Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

The sun paints a porcelain colored sky over Middlestack Mountain to the northeast, as a luminous rotund pumpkin moon slips behind Cold Spring Mountain to the southwest in a silent cosmic language of watchfulness, a passing of the guard at dawn.

The near stillness of morning, a kildees call on the lawn, the invisible whir and chirp of hummingbirds a guarantee of their sweet tooth feeding frenzy to come with the sun. The rustle of leaves as the morning breeze picks up for a last little "HOORAH " of night chill before the sun starts it's daily job of warming the earth.

I love to walk around at this time of day and let the slow progress of the sun set the pace. There will be plenty of time after breakfast to feel the 2/4 tempo of life.

Posted by Robin Boies at 5:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Elko County continues to burn. Luckily, we have had just two small blazes that didn't threaten or amount to anything. Our friends and neighbors have not been so lucky as you can see from the Elko Free Press headlines.

3:00 P.M. August 16, smoke from fires raging west of the ranch covering us like a cinder saturated blanket. The fires and smoke continued into the week of August 21st bringing the strange rose-orange glow that comes with fire to us each afternoon. The smell of sage brush burning on the afternoon breeze kept those fighting the fires and those whose range was burning in our minds.

3:00 P.M. August 16, looking west from the Vineyard Ranch.

8:00 P.M. August 16, looking west from Vineyard Ranch. The funny red lights are not alien spaceships, they are just the reflectors on the Wilson stock trailor.

Posted by Robin Boies at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We moved the first calf heifers down from Dry Creek, one of three old homesteads that make up part of the ranch. As young cows will be, they were lost for the first few miles. Finally, one of the older cows that were in with the bunch figured out where they were headed and lined out for home. It was a good day with an early morning start before the heat.

Dry Creek sits in the middle of the ranch, with an old quaking aspen log cabin and mountain meadow pastures along the creek that runs through the yard.

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

If you follow the drainage up you get into high aspen grove mountain terrain. Dry Creek Mountain is the steepest part of the ranch, full of mountain riparian areas, wildlife, a barite mine and the tangle of roads that accompany mining operations. There are days spent wondering if it is worth running cows in this particular area.

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Posted by Robin Boies at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have been lucky this year. So far we have not been threatened by fire, but the burn season is not over. Perhaps fire is one of the earth’s passions. The word passion comes from the ancient Latin pati, meaning to endure, to suffer. Interestingly, the word passive comes from the same Latin root pati, to suffer.

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Photo by Robin Boies

Posted by Robin Boies at 8:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)