Country Lifestyles
Cowboy Culture — Working on the Trigg
By Clay Reid
Back in ‘96, I was working for Singleton Ranches on the Trigg headquarters just north of Tucumcari, N.M. Me and a few local cowpunchers hired on as day workers to clean up the place as it had been neglected for quite some time. They said it wouldn’t be but a couple of weeks, but oh how wrong they were. Heck, it took that long to just get to the dang thing.
Getting there proved to be quite a chore in itself. I jumped in with Randy Simpson and Shawn Scrogum and was gonna haul out there with them in Randy’s old four-door Chevy.
The Chevy was not a problem, but the trailer proved to be a test because we barely made it to Wichita Falls when we blew out two tires on the Jacksboro Highway.
Luckily we were right by the old tire store and were able to pull in and get patched up. However, this took away a little bit more time on an already small window of getting to the ranch, as we needed to be there by morning to start.
Well, we got fixed up and was headed down the road thinking we would never see another poor day when I’ll be dang if lightning didn’t strike twice. We blew out another tire just east of Iowa Park. Here we go again. More time gone and the estimated time of arrival was getting later and later.
To read more pick up a copy of the March 2018 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
Local celebrity dancers of the greater Gainesville area brought the house down recently at the second annual “Dancing With Our Stars” contest in Lindsay. The event raised more than $200,000 as the sponsored dance teams did their best to take home the grand prize.
The money raised will go to the “Heart of NTMC” Campaign for the purchase of a cardiac capable CT machine for the Gainesville hospital. Rodolfo “Rudy” Martinez and Sherry Sherriden took home the Mirror Ball Trophy.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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