Working Ranch Magazine Summer 2025

toppin’ out BY TIM O’BYRNE Connected to the Important Things ne of things I like the most about our weekly Friday visit on the Working Ranch Facebook page is when phrases like, “We are Blessed”, or “God Bless y’all” are so freely and honestly expressed. Every time I see one it literally highlights itself for a brief moment, energizing me with a reconnection to what everyone is experiencing out there in cow country on a particular day.

Tim on Burley, T Lazy S Ranch, Nevada, 1982.

sign and predict the weather pretty darn good. A lot of the old cowbosses that mentored us had their little tricks they’d use to prepare for the weather, which was extremely important for a cowboy crew since once you were com mitted to working a section of coun try, there was no quitting. You had to work it no matter what the weather was. I guess you could say those old boys were pretty good meteorologists back in the day.

And I’m pretty easy with offering my bless ings, too. “God Bless every one of you who: assumes a position on a cattle association; hauls cattle for a liv ing; is a veterinarian; all the ranch moms,

dads and grandparents out there; all the kids in FFA, 4-H, and all their advisors. God Bless all the first responders, the utility crews that keep our rural power on after a massive storm, the fuel delivery folks, the feed store crew, our mighty Military and Veterans. And so many more.

Imagine what our grandfathers would have thought of that. Christine and I like to keep connected to the old ways. She taught me how to start a fire using flint and steel (she used to belong to a black powder shoot ing club). I’m not very good at it, but when it works, I sure as heck think about all the folks before matches and lighters whose very lives depended on being able to get a fire going. In keeping with that level of connectivity, we picked up an old barometer / humidity gauge / thermom eter at an estate sale, just like Grandpa had. It’s pretty darn accurate, and it reminds me of the old-timers before dop pler who could really read the

When you’re a part of some thing as intertwined as rural life and agriculture it’s easy to be connected to God. And for that, I am truly thankful. Catch you next Friday on the WR Facebook page. (Some people might think I’m nosy, but that’s just not true.) OLD TIME METEOROLOGISTS We had a massive monsoon come through the Southwest a few weeks back; it broke all the May moisture records, and it got me thinking. I have access in my pocket, through the National Weather Service’s website, to a doppler radar clip of any monster storm coming my way, or anywhere in North America.

CABIN WHISPERS Poetic Ranch and Farm Tales by Grahame Beer (a.k.a. Greyin Cowboy ). I worked with Grahame many years ago up in Alberta, and I gotta tell you, this collection of his poems is pure, legit cowboy. Now go fetch you one at https://www. amazon.com/CABIN-WHISPERS POETIC-RANCH-TALES-ebook/dp/ B0F2N1XTQB.

14 I SUMMER 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.