Ranch Wife's Slant

Cowboys, kids, and ranch life

Category: South Dakota Humor

  • Pringle’s PPA Monument

    The southern Black Hills town of Pringle, which is out-populated by the area’s elk, knows how to laugh in the face of adversity. The proof is at the top of the hill and overlooks the town.   The community’s unofficial monument isn’t obvious, well advertised, or the most photo-worthy site in the Black Hills, nor…

  • Girl Jam

    No matter where a person grows up, there are always going to be associations with the summertime of his or her youth that becomes a tradition as an adult. The events may be unintentional, but earmark the season every year. One of mine is picking raspberries, as well as for many others who grew up…

  • People Needing Direction

     On days when you need some direction, it’s always smart to consider who to ask for advice. Answers differ depending on who you approach. Truckers would probably direct you on a route that includes all the best truck stops along the way. Linemen would have you looking at power lines and substations. Foodies would send…

  • 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….

  • Seein’ Stars

    The story I’ve been putting together for next week is about sodium yard lights, er, the absence thereof. I thought it was such a co-inkydink (our slang term for coincidence) that I wrote about that particular topic the same time my family and I all slept outside and watched for shooting stars organically, as in…

  • The Pringle Well

    You can’t get a beer at Pringle’s watering hole like you can at the Hitchrail Bar and Restaurant but the town well sees just as much activity as the Rail does. The Pringle well has become an unlikely hub for social activity. It started getting an influx of attention about the time the drought started…

  • Yellow Hay Days

    The yellow sweet clover is in full bloom right now and it’s everywhere I look. It looks like big yellow rugs resembling shag carpet from the 70’s all spread out on hillsides and fields. It’s not the prettiest plant to lookat up close either but it smells SO GOOD! I’ve been driving everywhere with my…

  • Play Dirt

    Dirt and boys they just go together. When our son was a toddler, his idea of hitting pay dirt was getting to play with it. His fascination for fine dry soil started a dirt-kicking phase. It all began when he followed me under the slat-covered porch one day to clean out all the debris that…

  • 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…

  • Moving the Heifers

    Since my husband and I moved our heifer calves in the fall for the winter months, he’s been planning, worrying and wondering how we’re going to get them loaded to take to summer range. Without having been loaded much, everything we try to get them to do is difficult. Friday, my husband, son and I…