Roland's special audio/visual archives
Roland Cheek's
Tales of the WEST that WAS
and the WEST that IS
Weblog Archives
January 4, 2011
I don't know if it was the change of life or the 23 miles that made her cranky when she asked if this was a "union outfit?"
January 11, 2011
I'm wondering if elk don't have it all over us on the evolutionary front?
January 18, 2011
To tell you the truth, using horses in the "big lonesome" is not all it's cracked up to be.
January 25, 2011
I'm klutzy enough on crosscountry slats without risking life, limb, and mortgage on any hill with a tilt. My problem is that I'm not dressed right.
February 1, 2011
The cost of supplementally feeding wildlife during bitter weather also must include the cost of interfering with nature's processes -- always a dangerous proposition . . . for US.
February 8, 2011
Three little words, eight letters from the alphabet: "I love you" What power! So little cost! So much gain!
February 15, 2011
She smiled, waving at the three children seated just in front. "I'll be interpreting what you say in sign language for these children. Don't worry, I'll try not to distract."
February 22, 2011
We take fewer risks, rely more on experience than daring, and shun the concept of "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" What's happened to us?
March 1, 2011
Barney was the best fisherman I ever knew. Why?
March 8, 2011
None of Earth's creaturees can hold a candle to Homo sapiens when it comes to carrying frivolity to the absurd.
March 15, 2011
I flopped around like a snared rabbit, one ski-clad foot trapped beneath the log, the other jammed at an angle into broken-off limbs and deep snow.
March 22, 2011
Any mentor is not enough. One's mentor must be knowledgeable about the subject, have expertise, transmit confidence.
March 29, 2011
Around our house, "to-do" lists are, by mid-March, taking on the blush of spring growth. But there's conflict therein!
April 5, 2011
She says my short-term memory has gone south. In addition, she became inrigued with a wonder drug to help old dogs. I don't like where she's going with this.
April 12, 2011
It seems like just yesterday when I opened my first letter sealed with a lipstick kiss. Alas, there was only one!
April 19, 2011
Usually it's a yawner, but when conditions are right, it can be an exciting way spend an afternoon.
April 26, 2011
Grizzly bears biological clocks are set in the fall to go off in the spring, no matter how reluctant Jack Frost might be to exit center stage.
May 1 , 2011
Why do I consider myself an amateur bear-ologist? What motivates an otherwise normal human being to search for bears I do not intend to kill or drive away from my livestock?
May 7, 2011
Mothers are loved and appreciated for their kindness. But are they always recognized for their depth, understanding, proficiency, and intellect?
May 14, 2011
The bearded, shirtless man trudged along the raging torrent. "He's looking for a place to cross," I muttered.
May 21, 2011
Naysayers might make book that the Good Lord is trying to postpone a confrontation with me as long as possible. That makes two of us -- Him and me -- working for the same end.
May 28, 2011
We who've survived into our dotage owe something to providence as well as pruence and proficiency.
June 4, 2011
A refresher on Heartland honesty.
June 11, 2011
You think wild animals and tame pets exhibit more honesty than anything emanating from Washington or Wall Street.
June 18, 2011
Sure, sure. Just when I chanced into fatherhood, opportunities for employment turned equal, women were liberated and kids turned belligerent. Where's the fairness?
June 25, 2011
She's proven so adept at finding rattlesnakes that I gave her a lifetime appointment to serve as our family's Chief Designated Reptile Decoy.
July 2, 2011
She feared her horse would "ga-loop" and she'd fall off. The saddle proved the solutiion.
July 9, 2011
An old horse packer's adage goes: "Two men pack same horse, neither man packs either side."
July 16, 2011
The osprey must've been constipated for a week when she dropped her load -- with my red hat bobbing directly beneath.
July 23, 2011
The best horse handlers I know get inside the animal's head in order to work their magic.
July 30, 2011
The answer sounds easy, but when Murphy's Law takes over, the doing is hard.
August 6, 2011
You're tired. Your eyelids droop. Driving your car to the trailhead is not exactly the most auspitious time for your body to be going on autopilot.
August 13, 2011
The Rocky Mountain "Front" is generally conceded to be the fiinest natural wildlife habitat in Montana, if not all America.
August 20, 2011
