Pat & Sharon O'Toole: Weather we can talk about

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Didi working sheep
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Four wire winter
Mouse Pasture, Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Truck, expensive hay, snow
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Guard dogs moving to a new job
Home Ranch
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Mr. Chips, Antonio, and ewe lambs
Cow Pasture, Home Ranch
photo by Pat O'Toole

"What folks in Wyoming want is weather they can talk about." My dentist had both hands in my mouth when he expressed this opinion. I was speechless, but I agreed. This winter has well and truly given us denizons of Wyoming weather we can talk about.

Earlier this week, Pat was trying to get to our sheep, and sheepherders, north of I80 with feed and supplies, but the roads were closed two days in a row. It wouldn't have helped if he had gone, because the sheep had "blown out" and walked many miles before the wind. In this situation, we tell the herders to stay safe and find the sheep when the storm is over.

The photos above show the deep drifts here at the Home Ranch, where the mountains collect, well, mountains of snow. The photos below show conditions on the Red Desert. We finally had a day when we checked the road report and it said "icy conditions, blowing snow," and we said "All right. We can do that!" Weather we can talk about indeed.

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Sheep in blowing snow
Red Desert
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Antelope south of Creston Junction
Sweetwater County, Wyoming
photo by Pat O'Toole

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Modesto near Cyclone Rim
Red Desert, Sweetwater County, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Modesto a'horseback
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Modesto bundled up
photo by Pat O'Toole

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Oscar
Red Desert
photo by Pat O'Toole

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Horse, wagon and supply wagon
Red Desert
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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Frozen drift
Red Desert
photo by Sharon O'Toole

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About Pat & Sharon O'Toole

Pat and Sharon O’Toole are ranchers in the Little Snake River Valley near Savery, Wyoming, right on the Colorado-Wyoming border. They raise cattle, sheep, horses, dogs and children. Pat “immigrated” from Florida in 1970. He attended Colorado State University, where he met Sharon when both worked for the campus newspaper. Sharon grew up on their ranch, where they live and work with her father, their daughter, son and granddaughter (soon to be grandchildren!). Pat is a “water buffalo” and has served in the Wyoming House of Representatives (1986-1992), on the President’s Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission, and is the current President of the Family Farm Alliance, which advocates for farmers, ranchers and irrigators. Sharon is an author, poet and journalist. She writes extensively on Western issues and is a columnist for “The Shepherd” magazine. Pat and Sharon are the parents of three children: Meghan, 27; Bridget, 26; and Eamon, 20.

Pat & Sharon O'Toole

Weather we can talk about

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