I'm writing this while horseback on the breaks high above the flood waters of the snowmelt swollen Salmon River. My kids got me this cool folding keyboard that attaches to my phone and fits nicely in my saddle bag. The juxtaposition of tech with the old worn leather of my gear amuses me, but it's …
Life Underground Matters
I've seen grass roots carefully excavated in all their upside down long hair glory. Only 10% or so of their biomass is above ground. If we were grass, only our head would be above the soil layer. But like us with our heads above soil, there is much more to grass than the leaves of green …
Hacking Wild Edible Plants
Clint jumped off his horse and fairly loped down to the creek, reaching down into the shallow and chill waters. He harvested his prize and lifted the dripping trophy overhead, his weather-worn and 60 something face happy with excitement. "Watercress!" he exclaimed. He returned to us, his 4 …
Hat Creek Stand Off
Sweat dripped from the inside brim of the Sheriff's hat, leaving tracks on his dust-caked forehead just before it stung his unblinking eyes. They were fixated on the pair of black-holed shotgun barrels aimed at him from close range. He was grateful that the gelding horse under him stood stock still …
A Grass of Velvet
It's springtime in the Rockies. Nearly all the birds are back from their vacays on the Mexican Riviera, and our home place is green and teeming with the sounds and scents of life. Killdeers call and bait relentlessly trying to lure cows and calves from their camouflage nests (they do) and Sandhill …
Restoration Ranching: How Cows Create Canyons
Despite the earth-moving events that would unfold later in the afternoon, this particular August day dawned like any other over the Hat Creek country. It was 1959, and the only witness to the devastation was one Dick McDaniel, who tended his sheep in the lower breaks of the range along the Salmon …
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