MODERN VERSION: The ant works hard in the withering heat and the rain all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while he is cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green...' ACORN stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Then Rev. Jeremiah Wright has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. President Obama condemns the ant and blames President Bush, President Reagan, Christopher Columbus, and the Pope for the grasshopper's plight. Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar and given to the grasshopper.The story ends as we see the grasshopper and his free-loading friends finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which, as you recall, just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around them because the grasshopper doesn't maintain it.The ant has disappeared in the snow, never to be seen again. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident, and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the ramshackle, once prosperous and once peaceful, neighborhood. The entire Nation collapses, bringing the rest of the free world with it.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2012.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
New Babies...
One of my favorite parts of ranching is getting to see the results of hard work in person. Many people probably think you just throw a cow out in the pasture and put a bull out there and voila you get calves...but it's not quite that simple.
First you have to have the right kind(breed) of cow for the climate, the kind of cattle you want to produce...etc. Then you have to have the right kind(breed) of bull to cross with the cow to get the kind of offspring you desire.
For our program I picked cross bred cows (means they are mixed breed) with Brahman influence. Brahman cattle have large ears (helps them with the summer heat,) they are naturally bug resistant and they are very protective mothers (good for us since we have coyotes that would like to eat the babies.) Most of our cows are black in color but I also have some tiger stripe, red and red baldy cows. So in order to get a uniform group of calves (meaning they all look similar...this makes them more valuable when you are selling a large group) I was somewhat limited on the breed of bull I could use. I ultimately picked Charolais bulls. They are whit and will usually produce a white or tan calf not matter what color the cow is. Charolais are also very meaty and grow really quickly. Which is good since Brahman influenced cattle tend to be on the lighter muscled side and slower growing.
I went to 2 bull sales last year and bought bulls I was very proud of. I finally have my first group of babies on the ground from those bulls which brings me back to what I was originally saying...it's so neat to see all that work come to fruition.
First you have to have the right kind(breed) of cow for the climate, the kind of cattle you want to produce...etc. Then you have to have the right kind(breed) of bull to cross with the cow to get the kind of offspring you desire.
For our program I picked cross bred cows (means they are mixed breed) with Brahman influence. Brahman cattle have large ears (helps them with the summer heat,) they are naturally bug resistant and they are very protective mothers (good for us since we have coyotes that would like to eat the babies.) Most of our cows are black in color but I also have some tiger stripe, red and red baldy cows. So in order to get a uniform group of calves (meaning they all look similar...this makes them more valuable when you are selling a large group) I was somewhat limited on the breed of bull I could use. I ultimately picked Charolais bulls. They are whit and will usually produce a white or tan calf not matter what color the cow is. Charolais are also very meaty and grow really quickly. Which is good since Brahman influenced cattle tend to be on the lighter muscled side and slower growing.
I went to 2 bull sales last year and bought bulls I was very proud of. I finally have my first group of babies on the ground from those bulls which brings me back to what I was originally saying...it's so neat to see all that work come to fruition.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Storm Rolling in...
I was out doing some work on the ranch...feeding some cattle and putting out mineral and salt and caught these pictures of a storm rolling in.
This past week was bitter sweet. My dear Aunt Barbara lost her valiant fight with complications from her cancer treatment. These pictures of the storm clouds kind of represent the mood many of the family have been in. As I was driving home from a few days spent with the family in College Station a song came on the radio that touched me in light of the loss we all feel. I have heard the song hundreds of times but it really hit home. Below are a few lines from that song.
"Sitting with Mama, alone in her bedroom, she opened her eyes then squeezed my hand, she said I have to go now, my time here is over and with her final breath she tried to help me understand, Mama whispered softly time will ease your pain, life's about changing, nothing ever stays the same. She said how can I help you to say goodbye? It's OK to hurt and it's OK to cry...come let me hold you and I will try ...how can I help you to say goodbye?" ~Patty Loveless
I know my dear Aunt was taking care of her girls and my Uncle...even in her suffering. She made sure they were home with all their loved ones around them before she went to be with God. We all loved her and she will be forever missed.
This past week was bitter sweet. My dear Aunt Barbara lost her valiant fight with complications from her cancer treatment. These pictures of the storm clouds kind of represent the mood many of the family have been in. As I was driving home from a few days spent with the family in College Station a song came on the radio that touched me in light of the loss we all feel. I have heard the song hundreds of times but it really hit home. Below are a few lines from that song.
"Sitting with Mama, alone in her bedroom, she opened her eyes then squeezed my hand, she said I have to go now, my time here is over and with her final breath she tried to help me understand, Mama whispered softly time will ease your pain, life's about changing, nothing ever stays the same. She said how can I help you to say goodbye? It's OK to hurt and it's OK to cry...come let me hold you and I will try ...how can I help you to say goodbye?" ~Patty Loveless
I know my dear Aunt was taking care of her girls and my Uncle...even in her suffering. She made sure they were home with all their loved ones around them before she went to be with God. We all loved her and she will be forever missed.
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