The best things can't be told ...
That is not to say that what happens in North Dakota stays in North Dakota. Zimmer referred to the "best things" as being those things that transcend understanding. My recent time on the Little Missouri National Grasslands and Shade Ranch was colored by some of those things, and so my writing will be colored as well, and so there will not be a start to finish travelogue in one season. It will come as it will.
Fresh Mowed Hay
The rallying cry was "More Hay!"
Pushing "buck piles" at sundown
Ca 1970s John Deere 3010 and Farm Hand loader pushing buck piles. The buck piles are left for a day or so to settle and then stacked in 12 ton hay stacks which are stored outside. The low annual rainfall and snow cover keeps the hay quality safe.
An almost complete 12 ton loose hay stack - after it settles for a few days, it will be topped off with a few more buck piles.
Blue Duck, the 1971 International Harvester truck (for fuel and tool support) with 6 year old South Dakota tags. The road surface material is a clay rock called Scoria which is mined locally. It is similar to the material from which clay pots and terra cotta tile are made.
The visitors see Blue Duck coming down these roads and they say "here comes the real deal"; and so we are.
- Kim Shade
Jay and Kim gathering last year's yearling steers for a drive to another pasture.
The steers veer off of the road to play in an exposed coal seam.
Hey guys let's check this out over here on the left.
Almost there
Done
Classic Rock, a 6 year old Longhorn steer with a story and a part to play - one of the trappings of Shade Ranch.
Kim and his straight man Banjo, a Queensland Red Healer named for Banjo Patterson who wrote Waltzing Matilda and The Man from Snowy River.
Being a friend of Kim Shade is always a great adventure, but it ain't free.
- Dick Taylor, Artist and Musician
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If you would like to see my collection of Carolina Lowcountry memories—"Magnolia Elegy: Place In the Edisto Fork," you can view the book trailer here, and see the book page here on the publisher's website. The book is also available from Amazon, B&N, and your independent local bookseller.
