May Day - Manure Day

Greetings Readers

There was nothing specific, well urgent, that needed to be done at the Ranch by me. Oh Readers there are a lot of things that needed to be done. Yet, I wanted to do something that I wanted to do. Meaning, I wanted to be able to complete in a day or in the time I am down at the Ranch on my supposedly “vacation.”

I saw that the winter-feeding area was full of cow shit.

From past blogs I have always told you Readers what I have done, but never had the camera to take the before and after shots of my work.

This time I was ready!

So, Readers I decided to take the before pictures of the area that I was going to clean up all the cow manure in the winter-feeding area. And boy oh boy there was a lot of manure to clean up. Thank goodness none of the manure was fresh. Oh the picture was taken about 3:25 PM.

I took some pictures on where I thought I was going to clean up. Little did I know that my Mother and I were able to clean more manure up than we thought. So, you Readers are only seeing about 2/3 of the area that we actually cleaned up together.

Yes, my Mother did come and help out after a while. No Readers I did not ask for help or even hinted for help. This was something I wanted to do and something I wanted to see accomplished – preferably at the end of this day. And further yet – of course to brag to you Readers of another work duty I did on the Ranch.

Two wheelbarrows, a rake and two shovels were all it took to clean up the winter-feeding area. Oh, there were a couple cans of Cherry Dr. Pepper and Sun tea to help with the work out in the afternoon sun.

The area looks small from the pictures, but once I got started I did not know how tough raking manure around was going to be. I planned to have several large piles of manure as opposed to a lot of small piles of manure. Yet, raking and raking manure around the vegetation and rocks proved to be more difficult than I thought. Not to mention that raking manure over the areas where I have already raked was kind of discouraging to do.

I changed tactics and starting raking in a circle. I stood in the middle of an imaginary circle and then starting raking 360 degrees. Once I cleared that circle I moved onto the next patch of ground and repeated. Soon, that got to be tedious so I raked in a rectangle.

The only part that we did not clean up was where the cow died the day before. Her calf for the past day was staying in the exact area where her mother died. We were worried that the calf would go wondering all over the Ranch land, but instead in stayed in the area where her mother died. That was a good thing, so my Mother and I raked around and left the area untouched were the cow died.

Now, the after pictures have the sun in the shot and I think the time was about 6:19 PM or so. The light and picture contrast was different, but I hope that you can see the area is clean. Pretty darn clean as far as the eye can see from this point of view.

Now, cleaning up manure is nothing new and will forever be there. Yet, there is a certain satisfaction in cleaning up an area that is full of manure.

Oh this was just another warm up for what was to come the following day. Just like the day before burying the cow – just a warm up.

Now, we have Branding and giving medicine / shots to the cows, heifers and calfs. Usually, it is myself, Mom and Dad – sometimes my brother. This time around it is going to be three people. I often say I don’t look forward to this part of my vacation, but once I get started I really get into it.

Oh Dad messed up the cleaned area the following day by feeding the cattle in the newly cleaned area of cow shit. No, I was not mad – not at all.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

May Day - Back from Vacation Day

Greetings Readers

I am going to recap some moments while I was on vacation…

This is the first sighting of my first lizard of 2009.

I did not think it was proper to show you the cow that died within hours before me showing up at the Ranch so that is why I am posting a picture of something living. Also, I would hate for any of you Ranchers try to claim this dead cow as yours and try to write it off on next year’s taxes as a loss.

Damn Readers.

I have not even reached the main gate of the Ranch when I saw that we had some work to do ahead of us.

Usually upon arriving at the Ranch I go to the room that I stay in when I come up for vacation and get situated. Also, we unload our groceries and whatnot before leaving Albuquerque. More often than not I sometimes just lay down to catch some sleep after unloading. Not this time.

I unloaded my stuff and then it was time to get the cow buried.

I do not know what other Ranchers do with their dead animals, but I have seen them basically do nothing. Meaning, they leave the animals lay as they died. And there is a reason why. You Readers, you try moving a dead horse, a dead cow, or a dead bull. Dead weight. I will tell you it is almost impossible to move by hand.

And us Ranchers in this part of New Mexico do not own tractors. Tractors are kind of useless in our part of the state – not to mention nothing really to justify owning a tractor at the elevation we are at.

Unlike our neighbors we bury our dead animals. Such as the horse who passed away the past six months or so. Let me tell what is even sadder – it is not even our horse. We were taking care of the horse for a family member and the horse has past away from old age. Not since the horse died has our family member even inquired about his horse is doing.

Well, their horse died outside our corral and there was no way to move that 1-ton plus horse. Also, the ground was solid and frozen. That being said, we just covered the horse with dirt and now there is a mound outside our corral.

Cows, Bulls what not do not really look for a place to die at. If they do die they die right where they are. Unlike some animals that know death is near they try to go the place they know.

I digress. I changed clothes and then headed off to where my Dad had already dragged the cow to a nearby arroyo for burial. My dad hooked up the Ford, the tow cable and the dragged the cow to a nearby arroyo.

I shortly arrived where my Father towed the cow and then we discussed where to put the cow. We located a spot in the arroyo and then tried rolling the cow. No fucking way. That cow was heavy with dead weight. Heavy. We pulled and pulled as hard as we dared, but the cow did not move an inch. So, My Dad hopped into the Truck and then drove to the other side of the arroyo. We were going to have to hook up the towing strap and then drag the cow into the arroyo from the other side of the arroyo.

Ten minutes later we got the cow into the arroyo and now was the time to place rocks over the dead cow. Reason being, we do not want any coyotes, wild dogs or black birds to ravage the dead cow carcass.

We could not use small rocks, but large rocks. Coyotes and wild dogs are able to move small rocks when they are hungry enough for food. So, we had to go and get some large rocks and bring them to the arroyo.

Oh man oh man. That was tough. All three of us. My father, my Mother and I walked here and there looking for large rocks and stones. My Mother had the wheel barrel while my Father and I had to carry our rocks to the Arroyo.

About 10 to 15 minutes pass when I decided to head over to the area that my Dad was picking up rocks from. I see that he moved a rock and then steps back. I kind of looked at him and decided to help him get a hand on the large rock.

I position myself on one side of the rock. And then I hear my Dad calmly say

“Watch out for the snake.”

Readers, in our part of the United States when you say snake you automatically know what to expect. Rattlesnake. There is no other snake that you can really count to see or expect. No Copper mouths, no Water Moccasins snakes, no Gardner snake. Just Rattlesnakes and the Diamondback Rattlesnakes.

Fuck me Readers. I fucking moved like a football wide receiver going for the game-winning pass. I zigged this way and zagged that way. I know that a snake is not fast, but my thinking at that moment I heard my Father say “Watch out for the Snake” was to run and run not in a straight line.

I can fucking laugh now, but at that moment I was worrying about not getting bit - I was scairt. In the area where we reside any snakebite could be fatal if not treated in time. We are literally in the middle of nowhere and the only help is the flight for life, via helicopter. Otherwise, after getting bit by a rattlesnake you have a very long drive to the nearest hospital / clinic for an antidote / treatment.

Readers, I moved like my ass was on fire. I was worried since I literally did not know where the snake was since I did not see where it was, until I was about 15 to 20 yards south of where my Dad said that statement to me.

I finally looked back and saw my Father almost in the same spot looking at where the snake was. Baby Rattler, pink and resting under the large rock. Baby Rattlers are the worst since apparently they are more poisonous that an adult Rattler. Even more of a reason for to run like I was running from five O. Hah hah. Again Readers, I can laugh and make this humorous, but when this actually happened it was not funny.

The snake was eventually killed since we could not afford to lose a cow to a snakebite by a cow accidentally stepping on a Rattlesnake. The snake was close to the area where our cows, heifers and calfes gather so we had to be sure to get rid of the danger of losing cattle to a Rattlesnake.

Readers, My father would never put me in harm or in danger. And with him knowing this particular son he knew that I would fucking move like my ass was on fire. He was right and there is no resentment or anything from me to him. Damn, I saw the smile on his face and then registered that he had just woken up the Rattler and knew there was no immediate danger. Thank goodness, I can run and have a few Marathons under my belt.

However, for the next 30 minutes I was scarred and scared. I was being very, very careful on moving any rocks I saw and needed. I moved, lifted the rock and then listened very, very carefully for that unmistakable rattle of a Rattlesnake.

Again, I can laugh and write humorously about this, but at that moment in time I was like a scared bitch - waiting to be slapped, in a manner of speaking.

Eventually we got all the rocks we needed for the burial of the cow.

Not to leave you Readers on a sad note, but let me tell you Readers, there is nothing sadder than seeing and hearing a calf standing in the area where it’s Mother died. The calf mooing and waiting for its Mother to come. Sad to see and sadder to hear the cow’s mooing in the dark of a moonless night in New Mexico.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

The Infamous "F" Word

Greetings Readers

Yes.

“Fuck”

The F word. I have to admit that is one word that I do not say in front of my Mother. I have said the words son of a bitch. I have had said the word shit, Perhaps I have had said bullshit. But not the word Fuck in the presence of my mother.

Up until April 3, 2009.

Since I was there on the Ranch and we just had 12 calfes in one month, it was time for my parents to make good use of me when I was there. After all it does take more than two people to give shots, spray or brand cattle (and calfes).

I do not look forward to this, but deep down inside of me I do. After all, this has to been by us since we cannot ask anyone else to help. Nor would I even think about having someone help us with our cattle.

My parents rounded up the Cattle while I got ready to help. To be honest I was still in bed enjoying my so-called vacation. The morning was great and to think I knew my fellow friends in Colorado were in the midst of snow and cold weather. Whereas I was enjoying wind and 60 degree weather.

The cattle got corralled and that the time that we has to get organized. Divide the cows and steers from the calfes. Sort of hard to separate, but has to been done.

The calfes were too young to be branded so we left that for another time. However, the male calfes were in for a rude awakening. Rubber bands around their balls. Yes Readers, we do not raise bulls – only steers. Which means that we have to castrate or put a rubber band around their balls.

We did not ear tag the newborn calfes, but we did ear mark the calfes. We also gave a couple of shots to the calfes.

We were almost done when the f word in front my mother happened.

The calf was too big for the calfing table, but too small for the cattle chute. So, we have to use the cattle chute with a metal bar to hold to the calf in place in the cattle chute for shots and branding if necessary.

We got the calf in place and then I slid the metal bar in place and put pressure on the metal to hold the calf in place. I was doing good, doing my part. Then, the calf moved in the chute and caught me off guard. (Napping) Well, the metal bar came loose for less than a second, which is all it takes, and the calf moved in the opposite direction and my left hand was pinned.

The metal bar pinned my hand between the chute and metal bar tightly due to the calf moving.

“Fuck!” I yelled.

The pain was incredible for those few seconds. In those seconds I reacted. My Right hand pushed the metal bar, or I so believed, and then my right hand got caught for less than a second within the metal bar and cattle chute and then I somehow was able to free both hands.

Yet, not without yelling, “Fuck!”

Man oh man it hurt. Fucking hurt.

I am sure that my mother understood what had happened, but with me saying the F word was probably something she never heard uttered / yelled from my mouth in front of her.

I feel bad about saying Fuck in front of my Mother. I proud myself on not saying that word in front of her, even though we are bombarded by that word via people, TV and radio. I will say the occasional shit, but never fuck.

Anyway Readers, my hand was bruised for over a week and as of today the hand still hurts, but not as much and the bruising has disappeared. I am even thinking of going in for x-rays since I am starting to worry about a fracture. Nothing broken mind you, but perhaps a fracture.

And I have to add that I was able to finish working on the calfes, in addition the steers and cows and the bull for the annual shots and tagging. In my book I was a bad ass on that day.

I just hope that I do not ever say “fuck’ in front of my Mother again. I do feel ashamed. I know that I cuss on the blog, but cussing like that in front of my parents, well my Mother, is different. I was not raised to curse in front of my immediate family. Taboo in a way.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

National Western Stock Show

Greetings Readers

Well, it is that time of the year the National Western Stock Show arrives to Denver, Colorado.

I look forward to this event and try to go when I want to go. At times in the past though I did not want to go - just because.

This event has been going on for over 100 years, I think. 104th Annual event this year?

Not much else I can say about this.

Oh perhaps I better write a bit about what it is. Well, there are about three main buildings. One big building is like an Expo area where there are booths set up as far as the eye can see. Under the Expo is kept the Cattle, sheep and some pigs, if I remember. Oh not all the cattle are kept under the expo. There are the Cattle yards that are located just North of the Stock Show area.

The other building is the Main Coliseum where the main rodeo events are held. Just outside the arena still inside the building, are more booths and what not.

Then, there is a smaller building where the "other" events are held. And I have to admit this is the area of the Stock Show that I like. Ranch dogs compete in dog pulls, rounding up sheep, horse pulls, horse displays and all other sorts of shows that would not get into the main arena. I could spend almost all day here on certain event days. And the best thing - it's free (well included with ground admission).

On the other side of the Cattle yards is a much smaller building where the auctions are held for livestock which were brought in just for auction or for show and then auction.

I think that is about all I can really say. Well, there are a lot of Cowboys and Cowgirls and even better Hot Cow women. They can make a nice pair of wranglers look spectacular.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

Last Cattle Working of the Year

Greetings Readers

Well, this past Monday was the day that I had to leave our New Mexico Ranch and head back to my home in Denver, Colorado.

I did have a nice three-day weekend. I relaxed, I cooked and I just sort of took it easy. I did not worry about life beyond the Ranch, I did not think about work, I did not bring my laptop, I did not bring the PS3, and I did not bring a book. Matter of fact I came lightly packed.

I was woken up to the smell of breakfast, music from the transistor radio that was in the background and then I heard my dad telling me time to get up, eat and get ready for work.

“Work?” I say softly trying to wake up from my sleep in the spare room.

About one hour later I was at the corral and there were our heads of cattle in the corral. Shit. I knew this was going to happen, but somehow I just did not want to believe that this was going to happen.

Don’t get me wrong Readers, I do not hate this work, but just the thought of starting this on my last day of vacation was not pleasant.

Yet, in the end I did enjoy doing what needed to be done. After all it is just my Mom and Dad that are at our Ranch and no one else can help or that we want to help us with our cattle. With that in mind it is either my brother or myself or the both of us that has to help out our parents with the cattle when there calls for more than two people to do a job handling the cattle.

We have our Cattle Chute, our Calving Table, our portable Cattle fences, but most of the time it takes three people to do what we do all the time. And that would be giving shots, branding, castration, ear marking, dusting and ear tagging. Two people can technically do the job, but at a very slow pace. Three is better and all four of us is the best.

I am not sure if it just our family or not, but when doing the work on the cattle or feelings come out. We sometimes argue, sometimes question, but this is just what we do. There are no hard feelings at the end of the day when the last cattle is done. When the cattle are not co-operating or something goes wrong we tend to get riled up at whose fault it might have been.

Every now and then I will curse in front of my parents at the cattle. They understand, I think, that this is just what is expected of me and also I know that is when I am absorbed into the work. Not to mention that I am wearing the work. Cow shit on my shoes, my jeans, and my T-shirt. I am in zone.

At that point I actually love doing what needs to be done to the cattle.

My Dad and brother are usually the ones giving the shots and ear tagging & clipping the ears. My mom usually marks down what is being done to the cattle, the sex and what ever information that we need onto a clipboard for record keeping. Me – I help force the cattle through the chutes and then I take photographs (mug shots) of the cattle that shows the ear tag number and face of the cattle. This is for identification should our cattle gets lost, stolen or whatever. I also have a black marker to re-mark the ear tags since the ear tags fade throughout the year due to the sun and the weather in New Mexico. I also usually have a can of antiseptic to spray on the ears after ear clipping. I also use the spray on the behinds if the mosquitoes and horse flies are biting through the soft area of the cattle’s exposed skin.

During this time of the year, the calves are about 8 month old and are no longer small. These calves are now about my height and no longer fit through the calving table chute. This almost means that it takes more strength to force the cattle through the chutes. And more importantly if I am forcing the cattle through different parts of the corral and the cattle decided to turn towards me and start running I have to basically look menacing or get the fuck out the way in order not to be stampeded by out cattle(s). Yes readers, I get scared since the calves are no longer waist high to me anymore.

Six hours later we were done. Those six hours flew by and the next thing I knew it was time to get ready to leave for Albuquerque. The time was about 5 PM and it does take a few hours to reach Albuquerque. We did not have time to eat so I showered and got my gear packed. Though I was packing light since I had unloaded my Coca-Cola Reward Gifts to my parents and brother as well as the Mountain Man nuts I brought from them. I did pack all the Coca-Cola reward points that they have collected since my last visit. Considerable less, but more than I have so there is no complaint from me. And more importantly, I rewarded them for collecting the Coca-Cola points for me.

Fast Forward – I slept pretty darn well on the Americanos bus going to Denver. And that was because of the workout I got from working on the Cattle. And yes, I felt that my biceps, my pecs and basically my upper body got a fucking good workout. And it was a nice break to take from running to and from work the week before. I did not run once while on my mini-vacation.

In closing, the three best things – I did not have to shovel and transport and shit from the Ranch to the dumping ground away from the Ranch. Two – the weather was mid to high eighties and Sunny. Three - I got to spend time with my parents. Oops – there is a forth – got two presents.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

Our Cattle Branding

Greetings Readers

In keeping with the Cattle theme I will show you readers our family brand for our Black Angus. And yes the brand is registered. I think, this is the second most part of branding that I do not like to do. Except that this year with the new Calving table this year's branding went so smoothly. So smoothly in fact that I did not get one bruise on my body. Fucking amazing. Since we were doing the branding the "old school" way and that meant holding the calf down on the ground for branding. That usually took two people and then another person to do the actual brand. And when that brand touches the Calf you hold onto fucking dear life of that Calf. Otherwise, you will either get kicked, get trampled, or get knocked around. I can laugh about this since it was the worst and best of times for me.

I have to say that I enjoyed holding onto dear life of that Calf. I knew that Calf was going to struggle. I know I would. I earned my keep holding onto that Calf while it was being branded. And at the end of the day I earned a beer. And in my eyes, I am a cowboy. Hah hah.

Though this year, the Calving table took care of holding the calves in place. All we needed to do was to let down a side panel on the Calving table and then brand away. I was still nervous with me being responsible of taking down the panel to brand and then put the panel back into place once done branding. I knew that the Calving table was holding the calves in place, I was still nervous of the hot branding iron that was just inches away from my arms and hands, not to mention the right side of my body.

Oh yes readers, I am very, very familiar with how hot that branding iron is. I have many times gotten burned by the branding iron. I also have ruined many clothes to the branding iron. Nope readers, I was never smart enough each year to bring the same clothes that the branding iron touched / ruined the year before. I have gotten probably a second degree (if not a more severe) burn by just holding the brand due to the heat travel up the branding iron. Let me fucking tell you readers that the handle can get mighty, mighty hot. And you can feel that burn for the rest of the day. Just a dull burning sensation in the palm and fingers of your hand. Mind you that the burn received was received through the work gloves one wears already for branding. That's how hot that branding iron gets and needs to be.

Now, with experience, I can tolerate (basically I am used to) the smell of that burning hair on the calf and skin from the brand itself. There is a smell that once you have smelled the branding smell you can not forget that aroma. Never, ever.. I have had heard that there is about a five percent of people who do get a whiff of that branding process smell and never, ever eat meat from that point on. Me? Nope, I still love the Porterhouse, the T-bone and the occasional sirloin steak. Rib eye is too fatty, but will eat if presented as a meal. After all a steak is a steak.

Although I will state this right now for the record - A Fillet Mignon is not all that and a bag of potato chips. Just a nice cut, well a nice small cut, of steak with bacon wrapped around the sides of the steak. Some places, some people add various spices / seasonings, but after all that - the presentation is just a small cooked cut of steak with bacon wrapped around the sides and over priced. Yes, the Fillet Mignon is delicious, but not my cup of tea nor will I fucking pay 30 bones for a 10 ounce cut of steak that will probably shrink to 8 ounces. That is messed up.

Now, the other picture is the tools that we use for branding these days. Our family no longer needs to build a fire for heating up the branding irons. We hook up a propane tank to this branding device and the irons get placed and heated up inside that little container - hopefully you can make out the container on the picture. And yes we have learned to put dirt over the branding iron handles in order to keep them from getting hot, hot. Of course, the branding irons still get very hot, but the dirt over the handles helps keep the heat from travelling to the handles ends. In addition, we have a extra work glove to use to pick up each iron for branding. And unfortunately, this year my dad got his left hand burned through his work glove while holding the branding iron a bit longer than usual.

Yes, we only have one family brand, but as you can see from the picture we have many branding irons. Depending on fast and how hot the branding irons are we found out that you should have more than one branding iron for use. Also, sometimes the branding iron does not heat up evenly, so with that you have other various brands to "touch up" the branding area in case the brand did not brand right. And once a brand gets used for branding it does take some time to heat up to branding hotness. So, if you do not want to have branding lasting all day we suggest that you get two or three branding irons so you can move and brand Calves one after another without waiting for the one brand to heat up. Branding is fun, but not enough to make it an all day affair.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

The New Calving Table

Greetings Readers

And now for something off the beaten path of life. Today's pictures is the new Calving table that our family bought last month. By the way, I am 1/4 part owner of this. I know, I know, I am actually happy to say that since I usually do not contribute that much our cattle life. And I was sort of pushed / talked into helping purchase this big purchase.

Mother called up one day and said she heard that I was getting a tax refund. I said really? Yep she said. I think it is about $ 600.00. Well, tell you what readers - mom was right. Funny how mothers are almost always right. Well, I knew that I was going to be giving up money to help.

Well, first of all I was not sure who was getting the 600.00 dollars in the U.S. Two - Since I did not have the money nor was expecting the money I did not plan to spend the money. So, I said that if I am getting the money yes I can help out. Again, I did not have any plans to spend the 600.00 dollars from the government.

Yet, I did have money coming back from the income tax filing I did this year. Yet, again I had no plans to spend that money either. I guess there are some things that I want to buy, but I have no real desire to just go and spend the money on what I desire. I thought to never to hear this coming from me, but I did not really need to spend the money. Am I actually becoming money-wise? Well, I have been for the past year to say the least.

I did plan to buy the Playstation 3, which I finally did, but I waited until there was a game that I was waiting to buy (specifically GTA IV or Resident Evil 5). After all, 400 bones for a Playstation 3 was not my idea of a purchase. As opposed to using that amount for something more useful.

Fast forward a month from the phone conversation I had with my mother or was it my mother had with me. I was on the way to Albuquerque to go pick up the new Calving table. I hate to say this, but I was sort of excited to see the new Calving table. I had a mental picture of what the Calving table might looked like since it was described to me. Sorry readers, I never did the research nor looked for a picture to see what a Calving table looked like. All I know it was built for Calves in mind.

We arrived at the place in South Albuquerque where my parent's purchased the Calving table and there it was. Pretty nice and not really what I expected the Calving table to look like. I knew that the table tilted, but I did not have a clue on how the tilting was incorporated / worked on a Calving table.

Boy oh boy after getting the Calving table, then it was a long drive home. And after we got onto the road we could not drive above 39 miles per hour or the Calving table would start to fish tail. So with this in mind the 100 plus mile drive home was longer due to the speed that we could drive at.

It was a long truck ride back to the ranch, but we made it alright. A few Coca colas, some ice cream bars along the way home made the truck ride okay. Thank goodness, that the day was not a scorcher.

We did put the Calving table to the test - Twelve Calves went through the Calving table on the days we did the cattle. At first we had a very hard time since this was a new item for the cattle and that they had never, ever seen this before. The Calves had a hard time, decision, to go through the panels and be ran through the Calving table.

Overall, the Calving table was a lot, a I mean a lot, simpler than doing the way we were before regarding our Calves. Easier to give shots, tag, brand, apply medicine and castrate. By the time that the last Calf was done, the Calving Table looked like it has been on our ranch for years. Cow shit, dirt, blood, mud and sweat covered the Calving Table on the last day of branding - Memorial Day. And that was that.

Changing subjects...

Monfils lost to Federer. Which means that I lost another bet. I knew that this was going to be the outcome, but I took in the fact that Roger has lost more matches this year that he has ever. Two - he was playing a French man at Roland Garros, which means that the French crowd will be behind Monfils. They will still be behind Roger too, but a with Monfils they have something to look forward to cheer and root for. Once more I was listening to the match on Radio Roland Garros. It was a interesting match and towards the end the crowd was getting into the match behind Monfils - Roger too. Monfils did take a set, and was about to, in my opinion, to take another set, but I think that nerves got to him. With Monfils being in the semi's and playing Roger I am sure that those did not help to Monfils to think he could beat Roger - the number one man in the Tennis world. The bet was sort of a sucker bet, but I took in consideration that Monfils did have a slight chance to win - his homeland, his playing style and Roger's win/loss ratio this year, so far.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

April Fool's Day

Greetings Readers

I am back from my mini-vacation at the Ranch. I decided to go and see my parents, especially since it was my Dad'd birthday this past weekend

I have had a pretty short and long vacation, but I think I needed the time to rest and away from the world in general

I left Thursday's night and arrive in Albuquerque, New Mexico about 4 AM on Friday. It was a nice 47 degrees. Readers - compared to Denver's 20 to 30 degrees in the morning I loved the 47 degrees. Balmy! hah hah

I met my father and brother. Mother was at the Ranch since we had a new calf the previous day so someone had to stay at the ranch to mind the new calf and the mother.

We did not stay in Albuquerque very long on Friday. Just to pick up some groceries, stuff at Wal-mart, and breakfast. We made a stop at a liquor store to pick up some local beer called - Tractor. We picked up a Pale Ale, Stout and Red Ale all by Tractor made in Los Lunas, NM.

We then left Albuquerque and headed to the ranch. I saw the movie set that my parents had told me about on the phone. I have a few pictures and I will post for you. On Monday they started tearing down the set so it seems that principle shooting at that location is complete. So, in a movie in the coming future that shows "Love Ranch" I can tell you where it was shot in New Mexico and also that I was about 40 yards away from the Set's entrance.

Finally, we got home. "Home" for me is also the Ranch. I took a quick look around and then I took a nap. I was tired since I really did not sleep since Thursday's night. I got up in time for Dinner and to watch WWE Smackdown (poor reception).

Next thing you know I was going to sleep at 9:30 PM. That is totally unheard of (in my world), but of course when at the Ranch - time does not exist so to speak.

Saturday - Mom cooked a nice breakfast. After that me and my dad had to gather the new mom and calf for transport to the vet. Later, we found out that we did not have to go to the vet - the issue remedied itself.

After that they decided to check on the cattle on the winter plot and I stayed behind since I was tired from travelling.

I toured the Ranch. It was so quiet and sort of empty without the chickens around anymore. Readers - please see previous post on the "Massacre" regarding the chickens and ginneys incident.

Today picture (first picture posted) is the last of the Ginneys & Chicken we had - we now only have four Ginneys. I also saw one of the two culprits shot (pictured) and our warnings to others culprits should they come near our Ranch.

I also read my new Stephen King book - Duma Key outside and inside the house. The day was in the 70 degrees region and boy oh boy it was nice. I had the three dogs come investigate me on what I was doing then one of the cats actually came out (from napping) and laid against my back in the shadow from the sun. Sort of makes me want to make cats an exception.

My parents finally came back and then that was when I started to cook Bratsworth and started to make salad and salsa. Everything came out good.

Though, I saw a bag of tortilla chips in cabinet and grabbed it to taste test my salsa. I grabbed a chip, dipped and ate. A hard crunch. I look at my mother and asked

"How old are these chips?"

"Those are the same chips you bought when you were here the last time." she said non-chalantly.

"Your kidding right?"

"Nope. Matter of fact the other chips in the cabinet are the same chips so you might as well throw those away too."

I shook my head, but oh well.

Sunday - Parents went to church and I stayed home. I cleaned up, read some more, then got lunch started about 12:30 PM, which consisted of Rice (Uncle Ben's), salad and Steak (Rib Eye this time) and some ribs (all grilled of course). Pretty darn good lunch.

More of this and that. Moved some irrigating pipes and then my favorite - shovelling shit. Horseshit and cow shit. This time around pretty dry droppings, but tons of it. My Mother and Father raked and shovel and I did the wheelbarrowing. I had to wheelbarrow about 50 yards out and then 50 yards back from a nearby arroyo that we are filling up with the leftover shit. By the way, I did not mention that the wind was blowing 20 to 30 miles an hour and boy oh boy that added that extra element of raking, shoveling and wheelbarrowing shit so much the better.

I did not get to ride at all at the Ranch. I did not even get to see my baby, Motobecane.

Monday - get up eat, very windy outside so we could not really do anything else outside. I did cook the rest of the ribs, mmmmm.

By the afternoon I had to go home - to Denver. I also had to go home to emails, phones, computers, city, noise, smog, starless skies, and conveniences I take for granted.

Tuesday morning 6:24 AM I was back in Denver and the COLD. Oh so cold, compared to New Mexico the past four days.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete.

A Post-Happy Easter

Greetings Readers

I guess I should give an update to you readers about our ranch.

Finally, the water lines from the windmill to our water troughs have defrosted so we (meaning our family) do not have to haul water every two days. I guess the temperature was pretty bad in December and January, meaning very harsh, and I still can not believe that the water lines froze through the ground so many feet below.

Also, we have new ten calfs. There should have been eleven calfs, but apparently the calf got stuck in the birth canal and we lost the calf and mother back in January. Due to complications.

Then, A Post Happy Easter! I took the day off and just took some naps, watched tv and played some video games and computer games.

And I think that you readers should be able to guess who this particular biker/cyclist is pictured on today's blog. Hint. hint. It is definitely not "the Ignorant biker." Hee hee. And yes I have to admit I took this picture of me while I was riding. Not safe, but never the less I was not breaking the law.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

First Blog Post of 2008

Greetings Readers

A lot of things have come to pass in the past week. I spent Christmas on the road and then my Christmas was in Denny's in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Nothing fancy mind you, but that was my Christmas. Was it great? Hell yes. Something to tell you readers about? Not really, other than having breakfast as the only family in Denny's at 6:10 AM in the morning. Sitting around the table overlooking Albuquerque and we were the only people in the restaurant. That is Christmas for us, or me. No gifts, but just being together as a nuclear family and not just with relatives.

Now, as of 7:45 AM this morning I am back in Denver, Colorado and I think I am glad to be back. It has been a tough week with me being sick and getting well.

Not to mention that in New Mexico - it was fucking icy, cold. I guess it did not help that I was sick, which of course makes everything seem colder. I do not think that the temperature ever got over 35 degrees. There were alot of single digit temperatures (along with the wind chill) and as you can tell from my picture on my blog here is some of the ice that we had to break for the livestock in the water trough.

And yes, that is over one day/night.

Readers - I caught up with some of your blogs when I was on my lunch break. Great to see that I was not the only one sick, or travelling. =) I do not know any of you except by casual comments, but that does give me the right to say "I hope the holiday's were what you wanted/expected to some degree."

And now, I am going to finish the day, go home (finally) and just sit down. I will load a couple of notes (entries) I made while on vacation. Not much, but enough to post an entry.

Welcome to 2008 and I hope my blogging continues to be just as strong as last year.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

August in New Mexico, for a bit

Greetings Readers

I am back from vacation, but it was not a vacation. I left the past Wednesday night for New Mexico 8:00 PM and I came back to Colorado this morning at 5:30 AM.

I took the time off - well I made myself take two days off and the weekend so I had a four day mini-vacation.

Little did I know that this was the week that we were taking care of our cattle that were born in Dec, Jan and Feb of this year. I am sure that I blog some of this info when the events happened.

All in all, we branded, gave 8-way shots, powdered, doused the 8 calfs in medicine. These calves sure did grow in the past eight months. They were big and a couple of them were a bit jumpy. I was a cussin, cursin, getting dirty, being a cowboy, and enjoying the time with my parents and brother.

Today's picture is the "Lotaburger" burger. Basically, anytime that I go down to New Mexico this is the place that I get a burger at. Double lotaburger, with lettuce, pickles, mustard, & Green Chile. 86 the cheese and that's it. Do not ask me anything else. Period.

That is short version of the vacation and I will go into depth later. I need some sleep!

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

Pretty Cool Morning

Greetings People

The premiere of the Deadliest Catch was good. I enjoyed seeing some of the old faces from last season. I also am glad to be watching something that I know is good. The "tragedy" was at the end of the show and has been carried into next week's episode. The coast guard was able to pull one person from the frigid waters at the end of the show. As the credits were rolling the camera was on this young guy that was shaking from the icy waters. Luckily that he had his suit on and also that he is still alive. I was feeling for this guy while watching the show end. This guy was cold and to see him being rescued was sort of sad. Yes, good they found them, but the other supposed three people have been unaccounted for. Also, they found an empty life boat and a life suit. Not very good odds at all for next week. This rescued shiphand was literally shaking and the look in his face was not even of joy. I am assuming that his is in some sort of shock - perhaps from the water, from the rescue or for himself. I do not know.

After work I decided to stop by Qdoba's for a Burrito. Not the Yosemite / Dry Creek one with my Qdoba girl, but the one on Arapahoe Road. I thought I was going to get a free burrito, since I had thought I reached the "free" burrito status. I was off by four more visits. Disappointing, but in a nice way. Oh well. After I ordered I decided to ask for another chip order. So, I pulled out some more cash to pay and the man said "don't worry about it". He sort of smiled and said this is for disappointment on not getting the free burrito today. I said "Thank very much" twice. Again readers this is something I was very grateful for getting. Granted, the chips cost about $ 1.35, but the free chips really made my evening. I ate the burrito and chips while watching the Deadliest Catch.

I checked my mileage log this morning and it appears that I have been biking regularly, once more, for the past five weeks. Yes, this is the fifth week into my biking. Now, April is the month that I start my "official" bike training. Anyway, sort of nice to see the numbers once more in my mileage log book (well a desktop SI swimsuit calender).

Speaking of riding, do you realize that it cost me about $ 35.00 in bike tubes on Sunday. $ 35.00 dollars. I guess that is the price you pay when you have a lot of bikes and neglect to fix the flat tires, or replace them after so many punctures. I do not know, but sure does suck. I was able to replace all the tires and also put the spare tubes in my little bike pouches that I have on some of my bikes. I then spent $ 7.00 in patch kits. And the reason why that I had to buy the tires and patches... well I was getting flats almost every day last week and also there were flats on every bike in my humble abode. You see readers, the good thing about having so many bikes is that when I get a flat I can either change the entire tire & rim or I can just pull out the tire from one of the bikes and replace into the bike tire that I need to fill up. I was down to no more tubes to change to and that is why that I had to cave in and buy new tubes.

The picture is of "John McClain" of the Die Hard movies and the new movie that is coming out soon - Live Free or Die Hard

Readers, and I just found out last night from talking with my Dad that we have had two more Calfes in the past week. So now, we are up to 8 Calfes for the past 5 months. Very good start for the year.
I guess that is about all that I have to blog about, for now anyway.

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete

The Last Tuesday of 2006

Greetings People

I guess I have to quickly make a blog entry. I am not in the mood to really write, but as I said before I do have a lot to tell and a lot of topics to choose from. But I will tell those tales later.

To sort of re-cap in a few. I made it through the blizzard of 2006, however with that storm I had to cancel my travel plans and I stayed at home. The main reason was that DIA was close for a day or so and with that it put a lot of people on standby and that meant people were most likely trying to get out of Colorado anyway that they can. Whether it was by bus, driving, or catching a ride out of Colorado. What else sealed the deal was that four of our cattle decided this was the time to give birth to four calves.

Well, this entry was pretty short, with that I will catch up later

P.S. Woo-hoo - the days now start to get longer!

Until the next time

Daryl Charley
The Fallen Athlete