Who Is That Behind Those Foster Grants?

I had to butt in. The conversations had been swift-changing and lively at Tommyknockers Tavern, as Kelly and I had lunch and a couple of beers. Amid all the retelling of San Juan Mountain life I wanted to tell of my experiences that day.

“We were up around the Rio Grande National Forest, near the reservoir, and saw this herd of mountain sheep.” (Actually, I said “flock” and everyone laughed and informed me it was a “herd”.)  “They were in a meadow along the road we were on. It was a ram and several ewes.”

A Royal Sendoff

This is a sad post for me to write but Fenton finally had to be put down last Tuesday.  After that one Monday morning that he walked and greeted the vet techs in the driveway, that was the last time he moved off the porch.  His hindquarters and back just didn't have the ability to raise his big body.  Thankfully he was eating and drinking for me but with less enthusiasm.  I could tell he was depressed at not being able to move himself and like the proud boy he is, needing help to deal with the elimination part of his functions.  I did my best to take care of it and keep him cleaned up but with only me to lift and move him it was less effective.  

I had been communicating to Pam updates on Fenton regularly throughout the day and evening.  I could hear in her voice that she understood things were on the downslide.  She was part of the week in Boston when he began to stop moving and had to be in California for her classes through Thursday night.  She was making contingency plans to get here in a rush if things really turned bad. However, we were shooting for keeping him comfortable until she got to the ranch on Friday evening late. I was determined to do everything I could for Fenton to spend some quality time with his mom and, as it turned out, he did just that.  

Fenton

As I have pointed out in some other posts, Fenton is the elderly Irish wolfhound who is managing to keep going despite a severely arthritic back and hind end.  He has surprised me with his determination to keep getting up and showing he can walk even if it is wobbling and  uncoordinated.  I was relaxing into the belief that we were on a good roll with the old fellow.  Last Saturday, I was shown how quickly that can change. 

Fenton having a good day. He loved the snow and enjoyed a long afternoon here sitting in the sun and watching the ranch going's on. 

The Hits Keep Coming...

Or when it rains it pours.  This was how I was feeling after a stressful 48 hours at the ranch.  I haven't been as good as I hoped with writing in this blog, mostly due to being busy with Joyce visiting, doing some exploring and taking care of the ranch and chores.  But, this last few days my lack of writing has been due to a series of unfortunate events. I'll tell you today about one. More will follow with subsequent posts.

On Monday, as I walked to the front corral with my morning apples and carrots for horses and donkeys, I was making my count. It was one short. Looking around, I saw an unnatural sight…..one of the rams was up against the barn wall belly up with all hooves up in the air. For a second, I actually wondered if maybe sheep might sleep like that sometimes.  That tells you how much I know about sheep but it was just my small denial that I was actually seeing a dead ram.  There was no denying the truth though as the stillness of death is something that is stark and unmistakable.  

We Are All Connected

Everything out here is all about water. It's about how much precipitation falls in order to have a good season for livestock grazing, how susceptible the mountains are to fires, and how the rivers flow, bringing fishermen and tourists. 

As a Virginian and now West Virginia resident, this is not generally a concern for me. If my area gets into drought conditions, it usually only ends up restricting the watering of lawns or washing of cars.   But for people out here in these southwest states water is never far from their minds. Out here, it's a matter of livestock dying, from fire or drought, and losing thousands of dollars or more. It's a matter of people's livelihood.