Pairing Out

When I was a teenager, if you’d told me that one day I would be cooking for real cowboys and snapping photos of them working – let alone being married to one… well. I would have laughed at you. 🙂 Mainly because I knew practically nothing about the working ranches in America. I had the vague notion that there were a few wanna-be’s who rode the rodeo circuit (sorry!) and that’s about it.

Little did I know how God would plan my life…

My oldest daughter rode out with her Dad this morning, and helped gather the cows and their babies into the trap. Then they separated the heifer calves and their mama’s into one pasture, while the bull calves and their mama’s went to different pasture.

Meanwhile, I was back at the house, making lunch for everyone. With my right-hand helper gone, I called on my son to help me entertain the baby, wash dishes and vacuum. He decided that next time they work cattle, he wants to go with dad! 🙂

I made beef enchiladas, rice, and re-fried beans,  with butterscotch pie for dessert. There were only four guys, so it wasn’t a big deal. Still fun, though! I just love cooking huge pans of food for grateful people. Somehow, men are always more grateful for food than women. Especially working men. No offense to men with office jobs, you just don’t seem to work up the appetite that laborers do! 😀 Likewise, no offense to women, but between the ever-changing ‘lifestyle changes’ involving food, and your insatiable need to lose weight – you are nearly impossible to cook for. Hard-working men – that is who I like to cook for. They eat anything I make and are genuinely thankful for it. What a blessing to serve such thankful people!

After lunch, I drove out to the pasture where they were working on the second bunch of pairs, and snapped some quick photos. It was a beautiful day! And by beautiful – I mean beautiful for March in Wyoming! Windy and about 40 degrees, but the sun was shining! 🙂