Caddo, OK

No one has written a history of the rock post. They anchor barbed wire fences on most of the ranches in southeastern Oklahoma. This post on your left is a typical rock post along Route 22 between Caddo & Kenefic.

The Colonel isn't a typical rancher. He's made his rock posts into works of art, as evidenced by this post on the right. It graces a fence corner near the house and barn.

Folks wondered for a long time if the dark rocks were painted. They're not.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona Mortgage Lender

Think of me as your local expert.

Pastures in Southeastern Oklahoma are full of rocks. Ancient rocks, actually. There's one layer of rock called Kiamichi. Pieces of the layer are laying in the pasture there on your left.

Look closely, and you'll see fossilized oyster shells from way back when. The entire place used to be at the bottom of a sea.

That's the subject for another post, though. Snakes live under these rocks. Some of them are poisonous Copperheads. Others just look like Copperheads. This young corn snake is a look-alike. The similarity is designed to keep predators away from the snake. In this case, however, the similarity cost him his life.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona Mortgage Lender

Think of me as your local expert.

Southeastern Oklahoma is blooming with color by the beginning of the third week of the month. That's when my Darlin' and I visit GlenMar Ranch in the little town of Caddo, OK.

My friend the Colonel (pronounce that KerNel if you're not a military type) spends many hours during this period of spring behind the lens of his camera.

He's documented many of the wildflowers that color the creek bottoms and pastures. Most of them are unidentified, since one person's wildflower is another person's weed.

Most ranchers wouldn't care. The colonel, though, is an artist at heart, in my humble opinion. You won't see the flower in the pasture, but it's there. The single blossom is only about a quarter of an inch in diameter.

It's amazing what you'll find when you stop to look at what's all around you.

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona Mortgage Lender

Think of me as your local expert.

Mike in Tucson will be less visible on the blogosphere for the next ten days.  I'll be working cattle. 

"Well, who will you get to help work cattle in the spring?"  I put the question to my friends Dick and Olivia in early 1995.  Dick, having retired from the Air Force, had decided to ramrod a cow/calf operation on Glen Mar Ranch in Caddo, OK.  The ranch has been in Olivia's family for four generations.

"I guess I'll hire someone," was the reply.  "Don't hire anyone this year," I answered.  "I'll take a vacation and we'll work the cattle together."  As a kid, between high school and college, I worked cows on a dairy farm in upstate New York.  I like cows, and they get along with me just fine.

My Darlin' and I are leaving in the morning for the ranch.  We'll drive out and back.  This will be the 14th time Dick and I have worked his herd.  The cows know us by now.  They know I won't punch a new hole in their ear when changing out the fly tags and number tags.  That's good.  We're less likely to be kicked. 

I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.

Think of me as enjoying my vacation!  LOL