Winter Is Here!

[Dee]

Had a little ice on the  water tanks at the ranch yesterday morning, and checked to make sure my ax was still in the side box. Haying cattle in the winter ain't fun, especially if the winds up.

[Mule 11]

Nothing quite like sub zero temp’s and a 30 mph wind to keep the sport alive 

[gypsyman]

 Not going to complain to much. Just got back in from opening up the chicken coup and throwing some feed at them. Water dispenser in the coup has a warmer, so that's good. When I slid the door open thou, got a chuckle. We had 3-4 inch's of snow last night, when the chickens ran to the door, not a single one ran outside. All just stood in the coup looking out, I could read their mind. Not in that crap am I going out. Probably a little smarter than I give them credit for.

[ironglowz]

Not going to complain to much. Just got back in from opening up the chicken coup and throwing some feed at them. Water dispenser in the coup has a warmer, so that's good. When I slid the door open thou, got a chuckle. We had 3-4 inch's of snow last night, when the chickens ran to the door, not a single one ran outside. All just stood in the coup looking out, I could read their mind. Not in that crap am I going out. Probably a little smarter than I give them credit for.

   Sometimes the chickens are smarter than we are ! 

[Mule 11]

We don’t have a choice, it’s called manning up.

[DDZ]

Yeah winter is here also. Have had temps in the 30s for highs, and 4 inches of snow last night.

[Mule 11]

Yeah winter is here also. Have had temps in the 30s for highs, and 4 inches of snow last night.

About the same here, suppose to get close to single digits later this week at night.

[Goldie]

Yeah it's a frigid 53 degrees here in Rockport Hopefully back in the 70s soon

[Dee]

Rufus came in last night.

[Ranger99]

I can't handle the cold, and my
body reinforces that fact every
year.
I do get a small laugh when I recall
my plans when I was around 24-25
years old to move to Alaska.
One big Christmas get together a
distant relative was telling about how
Alaska was when he was there in the
military in the 50's, and how everything
would freeze up, and the vehicles
couldn't be shut off outdoors, and the
water had to be left running, and trying
to get construction equipment started
and running, etc.

Not quite 50°F right now, and my hands
are numb. I remember him talking about
50° below zero and them having to
go about their daily business and deal
with equipment and armament malfunctions.

Didn't take me long to rethink the whole mess

[Dee]

I thought about Wyoming. A friend of mine went up there and retired with Casper P.D. After retirement, he stayed. Not many people in Wyoming. Kinda wish I'd went.

[ironglowz]

I thought about Wyoming. A friend of mine went up there and retired with Casper P.D. After retirement, he stayed. Not many people in Wyoming. Kinda wish I'd went.

  Wyoming does sound attractive, and apparently politically unrelated to today's Colorado.  Alas; i am too old to even consider such a move..

[Ranger99]

I worked with a man who was in Laramie
for some years for work and training.
He said it's ok if you like a constant wind
year round, and a freezing blast from
Canada all winter
Been to the Rockies once thinking I'd
traipse around with my bow in hand
and poke me a big horse sized elk.
Wrong
River/creek bottom hicks don't breathe
very good at 10,000 + feet.
I'm told that I could camp out for
a week and assimilate my lungs,
but it's too expensive IMO to try
to diddle around half crippled
with labored breathing.
I'll just have to stay put unless
they overturn capital punishment,
then I'll have to figure out where
to go

[Graybeard]

Those stories remind me of some of my own in regard both Alaska and Wyoming.

In high school my cousin Lewis and me made big plans to move to Alaska after graduation and live in the wilds in a cabin. Soon after we graduated he got married which kind of killed off the plans. A couple years after graduation I also got married.

I applied for and was accepted to the University of Wyoming. Going there was my backup plan if Alaska didn't work out. But when I found out how much it cost to go to UW plus the out of state fees I sure had to abandon that plan as well. I went to the local Jacksonville University and got my degree there.

Then in '97 I went to Colorado for an elk and mule deer hunt. The transmission on my old Bronco gave out before we got there and I hitched a ride with a guy who was traveling with us in his truck. I had it towed to Denver and repaired there and paid a friend's step son to fly out and bring it back when the work was done.

I have COPD now and even in '97 was having lung issues. Since I had no wheels I had to walk from the cabin to hunt nearby. I'd walk about 50 yards, fall down onto my knees and sometime just go flat on my stomach until I could get my breath back enough to do it again.

I'd never have survived the altitude in Wyoming had I gone.

For several years I had planned to move west when I retired. I knew the mountainous regions was out so I had zeroed in on the far end of the OK panhandle around Hooker/Guymon area or perhaps in Texas, Kansas or Colorado. I drew out a circle 50 miles in diameter centered on Hooker/Guymon area.

I retired 5 years earlier than planned and decided we didn't have enough money saved up to make the move. I did later visit that area on the GBO prairie dog hunts and spent time in both towns. I believe had I moved I'd have liked living there but it never happened. We hunted some in Texas County so close to Texas we could see it from where we were.

[Dee]

I'm not far from Guymon and Hooker. I sell my cattle at Texoma. The climate is very dry, and has helped Linda's COPD. To most passing through there isn't anything here. There's only about 15,000 people in the entire county and only a few FM highways, and only 3 small towns.
If your not working for an oil company, or a cattle ranch, there isn't any work other than small store jobs.
But Im fortunate enough to see mule deer, a few whitetail, lots of turkey,  and bobwhite quail when I'm feeding cattle, almost every day.
If I want a deer I can shoot one out of the pickup truck window, but we don't eat much deer anymore. At noon time its not unusual to see 4 or more pickup trucks with trailers loaded with saddled horses on cafe parking lots. The country is so rough 4 wheelers are useless, and horses are still used to work, and move cattle.
The people here are clanish, but once you're accepted, they'll help you, and expect you to help them. Its a great place to live, and an hour from the biggest town of Amarillo.