Our Trip to Aunt Fae's

On our way out to the Black Hills a couple of weeks ago, we had a chance to stop at my dad's sister Fae's. She lives on a ranch in the Badlands.

This is a picture from the Badlands National Park which we had to drive through to get to the ranch. It seems like there is no way anything could live off of the land out there, but as Jerry drove us over the barren fields, he pointed out that the grass that does grow out there is pretty healthy for the cattle, and every few miles there is a natural spring that just barely keeps things alive and watered. The cattle know how to find their way to those springs.

This is a yucca flower, a rare delicacy that the cows will go miles out of their way to nibble on. Mom says she rarely sees them on the yuccas in her yard because the deer always eat them. (I didn't eat mine...)

We drove over bumpy, barren ground (Xander got to ride with Aunt Fae on the back of the 4-wheeler), for a long time. Finally Jerry asked if we had our cameras ready and he came over a rise and we saw the bulk of their pastureland:

25,000 acres of this (between Fae & Jerry and Jerry's folks who live "next door"). I actually needed to take 4 pictures, panorama style to get it all, but it pretty much all looked like this. Amazing huh? They said they often loose track of cattle out there (there are actually cows in this picture, can you spot them?), and invariably, there will be a "handful" who don't make it in to be sold in the fall and show up on the first cold day wondering what the ranchers are going to do about the weather.

We also got to see the orphaned calves, and Xander got to give one a bottle (Grandma helped, since she knew it would be a tough job). They have horses, of course, and we even got to stay and watch the process of a branding at a neigbor's ranch.
This is the girl who was roping the calves that they dragged off and branded. It was fun to watch her work. She was probably only about 15 or 16, and was still honing her craft, but Xander really enjoyed that part. We didn't get too close to the actual branding activity, which also includes vaccinations, tagging and castration. Eeew! Stay away from that bucket...

My mom was in hog heaven. She really fancies herself a cowgirl, and much of her childhood and formative years were spent astride a horse. She is a rodeo gal from way back, and only since we moved to Iowa when I was 8, has she started (very slowly) to become domesticated. The fancy car, upscale jewelry (Premier Designs of course), huge house on the lake, and yoga classes all went out the window the minute she slapped on that hat and hopped on the 4-wheeler behind Fae. (Fae & Jerry use this vehicle every day to ride the fields and check on the cows. They put 10,000 miles on in a year.)


Just like the people who've moved "Up North" revert to a Southern accent when talkin' to mama on the phone, she was back in the saddle again. She probably needed a few days to reinsert herself to the culture she lives in now.
Needless to say, this was not my mileu (nice sign, huh?). Much to my mother's chagrin, I never wanted to be a cowgirl, and I cringe at all things Western. I have to say that the Eastern side of SD (or "East River" as they call it), is really more my cup of tea. I'm just too girly.

And I'm OK with that.