Branding Pictures and Deep Thoughts, Really I Am Not Joking.........

Whew it has been a long week. Long. Things got into gear over here on Monday morning about 5 am. Branding season has begun. I was stuck in the kitchen all morning, both my gals were here and they left dear ole mom doing dishes and such as that while they roosted on the top rail of the branding pen and just snapped away.

That's OK I am not bitter. Really. I managed to wander out for a few minutes and snap a few myself.





DH had to "tail" a few down. I tease him about being an old man now and doing the old man jobs like "cutting", (castrating) the calves. He comes right back at me and has to tell me that he can still "tail" down with the best of them...and he can.



This is the branding pot...a propane burner is attached and then fired up. It is much much faster then building a fire. The irons are heated up. Note there are several. They don't have to wait for one to heat before then can brand another calf. This saves time. When one calf is branded that iron is put back and another is pulled out hot and ready. You want to keep your irons as hot as possible. It just takes seconds to brand the calf and is less stressful for them. And regardless what people may think...it really does not hurt them all that much, it looks worse then it really is.



Waiting their turn.....



He is still a little short in the britches but he is learning. He will be an old hand by the time he is 16 or 17.

I have been asking myself why I love taking pictures of the "works" so much. Heck I just like sitting on the fence and watching, camera or not. I have been known to stand out on the porch just watching them move a herd by the house. Or watch DH gathering his horses in the evening getting ready for the next days work. I like hearing the cows milling around and mooing for their babies late in the evening. And like my girls, I to like the smell of branding smoke. The sound of spurs jingling. The hoots and hollers the men make when they are moving the herd from one place to another. I like the "chase" when an ornery ole cow breaks from the herd and a couple of fellas take out after her. Break neck speed, jumping bushes, taking down their rope, threatening her..and finally in a spray of dirt getting her turned and trotting docile back to the herd.

Why do I like it? Because of the tradition associated with all of it. The old ways. Watching things being done that have been done the same way for 100 years. I have to admit..there is much about today's technology that I really like. Don't take away my cell phone or my computer, ;0. And I am not one to think that all the "old" ways are the best or the only way to do things. Much about modern ranching is good. It would take my DH two or 3 days of hard riding to check his waters horseback. Pick-ups and trailers are a good thing. But there is something comforting about tradition.

I think it has a lot to do with the state we find our world in today. Everything moves so fast. So many things traditions are being lost. I think that is why we, for lack of a better word,"western" people try to hang on so hard. We see what the world is becoming and we don't want any part of it. And deep down we know that this way of life is in some serious trouble.

So we hang on. We teach our kids how to work. How to appreciate the stories the "old" men have told a hundred times already. We teach them good manners, like not wearing your spurs in the house, taking your hat off when you eat and always telling the cook thank you for the dinner. We teach them to pray for rain, for hurt or sick animals, for each other. We teach them to give thanks for green grass, a good milk cow, fresh eggs and beef in the freezer. We teach them that God is first family is second and if you keep those things straight everything else will work it's self out.

God Bless and Happy Trails
RanchWife