Life on the Ranch
Some days it’s a blessing, and those few moments we spend leaning against a tractor tire, watching the cows feed on some alfalfa we just laid out for them as the sun sets, can be magical. No matter the kind of day we just had, those moments make it all worthwhile. There’s also the days when everything just seems to go wrong too; a tire just blew, and the windmill is down, a tree fell across some fence, and a water hydrant is frozen… you get the picture. But, every time that happens something always appears, whether it’s a moment later, or the next day, to remind us just how lucky we are, and how amazing the ranch is in its beauty, to erase the short term irritation and replace it with the peace that comes with life on the ranch.
Life at the Flying B Bar provides the full continuum of experiences for us, from the joy of watching a new calf being born, taking its first few steps and nursing, to the sowing of sorghum/sudangrass seeds and the swathing and baling at harvest time. Then there are the ever-present things that mark time at the ranch that provide the pacing and discipline that is ranch life. Every morning and evening there are chores to do: feeding, watering, cleaning a stall, or chasing the calf that slipped through the fence. These are the things that go on every day, rain or shine, warm or cold, sun or blizzard, no matter how you feel that day.
Flying B is located about 7 miles north of Strasburg, Colorado, along the Kiowa Creek. We farm and graze over 3 1/2 miles of the creek and it provides beautiful green native grasses that our cattle flourish on. The ranch is located along the creek valley and is surrounded by gentle hills that slope up out of the valley to the east and to the west where the land transitions into mostly wheat fields and CRP grass. My mom, Katie, calls it “a little piece of heaven”. We agree.