Sky Ranch

by Bobbi Phelps

  “Sold,” he shouted over the crowd. And another vehicle rolled to the front of the line. Voices increased as more farmers became involved in the bidding. Dark clouds formed and snowflakes started to fall. A slight wind drifted from the mountains and freezing mud surrounded the cluster of men. They stomped their feet and rubbed their hands as the food truck passed out hot coffee. After the heavy equipment sold, Musser moved with his microphone to the assorted attachments scattered on the ground: blades, shovels, brush cutters, buckets, scrapers, and harrows. I photographed from the top of a tractor cab, fascinated by the process. Soon the auctioneering company gathered the slew of farmers and they moved inside. Musser went from room to room. Everything sold. From Motorola radios to nuts and bolts. There was nothing left when he had finished.

  It was a sad day. Dark and cold. Ranch employees and business acquaintances shook hands or hugged Don and Mike as they said, “Goodbye.” It was a passing of their life’s work, the end of an era.

  * * *

  Alone in the afternoon gloom a few days later, I sat in my car and looked at the section of Idaho I had grown to love. During the past fourteen years, all kinds of unforeseen events surprised me as I ventured into that unfamiliar territory. I became a wide-eyed witness to what was actually required to run a corporate farm. And I learned to live miles from civilization, to run a home business, and to satisfy my ranching husband’s needs.

  I came to Idaho having a solid foundation of hard work, loyalty, and honesty. When I moved to the desolate ranch, I welcomed a new life of challenges and subtle unknowns. I’d stand on our back steps and look at a night sky abundant with bright stars and feel the cold winds raging from the distant mountains. I always thrilled to the pulsating sounds of huge farm machines working in nearby fields and loved the smell of pungent sage as I walked across the prairie. It was with sadness that I remembered those magical moments. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I bowed my head and gave a silent prayer of thanks for the insights, compassion, and lessons I had learned. Snow softly fell and drifted over the vast valley as I drove away from Sky Ranch for the last time.

  Epilogue

  Once we moved to Buhl, Mike’s and my differences became more pronounced. We began to go our separate ways. Although we pursued marriage counseling, we couldn’t seem to make amends. Before long, our slight crack became a chasm; we divorced and sold the Little Farm. We had had over twenty years together, all with many challenges and yet also with so many rewards.

  Mike now lives in the Boise area and spends his winters in Arizona. I married a high school boyfriend that I reconnected with at a class reunion and retired to Tennessee. Matt joined the United States Coast Guard after college and lives on the East Coast. I continue to visit friends and relatives in Idaho every couple of years. My life is different. But life goes on.

  Glossary

  Angus: A breed of cattle that originated in Angus, Scotland. They are solid black.

  Belly Dump: A V-shaped trailer that empties its load from the bottom. It can carry sand and rocks, as well as crops, and has the advantage of laying materials in rows.

  BLM: Bureau of Land Management, a Federal program that manages land throughout the Western states.

  Boar: A fully-grown, uncastrated, male pig.

  Borrow Pit: A trench dug on the side of a road to provide drainage and furnish road fill by “borrowing” dirt from the roadside ditch. Sometimes called a “barrel” pit because of the wheel barrels that were used to remove the dirt from the roadside.

  Bovine: Cow.

  Burn Barrel: Fifty-gallon drum that people use to burn household items outside.

  Cattle Guard: A pole-like contraction that lies in an indentation on a road, keeping livestock from crossing. It acts as a fence without having to open or close a gate. It’s usually painted bright orange or yellow.

  Cattle Prod: A handheld device with electrodes used to move livestock by poking them with a high-voltage, low-current electric shock. Also known as a hot shot.

  Chaff: Inedible parts of grain or corn . . . the stalks or husks.

  Charolais: A white or cream-colored breed of cattle that originated in France. They are known for their gentle demeanor.

  Combine: A field machine that combines three aspects of harvesting: reaping, threshing, and winnowing.

  Come-along Winch: Farmers used the device to winch, or pull, all sorts of items. The ratchets kept the winch from unwinding.

  Culls: Small or damaged potatoes. They are often used to supplement cattle feed.

  Dally: To wrap a rope around a saddle horn after lassoing a cow.

  Ear Tags: Plastic identification tags fastened to a cow’s ear. Each tag displays a number detailing the history of that individual cow. It replaced branding.

  Fallow: A section of uncultivated land. Instead of using a rotating crop, farmers might leave a field fallow, so it can rejuvenate.

  Harrowing: Using tines, the harrow loosens the soil, preparing it for planting.

  Header: A cowboy and his horse are both considered headers. The cowboy ropes the head of a calf and his horse backs up once the animal has been lassoed.

  Heeler: A cowboy and his horse are both considered heelers. The cowboy ropes the hind leg or both legs of a calf and his horse backs up once the animal has been lassoed.

  Heifer: A young, female cow.

  Hereford: A mostly brown breed of cattle with white markings. It originated in Hereford, England.

  Mother-cow: A mother cow with calf, often called a “MC.”

  NRA: National Rifle Association.

  Reaping: Cutting a crop.

  Siphon Tube: An S-shaped tube that transports water from a canal to a row between planted crops.

  Sow: A fully-grown, female pig.

  Squeeze Chute: A metal container, often portable, that controls an animal by squeezing its sides and locking its head.

  Threshing: Separating grain from the inedible chaff or stalk.

  Till: To till the soil is to turn it over by plowing and harrowing, preparing it for planting.

  Tiller: A lever, or arm, attached to a boat motor to steer the vehicle in a certain direction.

  Tines: The pointed, sharp, metal rakes used to turn over soil to prepare it for planting.

  Ward: A Mormon meetinghouse.

  Windrow: A long line of cut hay, straw, or grain that is laid out to dry in the wind.

  Winnowing: Removing the inedible chaff or stalk from the grain.

  Yorkshire: A white- or pink-colored breed of pig that originated in England. They have erect ears, can live past ten years of age, and weigh over seven hundred pounds.

  Maps

  About the Author

  After graduating in 1968 from the University of California, Berkeley, I became an international flight attendant. For six years I took troops to Europe and the Orient, including Vietnam during the height of the war.

  In 1975 I began the Angler’s Calendar and Catalog Company. A few years later, I moved to Idaho and worked for the Times News as an advertising representative for the Twin Falls newspaper while continuing to expand the Angler’s business. In 1985 I was presented with the Arnold Gingrich Writers award from the Fly Fishers International organization, and in 1993, my company won Exporter of the Year for the State of Idaho. As a twenty-year member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, a three-year board member of the Fly Tackle Trade Association, and a nine-year member of The Nature Conservancy of Idaho, I connected with sports-oriented people throughout the world and my Angler’s business continued to expand. I sold both the Angler’s Calendar and Catalog companies in 1995.

  When I remarried and moved to Tennessee, I began to write books. The Authors Guild of Tennessee voted me in as president in 2015. See authorsguildoftn.org.

  Acknowledgments

  To all my Idaho friends, relatives, and employees who helped me on my journey from being a city single to a country wife and mother, I can’t thank them enough. It was through their advice and kindness that I survived
challenging issues while living on a remote ranch in South Central Idaho. And it was through their encouragement that I continued to learn, absorb, and thrive.

  My Angler’s Calendar employees included Diana Breeding, Karen Brown, Alanna Dore, Richard Fuehrer, Pam Grimm, Cathy Humphries, Sharon Kimber, Christie Tipton, and Jane Toupin. Alanna Dore was my first and only employee in 1975 when I started the business in Berkeley, California. Hal Janssen, a fishing friend and contract artist, illustrated fishing flies and wildlife that I overlaid on each monthly calendar grid. The company continued to grow and eventually produced and sold fourteen different sport calendars. I had four employees working in the space above the house garage out at Sky Ranch who annually contracted 1,600 sport and book stores throughout the world. We had over 200 companies who paid to be listed at the back of the fishing calendars (fly, saltwater, and bass). Listed were fishing shops, guides, lodges, manufacturers, schools, and publications. The other segment of the business was the Angler’s Catalog Company. My firm produced a forty-eight-page color catalog, depicting high-end fly-fishing gifts, that was mailed to 200,000 households. Both businesses sold in 1995.

  My special thanks to Nick Lyons, original owner of Lyons Press and former monthly columnist for Fly Fisherman Magazine. He mentored me for over forty years, first with the Angler’s Calendar Company and then with my latest writing endeavors. He nudged me to write a better book by suggesting I convey the stark contrasts from my life on the East Coast to that of living at Sky Ranch.

  I am forever grateful to my writing and reading friends who proofed Sky Ranch, from its earliest conception to its final form. They gave me the gift of critical feedback and positive suggestions. They are: Cheryl Adamkiewicz, Patricia Crumpler, Jody Dyer, Kathy Economy, Ginger Rogers, and Lynn Toettcher. Kay Nebeker and Susan Kite proofed the Mormon chapter; my sister, Ginny Clemens, proofed the horse chapters; and Don, Georgina, Matt, and Mike Wolverton as well as Mychel Matthews helped me with correct cattle and farming terms. And a special thanks to my loving husband, Larry Chapman, for his kindness and understanding during the stressful time of writing my book about ranch life.

  How lucky I am to have Skyhorse Publishing take a chance on me. Tony Lyons, president, and Bill Wolfsthal, vice president, chose to accept my book. Associate Editor Caroline Russomanno patiently walked me through the process of a manuscript submission with understanding and finesse. I couldn’t ask for a better team. Bob Ballard of Working-Class Publishing tweaked their original cover design and made it the best one ever. He also reconfigured the two maps I drew. Thanks to them all.

  My Fly Fishing Friends:

  Anne and Darwin Atkins, Bonnie and Ray Beadle, Silvio Calabi, Vicki and Roger Cantlon, Del Carraway, Betty and Ron Cordes, Nick Curcione, Laurel and Jim Dixon, Janet and Marty Downey, Chris and Mike Fong, Penny and Mike Glenn, Sue and A.J. Hand, Jane and Hal Janssen, Keith Kiler, Lefty Kreh, Fanny and Mel Krieger, Shirley and Buddy Macatee, Maggie and Ron McMillan, Jackie and Craig Matthews, Maggie Merriman, Charlotte and Larry Miller, Gerri and Pat Moran, Darlene and Ed Rice, Barbara and Alan Roehrer, Carol Roseberry, Ernie Schwiebert, and Joan Wulff. We camped and fished together from Alaska to Christmas Island in the Pacific, from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean, from Idaho to Argentina, and many spots in between. But mainly we fished and camped in the Rocky Mountains. We were all active in Fly Fishers International.

  Friday Night Bridge Group:

  Over our many years together, we shared outdoor adventures of skiing, fishing, and camping; pregnancies and births; children’s weddings; and the sadness of losing our parents. We initially came together through the Twin Falls Welcome Wagon association and stayed friends for over thirty years. The original Friday Night Bridge group consisted of Mary Lu and Gordy Barry, Janet and Paul Beeks, Sue and Bill Carver, Mary and Tom Courtney, Lois and Mike Cowan, Cathie and Dave Dellett, Cora Lee and George Detweiler, Jan and Dick Greenwood, Peggy and Ray Hackley, Pat and Fred Harder, Debby and Ron Miciak, Dottie and Bob Miller, Sherry and John Ritchie, Nancy and Doug Strand, Dar and Tom Wagner.

  www.booksbybobbi.com

  www.authorsguildoftn.org