We have some friends from Texas visiting with us and helping us with some of the cow work and we took them to Story, WY last night, for a great dinner. When we stepped outside, there was 3-4 inches of very wet snow. It was snowing so hard, the road was a mess and visibility was about 5 feet in front of the car (or beside it!) and we had 65 miles to go. It got better, the closer to home we got, but it snowed off and on, all night long. 25 degrees when we got up this morning. This is typical for our early Fall, but since it was 80 degrees on Weds, I wasn't ready for it. I'm such a wuss when it comes to winter, I wonder why I call Wyoming my home? I don't like 85 + degree weather and I don't like it to get below 50 and I really hate the d...... wind. But, since I've lived here my whole life, I wouldn't know what to do without cold, snowy days that I get to spend inside and work on Photographs, Cards or quilting. If I lived in Florida, say, when would I get a chance to work on my hobbies?
This past week, my neck yoke, double tree, etc. arrived and I got them put on my wagon and drove the "kids" up the mountain, for six miles, to our cow camp at the Carr Springs. The next day, I set out to put salt out for the cows and it was a dream come true. I got to spend time with my Belgians, listening to the rattle of the wagon and the clink of the chains and get "up close and personal" with Mother Nature. It's amazing how unafraid the animals are, when you don't have a motorized vehicle. I had the most wonderful day; except for the rough road and rocks, which almost threw me out a few times. My hands, arms and back were very tired on the way back down the mountain, so one of the Texans, Doug, drove them for the last three or four miles. What a relief that was. I am going to have to build up a few of those muscles, before the next adventure.
Now, I'm going to back up to where I left off, on my last post....
My mother and dad worked hard on the ranch and I remember being bundled up in coats, scarves, overshoes and sleeping bags, to keep warm. We had sheep and fed them cake, so we were taken along. Three kids, born in 1948, 1949 and 1951! Back then, the diapers were cloth (Birdseye) and probably at least two of us in diapers at the same time for quite awhile. Lee was the oldest and he was a good "big" brother, until Pax got old enough to side with him and gang up on me. Photo is Dad, Lee and me, about 1951, I think.
I have a lot of good memories, though. Here is a photo of Lee, our Grandfather, Pax (holding me) and our cousin, Edna. I'm not sure if it was taken at Cow Camp or the Pat O'Conner Place.
Edna, Frank, Lee and I spent a lot of time together, in the summers when they lived at Dugout (Pat O'Conner Place). I always heard my Elders refer to 'the good old days' and now I have those, too. My life has so many memories, that I'll never be able to get them all down on this blog. I would like to add, that I have many more good memories than bad ones. I will be skipping around some, here and there, but only because my CRS kicks in, at the worst times. For those of you that are not familiar with the disease, CRS stands for can't remember sh_ _ ! Fortunately, though it isn't as unforgiving as Alzheimer's. I usually remember things, in the middle of the night.
At the end of the summers, we would travel to Buffalo and stay with Big Pax and my grandmother, Villa, for the Johnson County Fair. Lee and Pax would get in the Kids Pony Races and Edna and I would be in the Barrels and Poles. We always rode our horses in the parade and Villa always put on a huge picnic lunch, one of the days of the fair. I think we ate a similar meal at Vi Duncan's on one of the other days. It was always fun and I made some good friends.
Came across a few more photos, that I would like to share, at this time. The first one, is a photo of Big Pax, on upper Meadow Creek, with a Mule deer over his horse.
Below Pax, is Villa, about 1917, which was the year they got married. Not sure where it was taken.
Below Villa, is a picture of Van, Villa, Pax and Billy. I think it was taken in the 60s.
This is Herma, in the early 40's
When we were at the Spearhead, one time, Lee had a friend with him and they told Pax, that if he would crawl through a culvert, first, they would give him half interest in it. Haha. Lee was always the instigator and being the oldest, we thought he was the wisest and would usually go along with him. Another time, at Meadow Creek, we went over the hill and went swimming by ourselves. Lee knew that Mom would come looking for us, so he told us to pile our clothes up on the bank, and hid underneath the bank so she couldn't see us. OMG! When she realized that we hadn't all drowned, we got in big trouble. Another time, Lee said that we should walk up to Cow Camp, because Villa would give us some cookies. We didn't make it to Cow Camp, but when Mom found us, she made us walk home and if we slowed down, she would honk the horn and make us walk faster. We usually didn't try pranks like that more than once, though. My God, she must have had her hands full, with us running all over the place. We were never indoors and usually found trouble, every day or so. One more time, we found some baby skunks and put them in Dad's two-horse trailer, so we could show Mom!!! It stunk so bad....it's a wonder that we all survived our childhood.
L to R: Sunny, Pax, Lee
We all learned to drive, at a very young age. When we fed the sheep or bulls, Dad would put us behind the wheel and put it in Granny and we were supposed to drive in a big circle. This still does on today, with our Grandkids, a little. They like to sit on our laps and steer. Some things do get handed down from generation to generation.The first photo, below, was taken at the UC Ranch, west of Alcova. It is Big Pax, Pax, Van, Villa, Me, Herma, Grace and Herman.
Below, is a photo of Mom. Looks like it may have been at Douglas, too. Her horse's name was Warbonnet.
Well, now you know a little about my family and I hope you've enjoyed reading. If any of you have a memory about one of my siblings or parents, I hope you will comment on this blog or better yet, give me a call.
