Big Boy showed himself right away to be an honest and reliable steer that wasn’t going to ruff up one of my kids after he had been roped. He would mostly just walk when Katy the oldest would throw her rope at Big Boy. With time and practice and with some parental urging he would break into a trot and if Katy or Lilly happened to catch him he would stop and then they could sidle up to his head while he would wait to have the rope removed.

I have a subscription to Story Worth that sends me suggestions of topics that I might want to write about. Their latest suggestion is what would you want to be famous for? Hmm, well it goes without saying that my family will always be at the top of the chart. So what could be second? I just received in my email that Holistic Management would like to honor The V6 Ranch as Outstanding demonstration site of Holistic Management. This award I will always cherish as it was this organization that in 1991 saved my tattered and torn spirit from a bankrupt way of managing a ranch.

Recently we were deeply honored to be recognized by Holistic Management International as one of their 40 leaders in regenerative agriculture. To mark this honor, we wanted to share a letter Jack wrote about the V6 in 1999 when we had just started the process of securing our Conservation Easement.

"I always have trouble when discussing the Diablo Mountains and more particularly the Parkfield portion of them, in a strictly factual manner as my zeal for their preservation always surfaces leaving the facts to be plucked from my sensibilities about this very special place."

So I ask you? What could be more exhilarating than spending two days watching two buildings being torn down and knowing that all this hoard would find new life at Parkfield and the V6 Ranch? 

Well wouldn’t you know it, as the story goes my father saw this very attractive young lady who glanced over at a very handsome man all dressed in his formal clothes and captain's hat. They were married a year later in Vera Cruz and thus was the start of a very loving lifetime relationship.

For two years Sig and Russel tried many different ways to solve their problem. To make this invention possible, my family needed to move to Palo Alto. Russel was able to make a deal with Stanford University that the brothers could use the University Physics Laboratory and receive $100 to buy materials. In return, the brothers would give half the patent rights to Standford for the Klystron tube that made Radar possible.

This is a metaphor for me. When I lose flexibility in my thinking and I don’t clean the windshield in my mind of “We’ve always done it that way,” or don’t confuse me with the facts or all the other dogmatic stuff that can hide enlightenment.

It’s 6:00 am and my grandson and cattle partner Brinan Varian is already gathering our cattle. Brinan is on the go and I am just rolling out of bed. After trying to wear out my toothbrush, I take five different pills that I think help me, but I know help the Pharmaceutical industry. Now a look in the mirror and I see a bald head that is in vogue at my age and is worth a smile.

I woke up this morning thinking, with a thought that the V6 Ranch will always be a work in progress, so as long as I have a breath of life left and a thread of common sense I’ve got a job. Now I don’t have but a minuscule amount of physical work attached to my job but I can champion Agritourism as some of our work in progress.

I’m sitting at our kitchen counter where I eat my breakfast and for some reason do my best blogging. It’s Monday, the last day of this Memorial Day weekend and our two granddaughters, Kayla and Sage, who produce a rodeo extravaganza each Memorial Day are finishing up with a Jackpot team roping.

What a year to be in the cattle business! The rain this season was spectacular and it was a very good cattle market to boot. These back to back wet years and a good price for my stocker cattle is a rarity that is much appreciated. What I really want to convey to all you out there in “blog land” is the sheer beauty of every green growing thing on the ranch.

The most satisfying thing about being an observer is I get to open many doors to the unknown and see what’s inside that can appease my inquisitive nature. Following the disciple of Mother Nature's ways, I wanted a method to infuse her teachings so that they are practical to use on a daily basis.

It’s gotta be my Backhoe, yes it surely is my John Deere 310 and I can just feel the environmentalists that know me shudder. They all thought that I was on their side, well if you give me a few paragraphs to explain about all the different tools and grazing animals that I use to steward the V6, I think you will understand my logic.

I just finished watching a documentary about Winston Churchill and the risk he took to go against all odds, that any good betting man would give no chance, that his plan would succeed.

I would like all of you that are reading this blog to now visualize that you are no longer looking at your cell phone screen but your standing with legs spread slightly and ready to put a nickel in the coin slot of a 1950s or 1960s Pinball Machine. Nickel is in and the machine comes alive with lights on and a bell rings and up pops a shiny one inch chrome plated ball in the lower right hand corner of the playing field.

What would cause me to have a satisfied mind? I guess it’s a lot like counting your blessings. I’m sitting at our kitchen table that seats eight and at our kitchen counter, 10 more are squeezed together for my grandaughter Sammy’s 21st birthday party.

I still graze the Little Cholame and its close surroundings but only in the dormant winter times and I do it in moderation. So what I see happening is the formation of a community of green growing things that are complex in their makeup but moderate in their demands, meaning that each has a place in helping to create an environment where a symbiotic community can thrive.

Throughout the next couple of weeks, there would be more changes that if we wanted to be annoyed we could but I could hardly wait to see this “diamond in the rough” as it emerged into an elegant homey place where 42 would sit down outside on a beautifully warm afternoon Christmas Day to celebrate the birth of Christ and eat till stuffed.

It’s a nice thought but then, how do you pay all your bills if you give it all away? I’m trying to answer that age old question when an outdoor fly decides he wants to be an indoor house fly. Not wanting this interloper in my house I had to search in the pantry for my fly swatter that I thought I wouldn’t need until next summer. My next thought was to ask myself what have I got to blog about at this moment in time? Really nothing.