My ignorance of sheep herding is surpassed only by my ignorance of Biblical hermeneutics, but even I know shepherds would not be tending their sheep in the hills of Bethlehem in the dead of winter … especially with all that great winter range just to the east.

“If showing cattle is about raising steers, it’s a waste of time. If it’s about raising kids, it’s worth all the time in the world.”

Rural America tackled innumerable problems with the scale of cooperatives. And there are other examples of cooperation outside the Rochdale principles – neighbors buying a truckload of an input (feed, fertilizer, fencing supplies, pipe) to share a bulk discount, neighbors banding together creating a truckload for a video auction, farmers pooling equipment for harvest.

“Don’t pick anything weird for your senior quote.” – Mom

Why does the stock water always fail on the day you leave on a trip? A day or two earlier and you have enough time to fix it. A day later and you will talk a hired hand through the fix.

The officer finally asked me, “Is there anything on this truck that is road legal?” I laughed, which was really awkward when I realized he wasn’t joking.