Getting started in SD

I find myself really wanting to write about this new life I have, to create something of like a log, but these days they're called a blog. I also want to share my experience with all the people I love, but am so far from. So this is where you will find my stories and blerps about what will most often be my misadventures as a newbie rancher. For instance...




I got up this Saturday morning with the plan to get a bunch of these boxes the hell out of here. The disorganization in this place is making me crazy, and I can't even start on curing that until I can get the big items into place, which can't happen until the number of boxes is reduced!




I was just getting started on all that when the power went out. I thought to call Gary to get a handle on the history of the power outages, but my cell phone was dead. So, I hopped in the truck, where my car charger is, and went to visit the horses while the phone charged. When I got back to the truck, its battery was dead. I walked the 1/2 mile home. On the way, Gary's brother Chris called to let me know that it would probably be several days before the power was back on due to some big problem somewhere (my mind went into "oh, crap" mode, and I stopped listening. Chris said something about getting the generator set up (what generator, and where, and how???). What came to my mind was that the cows on water tanks would need water, as the well pump would not be working. That meant moving cows that weren't in pastures with dams/ponds. That meant moving cows alone.




Now here's the thing. Our main and only guy, Kyle, was out of town for the weekend. And Paul, who lives on the ranch and helps out on the weekend, was out of town, also, for the weekend. I was basically screwed and, literally, powerless - the truck, wells, house, phone, all dead (the cell phone died again after talking with Chris and then Gary.




So, I headed out to check on the water situation for the one group of cows I knew were exclusively on well water. Their water was good, but as I looked at the grass, I thought that they really needed to be moved to fresh pasture sooner, rather than later. Kyle and I had agreed to move them on Monday, but that was 2 days away, and some of those older cows really shouldn't be shorted grass at all (they already are underweight, and it's not even winter). But where to move them to?




When I got back to the house, blessed be, there was Paul, and the power was back on!!! Paul and the neighbor that brought me the corn earlier this week, Eric, were both there. I enlisted Paul's help after getting an earful from Eric.




Eric will always have an earful for you. He is generally very funny, if a bit acerbic. Well, I was able to, without meaning to, make him shut his mouth and walk away. I gave him a brief run down of how the day was going and all that I needed to figure out and do, and ended all that by stating that to top it all off, my menopause had, just this morning, decided to take a leave of absence. Well, that proved too much for the man. He took a couple of steps backwards, waved is hands, turned on his heels, and he was gone. I never would have guessed him to the sensitive type. (BTW: when Eric brought me the corn, he announce to all present, that would be Gary, Paul, and I, that I would need to figure the value of the corn so that Blacky could get his taxes for it. My guess is that he is that is word choice was more to get my goat than anything else, but I am not yet entirely sure.)




So, everything just got simplified; no generators to worry about, I had help to get the truck started and to move the cows. Paul and I decided on which pasture to move the cows to, but of course, then it all got complicated, again. That pasture needed some fence repairs, which Paul would do, and the water trough, oh my god, it was disgusting. There were these dead things in it and it stunk in a make-you-gag sort of way. The dead things turned out to be a rotting rabbit and two decomposing hawks (I knew they were hawks only by their talons). I took the job of cleaning the trough out, which meant getting a water pump set up and vacuuming out as much water as possible, then shoveling out the rest of the decaying, rotting matter out with a shovel. There is not, of course, a way to just drain the retched stuff out of that 500 gallon tank. No, that would be too easy! And, of course, the first pump we set up didn't work, so I had to go get the other pump from the other ranch, 8 miles away. Once we had that in place, we found that the vacuum hose leaked, and the pump was just sucking air.




So, I headed back to the other ranch to get the other hoses. One of the hoses that I thought I needed was connected to a large water holding tank on a flat bed truck that fed into a trough that was full of water, but not in use. There was not any water coming out of the tank. so I assumed that the valve to the hose was off. Not the case at all! Just as soon as I disconnected the hose, a burst of water hit me square in the chest, and just kept on coming. I was quickly drenched, and the lever to turn off the gushing water was just beyond my reach. I didn't see a way to climb up onto the flatbed. Brain in full gear said, "get the horse lead rope from the cab of the truck." I did, but I could not lasso the valve handle without the gushing water catching the rope and throwing off like a talent wild stallion. I went around the other side of the truck, and found a way to climb up (did I mention I am having some knee issues?). I got the valve to the water turned off, and went to load the hose onto the truck to get it to where I needed it to be, but the damn thing was completely secured to the trough. And, just as I rolled my eyes skyward, I noticed several hoses just laying in on the flatbed between the cab and the tank that were exactly and all that I needed. I grabbed them, loaded them, sighed, and ... well, it was an onward and upwards kinda moment.





Got back to the tank and, with a lot of help from Paul (actually, more like I helped Paul a little), we got the pump going and the water was slowly being vacuumed out of the tank. In the meanwhile, I used a pitchfork to fling out the rabbit and hawks and some other unidentifiable skeletal remains. As the nasty water went down, I began to shovel out black stinking goop. A couple hours later, and after a time thinking about how this belongs on that tv show about dirty jobs, I had gotten out all I could. And, the sun was starting to set. After all that, the cows would have to stay where they were for the night.




Guess how many boxes got emptied today.




Yep, that's right.

Zero