~American Honey~

Throughout this last year music has been even more of a force in my life than it was before. As I drove to church this morning, soft music from the local country radio station filled my car.

She grew up on the side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows
She grew up good, she grew up slow
Like American honey

 

I like to think of my life "wish-list" as relatively low-maintenance. When these words play throughout my car, instantly I catch my breath and a pain forms in my chest. My future plays out in my mind and the pain in my chest is all the love and hope I have for my life: my children, my neices and nephew, my marriage, my relationship with Christ. "Where strong love grows"..God I ask only for strong love, someone to share that love with, someone who desires the same strong love in our relationship and a relationship with you. Lord, allow that strong love to be seen and witnessed by our children and allow them to love each other and others deeply. "She grew up good, she grew up slow"...My breath is taken away when I these words. This world moves so quickly these days and I personally move so quickly along with it. This world is so off track and not what I want my nephew and nieces to be exposed to. I pray a family of my own will be a part of God's plan for my life. Yet, if I am so blessed to have a husband and raise my own children or even adopt children, will they grow up good? Will they grow up slow? "American Honey" ...I always see the same picture, one that plays out from my childhood. An alfalfa field on my family's ranch across from where a family friend kept honeybees for a few weeks each summer. I can still feel the humidity of that irrigated field, feel the joy of when a light breeze would blow through for a few brief seconds. A memory of purple clover blossoms, sunny days, and fresh air.

 Steady as a preacher, free as a weed
Couldn’t wait to get going, but wasn’t quite ready to leave
So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey

"Steady as a preacher, free as a weed"... my own heart desires to be steady and strong, richly filled with the holy spirit. Will I ever be steady in my walk and in my words? "Free as a weed"...is what I envision when the Holy Spirit fills me fully. Yet, most days that feels so out of reach. A sense of peace comes when I think about my future and the possibility of walking both Steadily and Freely through this life. I know it can be done and I know the Lord is slowly and steadily showing me how. "So innocent, pure, and sweet"...my heart tightens my hopes and prayers for the future. I ask not for good health, riches, or even an easy life. I know those are not needed for my life to be rich. Father, all I ask for is faith and love that grows up strong, slow, and good.

 There’s a wild, wild whisper blowing in the wind
Calling out my name like a long lost friend
Oh, I miss those days as the years go by
Oh, nothing’s sweeter than summertime
And American honey

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Photo credits (http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/ring-in-spring-0305)

 (http://www.deerfernfarms.com/images/Web-Food-AlfalfaBloomDetail.jpg)

Ride 100 Miles With Me

A movie was released this last year that featured a character I found myself strongly relating to. A classic scene in the movie included a speech by this character that stuck with me, "..I tend to think of myself as a 1-man wolf pack..." I share a similar independent spirit but over the years have learned to grow my wolf pack to include many different genres of life. Lately, I find myself relating to a rare and unique group of folks ... truck drivers. Now, I am well aware of the fact this elite group will not be inducting me fully into their posse anytime soon. Let's face it, does anybody really think that I am the best choice to pull that load of fat cattle or hay while bombing down the freeway? However, over the course of more than a year, the road has become my home. I'm not quite logging long haul miles but my nice weekly jaunt to and from my folks place covers 600 roundtrip miles. When I passed the 30,000 mile mark I officially moved into a new road warrior tier. This top tier membership includes perks & new-found wisdom such as understanding that any trips before 5pm and after 5am will encounter “unbearable traffic" through Eastern Washington, an unexplainable affection for gas stations-specifically coffee machines & merchandise racks, and the much lofted ownership of the 7-Eleven coffee refill card! However, what really sets this pavement pounding tier aside is the Zen-like deep thought the open road brings. While driving the other day I heard a quote from a California cattle rancher and agriculture advocate, "As my grandpa used to say, 'To understand my perspective, ride 100 miles with me.'" With my foot firmly glued to the pedal and another 200 miles to go, only two entertainment options remained for the drive: I could continue singing along to Tanya Tucker, or I could get this "perspective" predicament ironed out. It looked like 'Lizzie and the Rainman' was going to have to wait.

When is the last time you said, "I would be interested to hear what their perspective was on this matter." Can you actually remember ever saying or thinking that and if you are honest with yourself, did you really truly want to hear what someone else's perspective was? Perhaps now is a good time to take a serene drive and really chew the fat on ol’ Grandpa's quote. I will be the first one to admit that if you asked me if I really wanted to "understand Obama's perspective", colorful words would be heard for miles around. I am a little too prickled up right now to ride 100 miles with someone who's perspective I think does not contain an once of rationale or intelligent thought. Oh crap...now I sound just like the folks I’m complaining about.. open minded until I actually open my mouth. However, when I take a deep breath I think I would want to sit down with the Obamas and get an earful of their perspective. I am curious about how people get to their beliefs. If I wasn’t raised in Yakima County on a cattle ranch I guarantee my perspective on life would be far different than what it is currently. When is the last time you had a conversation with someone who had a different perspective than you? Better yet, would you even offer up your listening time if some young chap’s appearances hinted they came from a different wolf pack than you?

Some days I get so sick of being politically correct it’s enough to make me almost punch the next peace, love, and happiness socialist right in the teeth. Then, that annoying angel over my right shoulder starts reminding me that if I judge that hippie book by its cover or never open it up to see what it says I’m limiting myself to what could be something great. Every so often I do listen to that angel on my right shoulder and that 100 mile ride often ends with a new found friend and more importantly some new found perspective.

I knew a man who was not a stranger to uttering profound proverbs such as, "to understand my perspective, ride 100 miles with me." these out of nowhere statements always came during what seemed like a dreadful 100 mile no air conditioned, 90 degree day ride in a grain truck or a scorching sun filled horseback ride through the sageland. At that time, understanding his perspective was not the issue. The issue was the desire to understand his perspective or how he came to hold that perspective. As I've encountered many various wolf packs and genres of folk over the years, I've never forgotten those days spent learning silent lessons. It may be shocking to some that at times I am not shy at voicing my opinion or perspective. But isn’t that what all any humans desire, to be heard and understood? Every human being was given a voice and expansive mind to articulate individual views of how the world goes 'round. Gosh you are probably starting to think I sound more like Jane Fonda than Glenn Beck. Well now, you’ve never saddled up and went on that ride with me? If we desire to have our perspective heard by the world, are we willing to listen to someone of the opposite belief system be heard? Well cattlemen ... are we? If we want the Department of Ecology to listen to why they should grant us our right to use exempt wells for stock watering are we really going to open-mindedly listen to the Sierra Club’s views of water management? Perhaps the time has come to hop in the old truck or tighten the cinch on that old mare and go for a ride with them. When I find myself saying that I just do not understand how that person could ever come to that ideology of thinking its never long before a lump in my throat forms and I know my answer. The answer lies in the truth that I will never understand how someone came to their belief system unless I ask them or more importantly, I listen to them.

Have you ever truly listened to two people who can't agree on abortion. Yes, I just said abortion, perhaps the most taboo word ever uttered in the English language-you will survive I promise. It typically does not take long to understand why they can not agree-heck a six year old could figure out faster than us. Those two folks' perspectives are not the same because their life experiences are not the same, the way they were raised is not the same, or maybe their brains are just not clones of one another’s. We need to stop caring so much about people who don’t think the same as us-get over it. If we want people to not stereotype agriculturists, conservatives, religious followers in a box, then we need to lead the pack by example. We keep waiting for our neighbor to become open minded and expand his knowledge, while that wait cripples us farther. Is a tattoo, piercing, or bumper sticker stopping you from pulling up a bar stool and getting to know someone? The worst case scenario is that they in fact think or believe in something opposite of you. That long-haired tattooed man just may be the new pastor in town or the clean cut business suit sporting neighbor might be Jeffrey Dahmer in waiting. Our perceptions are often the dead leg that’s slowing us down in this business. To become successful in business or in your personal life then we have to challenge our own perspective first. Something in the universe triggered you to choose Angus over Brahman, Quarter Horse over Arabian, or Miller High Life over Busch. Did education and knowledge drive your choices? Or were your choices formed by people around you, your background, environment, or what the 8-ball said? When we understand what is driving our perspectives and our neighbor’s perspectives then we can effectively start to change some factors in our lives for the better. The cattle industry features some of the most intelligent minds in business and I am confidant if we pull up a bar stool to our adversaries, alliances can begin to form and we will not continue to be victims of circumstance.

As you find yourself driving down your own lost highway this week, decide whether you really would ride 100 miles with me to swap perspectives. Do not let the inherent fear of learning something new about yourself or other people limit you from discovering new ground.

FaiTH friDAy

Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.   ~Matthew 9:22

I receive Christ Notes daily bible verses by email and their Weekly Wisdom as well. The above verse was in my work inbox before I even started my day yesterday. I have not been able to get it off my mind since. I don't want to say that I can't figure out why, because I mean its the Word so of course it should affect me that way. If we are all honest with ourselves though I think that not every verse gives us an astounding effect the moment we read it. Or at least its that way to me. I'm not afraid to be honest-God knows my thoughts and heart . :) However, this verse just pulled my heart and hasn't let go. Its as if God hand delivered it to me yesterday to read. You know what I decided? He did! :)

What made me do a "Faith Friday" post? Well, I loved this verse so much and it healed me from the week that I had been having up to that point and I thought that perhaps 1 other person may benefit how I did. But truly I realized this verse is in Matthew, the very book I had been reading when I was actively trying to do my Bible in 90 Days plan! Yep...trying...past tense. I have failed that plan and found out at this time its way to many minutes of bible reading for me to do in one day. I've been wanting to do a plan though because like anything, a plan can turn this into a habit which means then reading the bible daily will just fall into place as part of my typical day! This verse made me realize that I should have remembered this was part of Matthew...or does it just mean that this verse affected me far differently now than when I read it a few months back? Perhaps thats the lesson God intended....no matter how often we see His Word or we see and hear him in our lives, the message will always be handcrafted for what we need at that exact moment in time.

~Many Blessings this Friday :)

(photograph from: http://www.cowboypoetry.com/photowk57.htm by: Lorrie Faith Merritt www.faithbyphotography.com)

Green Beers & St. Patricks Day-memories of learning from my dad on enjoying LiFe

Yummm!!! Today is a day for happiness and enjoyment I've decided! Leave it to the Irish. ;) I've had my share of bumps and bruises this year and even as of recently. Many recent changes in my life have signaled big changes ahead. Those changes have brought some emotions I was not expecting. Not bad emotions, just....emotions! :) The only St. Patricks day I guess I really even "celebrated" was one that could not be beat and boy am I glad for those now!

The day was a beautiful March day...back in 2005. I was much younger back then ;), hips weren't filled with pain, back was missing a few permament big ol' bumps, and I was LeArNiNg each and every day! Not only was I LearNinG...I was LiViNg! Why, I was working at our Cattle growing lot right beside my father....just a bit past the 1 year mark of his Stage IV non small cell lung cancer diagnosis! Boy were we living. Rather than plague ourselves with the WHYS of someone so healthy and never smoked caught a "smokers disease", we just got to work! We lived life no differently than before...well a little differently. No more afternoon snickers bars for my dad (aka Cowboy's Lunch) with my mom's new strict no-sugar diet, otherwise what I referred to as the no-fun diet! ;) It also meant that a special trip to "The Mining Company" after the end of a LONG & WINNDDY day at the growing lot meant my dad didn't feel much like a green beer! Never saw my folks drink much when we were little anyways, so no surprise that St. Paddy's day didn't send him into tailspins for a Beer when he's taking Chemo, Radiation, and Ranch work all in stride! Nope, in fact I am pretty sure his 2005 St. Patricks day Green Beer, came in the form of a short glass Vodka Cranberry. The question of that evening was, "Do you think your mother will be more upset of the sugar in the vodka or the sugar in the cranberry juice?"

Tonight I won't be enjoying a green beer or a vodka cranberry with my best friend, but I know he will be right there with me, smiling down and still chuckling with me over the liTTle things in LiFe we all were able to find humor and EnJoYmEnt in! Dad, tonight my cranberry vodka will be ordered just for you....I love you :)

~ToP 10 ReASonS I shOUld get to MoVe to TexAS~

10) I'm Republican

9) I love me some beef brisket sandwiches

8) I'm single

7) I'm a single FeMaLe

6) Not opposed to succession

5) Built for the WIND-40 mph winds are just a light breeze

4) I have good taste in music

3) I'm used to being the minority

2)I'm just CRAzY enough to fit right in

1) I have the perfect hair to "JACK it to JESUS"

tALkIN' of taLL TAleS

I successfully put my toe in the dark, frigid waters of social media when I launched my very first blog attempt last summer. The Young Washington Cattlemen’s Association blog was the perfect leap of faith needed to help our cattlemen venture towards their dusty computers and help chronicle some of the work I was doing to tell their amazing story of growing the food we all love to eat! :) God has been super busy keeping me on my toes over the last year and he shows no signs of slowing down. This adventuresome life he’s been in charge of requires a little more than a group page…..so The Sagebrush Chronicles was born!

I’m pretty tickled to sit down with y’all and chronicle the journey through this lil thing called LifE…chances are we’ll meet one of these days along a back highway through the desert or while grabbin’ faves at a small town truck stop! Until then, put some ice in your glass, pull up a stool, and join me for some hair-raisin’ good times….

The Cowboy Had a Purpose

BEEF, beer, & BuDgEtS...Hope & Change Has Arrived (Uncut)

(The March 2010 Ketch pen article was cut of more than a page of content. Below is the original uncut and uncensored article...EnJoY!)

Beef, Beer, and Budgets…Hope and Change has Arrived

(Disclaimer: Views expressed below are not representative of the WCA. Solely reflective of the author. Comments welcome, complaints not.)

Another year rounded the corner and I found myself with another tally on my age card. This new found age came with an epiphany. I realized I am not getting any younger. I found myself like a deer-in-the-headlights, suddenly faced with a need to stop wasting years and hunker down to change a few things. My changes are not like the ones that will bring you to a gym for the first two months out of the New Year with the promise of finally sticking with it this time. Instead, I realized some very serious changes were in order. The government was not looking any smarter, the lottery hadn’t called my name, and to top it all off now I was getting old. The tipping point came when I passed by a mirror and instead of finding Obama or Pelosi, the only idiot I found staring back was ME! It was go-time.

Thanks to my newfound “hope and change” 2010 kicked off with gusto. January brought a call from the American National Cattlewomen President-elect wondering if I would oblige them as Legislative Committee Chair. With this new position I had less than 3 weeks to try and get myself down to the NCBA Annual Convention to meet the ANCW crew I would be working with this next year. My cattle industry trip-planning style hadn’t failed me thus far so in keeping with tradition, I gathered enough pennies and nickels for a plane ticket to San Antonio the day before I flew out! Thanks to the PNW YCC trip the weekend prior, University of Idaho students offered up a spare bunk in their room my first two days at convention. The latter part of the week I bunked with my friend Amanda, whom I met last spring on the Young Cattlemen’s Conference trip. At the end of convention we steered her rig down a back highway en route to Fort Worth so I could take in the Texas landscape. I had less than 24 hours to experience Fort Worth, but we knew from our YCC trip we could efficiently use every hour while I was there! My only trip to Texas had been as a stop-through on my way to Mexico for a church mission trip when I was fifteen. This trip to Texas gave me the opportunity to actually experience the culture and environment while learning invaluable information at the NCBA convention.

As a first-time attendee at the NCBA Convention, it felt similar to a first day at college. Over 6,000 NCBA members from across the US attended this year. Also in attendance was a majority of my 2009 Young Cattlemen’s College classmates! In my opinion, this was one of the most important years I could have attended. Not only did I receive the opportunity to see the highest number of my YCC pals, I also was able to meet the gals I will be working closely with as part of the ANCW leadership team, and hear first hand the planned organizational changes of the NCBA. Ah yes, the NCBA reorganization we’ve heard rumbling in the background. The $100 question seems to be, “What is this re-organization and why do we even need it?” None of us are alone in our questions as it was discussed among nearly ever member at convention. If you are looking for someone to help you understand the proposed changes, then my advice is to stop reading, move five spaces, continue past go, and find Jack or Dick! I am not the person to explain the reorganization or to help you understand it, remembering my address is enough of a challenge some days. This reorganization could have created a standstill at the NCBA convention and been all that was discussed, personally I was pleased to find that there were many other important things to learn and experience. For example, the convention trade-show truly lived up to all the hype the NCBA and vendors build it up to be! I guarantee most of us little ol’ Washingtonians have never seen anything like it. You could easily spend the entire convention quizzing the Boehringer Ingelheim folks over which vaccine you should really be using or standing in line for a free copy of Chris Gardner’s autographed book “the Pursuit of Happyness” they had donated. Head just a few aisles over and you could pull up a stool at the American Angus Association booth to hunker down for a chat with Rod Wesselman during “cocktail hour”, free wine and beef samples in hand of course! The trade show itself is a mix of socializing, learning, and meeting new business and personal contacts. It seemed free beer, beef, or live buckaroo music was never too far away to accompany mapping lessons at the NRCS booth, or discussions with US Fish and Wildlife and Western Legacy Alliance. Some of the most productive learning opportunities occurred while socializing…and that is exactly the way life was meant to be lived! In between trade show visits there was a keynote address by Chris Gardner, the author of “The Pursuit of Happyness”. If you have not heard of it, go rent the movie or check out the book immediately. Chris Gardner rose his way to the top after living homeless for an extended period time while actually working full-time and raising his toddler son as a single father. Now that is a story all of us can not only be inspired by but learn from as well. I rounded out my convention experience with an excellent forum on Western Water Law, Cattlemen’s College, ANCW meeting, MBA & YCC receptions, and a Darrel Worley concert.

Enough with the fluff lets get down to what is going on with the NCBA. “Are they ditching us Washingtonians and paying attention to the packers and feeders like always? That’s it! I knew it!” For those of you wondering what is happening, first start up your email, yep I said email…if you don’t have email then stop reading. Please start your time machine, leave 1972 and join us in 2010. (If offended please see disclaimer at bottom) After you’ve opened your email read the information that has been sent from the WCA or NCBA or request to receive it from someone. This information is heavy, long, complicated, and quite confusing. However, the epiphany I had a few weeks back made me realize this reorganization should be long, it should be confusing as all heck, and it should be complicated. This is an organization that touches all aspects of the cattle industry, a global beef market, nearly every state in the union, and much more. This realization came after I’d implemented a personal reorganization of my own life. This reorganization is long overdue, everything needed to be uncluttered; from my house, mind, and heart. I began by implementing an intense budget to tackle college debt while also starting an education savings fund. The intensity of this budget is so strong, depression era folks would be proud. I also created a five year plan that will involve overhauls to my location, work, education, and faith. For the observant reader, you may have noticed education was listed more than once. From the girl who equated studying in college to chewing on foil, really?  I never said this overhaul was going to be uncomplicated or for the weak-hearted. It is going to take a lot of elbow grease and hours of analytical planning. What is needed most is a strong support network who shares in the common goal and ready to jump in 100% with moral support and prayer. If all that intensity is required for just one person, I can not imagine what it would take to reorganize an entire association!

In my own life I realized the current administration, my personal life circumstances, and this economy had affected my personal life so much that something needed to change. Let’s face it WCA members we do not even live in the same world we lived in two years ago. What is wrong with creating a game-plan, actually acting on that game-plan, rather than just continuing to talk about the plan? Even nuttier would be if we tried to gain an offensive strategy rather than continuing to fight defense in this industry. How I see it is we can have an organization working on our behalf that is going to just sit back and wait for the economy to pick up, the Pacific Rim to increase US beef imports, HSUS to change their mind, and the government to grant us more oil, water, and land. Or, we can have an organization who realizes something is not working and continuing to sit around waiting for circumstances to change is poor business sense. I do not care if that organization is the NCBA, the WCA, or Wal-Mart at this point, let’s just stop wasting time. Frankly, it is just plain annoying. I think we can all agree on one thing: what we have been doing in the US cattle industry is not successfully meeting any of our needs. If you have one “Aha” moment let it be the realization this world is moving fast, light-speed fast. Our cattle industry is historically known to not change with the times, instead we typically fight against change. In fact, that is a characteristic we seem to pride ourselves in. Whether it is good, bad, or indifferent the NCBA seems to realize that some of the current business plans are no longer effective and resisting change could be the final straw for our industry. Basic economics will tell you when less money comes in, less goes out. Yet the financial needs of our industry have continued to rise while income has decreased. We should be looking at what successful businesses do when they face trying times. They restructure. I am not advocating for or against this restructure. However, I will be so bold as to advocate for each and every one of us to take an introspective look at our industry from the ground up. My arrival into the Spokane airport at the end of my Texas experience left me with even more hope for the future than I had prior. However, as soon as that hope hit, some much needed change quickly hit. I could be found rolling nickels and pennies the very next day digging up just enough spare change to cover expenses. It was very clear something was not working in my personal life and I knew I had to change something quick. Rather than blame the recession, my company, or leadership positions for my date night spent with my once full Pendleton change jar I looked in the mirror, put on my big-girl pants and got to work. We need to get to work in this industry. Yes, I am well aware how busy you are with calving, irrigating, and trying to make it up to your wife for using her favorite shirt to clean tack…again. Frankly though, the excuses were getting old even back when Bush was in office. What is so wrong with changing things in our industry? Are we truly that afraid of success? Start thinking what we can do to start seeing the change we want. What if this recession lasts another five years, Pelosi remains as the top she-devil, or what if your family encounters an unplanned hardship? Is focusing on the 20% we do not have control over choking out our success?  There is so much we do have control over in our lives and the god given intellect, physical capabilities, and heart to do so. With a little luck we’ll have our own Hope and Change.