Blogs

It was impossible to predict which direction my ball would go. By the third hole, we’d traded our golf cart in for an all-terrain vehicle and the rest of our foursome was driving an armored personnel carrier.

The first week in August can be hot in Mud Lake, Idaho. It’s not Arizona or Mississippi hot, but it’s a hot that can wear you down, especially if you’re 9 years old and showing your first hog at the county fair.

Wrong and right are not quantifiable. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Doing it ‘right’ isn’t a status I’ve ever achieved. I’ve wanted to achieve it because in the moment it feels like if I could do it perfectly, then I’d never hurt anyone or waste money or time.

“Go to the ball. Don’t wait for it to come to you.”

Hearing those words were a common occurrence in my high school basketball days, and my team’s lack of implementation (myself included) could very well be the reason those days never amounted to a state title.

Livestock (and forage) producers are a proud bunch. Often stubborn, determined and self-sufficient almost to the point of self-destruction.

My parents and grandparents lived through the great depression of the 1920s – an event that dramatically changed their lives and colored their world view. The depression had a profound effect on the finances of my kinfolk and produced a family mantra I heard constantly: “Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.”