Hello Again!

I knew it had been awhile since I'd written a post but I had no idea it'd been 2 years!  My goodness I have really been slacking.  During that digital quiet time however, I've been up to all kinds of activities.  From moving to North Dakota to coming back to Oregon.  So I guess before I get back into the swing of things I should shed some light on my last 2 years. 

I got a permanent job and moved to North Dakota after a fantastic 5 months of being at home working on the ranch.  What's in North Dakota you ask???  Well there's oil, grass, cows, nice people, man camps and more oil.  Oh and wind, there's always wind.  My first month there I experienced my first and hopefully last almost tornado.  They warned me we sat at the northern edge of Tornado Alley but not to worry unless the sky turned green.  Well one afternoon the sky was indeed green and I lived in a trailer!  Panic much?  This mountain bred girl didn't know what to do but all I wanted was a bloody storm shelter!  Luckily for me the actual tornado touched down just the West of us and the hail wasn't even that bad.

I met some really great people there and hopefully formed some relationships that will last a lifetime.  I'll take this time to point out that I met Vanilla Ice too.  Yep, this girl danced on stage with him and even took a selfie with him.  Pretty sure that's a selfie win right there!  I don't particularly like to dance but there was no way I was going to pass up that opportunity.  Life's all about living right?  Well I'm into that.

Winter wasn't as extreme as I was hoping it would be though.  Pretty mild in Dakota terms but we did have like 2 weeks of subzero temps with even lower wind chills.  That wind!  I don't know how the natives did it in their tee-pees!  There were a few nights when I'd have to leave my pickup running while doing chores so I could go warm up.  Cold!  That wind would cut through to your soul and burn your face off.  That might be a little dramatic but my skins never been so red without being burnt.  Loved the experience though.

 I also visited my second National Park, Theodore Roosevelt, the South Unit.  Got incredibly close to the wild horses that were fenced in.  Better known as the Nakota.  There were buffalo of course as well but I saw a lot more horses than buffalo.  And yes I know they're actually Bison but I refuse to call them that.

(Two different band's of Nakota's at the Park, the sorrel on the right is the herd stallion)

(Theodore Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Cabin)

Now I'm back in Eastern Oregon and a happy lady that makes me.  I just love it here.  I lived in this area once before but it's so much better this time around.  I have an amazing opportunity before me and I plan on taking full advantage of it!  It's also so wonderful being closer to home again.  I can't remember the last time I was close enough to go home on a long weekend.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

(Cabin on Theodore Roosevelt's Elkhorn Ranch)

 

XOXO Loves,



Me

Mountains

I left the office mid-morning to do some range checks in the mountains.  My second day working solo and my first time to this allotment.  Little did I know I was in for a real treat.

I work in the forest everyday, but this wasn't typical country.  I was up over 10,000 feet and very near treeline.  Gamble Oak ceased to be the main vegetation cover and more and more fir's lined the road.  It was cool and the wind was blowing a fierce storm towards the peaks.  I had made a couple stops when I explored around a spring some.  I knew I was close to the point I needed to find, but I couldn't see it anywhere.  During said search I didn't feel like I was at work at all.  I wandered silently along a cow trail and spied a deer, I wasn't obtrusive in any way and even though it's bow season she didn't give a care.  I came upon a meadow, the grass was still wet with morning dew and it was wonderfully quiet.  Quiet in the way lonely mountains are.  There was no incessant babbling, no clomp of others footsteps, no roar of an engine.  There was just me in this calm and serene place, the only sound coming from the whispering of the wind through the quakies.  It did wonders for my soul!

I continued to climb into avalanche territory, which is just phenomenal to me.  There were several hunting camps along the way but the feel was just different.  The weather played a big role in this as well.  There's something fantastic about the calm before the storm.  The last place I checked was another meadow sloping down into a spring.  If I didn't turn around and look at the bald peak behind me I could almost imagine I was back home.  Walking around in country as familiar to me as any.  It was beautiful and the grass, oh the grass!  Who knew so much grass could grow in the South West?!

As I headed to my next point I came across a rancher on a big buckskin paint, his little Border Collie Pug right behind him.  I'd only met him once before but we had a nice chat, we left each other with well wishes and a hope of staying dry.  Less than 10 minutes later it started to sprinkle, followed by flashes of lightning.  I headed back to my pickup with no wish of being struck. My next route was a rough one, barely good enough to drive a pickup.  By the time I arrived the rain was coming down in torrents.  With my windows up the thunder still crashed with incredible sound.  I've never been that close to the sky when it broke open.  A part of me wished I didn't have such great cover, that I was out in the open and could really watch the show above.  It was magnificent and with wipers on high I reluctantly turned around and left.  I didn't feel confident enough to try and risk the road that appeared to be little more than a trail in such a storm. I can't wait to go back and finish.  Next time though I hope to check the last section a horseback.  To be able to ride in country such as that is a dream.

XO Loves,

Me

Quiet and Free

Since the late 1800's my family has lived at the base of the mountains in a quiet little valley along the river.  Five generations later, things(life) is very different, but everyday we fight to keep the old ways alive.  The ranch was split between my grandpa and my great uncle, but both of our families are still running cows in the same country as our great-great grandpa James and will continue to do so until our rights are taken away.  

Tonight my mama and I drove to the top of the mountain in search of my papa(who was already home).  I love my mountain home, love where I come from, and I feel an unexplained peace when I'm up there.  It's so easy to picture myself 100 years ago living in the line shack on top of the ridge with just my horse, my dog, my gun and cows to look after.  No loud vehicles humming by, no motorcycles scaring my colts, no one who doesn't belong.  Just the sound of the wind in the pines, the birds and chipmunks, bawling cows, the clear ring of their bells.  I'm in love with the simplicity of the past, and wish that I could have experienced it as tough a life as it was.  A time where the women were tough and the men were tougher.  You lived or you died, simple as dirt...

As the sun slipped behind the mountains in the distance I couldn't help but think about the family that came before.  About how many such sunsets they experienced in the same place(there were no roads back then). What was happening in their lives?  Were they happy?  Did they miss the old country?  What had they gone through to get to that point?  Did they simply marvel in the beauty of the orange light, or were they too rushed to make it back to camp to notice? 

Even a family who seems to know everything about their ancestors it's these minute details that are forever lost in history.  It's a shame that the simple things in life are not the ones that are handed down through generations.  I'm fiercely proud of my family and since I didn't get a chance to know them all, I'm extremely thankful to be experiencing much of the same things in life as they did.

XO Loves,

Me