John held perfectly still as he leaned against the tree. The deer moved cautiously out of the trees onto the meadow. First, a doe with her fawn stepped out. Looking all around, walking sort of jerk, jerk, look. Finally, the rest followed, last of all came...
Growing Up Ranch Chapter 12 My SchoolJust as I had a ranch version of other things, I also had "ranch" school. (No escaping it, IT'S THE LAW!!) I had the good fortune to attend Fawcett School, one of the Rural District Nineteen public schools. From the na...
Growing Up Ranch Chapter 11 Horsey Tales. My growing up ranch was quite unusual even in its day. The reason was we were one of the few ranches that worked our cattle exclusively with horses. These “beasts of burden” became friends and companions, each wit...
The ranch was an isolated place but that didn't mean we lived in total isolation while I grew up ranch. We had many visitors from far and near who enriched our lives in many ways.Often it was a family who came bringing with them the whole family including...
Just pondering.Can you name even one truly two-dimensional object? Stuck? I can not think of a single one. A photograph still has a thickness even if it is small. A line on paper? Still, has the molecular level of height making it three dimensional.I woul...
Growing up Ranch Chapter 9 Working and Exploring Work. That four letter word we all grow to know eventually. Growing up "Ranch" meant that work started early in life and was intertwined with an element or curiosity that I will call "exploring". The line...
Do stories ever write themselves?Sometimes it seems so.They spill forth from our fingertips with no effortYet I’ve stared for hours at my paper, and no print rises upNor does my pen dip itself and begin to form the lettersThe blank white computer window i...
I was fortunate to have both sets of Grandparents alive while I was growing up. My Dad’s parents were “ranch” and lived just over the hill about a mile away. My Mom’s parents were “town” and lived in Douglas, the full forty mile drive away. Naturally, I w...
Growing Up Ranch Chapter 7 My Parents“Growing Up Ranch” or growing up period isn’t possible without parents. Because of the ranch, however, my relationship with these two special people was unusual. I was blessed with a full set of two and a s...
Having a brother wasn’t unique to growing up “ranch,” but it will help you fill in the big picture if I introduce him to you. There were some big differences in how we related to each other because we grew up “Ranch” together, but far from other playmates...
Growing Up Ranch Chapter 5 My PoolNow most parks or playgrounds didn't have free pony rides, but I could understand that. What I didn't understand, or rather resented, was paying to go swimming. All I had to do was walk down to the creek, slip out of m...
My Uncle Dave was an electrician by trade much like his father, my Grandpa Vernon. He retired from the power company and became a private electrician. One night we were in town for a visit to Grandma Mary and it came up a windy rain storm.Uncle Dave came...
Growing Up Ranch Chapter 4 My Playground One of the more significant differences in growing up Ranch concerned play. The isolation of the ranch meant my brother Paul was the only playmate within walking distance. The next nearest neighbor with kids was at...
Growing Up Ranch Chapter 3 My Bike Toby What boy doesn't dream of the day when he has his very own bike? A way to fly down the street; wind in your hair; running wild all on your own. I had similar dreams, but my "bike" was a good fast horse.Not even most...
“Growing Up Ranch” Chapter Two Our House - The Cabin I grew up in a house, but not one like everybody else had. My house was a genuine log cabin built around 1898 as a homestead cabin by Ernest Newell. It was by cabin standards pretty large, but its size...
