Sand Hills
Email From the Sand Hills
“You never saw so many cowboys drinking so much beer in a hurry.” So writes my wife Julia to a friend of ours about attending a ranch rodeo in the Sand Hills of Nebraska.
Read Julia’s “Email From the Sand Hills” about the ranch rodeo, Sand Hills cowboying and how we almost got flattened by a… Continue reading
Bridge and Another Man’s Horse
Recently I picked up a stray. Crossing an old wood bridge, I heard an extra pair of clip clops on the wood decking. I looked back. And saw a horse.
Turns out the horse had slipped through an open gate and fallen in to line behind us. I walked the mules back across the bridge, toward where the horse had come from, hoping to lure the horse back home.
The horse followed obediently.… Continue reading
Ranch Rodeo Saturday Night
Until last week, I’d never heard of a ranch rodeo. I’d been to plenty of regular rodeos. But what was a ranch rodeo?
Ranch rodeo is a team event based on skills a working cowboy would need. Each team has 4 members.… Continue reading
Trouble in a Leather Sack
Let me state for the record that I am not a cowboy. I can not throw a rope. I can not brand a cow. I don’t own a 10 gallon hat. I do know that “trouble in a leather sack” means “cow” in the Sand Hills. Seth Adam told me so.
Serendipity Lodging
It was time to see my wife Julia. The mules and I have been on the road for 4 months, traveling from North Carolina toward Idaho.
Julia and I decided the Sand Hills of Nebraska would be a great place for her to fly out and meet me. She booked a plane ticket and a rental car. She didn’t click on that “Add a Room to Your Ticket” option.
She… Continue reading
Shovel and Top Hat
The mules and I camp on a lot of people’s lawns. What to do about the manure? Out here in the Sand Hills of Nebraska, mule manure on a lawn is dispensed with a boot kick. Or, as I recently did, with an old shovel.
Hyannis at Last
Three weeks ago I arrived in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. I set my sights on Hyannis, 350 miles to the west. Yesterday Brick and Cracker and strode in to the town I was aiming for.
Hyannis is deep in the Sand Hills of Nebraska. The past week, I’ve been traveling… Continue reading
Junk Heap Mule Browse and the Fair Ground
Today a guy asked me, “why do you like mules?” I told him, “because they eat and drink less than a horse and they’re tougher.” What I really wish I could have shown him was Cracker teasing a grass snack from between some junk tires and batteries.
Anselmo: The End of Farming
Mules Brick, Cracker and I have arrived in Anselmo and the end of farming in this part of central Nebraska.
By “the end of farming”, no, I don’t mean they’re canceling the Husker corn crop this year. Rather, the mules… Continue reading
