Weekend at the Ranch: Part One
This is the view from the front yard of our place in Childress. I'm a crappy photographer, but it goes on as far as you can see. It's idyllic. Peaceful. Restful.
Until you hear, "Mom! We're going to the pond! Load up!" And the ten year-old is driving. You can't see it, but there's a look of intense concentration on Ethan's face. His tongue is between his lips and everything.
So you get on, putting your life in the hands of someone who has not quite yet mastered long division, and on the way, you interrupt mealtime.
And hit traffic. We got behind a very pregnant mama cow who was just not in a hurry. I can't say that I blame her. I felt an affinity for this cow. You could tell by her eyes that she was tired.
But once we got there, it was very nice. It's rained a lot in the last few weeks, so the dock was under water. Ooops.
It didn't stop Aaron from re-enacting a scene from the Arthurian legend...
I am the once and future king!
Actually, I don't know what he was doing. Being AJ, most likely. It's a full time job.
I fished. Yeah, I know. No one pass out from the shock. Note the pink on the fishing pole.
With a hot pink lure, no less.
I caught nothing.
Color me surprised.
Nolan caught a little one, though, which we later had for dinner.
I'm telling you, it was LHOTP all over the darn place.
Mornings on the porch are peaceful.
Until you hear something something coming up the road.
What is that?
It's your children, but does something look off?
Yeah, because they've gone the whole half mile in reverse, just for kicks.
And got wet in the process.
Then it was peaceful again for two seconds...
Until they found something in the yard. I was fine until they said, "Hey mom!"
"It's a tarantula!"
*cue screaming and flailing*
The zoom lens was used for that one.
And then there was peace for another two seconds.
Until a calf got in the yard. Isn't he (she?) cute? I still don't know how he got in. There's barbed wire fince all around and a cattle guard on the driveway's fence-line.
The best part was that Nolan decided to get him out of the yard.
Nolan was a cowboy! (Yeah, I guess that cow is a boy.)
There was a lot of yelling, "GO, COW!" and clapping and pointing at the gate and flailing of arms. It was amusing.
It might not have been textbook cowboy, but the cow went through the gate, and that's what counts.
Sunset. When it's dark on the ranch, it's bedtime.