The Ressurection is near!

It is a possibility, Yes

is it you Annie? longed for those old friends.

           Morning had broken like every other, she made her oatmeal and looked out at the miles of prairie. The same window , the same prairie. The same emptiness . The Sweetgrass Hills to the west were bitter sweet , yes they did bring her her a certain comfort in the rememberance of the Highlands she grew up by. The adult who was always there watching over her , every season change seemed as if you were meeting an old friend.  Oh how she longed for those friends, the lonliness was constant, and painful. James had ridden up to "The North place" two days prior, she knew without asking he would not return for five days at least . This routine had been going on for four months. Long months they were. To add to the misery she hadn't  recieved any correspondence from Scotland since she came to this Country  to live with her new husband, the man her father said " Would never amount to a tinkers Damn!" He also proclaimed "If you go off with this naer'dowell  you"lol not hear from us ever!" Surely Mother would not adhere to this, she would send news, and keep in touch.  Surely. It had been six months, not a letter, not one. They had forgotten about her altogether, No one cared, why should I .      This was the day, She knew how , Now she knew when. The slow half mile walk to the barn must have seemed like forever, or maybe not. The Little Sage creek was just a trickle on this late summer day but she did love it so, she might have stopped for a second to dip her toe in for a refreshing moment , or maybe not. She walked in and found that hemp rope her husband would lead the Milkcow back and forth from home to the barn , she might have slowly wept as she tossed the rope over the cross beam , or maybe not. Using the few milk crates  to stand on she put the noose over head and with one last final decision jumped...........This ended the life of Annie Smith, who was married to my Great Grandfather James Laird.   This is a true story, and I think the shadowy images in the game camera recently , that looked like a piece of rope with knots in it are the spirit of Annie you see the camera was in a tree not two hundred yards from the spot   Where the lonliness  ended.     P.S.  A letter was delivered to the Ranch from Mr. And Mrs. Smith Aberdeen Scotland two weeks after Annie's burial.

This is scary stuff !!!!!

              I brought the Game camera home from the Clark Fork river and set it up a week ago or so. There was four or five small whitetail Bucks and quite a few Does as well, you will see a Mule Deer doe and fawn as well as a Whitetail mother with a little one too.  The pair of coyotes are kind of cool .   But look at the other photos and maybe you can tell me what the Hell those white images are! You will see them from left to right across the screen,   horizontal as well as vertical. Looks like a white rope with Knots tied in it. Don't think it was something blowing in the wind because when the wind blows the camera is trigured by moving grass etc, and these photos were random, not part of a bunch. You will notice coyotes in a few of the photos, was something chasing them? Not sure.  could we have a ghost on the Creek?  Likely the lost soul that my Uncle Richard used to talk about, he said when the Laird boys would walk to school they would cross the creek near where the camera sits tonight, and Richard said there was a sunken unmarked grave. They called the area "Deadmans Flat".  I will leave it to you to decide, pretty damn weird indeed. I am having trouble getting the images off the memory card onto the Blog waiting for my Tech department to call back. So will send them at a later time

God Bless America, please.

       Happy Independance Day! A little reflection would be appropriate on this day. I will never know what thoughts were going thru the four Laird brothers minds crossing the Atlantic, bound for America. Sadly all my connections to the previous generations are gone so I am left to my imagination, leaving Scotland in their twenties must have been frightening even to tough minded Scots that they were indeed. The fact that their Father had asked them to leave because the family was having trouble making ends meet and they would have to make it on their own, would add to their uneasiness about traveling to a new land , a land that they knew little about. America in the year 1887, well the truth is I don't know what the Hell was going on in those days, but to be sure it was a hard life ,especially going out west where the only thing they knew was what they had read in some Pennydreadful papers. Probably written by someone from  Philly who had never seen the state of Ohio.  One can only imagine there plans, and schemes to "Make it big", we know it didn't start with a plan to go to Montana, because Montana wasn't a state yet!  I digress like a drunk at a Maureen Dowd party, "Imus reference". My point is did they have thoughts of creating a farm,ranch then start a family, providing for them so that those children would have a better life and never have to leave home looking for a chance at success. I believe they did, My Great Grandfather was one of those pioneers, James Laird. From all accounts he was a simple man , well liked by all, had a bit of the Dickens in him but nonetheless a hard working man. He had one son John, whom I have been told was the kind of man everyone wanted as a friend, he would help anyone at anytime, which was what good neighbors did. One of my biggest regrets is never having met Grampa John, from all accounts we would have had a great relationship, he died young, and left six children and a widow. Again the work ethic was passed down to all, with the hopes of a better future for their kids. Grampa John fought in WWI  upon coming to America, his chance to become a U.S.  citizen . Three of his kids fought in WWII, one seriously injured and maimed for life.  Lastly my brother served with distinguish in the Vietnam War. Again I digress, my point is that America has been "Berry Berry Good to Us" to quote Sammy Sosa, My belief is that all along the chance of success was the goal knowing that nothing is guaranteed, but thru perseverance and hard work , you can succeed in America in 1877 as well as 2015.  "We Hope for Better Things"

Big Medicine

.           How was your last week? Bet it didn't match mine. I spent three days at Disnayland with Seven Grandkids , nine and under, and five troublesome Adults. The time spent at the Resort was wonderful, I strategically timed a few hours a day for rest and relaxation. As for Delta Airlines well I planned for everything and expected nothing, I was not to be disappointed. Lost three of our bags, didn't get them for a day and a half. Par for the course. We also attended the Ordination of Rita's nephew Aaron Engebretson, he was ordained as a Catholic Priest, a Jesuit. Big Medicine indeed, He has been studying for eleven years and the big day was very celebratory. I couldn't help but think of Aaron's grandfather and grandmother Phil and Clara and how proud they would have been and are. It took place in LA , what a dump! Looks like LA is where Hope and Prosperity go to Die. Filth everywhere you went , the trees are dieing from the prolonged drought, no grass in any yards, the only thing growing is the waistlines of most of the people, my God their Huge down there. So we came back to the farm today and I saw a swarm of Bees in an outbuilding that could have numbered a half a million, no kidding. My thoughts are this could be the "End Times"  In my world now we have Drought, Insect Plagues, Just got back from "Sodom and Gomorrah" what is next ?Raining Frogs? Remember you heard it here first!

Oh I wish I was a Farmer!

           I hear these words a lot, "Your so lucky to be a Farmer , Your own Boss out in the Fields, doing Field Stuff". Most of the time my response is something like " Yea, pretty Lucky indeed". So it is time to set you straight on Farming!  Managing is the most important thing I do, TIME, this is critical , seemingly more than years past, not exactly sure why but it seems like now if you do not get your work done when you have the opportunity , it is easy to get behind and Hard to catch up.  FINANCES , it is easy to get rapt up in all the latest, greatest equipment or options for fertilization, Chemicals or experimental methods that are mostly untried but show promise. There is a fine line between being Progressive, and  being a Spendthrift. one can lead to success the other will surely lead to Failure. Their are other important things one must do to keep ones head above water in Farming , but  gather close to your screen I am about to let you in on a secret,          The only way you will succeed in Farming is .....IF IT RAINS!       It is as true now as when my Great Grandpa Jimmy and his brothers Frank, And Jack, moved to Northern Liberty County in 1887. That's right Bunky I come from a long line of Dirt Farmers.  rain is the original Four letter word, such as this year we finally received our first moisture in 7 weeks Eight Tenths , just under an Inch, which is a great Rain anytime right?   Damn right, so the talk around town went like this, " Hey Ron how much rain did you get?"  "Oh around three quarter of an Inch I guess." " You?"  eight Tenths in my gauge of course there was a fly in there too". Farmer Humor!  " That's a good Rain for sure!"  Oh Hell yeah get us to the next on for sure!"  " Yep Yep".    So not three days later, Me along with every other Sap in the area puts on his Waif costume and with Hat in hand Kneels, looks up to the Heavens and says" BOB , Sir that was great but could We Please have another?"   I Digress, you see The Big GUY GOD is so busy that he delegates some authority to Vice-Gods . Bob is in charge of the Rain. The Big Guyis working on a potion to drop on all Muslims so that every child born  to them in the next twenty years will be a girl and they will all be Lesbians! Might be the only way to put a Crisis in to Isis. So we wait for Bobs response!  Most likely a Lump of Coal!

Ok I am drunk so what!

     My lovely and I went out for dinner this evening, first of all this damn town loves to eat out  , Joseph had less trouble finding an Inn then we had finding a restaurant with a table for two. But we settle in at Cafe Dolce nice place kind of loud but at my age every place is kind of loud, so Rita and I each ordered a Beer Rita a light Beer from  a Montana Brewery , Your faithful correspondent ordered a Belgium Beer that  was called " The Best Beer in the World" the flunky brought a Whiskey bottle to our table disguised as a Beer with a Cork and everything, I knew this old Farmer was over his head, I sheepishly said " How much is it?"   $35,  "Shit is that all Son" Let's do this!"   Rita said  " I have never seen you order a $35 dollar beer".  " You are looking at a new Blackjack Babe, " So we ordered our delicious meal and I proceeded to enjoy my beverage 10% alcohol if you need it and I didn't 't, near the end of my meal the table next to us said" What is that you are drinking?" " A Belgium beer  it says a Pint , but I have drank many Pints in my Interesting life , seems like a lot." " he said " One Pint 10 ounces ! sparky drink up!"  I said I know that, yea I know that. It isn't as though I bought a grocery cart full of DelMonte vegetables but , come on Blackjack pull in your reins Bitch! Buzz is starting to wane guilt taking over good thing it rained .60 at home, off to take some Advil.