Thankful Thursday ~ Pride of Place Photos

Two weeks ago in a Thankful Thursday post, I wrote about how I appreciate this place where I live. You can read that post HERE. I also put out a challenge to my readers, family, and friends to submit photos of places they love to use in an upcoming post. Today is the day of the big reveal of the photos I received! 

The amount of photos submitted was incredible. Several people submitted upwards of 10 photos! Wow! In the interest of time and space, I couldn't include every single photo that everyone sent me. So, at most I included two of the ones people submitted. Apologies to people who sent more, but I do thank you so much for your enthusiasm!!! 

Without further ado, let's get to the real reason you're looking at my blog today-- the PHOTOS! With each person who submitted, I'll first list their name and how I know them, then you'll see the image(s) they sent. If people submitted a caption or explanation, I put it as the photo caption in most instances. As you look through the photos, I encourage you to think about why that person might love the place or be thankful for the place in the picture. 

From Melissa, a friend and fellow Hi-Liner--

"Our farm, north of Gildford. Farm life is the best!!"

My blogging friend Jessie sent two photos. She blogs mainly about running but sometimes also posts fantastic vizsla and animal photos, as you can see below. Check out her blog at www.therightfits.com!  Jessie's vizsla is named Matilda. Isn't she perfect? The cats are pretty cute, too. :)

Jessie says: I'm thankful for having a warm bed to share with all our animals. 

Not going to lie... Harvey sleeps on our bed, too! :)

Jessie says: I'm also thankful for my home near Lake Calhoun where I can run with Matilda and watch beautiful sunrises!

Looks like a pretty awesome place to run!

Next up, two photos from another friend, Christy. She lives near Billings, MT where her family ranches. Christy is a fellow Team Beef member with me and also has an awesome running blog, which you can check out at www.christyruns.com.
 From Christy- They weren't the ones I had in mind, but they are of the family ranch and a place I am eternally thankful and grateful to have grown up on and now get to raise my children on.

Pretty awesome views on Christy's ranch, right?! Southeast Montana. Lovely!  Skies for days!!

 The next two photos are from my mom, Penny. She is quite an accomplished photographer these days! She sent me probably about 12 photos and I just chose two because they are images of places I am also thankful for! She didn't include any captions, so I added a little background for both photos.

First, this barn is in a park very near the house I grew up in. As kids, we spent a lot of time playing in this park! Mom has some really great photos of this barn and this is one of them--

The next photo from my mom was one that she took on a visit out here last summer. We were all driving home from catching a movie in town, it was early June and, well, check out this awesome image of the Sweetgrass Hills at sunset--

The Hills are a place I have a view of every day and I am so thankful for that!

Next, from my friend Tara. She and I are friends from college and this is an image of the Campanile on the Iowa State Campus. Iconic image for people from Ames or who went to school at ISU!  I am also pretty thankful for this place, just like Tara!

"I really work in a beautiful place."

Now, two images from Jane. Jane grew up a little bit west of where Jeff and I live, with a great view of the Sweetgrass Hills. Now, she lives in Choteau, MT.

From Jane:

Sweet Grass Hills – I love where you live now

I love where I live now

The next image is from Jon, who is the cousin of my Father in Law, Tom--

"Aja (aka Hound of the Baskervilles)  on a foggy Oregon day."

My friend Kathy also sent me several images and I chose this one out of the ones she sent.  She lives near Geraldine, MT. It would be pretty difficult not to be thankful of this view every day! WOW!

this view is facing South and is west of our home by my garden...the mountains are Square Butte and Round Butte, which we see out of our dining room, living room, and bedroom windows! So Beautiful...

Jeff's Aunt Linda (Tom's sister) sent this image from the Oregon Coast, near where she lives. Again, pretty amazing view!

Thankful that we live near the awesome Pacific Ocean , hope that I never take it for granted!!

From Ashley, another photo from the Geraldine area...check out that sky!  Ashley's view looks pretty similar to Kathy's... neighbors, I wonder? :)

Love the view from my deck 

And from Lorrie. Here is another person who was very enthusiastic about this "assignment" and sent many photos! Lorrie lives on a farm near Big Sandy, MT. 

I love the colors in the above image. Plus, if you know Big Sandy, the colors are extra appropriate! Purple and yellow are their school colors. :)  Pretty awesome view in the photo below. Again, I think I'd be pretty thankful for that place if I got to look out at it each day!

Next I have two photos from Lisa, who is a former student-athlete at North Star, where I work. She was a high school senior in track the first season I was a coach here. Now, we stay in touch via social media and she sent me these images to use in this post of places she is thankful for and/or loves-

 Lisa goes to school at University of Montana in Missoula. This is a view of campus and surrounding environs. :) The next photo is from Havre, and the third photo is from some hot springs in Idaho.

Peggy, a local Rudyard resident, sent me this photo of Glacier National Park as a place she loves-

The next two photos are from Darla. She and her family are long-time family friends from my hometown. You'll notice that her photos are a little different from most of the others submitted...

Katie, I know this isn't exactly what you asked for but my favorite place to be is anywhere with my family-anywhere with my friends is good too! 

Here's another one - again my favorite places is anywhere with my family

Whew!  That is A TON of photos of places that are loved! I hope you found at least one photo on here that made you smile or feel happy, and I hope that you can look around you and find reasons to be thankful, wherever you are. Whether it's a beautiful mountain vista or somewhere close to home, such as your own bed, there's always reasons to be thankful for the places in which we find ourselves. And, sometimes, as Darla points out, it's not the place that's important but the people we're with.

As I was going through all the many images that were submitted to me I was struck by how many people submitted pictures of places that I also feel thankful for. Places I grew up or places where I live now or travel to. I suppose it's because the people who read and comment on here most all have a connection to me somehow, our lives intersect in some way. It's a great reminder of the interconnectedness (is that a word?!) of all of us, everywhere. Food for thought. :)

It has been so much fun uploading everyone's photos and looking at them over and over in compiling this post. Thanks again to everyone who submitted! I worked on this yesterday evening and felt myself feeling more calm, even amid a somewhat stressful, busy week. I carried the good vibes outside with me as I headed out for a sunset run. It was hard not to notice the beautiful light and, yes, to feel thankful for the place I call home and all the people (and animals!) in my life I'm connected to in one way or another.

Happy Thankful Thursday, everyone! What are you thankful for this week?

Just heading out my driveway to start my run. 8:20pm. That's Iggy, and Harvey has already raced way ahead somewhere.

Thankful for these dusty gravel roads I get to run on, and the setting sun!

Goldstone used to be a town and now it's the site of our farmland! 

NFU Convention in Wichita, KS

Did you have to take U.S. Government when you were in high school? I distinctly remember struggling to sit through that class my senior year, interjecting the occasional eyeroll into my teacher's boring spiel about different branches of government or whatever the topic of the day may have been. I was probably thinking ahead to my next track meet, or what I would be doing with friends over the weekend. Anything but considering how our government operated. I didn't enjoy that class and I struggled to see how I fit in to the success of the American political system as a seventeen year old in Iowa. 

Now, I wish I could go back to high school government class and re-learn everything I've forgotten! Now, I'm witnessing how government and political process works first-hand. 

For about four days earlier this week, I was in Wichita, KS at the National Farmers Union Convention. I was representing Montana Farmers Union as a Delegate, elected at our own state convention last fall. If you want to read the speech I delivered at our State convention, you can read it HERE.   I gave the speech as sort of a wrap up to the experience Jeff and I had with the FUE program we participated in, but it had the unintended result of working as somewhat of a campaign speech that got me elected as a Delegate to the National convention. 

In fact, our chief lobbyist for Montana Farmers Union had approached my husband to ask if he would consider being a delegate. He declined, as the trip is always in the middle of calving, and said that I would probably be interested, which I was. So that's how I got my name in the ring. There were five of us who ran and we each stood up and told a bit about ourselves and why we thought we would be a good Delegate. Out of the five of us who ran, three of us were elected to attend National along with two of our MFU Board members, our State President, and a Youth Delegate. Our State Membership Director was also present for the trip. It was an awesome group! 

Group photo of the Montana Delegation, taken at the Evening for Education Gala.
Pretty good looking bunch!

I had attended the previous year's NFU Convention in Santa Fe as part of the FUE Leadership Training agenda, but it was completely different to attend as a Delegate. The main responsibility I held as a Delegate was to participate in the adoption of National Farmers Union Policy. The Montana Delegation as a whole, held the task of ensuring our state policies were concurrent with national policy and recommend changes if need be. We were able to stand up to the microphone and voice our own opinions as we saw fit, and also voted on key issues throughout the proceedings. 

Laura Ginsburg was a member of the Rules and Credentials Committee in addition to serving as a Delegate.

Several of our Montana Delegation approached the mike and stated a few words here and there, whether in favor or opposition of a particular change or section of policy. It was really cool to be part of democracy happening, and truly from a grassroots level. I also found that I really enjoyed utilizing Parliamentary Procedure, and observing how that works. 

My dear friend, Bryan Klabunde of Minnesota, takes to the mic to discuss issues pertaining to raw and unpasteurized milk.
Way to go, Bryan!

Another Montanan, Jake Fagan, and I also met with the Next Generation Advisory Council for the first time while in Whichita. We were both selected to be on this national committee that will advise the NFU board on how to attract new, young, and beginning farmers to Farmers Union, train them for leadership, and keep them involved, etc. It was the very first meeting of a brand new committee, so the first meeting was spent largely going over logistics. We are still refining exactly what we as a committee will do and we're even planning on changing the name of the group. Nevertheless, it was so exciting to be in a room of creative, passionate people who really have a thing for farming and working together! Totally inspiring. I can't wait for this group to continue moving forward. 

The biggest takeaway I had from this past week was simply that when focusing on what we all have in common, we can do great things. Bringing people together who are passionate about agriculture and Rural America is a good thing.  It was also simply wonderful to see some of the people who I have gotten to know through FUE and Farmers Union, who have become very dear friends, and also to get to know some new friends even better- Laura and Jake, for example. I literally have not laughed so much in a long, long time as I did while in Wichita, and that's due to spending quality time with some funny, amazing, intelligent people. I returned home feeling charged up and empowered to continue moving forward within this organization, and knowing that I have a strong network of friends throughout the country who feel the same way. 

NFU President Roger Johnson addresses the Delegation before proceedings began.
The other people are members of the National Policy Committee.
The Montana Delegation was seated in the front row, so this was my view for the entirety of policy debate! Awesome to be right in the action!!

When I got back to school on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for track practice, I was feeling excited about how the previous four days had gone but also very tired from travel. It also turned out that I would be the only coach available to coach about 20 high school kids at practice that day. I began practice by apologizing for having missed so many days of practice and explained where I had been. One kid asked me, incredulously, "You mean you were, like, doing government stuff?" And I replied by explaining that at the time, Government was not a class I enjoyed, but now I was sure glad I had that background because it gave me the framework to make this convention the success that it was. 

What can I say-- I'm kind of a big deal. ;)

A Few Good Women

Many of you know already that I am very interested in women's roles in Agriculture, so when I stumbled on this article on Mother Jones, I had to share it on the blog! Here's the link: THIS IS WHAT A FARMER LOOKS LIKE. There are some really great photos of women being badasses on the farm, AND the lady behind the images is from Central Iowa, my childhood Home Sweet Home! Pretty cool, huh?

So, if you read in the article, this lady Marji Guyler-Alaniz, started a great group called FarmHer. I am all about this, of course, and promptly joined the mailing list. I think we should let her know about the Women In Ag Calendar we are doing for Montana Farmers Union, too. Maybe she could come speak at our Women's Conference sometime... Wheels are turning.

Anyway, I just think it's so cool that Ms. Alaniz is doing what she's doing, and the images of FarmHers on her website are absolutely beautiful.

One woman who is indirectly involved in Agriculture, but who is making a difference to female farmers and her community is Sarah Calhoun of Red Ants Pants in White Sulphur Springs, MT. I've written about her and her business before, in this post: Not A Farmer's Wife. She was just featured in a few interviews with some of the bigwig cable news shows-- Bloomberg, CNBC... etc. I think the Bloomberg one is a little better interview. Check it out here: MBAs Build Success by Giving Back to Small Business Sarah describes in brief the how and the why behind Red Ants Pants and the images of her product and the Red Ants Pants website are pretty good, too.

Some questions to get you thinking...

Are you a FarmHer? If you are a woman, what sort of agricultural endeavors do you pursue? Farming? Ranching? Gardening? If you're a man, how do you recognize or encourage women in ag? If you're not involved in agriculture directly, how do you support the industry? Do you purchase food, fiber, or fuel at a farmers market? Do you attend field-days in nearby farms or communities to learn more about agriculture? What women do you see in ag, and what are their roles?

I am constantly amazed by how hard my friend Stennie is willing to work around this place during her time here, speaking of Rural Women who Rock. We'll leave you with this parting image...

Meet Stephanie!

Now that I've mentioned Stephanie in a few posts, it's probably about time I formally introduce her to my ever-expanding blogosphere (ha!).

Stephanie is a dear friend of mine from my hometown, Ames, IA. What's funny though is that we never actually met until college while on the same study abroad program. So, even though we grew up only a few miles from each other, had some great mutual friends in high school, and then proceeded on to attend the same university (Iowa State-- Go Cyclones!), we actually met for the first time in Lyon, France! The world is a crazy place. That would never happen where I live now. The difference between living in a large town vs. a rural, small town area where everyone knows everyone else from before they were born. But I digress.

Wind blowing in our faces, that's me and Stephanie from early July 2007 in front of the Golden Gate Bridge!

Stephanie has always had interest in agriculture and was in 4-H as a kid, winning prizes for dairy showmanship at our County Fair. For the past two years she has worked on farms, seasonally full-time. They have been CSA "Old McDonald" farms with produce, livestock, and dairy. She has lived in every time zone of the USA gaining experience at every farm where she has worked, but has discovered that dairy is ultimately the key to her agriculture passion. Stennie (short for Stephanie) loves cows!

I have been bugging Stennie to visit me and Jeff here on the farm since before I lived here, so when she contacted me earlier this summer about a potential visit in August, the answer was Yes, Of Course! After much discussion between Stennie, me and Jeff, what was originally to be a visit of about 1-2 weeks has turned into something a bit longer term and she'll be staying on through September! Stennie has been helping with our grain harvest by driving truck. We are doing our best to make her feel welcome and like she is part of the team.

A little hard to see, but Tom, Jeff, and Stennie contemplating something about this grain bin.

For my part, I love having Stephanie here. It's so, so wonderful to have one of my closest friends available and interested in seeing where we live and what we do, especially as someone I knew before living here was even an inkling of a possibility in my mind. It's great to have her perspective and her questions as to why we live the way we do and do what we do and farm the way we do. Jeff's family is as patient and welcoming to her as they have been with me, which is something I am so very thankful for. Stephanie's questions and interests help make me realize just how much I have learned since moving here and all the ways this place is home now.

Stephanie's first time unloading a truck without Jeff's assistance.
She did great, even with me hanging around distracting and taking photos! 

Even more than all that, though, I have been truly struck by her willingness to just jump in and help with harvest-- our busiest, most stressful time of the year. Yesterday, we began cutting our barley crop. It was in the 90s outside with no wind, and itchy barley dust sticking to everyone. Not the funnest time. But Stephanie continually had a smile on her face and a positive attitude, which helped keep everyone's spirits a little higher than they might have been. It means so much to me on so many levels to have her here.

Stephanie monitors barley emptying out of the truck and into the auger.

I have somewhat of a twang of guilt that I am not the one driving truck, but since we knew she was going to be here through harvest and beyond for a while, it made most sense to teach her. I'll be starting school next week (YIKES!) and would be out of commission at that point anyway. This way, they could teach her early on and let her fly, rather than giving me a pretty major refresher lesson only to ultimately show her the ropes anyway. So, Stennie works hard outside and I continue to be support staff-- working in the garden, helping with meals, parts runs, and other odd miscellany that still needs to be kept up with during harvest.

Future Beer! 

With all of this, we're still managing to find times here and there to do a bit of baking. I think I mentioned in a previous post that Stennie is an excellent baker. We made a batch of pie crusts the other day and mostly froze the discs of dough. One did get held back, rolled out, and is awaiting being filled with delicious Key Lime custard, baked, and then topped with raspberries. Can't wait to try it!

She's doing a great job! Like and old pro already! 

As I also mentioned in a previous post, she's a wonderful writer and photographer, too, so there's always the chance of a guest blog appearance. If you are one of my readers who lives around here and you see Stephanie on the road, give her a friendly wave and a hello!

Cricket and The Men

 

What is this horse doing?

She is trying to get to her friends across the road.

 

It sounds like there should be a joke in there somewhere a la "Why did the horse cross the road?"  To get to the other side!  In this case, the smart-aleck response is actually the correct answer.

 



You see, the horse, Cricket, has made friends with the bulls.  She spends most of her time with them throughout the year and feels like she is part of their group.  It's hard to say whether or not they like having her there or not, but she stays out of their way during displays of male dominance and alpha-male establishment exercises and doesn't take much of their food, so I suppose they tolerate her at least.  It seems like an unlikely friendship, but that's exactly what The Men are to Cricket- they are her friends.

According to Temple Grandin in her book Animals in Translation, "Animals have the same core emotions we do. Just keeping animals healthy and well fed isn't enough; we need to give animals enough social contact with other animals-- and with humans in the case of cats and dogs-- to live an emotionally normal life."  Grandin writes frequently in the book about horses being particularly social creatures who need companionship.  She writes that in social grazing groups, you can "find animals keeping company with other animals they aren't related to...Animals need friends and companions, and humans need to make sure they have them." Example A: Cricket and The Men.

Cricket was only left on the wrong side of the fence for a short while before let in with her beloved bulls.  I saw her leaned up against this fence while driving home from work one afternoon and I identified with how she felt.

One drawback of living in such a remote place is that often your closest friends and family are far, far away.    It's not easy for my friends, many of whom live in other states, to make it out here for a visit. Really, it's not easy for anyone to make it out here for a visit. I'm not blaming- that's just how it is. And we're just as busy, so it's not always easy for us to get away either. Even in this age of limitless connectivity possibilities, the busyness of life still impedes. Internet connections go down, phonecalls can be missed or dropped, or not returned because something else comes up.  It happens. 

Obviously, I'm very happy with the choice I made to be here.  There are innumerable benefits I could list and have written about frequently. But, that doesn't keep a person from missing her closest friends. Lately I have been feeling that separation. It's been a long time since I have been home. Perhaps reading about the Adam family gathering last weekend is what has been behind these feelings of nostalgia.  Missed phonecalls between me and friends don't help either.  Yes, I would describe myself as an introvert who very much enjoys, even relishes, time spent alone, but there's also something about being with those close friends and family who know you so deeply that can be just as restorative. Unfortuntely, there's much more than a couple fences and a stretch of gravel road separating me from some of my dearest friends, none of whom are bulls.

A Day in the Life AND Early Summer Roundup, Installment Four: Seattle Proper!

A day in the life...

So good to be home for the whole weekend. Jeff and I both have been looking forward to the time when we'd no longer be traveling so much and this is the first full weekend of being home.  Not that we aren't busy, however.  Jeff has been spending most of his time mowing CRP that we will be putting into production.  And when he isn't mowing, he and I have been on ranch duties. 

Right now, our cows are running with Tom's at pasture.  They are in four groups and spread out among the different pastures we own and rent.  Late July is a restless time for the cattle, however. The bulls in particular are starting to get antsy.  By now, they have been with the cows for some time and have, ahem, well... one might say they have achieved their mission.  At least we hope they have.  Judging by the tendency of the bulls to get out lately, one could safely say that at least the good majority of the cows are bred.

Therein lies the problem.  The bulls get restless and decide to push on fences here and there and escape.  They go into the neighbors herd (where there are fewer bred cows...) or into the neighbor's wheat field (wheat tastes better than grass! Duh!)... or just into some other pasture (Hence the phrase, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence).  All this activity has lead to Jeff and I spending time mending fences and gates here and there.  As Jeff is on the mower as much as he can be, it has been my job over the past few days to drive around and check whether the cows are in or out at the various pastures. 

Mornings have also been spent watering the vegetable garden and flowers at Tom and Carol's house, and harvesting veggies.  Lettuce is on the down-side of its bell curve of ripeness, while cucumbers and green peas, and snow peas are on the upswing.  If anyone has any good cucumber or pea recipes, send them our way because we have a bumper crop for sure! Tonight I am making pasta with bacon and peas, and I think I am going to experiment with making pea spread either today or tomorrow. It will be like hummus, only green, and I think it'll freeze fine, too.  First step in making pea dip will be simply to figure out how to put together and use the food processor...

So that's what has been happening around here over the weekend.

Back to the Early Summer Roundup, here's the photos from our time in Seattle. 

Really, the only super-touristy thing we did was go to Pike's Place market.  Even though it was crowded with throngs of people, I still enjoyed it.  It was cool to see so much produce and seafood in one place. Although I did wonder how much of it was produced locally versus shipped in from warehouses or facilities from far away...

 

We met up with a very dear friend of mine from college, Ellen, whom I hadn't seen since I still lived in Iowa.  She and her husband and their young son were also in Seattle for a wedding (not the same wedding!) so we met at the market for breakfast.  They are organic farmers in Western Iowa.  They also have a CSA and Ellen is a huge advocate for local, sustainable food. I love her.  Here's one of their websites: Pin Oak Place.

I took this picture in the market because of the beef prices.  HOLY COW! No pun intended.  Glad I don't have to buy beef at the store... although I am sure there is a Pike's Place Market Markup.  Would anyone out there like to pay Bangs Beef that much for one of our steaks?!?! :) 

I bought some delicious Tequila Caramel from this stand. We were first attracted to this booth because of the name-- Woodring Orchards.  We have some close family friends from Townsend, MT with that last name... any relation!?

 

And now moving into the main reason we went to Seattle in the first place! For the wedding of my dear friend, Steven.  Steven and Jessica started dating back when I still lived in Ames... so maybe 2006? I had the great delight of meeting and getting to know Jessica before the two of them moved to Seattle.  Steven I have known since we were in seventh grade.  He's actually still to this date the friend I have had the longest who I still keep in touch with.  He's a pretty tremendous guy! Jessica is so wonderful as well.  Wish we all lived closer. :)

Steven is a very talented person in many different realms. One of his talents is glass blowing.  Steven and a friend made all these little glass penguin figurines and glass ornaments for the centerpieces at the wedding reception.  They were beautiful!

 Another person I was so fortunate to reconnect with at the wedding was another dear friend from high school, Leslie! I hadn't seen her since high school but was so delighted to find that we were still easy friends. Sometimes when you reconnect with someone you haven't seen in a while, either you or they have changed so much that you can't see why you were friends in the first place. Not so with Leslie.  I had a great time catching up with her!

 Jessica and Steven.  The happy couple! I wished we had more time to catch up with them, but that's the nature of weddings. You're surrounded by friends and family but it's so hard to have meaningful conversations with any of them.  Next time, friends!

The light is a little goofy in this photo, but here's me, Jessica, Steven, and Leslie.

 

The wedding reception was at Golden Gardens park, right on a public beach on the Sound. Looking across the water, you could see the Olympic Peninsula and the mountains. 

 The reception was held in what was formerly a bath house and is now an events venue. It was perfect. The weather was perfect. The people were perfect. Everything was perfect!

 
 We were really only in Seattle for about 48 hours, in total, so we didn't have a ton of time to see too many people, unfortunately. Sunday, we did take some time to relax at a baseball game. Happily, the Cubs, my long-time favorite team, were playing the Mariners in interleague play. We decided rather last minute to buy tickets at the gate and go to the game before heading out of town.

 

Approaching the stadium, with great Mount Rainier in the background.

Safeco Field is pretty new and a very nice stadium.

The view from our seats.

Alas, we look pretty confused as fans.  Jeff in his Braves shirt and I in a Mariners hat, and we both cheering for the Cubs.  We got a few funny looks from the people seated around us.  I bought the Mariners hat because I had neglected to bring a hat of my own to the game and it was pretty sunny.  I guess I'm a Mariners fan, now! Since they are AL and the Cubs are NL it's probably OK to be fans of both, right?

 

Stay tuned for the next episode of Early Summer Roundup, coming soon!