​​   Good question, I have finally made my peace with the idea that it's alright to do nothing. Obviously, all the things that it takes to stay alive don’t count. So Jack, what’s left? Well, I get to observe and ponder. Today I remembered that I had left a solar pump running to fill a livestock water tank (2 days to fill) for about a week because it was too wet to drive to the site and turn it off. But today it has warmed up a little, enough that I wouldn’t freeze in our side-by-side, all-terrain, go-anywhere, vehicle. I asked Zee if she wanted to go. I got a yes, so I loaded up our three dogs Hurly, Trigger, and Tilly, and off we went. Having gone only about a mile or so, something ran across our muddy Parkfield Coalinga county road, and out went Hurly in hot pursuit. In no time I caught up to him standing on his hind legs with front legs scratching on the trunk of a big Oak tree while looking skyward. So here’s where observation comes into play. I was sure it must be a Bobcat as they're quite common and I couldn’t see a long Mountain Lion tail. To get a better look I got out my field glasses. I was looking for pointy ears made of black hair making the ears look pointy. Not seeing that telltale sign and no bobbed tail, not a Bobcat. The more I looked the more I decided that it was a half grown Mountain Lion that had his long tail camouflaged in the branches he was clinging to. Then Zee said, “he’s not going to jump out of the tree is he?” “No,” I said because up there he feels nervously safe, I think. So we left our first close encounter with a Mountain Lion in our 62 year lives in our rearview mirror and knowing there’s always something new to observe on our V6 Ranch.  

            I have a grandson that has several trail cameras and he sees pictures of Lions quite frequently, giving me a reason to understand why our deer population isn’t as big as it once was. So, I tell my hunt club members that if you want a buck during deer season, you’ll just have to hunt harder. But most of my members are very satisfied just putting on their Camo shirts and pants and cruising around on their A.T.V. with a stop on top of a mountain peak, where you can look across the width of California with the Pacific Coast range to the west and the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains to the east with a beer in one hand and field glasses in the other observing Mother Nature's beautiful handiwork. Then enjoy a barbecue dinner back at hunt camp before leaving for a very different city life. 

         I’m almost to my destination when the road gets somewhat muddy and there’s a small wash in the middle of the road. It’s no big deal I’ll just straddle the wash but it keeps getting wider and deeper when my straddling wash suddenly turns abruptly left and backing up was not an option as my head no longer swivels on my neck as it once did. Jack, remember you never yell whoa in a bad place so give your go anywhere side by side full throttle and let’s get the hell out of here. But in only a moment my all-terrain, go-anywhere vehicle is high centered with all four wheels spinning helplessly. Zee says “I hope your cell phone works because I don’t want to walk three miles back to our house.” I’ve never had much good to say about our computer generation but this time the part that I truly hope will work is my cellphone as our reception is kind of iffy on a lot of the ranch. Looking at my phone I see one line which is a maybe. Calling John Varian. God, I hope you answer as he could also be in a bad location. “Hello John, I’m stuck, can you come and get us?” John says it’s all downhill, why don’t you walk home, just kidding. Brinan your grandson is right here and says he will be there in about half an hour. Time for me to observe why all the different grasses are just sitting there and saying to me that if you would warm our days and nights so that the high and the low temperature of the day and night add up to 100 we would all start growing but right now we don’t need any more rain. 

             Brinan has just arrived with his Jeep and front end winch. Knowing that a long walk home was history I had time to ponder what a wonderful half day I just had. Now it’s time to finish the trip to shut off the solar pump as down at thirty feet I was still depleting my aquifer by leaving the pump run, as all this rain has not yet migrated down far enough to recharge the aquifer.

         I’m going to take my leave now to ponder what the weatherman has to say about all this rainfall because last October he was telling me that I needed to brace for another La Nina year as La Nina was still with us and there would be a good possibility for another dry year. Thanks Lord, it’s a relief to know that you are still the only one that knows everything. 

                             See Ya, 

                               Jack