Category: Ranch Slants
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Bootism Disease
Bootism Diseasolumn for Oct 11-17 My family has a genetic disease called bootism. It’s a rare disease that affects only ranch families, but knowing that there are other families like ours all over the country with too many boots is reassuring. The disease can infect a person at infancy, as it did with both of my…
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A Lot of Junk Drawer Miscellanea
While escaping the craziness of opening weekend of elk season for the SD Festival of Books in Deadwood, it turns out I didn’t miss anything exciting. A few tags were filled but the report I got was that those who went farther south of Pringle to hunt down in the Minnekahta area between Hot Springs…
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Amy’s Unsolved Mysteries
Those tangled bunches of miniature-sized sunflower looking blooms (I don’t know what they’re really called) I see growing along the highway right now are a sweet little treat for my eyes every time I drive someplace. They’re also one of those unsolved mysteries that need an answer but we’ll get to that in a minute….
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The Hail Blizzard That Rock and Rolled
A few weeks ago we had a hail storm blow in; literally. The strong winds mixed with hail had me spooked thinking tornado (which is unusual around here) because the wind was blowing so strongly. We had a downpour of heavy rain but the hail was devastating. It’s hard to tell how big the hail…
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A Wellspring of Troubles
Prior to the two weeks we had relatives visiting that wanted to stay at the Ranger Station (the house where my husband and I used to live), we had some dirty work to do. The old waterline needed replaced. A couple of years ago, we had renters that said they kept running out of water…
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Grease Rags
Wednesday my husband had been up at the hayfield fixing on equipment all afternoon after he made a morning run to Rapid City to get parts first. When he pulled into the yard that evening I walked out to the shop to find out how his day went and if his fixit work put him…
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The Barb That Snagged Me
I’ve gotten used to blue jeans, shirts and coats getting torn open from catching on barb wire but it aggravates me every time it happens and I don’t accept it very well. I know I have to expect it to happen occasionally but sometimes it seems like it happens regularly. It makes me spew hot…
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A Lifestyle of Infinite Variety
Our lifestyle is one of infinite variety. Our daily summertime routine involves making a big morning loop to check on salt, Alberson Valley and the tanks at a location called Callon Spring. All of which takes about an hour to drive. Seeing that the floats haven’t stuck is vital in making sure the stock tanks…
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Planting a Lot of Work
On Saturday June 6th the whole family helped put the garden in. It may sound insane to wait so long to plant a garden but the general rule in the higher elevations of the Black Hills and especially the Custer area, is not to plant anything at least until June first. Late frosts are not…