Life on a Ranch

Buck, Katelyn and I just got back from a ride. We checked cows and checked water and ate really delicious sandwiches in the shade. It might be almost September, but it’s hot. The forecast says we have one more week of heat, then it’s supposed to cool down. September can be awfully tricky- wanting us all to believe it’s fall but then staying hot like it’s summer. I’d tell you I spent our ride in solitude, reflecting on the last few weeks, prepping to write this column, but that wouldn’t be true. I spent most of the ride joking around with Katelyn about things like what kind of per son each of our horses would be, if they were humans. We’ve done a lot of horse swapping in our family the last couple of years and today, Kate rode the gelding who used to be mine, Bert. I now ride our gelding, Sharp. The honest truth is that we’re pretty spoiled in this household. Buck rides a horse for a couple years, takes them on all the long hard days that make them great, then one of us rides them, appreciates what a nice horse he made for us and proceeds to never give them back. And besides enjoying the fruit of his labor, it always amazes me how humble Buck is about the whole thing. When we finished riding today, I rattled on about how nice Sharp is and how much I appreciate the fact that he doesn’t have any annoying habits, while Buck just agreed, never so much as mentioning the fact that he made him that way. Besides not having any annoying habits, Sharp isn’t quite as athletic or quick as he appears to be, but he's a Lineback Dun with a black mane and tail. He’s very unique and ridiculously good looking. My family probably wouldn’t brag about my humility when it comes to riding what I like to call the “cutest horse to ever exist”. At any rate, we had an enjoyable ride and the cows and the water all looked good. And while I didn’t process the last few weeks on the ride, I do have a lot to report, namely that we did the big thing. We brought Lucy to college. Yep, we left her in Nebraska. Nothing has ever felt so right and so wrong at the exact same time. She was nervous the whole way and when Lucy is nervous, she likes to stay in motion. There was no stopping and enjoying the views along the way: we glanced at Jackson Hole, took pictures of the Grand Tetons as we drove by and made the trek through Wyoming and Northwest Nebraska in time to drive onto campus for move-in day. The process was swift and efficient- we pulled up and unloaded while the football team was there to carry in bags, totes and of course, her tackle box. Lucy went right to work setting up her space and after we had been standing around watching her work, she politely asked if there was something we might like to go do. And so we did- we drove about a half an hour out to Hay Springs where Buck’s cousin Hallie and her husband, Marc live. They were finishing up wheat harvest and Hallie, having just been spelled out of the combine by Marc, took us on a farm tour. It felt so reassuring to hang out with Hallie and know she’s close by for Lucy. She is such a delightful young person- happy and energetic with a great sense of humor. She’s easy to visit with and down to earth in all the best ways. For those of you who are long-time readers of Janie’s Journal, I’ll help you out- Hallie is the youngest and only daughter of Tammy and Matt. Tammy is the oldest daughter of Ramona and Charley. Ramona is the oldest child of Janie (and Lyman), and also sister to Kenny, Jackie (Buck’s mom, my mother-in-law) and Todd. Now that you have all that straightened out, after visiting Hallie, we made our way back to have dinner with Lucy. From there, she was swept up in orientation activities and we saw her briefly the next morning before saying goodbye. Having anticipated the day for weeks ahead of time, I thought I might cry the whole way home. But as it turns out, I was inevitably a little teary, but mostly really happy for her and this adventure she’s on. Chadron felt so right for her and watching Lucy take ownership of the whole process and embrace her new reality just made us really proud of her. From there, Buck, Katelyn and I took off for home, but not without some stops. Our first stop was a saddle/ antique shop in Harrison, just 50 miles down the road. Buck enjoyed visiting with the owner and I bought a really cute wagon wheel that’s now sitting in one of my flower beds. After that, we made it a little further to Cody, Wyoming and spent the next day exploring Yellowstone. It was a Saturday in August so as you can imagine, the park was busy. Buck had been there several years ago, but Katelyn and I had never been, and we loved it! We saw the falls and went on a couple small hikes to see a few hot springs and we watched Old Faithful…. with several thousand other people. We left through West Yellowstone and travelled the rest of the way home with a stop in Boise to see my brother and his family and to pick up Cooper who had spent our travel time with my folks. The very next day was the start of Katelyn’s junior year and the first day of 7th grade for Cooper. In addition to classes, it was also the start of sports. Cooper is re ally happy to be back to playing football. And Kate made a big change… after thriving in spring track, she isn’t in the gym playing volleyball this fall, but has joined the cross country team! Having watched our fair share of volley ball matches, it’s a big shift, but I can’t say I’m not enjoying it. This last week, Buck was able to pick up some cows in Lewiston in time to run back to Enterprise for Cooper’s first football game of the season. On that same day, I ran over to Weiser, Idaho to watch Katelyn’s first cross country race. I got a little emotional seeing her come through the finish line. Watching her push herself harder and farther than she ever has was really inspiring. And that, my friends, is a highlight recap of the last few whirlwind-weeks-of-change in our life out here in Union County! ~Chelsea