From the Editor

I grew up on a ranch about four hours away from where I live and work now. It’s about an hour from there to the nearest town with an actual stoplight and an additional half hour to the nearest Walmart. There are more cows than people, and the mountains are only a breath away. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss it. 

As I write this editorial in my hotel room, my boots are off, my feet are up – and if I was wearing a Fitbit, I am certain I would have exceeded the day’s recommended 10,000 steps with more planned tomorrow.

“They’re not growing,” I said, frowning at my dad.

Americans love a good list of rankings. We list our ball teams, presidents, influential books, favorite movies, all by rankings.

I once saw a post on Facebook from a member of a women’s ag group asking for examples of ranch lingo her daughter could use as part of a school presentation. There were dozens of helpful comments ranging from “pushing the drag” to vocab terms like “free martin.” I grew up on a ranch, but some of these terms I’d never heard, and my first impulse was to hop on Google and see what I could find. Then, my common sense caught up with me and whispered, “Some things you just don’t find on Google.”

It’s summer! Time to revel in a mask-free environment (at least outside anyway), get a new sunburn, work on the golf game and catch a fish or two.