The Most Elegant Couple of Kansas City

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IMG_2223The Most Elegant Couple of Kansas City: Rowl’and  Along

NOTE: Be sure to watch the IMG_2223 video above of Mr.and Mrs. Rowland dancing in Kirkwood Hall at the Jewel Ball, held at the Museum.

In 2012 I was a surreptitious paparazzi working in security at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. No, not really, my job was to ‘protect the Art. ‘ And I did, at the Exhibit curated by Catherine Futter, ‘ Exposition of Decorative Arts at the World’s Fair to 1935.’

I returned to Kansas City after 30 years away to a job at the Museum, or as we used to call it, ‘The Gallery.’ 

I had actually spent formative years here as my mother was ‘The Nelson Art Lady’ on Torey Time (children’s) local tv show.

But that’s not the topic. I was a Security  Guard. We protected the Art, first and foremost. And another of our duties was working events. This is just one my memories of working the Front Hall at the Jewel Ball. This is a debutante ball that benefits the Kansas City Symphony in addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

But that’s another post. This is about the Most Elegant Couple.. Sarah Rowland was the chair of  the Board of Trustees of the Nelson-Atkins for five years. I was privileged to be there when she was serving. She was beautiful, poised, gracious, and kind, a graduate of Smith and worked with Condé Nast and the Harvard University Press before moving to KC. There her work focused on the arts, ballet, symphony, preservation, Kansas and Kansas City history and the organizations that support it. and other stuff you can google!

But I mostly remember her as kind and the epitome of a lady.

Her husband Landon  was her partner and President and CEO of Kansas City Southern Industries and more. Google him too.

But this was at the ball. She always spoke to me at the Belles of the American Royal Events as Landon Rowland served on the American Royal Board of Governors, but this evening she knew I was ‘at work’ to be as a guard, an unseen presence. 

IMG_2223

But, I did have my camera (iPhone!). I  am sure I probably was breaking some type of NDA or rules ( and I did break a few!) but I saw them ‘on the floor’ and I just had to capture the moment. I believe she was aware for I had my camera ( held below waist) in a visible spot. And, they performed! It was beautiful darling and just what I hoped to be captured.

They are embedded in my mind. The Most Elegant and Giving Couple  of Kansas City.

Cloud Cover.

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wind turbines in Montezuma

Rows and flows of graying hair

And Dove Dark chocolate daily fare

Catalinas… Cimarron… flowing…stare

I’ve looked at clouds that way.

But now Clouds sometimes block the fun,

They “pop” they “hum”… Me?….Everyone?

So many things are yet undone,

But clouds came through our way.

Cloud Cover

Cloud Cover

I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now

From east and west and still somehow

It’s cloud confusions I recall

I really don’t know clouds at all

JackSwing

Goons and loons and big tree swings,

The dizzy dancing, sometimes stings

As every dream and fear are real,

I’ve looked at love that way.

But now it’s just another show,

Let’s all leave laughing, when we go..

And if you care, they all will know,

It gives yourself away.

Lacy's Bedroom on Horizon, with Clouds, and Dreams.

I’ve looked at skies from both sides now

The give and take and still somehow

It’s mother’s m-earth that I recall

I really do not know… it’ll…

Tears and fears and feeling proud,

“share it” “build it” right out loud

In online growing circus crowds,

I’ve looked at life that way.

Paul and Lace XIT

Paul and Lace XIT

But then old friends were acting strange,

The stare was blank, yes something’s changed

Well something’s lost, but something’s gained

In living every day.

 

Why? must come from inside now.

No win or lose, yet still somehow

It’s life’s delusions I recall

I really don’t know life at all.

scenic overlook at Wolf Canyon

I’ve looked up just West of 98th

Looked east and west and thru my faith

It’s skies and ground that forecast sound

I really Don’t know life-science … At all. (or mechanics, or physics, or code or….etc.)

It’s life’s illusions I recall

I really don’t know clouds

IMG00409-20110118-1647

I really don’t know The CloudAt All!

A cock and bull story.

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He'll be as useless as tits on a bull.

I can’t really remember what exactly was the issue here,

you’ll have to ask the Boss.

But, I do remember

that there was a female involved.

Calving Part III: Anomalies in Agriculture at the XIT Ranch.

by admin
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8F5veIKnnI[/youtube]

My last and perhaps best Paul Anka selection. Distracting and counter-intuitive to my motives, but makes the post, hang in there until 1:05 at least. But then, you won’t want to leave.  And what mutual conclusion did John and Paula have about Anita, Paul Anka’s singing partner in Europe, after viewing her forearms…? So I think we were right on with Paul being big with the drag queens.

Tonight’s essay is about anomalies. The boss (only works part-time on Sundays) threw me a bone. He helped me with organization of my thoughts and photos. So, you can thank him for connecting the dots that were related in my brain to identify my point before I had one.  Yes, it very often works this way with the Adams…

Sink and mini hot water heater station in calving zone of barn.

John pointed out the hot water heater Friday night.

Paula: “That’s so nice of you, I bet they like the warm water.” But I hadn’t ever noticed any post-labor rinse-off for the girls before…?

John: “That’s for me.”

I was sympathetic after other night in the pens when it was below freezing. There is only a small space heater in the barn, and this was only added in about 1996 when we moved to the west ranch.

I guess cold water is a real shocker after all that hot pV$….well, I don’t say these words, my father might be reading, let’s just say steaminess. See Part I.

So, hot water heater in the barn is anomaly one. Like a rancher with a cadillac, this is pretty high status for the XIT.

Mother and baby twins, born Jan. 22, 2011.

Anomaly Two: Baby twins were born Saturday night.
This is always fun. But, the mother cannot nurse two children, so John’s brother-partner brought over a cow from the e. ranch who had lost her baby. This is so the extra calf can “mother up” to the mother who no longer has her calf.

Anomaly Three: That girl is a freak.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3CtadNZdSY[/youtube]

John is speaking about a cow that never had any contractions. Being on the same team (females) as the cow and two weeks overdue with my own children, I have other theories for this. For example, she is such a good mother the children don’t want to leave, the calf might actually need more time in the womb, or she’s tired of men pushing her to fit their schedules and going to be difficult.

The point is, for rancher this is a pain:

Inconvenience: he has to stay up in the middle of the night either way.  He can

  • haul the girl himself to Ashland (72 miles one-way), wait for the c-section, then drive her home the other 72. This is probably a good 4-6 hr time commitment in the middle of the night.
  • Or bother the people you value the most, his great vets in Ashland, to do a housecall at the ranch.

The vet is expensive (to John the money guy). And a word about vets…The Ashland Veterinary has the best large animal and K-state grads in the region, and also great for cats and dogs.  And cheapest, maybe $175 for labor, $75 for mileage and time. It would be twice as much from Liberal.

  • One of a Cowboy’s many fine motor skills at the XIT is that he can stitch. They can handle a prolapse. This is when everything in the region from where the calf resides falls out. It gets shoved back in, she is stitched up and her life goes on.  If life at stake, the vet called regardless, even if she’s going to town to the auction block the next year or the next day.

And if there is any perceived harshness about mothering tendencies in the video, it’s not perceived; if you’re barren, you’re out after the first year.

Last, I just couldn’t figure out the hanging stirrup from the ceiling conundrum from Part I. If you’ll remember the visual stirrup of a horse and word connection reminded me of the OB/GYN so I was really trying to figure out how she got her legs way up there by the ceiling…Finally, as I did with so many engineering confusions I had in classes at KU, I had to ask.

John illustrates the function of the stirrup in the last frame.

Anyway, anomalies are good. I wouldn’t want life any other way.


The mounted roadie: Ride Tall, He’s always watching.

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"Went to see a horse about a man"

Went to see a horse about a man.

Taking a roadie is taking a break. I think we may all do it, always have, in all times and places, by whatever mode of transportation is available. And times, it has only been in my mind.

The restlessness, the need for freedom, I think, is a part of who we are, or at least who I am. Being a 5th generation Kansan and a 4th generation Jayhawker, it might not seem as though I’ve left home. But I have lived in Paris and traveled quite a bit, in the states and across the state. And we all leave home in different ways. Through the books that I read, adventure is only as far away as my thoughts. And I always return home, wherever that may be, with a new perspective.

"Location:  ridge in the home pasture"

Location: ridge in the home pasture

Sometimes taking a roadie is by horse. In the aerial, you can see that I’m in the home pasture on a ridge (the line) about a mile north of the headquarters, on the north side of the Cimarron River. As it goes, really not very far from home. But it’s the concept that counts.

I’m going to include this photograph that my father-in-law Raymond Adams took, for it is far better than mine. He said one time,”if want to get close to God, you get up on that grey horse and ride up that hill behind the house and you will be about as close to God as you can get.”  And another thing he said, “I am one helluva cowboy.”

Ride tall, he's always watching.

 

Calving Part I. Babies is comin’: 4 the girls & men that did it to them

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She's not very happy and he not too with her.

First, a little music for you to read by.  I was a childbride, but childless & footloose for five years. A favorite courting technique, John would break into song complete with face and head gestures to serenade, emphasis on the “baay’ beh”. Even not funnier at 8 months. After a four versions on utube, I’m just starting to appreciate it all. Your selection for tonight: Classic Paul in Patchwork and Bowler.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bwW07sCwoY[/youtube]

It’s the first week of calving season, John’s week on call as baby dr., so I tagged to barn at 10:30.  Heifers are teen (I hope not really) cows having first calves who sometimes need a little help. They are brought in from the pastures to hang out together in the pens.

Second, the excuses. It’s dark, pics in pens limited, only lights on a pole. With camera broken, I’m filming a blackberry video (I keep forgetting I can’t turn the camera sideways since u can’t rotate videos, I’m sure Steve Spielberg had to learn this too). New skills are all I can do to get unedited to utube, but this is a point in history.

Re-location from pens to delivery room: the calving barn.

I really apologize mama. My style: no cameras and leave me alone when in pain; John seized the opportunity for his usual efficiences to wash the car, pick up groceries, stop by the vet when I thought he was outside having a smoke. But, he was there at Lace’s debut at my head of the table.

"new baby calf"

Pass a new baby en route to barn. Mother licking to clean and I scare but she'll be back.

This is more talking about childbirth than I could ever tolerate from about 28 on. All it takes is one long-winded, detailed story relayed by some duo couple in a social situation to be enough for life.

"calving chute"

Calving chute, looks medieval I know.

Construction by D. (Dave Holden) and M. (Mike Simmons), circa 1982.

A stirrup, right? Have to think on how this is going to work hanging up here...hmmm...

A stirrup, right girls? Hmmm....way up there? Think, think, Paula, before you ask engineering question. I know I can figure out the mechanics.

Pretty much everything designed, mostly homemade and welded right here when it comes to stuff like this.

Pretty busy, so I keep quiet and don’t ask questions.  Here are more pictures…

She's not very happy and he not too with her.

"cow in calving chute"

Got her in a headlock.

Dennis Knudsen, former army dr., obgyn extraordinare and Renaissance man I think would secretly love one of these for a few of his clients. A relative on John’s side out here told me (in 80s we took these funny lamaze classes pre-Lacy at local community college) he said , “ooh…kay, that’s enough of that” when she commenced with some loud hee-haws as he arrived for the delivery.

Chapter Two tomorrow. The birth and some videos, more Paul. I’m sure he quit singing a while ago.

Music commentary:  John’s time is limited on computer, but he heard Paul singing and had to come in.

Paula:  “that woman’s voice sounds strange…crazed…techno”

John:  “she’s just happy. see? she’s agreeing with him.”

Thanks, Paul for opener that kind of steals my show, but if someone made it this far…

 

The Gomer Bull: a story by way of Kyle Griffin, the Renaissance Land Man.

by admin

This is just some prize bull, but the guy at the right looks like Kyle Griffin who told me this story.

“You’ve heard of a Gomer Bull haven’t you?” said Kyle to Paula.   hmmm…<thinking>

Kyle is a land man from Oklahoma. We were finding some common ground in a Sat. morning chat in Wichita, so of course, facials at Healing Waters and A.I.’ing cattle. That is, artificially inseminating female cows. Kyle put himself through college performing this act, and I remember one year when John Adams did this in a specially designed chute.

He was talking about the straws (they are just this, and hold the precious more costly bull juice) which I vaguely remembered. And, the window of opportunity, which I had not. He explained that this was only 36 hours. I had thought since gestation time is approximately the same as for humans, that this would be a little longer.

I guess this explains why bulls get top seat for virility when it comes to money, though stallions up. But that’s another story. Just read Tom Wolfe’s Bonfire of the Vanities, no one could write it any better.
Be! (clap) Aggressive! (clap)
Be! Be! Aggressive! (clap)

Then, the discussion moved onto the percentage of implantation question and answers. This was his job both in his family’s cattle operation and as a contractor for others. This paid for Kyle’s schooling, so as with many agricultural skills, it is that (a skill).  

Next, came Paula’s questions about technique. It doesn’t seem to matter much (trying to draw on something in a famous novel about a women wanting a child ..Willa Cather…maybe something about a position for producing female children from a magazine…but alludes me now…).

And last, identification of proper timing which does factor in. Here are Kyle’s tips for tracking the pen of females.

One simple technique for identifying the fertile is watching the ladies. That is, les girls, when in their element, will actually do saddle mounts on each other.

Not The Broken-d!ck XIT Bull and definitely not a Gomer Bull.

Kyle knew a few more tricks to tell me about, starting with the Gomer Bull.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JAA2Unb0B4[/youtube]

Well, my father was in the U.S. Marine Corps, my sister born at Quantico, I, at Camp LeJeune, (the $6 babies). My father went off to boot camp in the summer to the barracks where Gomer lived in Gomer Pyle, USMC.  I love that song, and I really liked Gomer best here, better than Mayberry RFD and much better than when he sang gospel and opera. He looks great in the uniform, and I thought he was well-intended (though incorrect) to encourage iron pants to be more feminine. And, he’s got one on me by accomplishing the rope course on his 3rd try, that another personal failure at SME gym class, though I excel’d at fine motor skills. Who wouldn’t love to have Gomer in their platoon?

And my father, a very soft-spoken man at times, was Vince Carter when he had to do things like teach me how to ride a bike or drive a stickshift or hit a softball or shoot a basket. Still mechanically challenged as his adult second daughter, I understand now how stressful this had to have been for him, just as it was for Seargeant Carter with Gomer.

Well, a Gomer Bull is one who’s little soldier is “re-routed” (I think Kyle used) to turn at 90 degrees.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6_1Pw1xm9U&feature=related[/youtube]

Thus, if you have a Gomer Bull, you can watch for him trying to ride the cow and her acceptance. Voilà! Work is done, shepherd the cow into pen, AI and you’re done.

I was concerned for the bull’s blue balls, for want of a better word. And, as I feared, he does not get the job done.

Okay, back to another identification technique:  K-Mars.

K-mars are a strip of white tape put on just above the tail of the cow.  Kyle said they work kind of like those necklaces you break open at rock concerts and they light up. I was thinking more like scratch and sniff since it’s a tape. Anyway, some kind of chemical thing. Google it if you care, but you get the picture. With this taped firmly on the cow’s derrière, when bully bob is on top, the friction turns the tape orange. Bull dismounts, check tape, got’her done again.

And the third technique: the roller ball muzzle.  I can only envision this, and Kyle even tried to google for some pictures for me on a AI website but I have no visual. I’m thinking it’s kind of a “demi” size silence of the lambs contraption that fits over the bull’s chin.  Below the chin on the mask (muzzle), is a paintball that operates just like a pen and marks everything it touches.  I forgot to ask all the questions here, but in general there is lots of inhaling (these noises I’m well aware of, kind of some hawing and begging). As soon as bouche à fond (mouth to bottom), the bull leaves his mark. Once again, alerting the A-I-er  that the gal open for business.

Okay, that’s it. Any questions?

By the way, Kyle’s friend from OSU just did the design of the bull that earned Grand Champion earlier this month at the Denver Stock Show. When I say design, he looks at all the muscling, aesthetics, confirmation, etc. of bull and pairs up with the appropriate cow, engineering the match of  spermatozoa to ovum.  The Grand Champion of the 2011 National Western Stock Show Super Point Roll of Victory (ROV) Angus Show was DAJS Shockwave 612, May 2009 son of Gambles Hotrod. And, it is kind of like corvettes and hotrods, it’s all show.

Big time bulls like this never get to see a cow, they live in a lab somewhere owned by New York businessmen.

How sad!” I said to John Adams, “to be the big stud on the block and then to never get to be with a real woman.” John said they are way too valuable and they might, “break a leg or something.”

a few men and fire stories…

by admin

Backburning in the Kansas Flint Hills. Wabaunsee County.

I was in the Flint Hills yesterday for the Symphony.  It was beautiful, very green with the recent rainfall. That’s a later post.

I have been looking at all the FB posts on fires in Arizona which brought thoughts of fire in my sphere. I have never lived in the Flint Hills, but I have visited the Maple Hill Ranch in the spring when all Adams brothers were burning pastures.

The conditions have to be just right.  A recent rain is requisite, but it has to be dry enough to get a good burn. An overgrazed pasture can’t be burned. If there is no grass left at the end of the pasture season, there won’t be enough for a fire in the spring: graze half, leave half is the rule of thumb. And, the wind is important. High winds are of course hazardous, but a light wind gives a good burn. Winds in Kansas are tricky, particularly in the southwest.

The burning season was traditionally March when there were longhorns in the Flint Hills. It is now more often April to prepare for putting cattle out in the summer. It’s generally accepted now as a good environmental practice, though there are safety precautions in place. I’ve driven I-35 KC to Wichita a time or two when the smoke was so bad everyone had to pull over to shoulder. As well, I don’t think the Prairie Chicken falconers are so thrilled with the practice.

The first step is backburning. Fireguards are laid down along borders in direction of the wind where there is no natural block such as a plowed field, water or roadway. As we “neighbor” in western Kansas for branding and weaning, Flint Hills ranchers often neighbor for controlled burns.

It is important to act on the right day and there may only be one chance. When I was working on my Academic Master of Architectural History Thesis on Mill Creek Skyline Road this came into play. Leland Schultz, the owner of Henry Grimm’s I-House (just across the road from the Flint Hills Symphony last night) specifically told me that it was not a good day for my KU Professors to come out. It was on their agenda to take a play day and photograph the family cemetary on the river. I relayed this and gave warning that they should forgo their plans. But, they headed out. It cost them access to the property for their teacher’s class meeting that summer. And they learned before the National Vernacular Architecture Forum Tour the next year. When the rancher says, “keep out” , you keep out. There’s a reason, he’s not out there riding around on his horse playing cowboy.

The story I told today on a post is one that the father of my children would rather forget. It endeared him to everyone in the county. We were in our twenties and living on the east side of the ranch, south of the Cimarron River in Beaver County, Oklahoma. And, the tamaracs and brush were multiplying quickly on the river.

Tom Flowers, soil conservationist for Meade County, noted that the brush has increased 40 fold since 1982.  So, John was actually on top of things. He did all the backburning and reported (I think he reported…) it to the county that he’d be doing a burn. I have to say, it’s not as popular or common at all in arid western Kansas so he may have skipped this part.

It was all going fine, but as happens in southwest Kansas, the wind picked up full speed on a dime. It still would have been okay, but there was a 30′ steep embankment along the north side of the Cimarron. The wind hit that fire and it rolled up that wall to the adjacent neighbor’s pastures above. That was a long night and next morning. John felt terrible, foolish, inconsiderate.

The reality is that everyone likes to come out for a fire. The volunteer crews and trucks came from Meade and Beaver counties. Maybe even Seward came by for the fun. John Adams is a good neighbor and steward, he keeps up his fence, and he will help anyone. Everyone was very sympathetic with how bad he felt. It was kind of a “welcome to the neighborhood” fire since John hadn’t grown up out there and had a few different practices. The neighbor on the upland side whose pastures were burned was thrilled. There were no cattle out at the time, so his spring grass had a great stand.

My job during all this was to run the sprinklers in the yard around the house. John’s uncle was burned out due to an electrical fire one year, but nothing has ever been close enough for me to feel that this was really necessary. I’m sure that’s poor judgement on my part. I always think I’ll be able to see it, run out, and get it all watered down in time. I have similar thoughts about going down in storm cellars, going into the right corner of a store when there are sirens, outrunning a tornado, or outrunning a buffalo that found it’s way into our yard. But, those are other stories.

So, we don’t do any controlled burning anymore on the ranch. And, this ensured that the local crews got an even bigger donation from the XIT Ranch from this point on. These are great men.

There are many naturally occurring fires in the summer due to lightening in southwest Kansas. When there is dry lightening, everyone is on the lookout throughout the night for any signs of red in the night or smell of smoke. It is difficult to judge how far away a fire is. With everyone living miles apart, one keeps an eye out for himself as well as his neighbor.

That’s about all I have to say. Except that, I think the guys all love it and it seems to always go into the night. I’ve never seen any women at the party.

I guess I would generalize that some men maybe like to play with fire. I have a good friend who’s little boy set their yard on fire playing with matches. She, of course, was very aware of all psychological makeup that this might impart having some concern. She said it wasn’t a popular thing to bring up in playgroup. He had two older sisters, so he probably just needed to get out of the house. The son is now a wonderful, successful, smart college bound male, no problems. He was also an intense long distance runner as a little boy. I’m sure he’ll go far.

I guess it’s just guys with a lot of their own energy playing with nature’s forces. And learning early life lessons about partnerships and who is ultimately in control.

Boys will be boys, men and their toys: the Komat’su Transformer.

by admin
Men and their toys

Mine's bigger.

Men and their toys. Have videos but later.  Decided will just get a post in each day of exciting things in my life, not all has to be a footnoted thesis.

This was a demonstration of a piece of equipment that will clear Russian Olives from the riverbed.  They come from upstream, introduced at one time by farmers as windbreaks, and multiply rapidly. Very few when we moved to sw Kansas and have multiplied 30 fold so it’s something to pay attention to.  Tamaracs are good, native and serve a purpose but not so with Russian olives; hard to ride through, choke out grass, very rough, cattle can’t get through to river.

People always trying out things down here to see if they work. I remembered a particular kind of moth introduced to take care of salt cedars during my tenure, but no one seemed to claim it today when I spoke with soil conservationist Tom Flowers, so don’t quote me. We’re just the place to try it out, not the instigators but support others efforts. If proven and affordable technology, we’ll partake.

Imagine really big tweezers

Get the scale? That’s Larry Sorters, cowboy and preacher who worked with various Adams off and on much of his adult life, starting with $350 a week living in a one-room bunkhouse by my garage long before I was here.  Look for great video later that  I took today of Larry telling about this as well as his grandfather driving mail by stagecoach from Beaver to Meade, about 36 miles.  The banks would throw in the money bags to go along (Larry’s very trustworthy stock) and a few passengers as extra clients. Now I get why they were robbed in the movies, though I only remember one western growing up. It was “How the West was Won” at a drive-in and I don’t think my father ever got away with it again. He was self-employed, not like a postal worker. That’s another day. (see Larry Sorter)

So back to how it works. It tweezes tree out by root, chops it up and jettisons out left side. Dangerous, like when a piece of wood escapes the bandsaw in architecture school. The woodshop turned out to be a liability and I think it’s different now, but tho frightening, it was a great learning experience for me professionally, the girl who dreamed of one day having an easybake oven. Thanks to Dan Rockhill, School of Architecture at KU.

Roots can’t be completely pulled out without breaking and any root sprouts, so this technology proposes a minimal amt. of chemical (I know, always sounds bad) to root. It’s like having a lawn (buffalo grass) but having it overtaken with really big trees and root systems.  Soil conservationist, Tom Flowers said that efforts to just pull out had been ineffective and costly;  Russian olives returned rapidly.

This is Roland Spencer’s toy www.ranchlanddevelopment.com. In a bit of down time when John was diverted, I was able to introduce myself to Roland and ask a few questions. Within two minutes, we spoke the same language for he was a contractor with loving hands for a historic stone building that is now a bed and breakfast in north central Kansas, I’ll get more information on that. He is a man of many talents for his company specializes in Ranch Restoration, Real Estate, and Rangeland Management, but I think this coalition was a labor of love as most preservation projects are. That was it, got the “cut” sign from John, but he is pleasant and I do still want to hear more about how the Japanese happened to corner the market on these unless of course it’s a marketing ploy of John Deere. Maybe he’ll post…

We had neighbors on each side come, but it’s only relevent along river and there just aren’t many of us.  Would have to be several people that went together to make it profitable for him to come out, we’ll see.  I’m pretty much overwhelmed with enormity of task with most things like this on the ranch, but you’ve got to stay on it and accept that nothing stays the same.

Anyway, a day in the life.

Update, Kirk Worthington saw this post and had to show off Kevin’s toy, but now I cannot find the picture, so Kirk re-send please. We want details, too.