee, I saw that we have fourteen very happy children.  You would have thought there would be fussing, whining, bickering and the like between all those kids.  But amazingly there wasn't!  Other than an occasional "accident" or boo-boo nobody really complained.  Even Amy's infant barely cried.  That is either some kind of miracle or maybe there is something else at work.

Our kids are all being raised on pretty dang old fashioned values like faith, family and working together.  Amy and Tasha are both brave enough to home school their broods.  (I'm not tough enough I'm afraid.)  Our lives all involve teaching our kids to love the Lord and the bigger meaning of life.  We are all three, Prairie Momma's.

Prairie Momma Tasha

Confession:  When it's comes to being a "Prairie Momma", I feel those girls have got me beat.  I know I live way out here, an hour from the big town.  We don't have a stop light or a car wash or Wal-Mart.  There are six kids in my 1st Graders class.  Things are simple here, for sure.  But this "ain't nothin' ". 

Tasha has to drive 40 miles to a grocery store. Any kind of grocery store. After you turn off the main highway you don't see a thing but an occasional farmstead. Miles upon miles of wide open expanse. Her farm is a prairie classic. Wonderful, mature windbreaks define the yard. Perfect antique red barns and buildings sit below the house. An old farmhouse with tricky wiring. Really tricky wiring. But tons of charm and warmth.  They've got horses, dogs and goldfish for now, but give her time.  I think she's planning her garden for next spring....

Tasha's yard

Amy has it even better! She gets to drive and hour and a half to the grocery store. Her closest neighbors are about a mile away. She has a wonderful little farm with a menagerie of animals. Goats, horses, cows, sheep, chickens, pigs, donkeys, dogs and probably more. She's raising what her family eats and drinks and even makes goat milk soap. (Amy, if you are reading this, you are my hero.) 

Amy's Farm

Amy's princess. Could not resist stealing this pic!

So now you see.... I'm a Prairie Momma, no doubt. But these girls have got me beat! I aspire to learn from them as good friends do....


'Til, Next Time,
B