HUNTING TRADITION

                              Grandson Skyler Young, ready to go hunt to provide food for his family.
                                Article printed in Intermountain Farm and Ranch, October 14, 2011

Hunting has been a part of my life forever. I can remember, as a young girl, working in the potato fields and the goal was to get the potato harvest finished in time for the men to go deer or elk hunting. The men talked about it all of the time. And it seems like we always accomplished that goal. I never went hunting; it was a “man” thing to do back then. 

When Boyd and I were first married, a productive hunting season helped feed our family through many winters. I learned to flavor the meat of even the oldest deer so it was edible. Maybe not delicious, maybe not tender, but edible.

The day before opening day of deer or elk season, I would load the car with groceries, get the kids off to school, and drive to the ranch. I’d light a fire in the wood cook stove upon arrival and shut the doors to the rooms next to the kitchen so as to centralize the heat in the room I would be occupying. Then – I’d mix bread, start a big stew on the stove, and make pie dough. While the bread was rising and the pies baking and the soup simmered, I would sweep and mop the floor – even venturing into the colder rooms to straighten the beds and sweep and mop those floors. While the bread baked, I’d wash and dry the dishes, so as to leave everything neat and clean.

After a day of cleaning and cooking, I would be able to get back to our valley home by the time the kids got home from school. And the hunters would be going to a warm house with food waiting for them, the smell of freshly baked bread greeting them as they opened the kitchen door. It seemed so much easier to get that job done at the ranch rather than baking at our valley home and sending the food with Boyd as he left to hunt.

I know that sounds like a lot of work, but I loved being at the ranch then as much as I love it now. There was and is a peacefulness there that I love to bask in. Having no electricity, a battery operated radio is used to give us any news that we think we might need. Most of the time I don’t even turn on the radio; just enjoy the solitude.

There have been many years of hunting, many stories told involving our family and the hunts they have been on.  Last year, as our youngest son, Jon, and one of our grandsons, Skyler, prepared to go hunting on opening day, I fixed sandwiches to send with them. As they walked out the door, Skyler looked at me with a big grin on his face, grunted like a cave man and said, “Me man!”

Were they able to get their prey? No. In fact they didn’t see much game that morning, but did see lots of hunters. However, they participated in the tradition of hunting on opening day. A big event in the lives of both, young men who come from a family of hunters! They were going out to provide food for their family. And though they didn’t see anything to shoot at, they went through the motions expected of a hunting family – they went.

AUTUMN LEAVES

                                                               Fall colors at the ranch.
                              Article printed in Intermountain Farm & Ranch, September 30, 2011

         This is a beautiful time of the year as the trees and bushes don their fall wardrobes of red, yellow, orange, and all shades in between. I love to ride through the back country in the fall and marvel at these panoramic views. Around Palisades Reservoir there is usually a fantastic display of fall colors with the aspens and pines combining yellows and greens. Up toward Bone and Gray’s Lake are usually some wonderful patches of fall beauty also. The early morning or late evening sun can really enhance the colors and that’s when I like to take pictures.

The other day Boyd, our son Jon, and I rode up through Brockman and back on the Skyline Road. The leaves were just starting into the “changing of our wardrobe” mode. Some pretty yellows mixed with the greens were visible, but very likely in another week the oranges and reds would overcome all. This has been a dry summer, so there were a lot of trees with “dead” looking leaves. Those aren’t pretty!

            I’ve done a bit of research on the chemical aspect of our fall colors.

There is an old Indian legend that says every fall, heavenly hunters kill and cook a great bear. Blood drips from the sky on the leaves of the earth. Then bear fat spatters from the cooking pot onto leaves, spotting the blood-red leaves with gold.

            And there’s also the tale of Jack Frost, in the fall, flitting from tree to tree with his paint brush and palette to paint the leaves different colors.  Fun stories to tell, but there is more to the story than this.

            Actually, it is three color pigments in combination – xanthophyllous, carotene, and anthocyanin – hiding behind the green chlorophyll in the leaves that dresses them in their autumn finery.

            Variables come into play here, causing the brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows. It seems that the brightest colors come following a warm, dry summer. Dry conditions encourage the production of anthocyanin. Drought conditions will not bring the same results.

            A warm dry summer has to be followed by temperature extremes in autumn. Leaves store more sugars during warm days and the sugars remain in place if the nights are cool. Sugar is a color-enhancing ingredient. So, the warmer the days and cooler the nights without freezing produces the most beautiful effects.

Moisture is also important. Just like the story of Goldilocks and the three bears:

·         too much moisture can ruin the leaf colors;

·         too little moisture causes the trees to drop the leaves early;

·         but just the right amount of moisture adds sparkle and brightness of color to the leaves.

            So, if the summer has been warm and dry – like ours has been this year - and if good rains come early in the fall and then clears, the chances are excellent for natures fall art show.

            Genetics also determines the range of shades within a color. For example, in aspens you can see the shades of yellow from yellowish-orange to yellow canary, and all the shades in between.

Maybe this has been too much information, but I find the factors determining our fall colors interesting. It just adds to the beauty and mystery of our seasons. Let me encourage all of you to go for a ride and view these things yourselves.