Wyoming Cowgirl - On the Ranch

On the Ranch 
Diary of a Wyoming Cowgirl

by Cris Paravicini

A first-hand glimpse of real Wyoming ranchlife

The Pearson Angus Ranch is a working ranch located on the Green River in western Wyoming near Daniel and Pinedale, Wyoming. These pages depict life on the ranch from the viewpoint of Cris Paravicini, a real Wyoming Cowgirl.


Cousin Gene helps haul big, round bales of hay
out of the Cora Valley
"Ranch work, Balls of Worms, Fishing"
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Journal April 2005- Photo Essay

Hey Folks! It's me! Who, you say? Well, I don't blame you one bit for forgetting who the heck I am, but let's git right into catching up, anyhow, 'cause I haven't forgotten you! Not quite sure how to update you.should I go clean back to June and come forward or start here tonight with a fresh memory and put 'er in reverse. Oh, what the heck! I'm gonna head on back to the dog days of last summer and spur you right on up to today. Let's get 'er done! (Borrowed that from Larry the Cable Guy!)


Little Joe

New hoss, Little Joe the Wrangler and I got acquainted on a warm spring day moving cow/calf pairs to summer pasture. You gotta keep your mind centered on what he's up to as he's a little on the goosey side, but I think he'll end up fittin' our needs okay.


Calf
This calf's gonna be givin' the dogs something to do any second now.

Dogs go to work
See what I mean!

Ball of worms
We sort of like this early June time of the year, as things slow down just a bit from the hectic pace of calving and pushing cows to summer pasture and dragging meadows and critical fencing and other things that you've already heard me complain about in the past. I was fixing lunch (we call lunch dinner, as you know, and dinner is supper) one warm sunny day in mid-June, when Rudy and the dogs dropped by for a bite to eat between cleaning out irrigating ditches. "A little while ago, I saw the darndest thing in the west ditch out in the meadow," he said, as he turned on KPIN and settled down at the kitchen table to listen to COW radio. "It was this huge basketball-sized pile of night crawlers just layin' in the bottom of the ditch in about six inches of water." Well, I told him to finish frying the hamburgers, and I grabbed my camera and headed like a shot to snap a picture of 'em. Pretty danged cool!

Listening to COW radio
Mealtime, Bo dog, irrigating boots, and the Clear Out West (COW)
Radio Show!

Loading croanie cows
Now, I'll be quiet and let a series of photos do the talkin'!
You'll be seeing Summer 2004 from removing foxtails from dog ears to loading croanie cows and calves to fishing fun after fencing (Bo Dog loves to fish!) to hauling hay to old Lacy dog's last haying (She turns 15 on March 10 and is still hanging in there!) to visiting ferret friends.

Loading them up
Loading Croanie and Late Calves

Ready to work
Summer 2004 Diary

Summer rain
Summer 2004 Diary

Always time to go fishing
Summer 2004 Diary

Fence corner
Summer 2004 Diary - Fence Corner

Ferret
Visiting ferret

Hoss
Now, this is a grey hoss that you'll want to keep your mind in the middle and a leg planted firmly in each stirrup...

Bo LOVES to fish
You'd have to see it to appreciate how much Bo Dog LOVES to fish!

Bo watches
Bo Fish

So does Dad
Bo Fish

Little Sweetheart

A sweet, little 2-year old (daughter of a friend) has been
keepin' time-from time to time-with "Aunt" Cris and "Uncle" Rudy. Though AZ lives in town, she is a cowgirl-in-progress through and through. And she keeps a whole herd of adults busy, busy, and worn out at day's end!

Rescued kitten
Rudy doesn't really like cats...yeah, right! This little fella
was rescued from the gentle, slobbery mouth of the big Bo dog... Friends up country were "talked" into rescuing him from his "tough" life here on the ranch!

Cat kisses
Cat kisses

Roundup
Fall rain, rainbows, ridin', and roundup gotta happen come
Hell or high water.The grey ghost gets to earn his keep, again...

Hauling hay
Cousin Gene helps haul big, round bales out of the Cora
Valley...

Good little pony
Good little pony

Tramp's foxtail
Tramp's Foxtail. (sharp grass seed in ear)

Hauling hay
Gramma Pearson hauling Big Hay

Hayfield fun
Hayfield fun

Bull
His work's all done this year

Plowing snow
Plowing snow

Rudy, Robert Ray, Bob Beard, and Gene Pearson sort through a corral load of heifers and steers and Brand inspector Bob Beard completes the proper paperwork for Pearson Angus Ranch calves to be trucked out of Sublette County... These two pictures were taken courtesy of Nita Miller, our very nice interim postmaster. Our dear Florence, brand inspector Bob Beard’s wife, who spoiled us all royally, retired in October after nearly 30 years of tending to our mail… We shall miss her great efforts on our behalf! Now, we have to saddle up a horse to catch up with her and Bob for a good visit! I must also correct my oversight from last time. All the great branding pictures were taken by a way cool cowgal from down Colorado way, Judy Walker. Thanks, ladies, for sharing your awesome talents!
Happy Valentine’s Day from the "heartland" of Sublette County!!
Hay, hay, hay! Seems like ranch life centers around hay...growin' it, puttin' it up, haulin' it, feedin' it, draggin' it, and then back to growin' it again...

"Down in the valley, The valley so low, Hang your head over, Hear the wind blow…"

As winter silently crept across the Valley of the Green and the beautiful Horse Creek tributary, we take stock in what was and what is to be... May these magnificent, proud "ladies" stay forever free.

I oft times wonder, which lonesome road to travel, which hill to climb? Perchance the road less traveled, yes…?

Lady Spring was dressed in drab, gray attire to usher in the lamb of morning March 1…But, soon, as if by magic, two beautiful Trumpeter Swans, bound for somewhere, landed on a narrow slit of open river to cheer us all… And Lady Spring began to sing immediately…blackbirds, Canadian Honkers, Sandhill Cranes, and we, tired feed hands smiled slyly and gave a high-five salute to all things blessed and beautiful…

‘Tis a new season dawning and we must keep on keeping on… Now, calving time 2005 starts anew, so until we meet again, like my grandpa always told me...I'll be seein' you in the funny papers on the front page!

Little cow feeder
Lacy's last haying maybe
That's a good dog

Where did that story go?!? The stories from earlier front pages aren't gone. We just move them to the monthly journal pages to make room for the latest diary entries on the front page. See the Journal Index for a listing of all previous front page journal entries!

The Pearson Angus Ranch is located approximately 2 miles northwest of Daniel, Wyoming, and 11 miles west of Pinedale, where she lives along with her husband, Rudy. Historic old Fort Bonneville, built in the late 1800s, is located next to her family's ranch.Cris can be reached by e-mail at: cowgirl@wyoming.com.

Copyrights: Photos and page text content copyrighted, Cris Paravicini, 2005. No part may be reproduced without permission of the author/photographer. Page graphics copyrighted, Pinedale Online, 2005.
 

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