Remote ranch--dangerous place for young boy!

What’s four inches in diameter, with John’s picture and a
snazzy cowboy label on the front?

Our new “Cowboy John” story CD!!

Let me tell you, it was like pulling teeth, but I stuck with it,
and John finally recorded some of his stories.

When you’re raised on a remote cattle ranch, churning your own
butter, cutting hay with horse teams, riding all day for cattle
on the desert, you ought to tell the world about it!

Yes!

I’ve nagged John for years to write down his stories, but he never
seemed to take the time.

As a young boy John lived for summers. As soon as school closed,
he was off to the ranch. He came back to town reluctantly at Fair
time in the fall, only because he had to.

“John,” says me,” you should write this stuff down.”

Well, he isn’t much of a writer. I do that part of the partnership.

So I took another approach:

“John, let’s record some of the stories. We could make a CD or tape.”

That idea made sense, so one day while in the car on the way up
north to see my Father, John started talking. I asked questions
and recorded.

It sounded pretty good, so we put one of the stories,
“The Squeaky Saddle,” on the web page in his voice and in a
written version with a couple of pictures.

It’s the time he almost drowned. He was about 7 yr old helping
Golden with a beaver dam in early spring. I love the story.

When you live on a remote ranch you face serious danger on a
somewhat regular basis. Little boy John had more than just a
few life-and-death situations.

That story was the beginning of our CD.

A group of teachers from Wisconsin who toured with us (read their
story in the Blog on the web page, “What’s there to see in Elko,
Val quizzed?” Jan 31, 2005) further encouraged me and John to save
the stories.

It takes courage to open your heart. (“What if nobody even cares?”
“What if it sounds stupid?, etc. etc.)

We’ve entering the BIG TIME! We have our own CD!

I’d love it if you’d take a look and let me know what you think.

The CD with all the stories, and the audio and text version of
“The Squeaky Saddle,” is on the website www.cowboyjohntours.com.
Click on “Ranch Tales.” The CD is at the bottom of the page and
there’s a “Buy It Now” link, just like the big boys!

Now, we’ve done the CD. What’s next?

Janice

Readin' Writin' and Rithmetic

"School days, School days,
Dear Old Golden Rule Days..."
In the corral with my favorite horse
Me on the back, ridin' free, of course...

We're talkin' COWBOY SCHOOL!

People contact us wanting to ride into
the mountains. We can do that,arrange
horseback rides, but there's something
even better!

What if a rider really felt comfortable
horseback? What if he/she were trained
to understand what the horse wants?
What if someone took riders on all levels
and catered a learning time in the corral
with the horse?

What if YOU could learn all that, even though
you live in a city with NO horse within miles?

Cowboy John will put you in the saddle!

The horse is a herd animal that finds safety
in a group. Just as he looks to the dominant
horse in the herd for direction he expects his
rider to exercise that control. For a rewarding
experience the rider should understand the
horse's makeup.

Cowboy John's "Cowboy School" offers hands-on
teaching at your pace. You will get to know your
horse and learn how to guide that horse.

You can learn how to saddle a horse, learn
what a horse is thinking, and what the horse
needs from you its leader. It won't matter
your experience level; you can start where you
are, even if you've never been on a horse!

Or you can learn new skills. Try your hand at
roping, working cattle, hitching a team of
work horses and driving around the ranch.

You’ll love meeting Wilde and his crew. Wilde is
easy-going and friendly. He wants you to enjoy
yourself and the school will reflect that.

One of the day a small group might want to take
either short rides around the ranch or an
overnight trip into the mountains.

In these rugged, granite mountains you’ll be
surrounded with alpine flowers, blue sky, and fresh air.
You’ll probably see mule deer and maybe wild goats
and Rocky Mt. sheep. You might catch a glimpse
of the Himalayan Partiridge (snow cock) and the
Rosy Finch, both of which live on high, inaccessible
peaks. They’re pretty elusive, but we might get lucky.

Eagles, hawks, mountain lion, coyote, turkey, and
bobcat also call these mountains home.

We’ll camp out, sleep under the stars, or in a tent
(I’ll bet you’ve never seen stars like this!) and
feast on campfire grub: grass-fed beef steak, ranch beans.

I think this sounds like a blast!

Check the web page for {Paula's great pictures of Wilde
Cowboy John, and Wilde's father Ferris. www.cowboyjohntours.com.
Click “Cowboy School,” on the front page.

Can you tell I’m excited about this new idea?

See you later,
Janice

Thoreau called them, "Earth's Eyes."

Thoreau called them, “Earth’s eyes.”

John and I saw an “earth’s eye,” (a lake), last week, one that will be no longer there in about a week, fragile and delicate, birthed by this desert
land and copious spring rainfall. This “earth’s eye,” however, was
not a body of water, but purple-blue camas blossoms--a lapis lazuli pool.

We’ve had a really wet spring this year and consequently wildflowers are everywhere. John and I drove north this week to take in the show.

Outside Elko, every hill was a patchwork quilt. Bright yellow Balsamroot Sunflowers, Bitterbrush branches draped heavy in creamy yellow.
Servis bushes smothered in brilliant white blossoms. And in the
Independence Valley by Tuscarora thousands of Camas lilies are
massed in spots like deep blue lakes.

The Camas bloom sports a hyacinth-like spike of bright blue on a
somewhat tall stem, with petals and stamens complmentary in color,
purple-blue petals, yellow-orange stamens.

As we took it all in the sun periodically broke through heavy clouds;
the Camas glistened and rippled.

In the distance mating sand-hill cranes gargled, and the song of a
meadowlark mingled with the raspy call of red and yellow-tailed
blackbirds. Clouds were low and the temperature was near 32.
When it started spitting snow we got back in the car and headed
to Taylor Creek bar for lunch.

In the restaurant we struck up a conversation with the young woman
who handed us our hamburgers. She’s married to one of the cowboys
on the “Span,” short for Spanish Ranch. He’d been gone cowboying
since early June and wouldn’t return until July 4. They’d left late
this year since spring rain/snow had made earlier riding impossible.

The Independence Valley is an important ranching area of brush and
rich grass, home to domesticated cattle, horses, and sheep. The
Spanish Ranch, one of the many in this valley, is one of the largest
ranches in Elko County.

But that’s another story for another time perhaps.

After our burgers we headed back to Elko glad to be in the warm car
and on a paved road, not mud.

We took pictures, but they terribly inadequate and disappointing.
Maybe I can find one that at least shows the lush thick grass in this
beautiful land this year....