See bottom of post for updates!
I don't want you to worry if I don't post again for a day or two. With satellite as our only connection, we are very much subject to weather conditions. I am typing as fast as I can right now while nervously glancing out the window to the West. The band of snow-heavy clouds which dominate the skies has been slowly drifting this way and the connection is becoming sporadic now. We will be just fine; plenty of food and adequate fuel for a week but we might not be able to connect tonight if the weather conditions deteriorate further. Currently (just after lunch time) there is a very light rain at 41 degrees F. Although we had discussed plans for dinner again with Slim tonight, he has wisely chosen to head north this afternoon. He will take his two horses with him so that none of us have to worry about feeding them during the bad weather and road conditions which might follow.
I should have taken some foodie photos of our dinner last night; Slim's private stock of rib-eye steaks (which he thawed under the Ram's dash heater as he headed down this way) topped with my herbed and butter-fried mushrooms, a hearty pile of sour cream and butter smothered baked potatoes and Slim's perennial favorite veggie, green beans. We gorged ourselves into joyous misery and then kicked back and washed it down with either beer or whiskey. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us, Slim's extremely disciplined cattle dogs were busy ripping up our elk hanging in the barn. Sum beech! We didn't figure this out until later when Slim got half way back to his camp and realized that his beloved ancient 'Big Dog' had been left behind. Despite being blind and deaf, Big Dog's sense of smell has remained keenly intact and he wasn't about to leave the elk carcass nosh frenzy any time soon. They did a number on that right front quarter by the time they were done. I later found Daisy in the barn trying to get her dibs in on the newly exposed flesh. And here our dogs had been SOOO good about leaving that elk alone, expect for maybe a little gentle gnawing at the shin ends. Aged or not, it might be time to do the abattoir thing on my kitchen table. Sigh.
Given the horrid weather in California and Nevada, I just tracked down Jet Stream maps today. It is my own strange way of telling what's headed our way. So here it is according to blogger location:
Sunday: The Creek will get nailed with a little snow at altitude as the JS (Jet Stream) remains diagonal but shifts Eastward. Red and Catmoves might see a little snow, Buck will probably luck out. Then it heads NW to where people don't read my blog anyway so who cares. Hmphh.
Monday: Sort of the same, just sliding more to the East (more crud for Red, Cat and Buck).
Tuesday: Babzy gets some precip. It passes over Red and Buck as it heads south to the border. It angles back up towards FHB and Phlegmmy on its way back from the Mexico vacation. It will slide over Towanda as it heads almost directly into the northern boonies where Hudson Bay blanket sales will surge. Craver will see some snow. Dirtcrashr and Buck's pal Morgan will get a break on the West Coast.
Wednesday: Northern Cal gets more moisture, Towanda gets a break, it scrubs up against Bruno on the way south, it kinks back up before hitting the Gulf and smacks Mushy and then Goddess. Looks like Lin and carteach might luck out with quick pass-overs of crud. The Atavist might see a little slop, too. Da Moose sees some weather, too.
There, all that said, now I will admit that I don't know a thing about meteorology but I really enjoyed this exercise of including my continental blog friends!
Remember: if I disappear for a bit, blame the weatherman!
Update: 7:30PM Mountain Time - .This is my equally accurate 'step out the door and look up' report: Light snowfall has ended, negligible accumulation. Only one star visible but you know it's not bad when the satellite signals can get through. YeeHaw!
Update: Monday, 3:00PM Mountain Time - I just checked the JS maps again. It confirmed what I was seeing out the window this morning - the JS is right over us and bringing part of that nasty precip from California with it. It was coming down thick enough that the satellite couldn't cut through it just two hours ago (just when we needed it for vital ranch business, of course). The sun just peeked through and we're settled in for now with a 3-4" accumulation. Touch wood.
The updated weather maps now show the JS taking a wild hair twist on Tuesday, like someone snapping a length of garden hose. This one shows Babzy, Moose, Craver and Bruno getting hit with something, everyone else breathing easy for now. Atavist gets a quick something in passing. Phlegmmy and FHB don't get anything with this latest layout and stay that way.
Wednesday's map shows Red and Cat getting some snow with possibly Buck lucking out again, possibly. Towanda and Bruno might luck out, Craver is in the path and Goddess and Mushy might get a little skinned but not badly.
I just realized that Thursday's JS map is from a week ago - glad I don't run an airline according to this site's information. Here, if you want to see what pig entrails I am delving into, go to weather.com - Aviation Maps Index and then look through the menu of jet stream maps available by day and click away, just be aware of the dates shown on each. Find out what the weather has been like in the area of the JS path on its way to you, figure in how the temperatures (hot or cold) along its path will affect it and if it's picking up more moisture (as in over the Great Lakes) or losing it. It's just plain fun and MUCH less messy than dealing with real entrails, without about the same success rate. If nothing else, you will develop a greater appreciation for the poor guy who does the evening news weather report.
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It was a good week for us all out here at the ranch despite the cold weather. Our guest hunters managed to each bring down a six-by-six point bull elk. Apparently everyone 'up top' at the hunting camp had a grand and memorable time, hunters and guides alike, and all vow to come back next year. By then, we might even have my whimsical "Hotel California Saloon" in situ to have a place where everyone can come over for a good sit down supper and gabfest. The Rat is just a little cramped to accommodate more than two or three people at once right now.
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As an unexpected perk, the boys arrived with one full elk carcass for our later use. When you realize the going rate of supermarket beef, this is not a small consideration. In our situation, you have to take such windfalls into serious consideration in the annual budget, too. A few decades ago, venison was the only meat in our larder but the savings on beef purchases made a BIG impact on the food bill. I never forget this truism from an old and well-off friend: "It is easier to save a dollar you have than to earn a replacement for it." This is not quaint folk lore, it's absolutely true. If not for having absorbed these bits of wisdom and putting them into play, we would simply not have come this far in realizing our dream. It took us almost two decades to save up for this moment but we were able to do it without living in a cardboard box under the overpass in the interim. It can be done when you want something badly enough; that is really what separates the wheat from the fluffy chaff. My Atavist has some good primer material in his blog archives on the subject. I was going to keep this subject for a separate post but this is as good a time as any to bring the basis of our success to your attention. More will certainly follow.
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Now don't freak out at the photo below. At first glance, it may strike you as what happened to Aunt Hilda after someone spiked the punch at the town's last ice cream social. This is the bull elk carcass which now hangs aging in our barn. I have no idea who donated the gaily printed sarong of a bed sheet it wears but it serves to keep various ravenous parties away from it. Bottom line: it's about $500 worth of red meat that we don't have to budget for in the future. If you are a meat-eater, I don't want to hear the right-brained screechy Bambi thing ... there is a guilt-free tofu burger waiting out there for you. That being said, I read that plants also feel pain and agony so what do you do? I can honestly say that I wouldn't look down from the clouds with resentment someday if a mountain lion decided that I looked like a great lunch while I was out hiking. It is simply life and it's been that way for a long time out in the real world.
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So unless you are some sort of vegetablist, you now know what is likely fare for supper when you come to visit. One thing I seem to do well is serve up meat to its best character and potential so don't let that slow you down.
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My blog friend David over at The Author Blog (see his link in the left hand column) has just inspired me with his new post on partner blog interest and participation. It does seem to take haltering and leading to the blog well at times. In my case, I was fortunate that Mark responded exceedingly well to threats of starvation and/or torture. While he is too stoic to be a cheerleader, he is generally an excellent proofreader when he is in the right mood. And I will grant him that my impetuous demands for immediate editing normally correspond with his time of nodding off while reading the same page of the Wall Street Journal for over an hour or more.
But with his conscripted servitude come certain blog privileges. In this case, he requested that I address our ranch's hunting income for this year. Since we are in between outfitters at the moment, he has decided to play the field a little. Normally, we have been selling our private land owner elk tags to outfitters who market a package with a healthy guide fee tacked on. If you are a competent, self-reliant outdoorsman and hunter, we can help you set up a world class big game hunting vacation in New Mexico for a third to one half of an outfitted hunt. Our 2NN (second nearest neighbor) offers very good meal and lodging accommodations to hunters. I happen to think that their rates are outrageously reasonable given that they are the only game in the canyon. She has several good photos of enormous bulls that have been taken in our area. ...
Z-z-z-h-r-r-r-r-r-r-i-i-p-p-p-p!!!!!
The above line represents the sound of a tone arm ripping across your newly recorded piece of blog vinyl. Sigh.
We had just completed another round of coerced blog proofreading when the phone rang so Mark nipped off to his office to answer the call. Ten minutes later, I hear an announcement "Never mind about that blog thing. It was an outfitter, I think we have a deal."
I was still staring at the recently completed entry. I now became aware that my teeth were grinding painfully together, I could feel the outer edges of my lips expanding into a maniacal grin, my eyelids and pupils were dilating into a glazed off-focus stare. I knew I was slipping into a blog writer's Jack Nicholson Shining moment. I stared at the screen. The recently accomplished words began to dissolve and were now running down into a distinct black puddle of ink at the bottom of that screen. "Oh ... really, dear?" All that creative angst and fighting for cooperation for nothing then? Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh. Bloggus interruptus.
My nostrils flared to accommodate the adrenalin rush as I advanced ever so silently into the office. "So ... tell me more ... d-e-a-r." I felt my fingers involuntarily curl into deadly arches as I surveyed the long and graceful lines of his Lladro-esque neck from behind. He turned unexpectedly and I withdrew those menacing hands just as quickly and assumed a Stepford wife glowing demeanor (or as best as I am capable of, at least). "I think we have a deal." he said. "Oh, really? And you will be happy with that, I mean TRULY happy with that? What I mean to say is that I will never hear any further griping about this then, never have to recreate this last blog? Ever? Really?" "Yes, that is correct." "By really, I mean r-e-a-l-l-y ..." I took the legal pad down from his book shelf and placed it in front of him. "... then you won't mind writing and signing a statement to that effect?" "I will NOT!" Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh. "Then you may ask me to do this again later for some other reason, your most royal sweetness?" And so we discussed a broad range of vaguely interweaving matters. It became clear that he reserved the right to rain on my parade down the road - that's how I took it at least. I eventually acquiesced, only regretting that I know so little about operating the skid steer and all its lovely digging abilities. J-u-s-t kidding, sort of. Remember, unless you are confined to an environment the size of a large shoebox with the love of your life 24/7, you cannot begin to understand the dynamics at play out here. Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh.
As usual, Mark was pressed into proofreading even this rework. This torturous blog exercise is surprisingly therapeutic for both of us. Oh, and the photo is of moose hunters, not elk hunters ... just had to throw that one in to get Alphonse the Moose's attention.
See bottom of post for updates!
