
Jack’s Blog
Read about everyday ranch life and the ramblings and pondering of an 80-something year old rancher, Jack Varian
…and occasional news from the rest of the family.
Preventative medicine for the soil and the soul
Are you willing to put that doughnut down?
I just deleted myself
“Jack press the delete key and knock this monotonous piece of fact and fantasy in the head.”
Fighting Danger with Danger
I was listening to a TED talk on my iPhone the other day and one of the talks was about danger and how young people deal with it. I didn't necessarily agree with the author and as to how he would solve the problem so I would like to offer up my own thoughts on the subject.
Highest and Best Use
We all need to join together and say that the Highest and Best Use for open space is open space and is not to be taxed out or zoned out of existence by the government’s insatiable need for “always more cash.”
Has my extended warranty expired for a “do over”?
I hope not. For I’ve just left the admissions office at Cuesta College. Where I register for the fall semester taking a course in Political Science which should be interesting especially with all the mean spirited politicians in Congress now a days. Anyway it went quite smoothly and I’m hoping that in this learning environment it might stimulate a few of my brain cells to get off the couch.
The Age of the Anthropocene
My well managed grazing cow who uses all the acres that can’t be plowed produces nutrient dense meat full of Conjugated Linoleic acid that’s good for a person and omega threes and sixes, another fatty acid that’s good for the body and proteins that don’t make fat and sequesters CO2 back into the soil. My hope in closing is that meatless meat will go the way of margarine that was going to replace butter as the health food of the 1980s and 90s and when all the propaganda about the health benefits of margarine were debunked butter regained proper place at the table of good stuff to eat.
I'm Looking for Preposterous
Oh there you are hiding inside the farts and burps of cows as they chew their cuds. So who cares. Well I’m going to tell you who cares. I was reading one of my weekly magazines. One is to the left of center and the other is to the right of center. Well wouldn’t you know it I found this article in the left of center magazine. The author stated that The International Panel on Climate Change said people should eat way less meat because cattle are a big producer of Methane gas (CH4) which is a contributor to global warming.
Happy Doesn't Just Happen
The 2 hardest topics for me to write about are humor and happiness. One, to use humor that will make a reader want to chuckle and maybe even laugh out loud. The second is to describe my ideas "on being happy" and how I slide in and out of that place in my mind that causes me to feel happy.
I Sell Sunlight
You what?! You heard me, I sell sunlight. It’s taken me 83 years to discover what I have in abundance that I can turn into Solar Dollars to spend. But I need some “how to” guidelines when I use photosynthesis to pay the bills.
Sometimes the right thing is hard to do
Doing the right thing is killing me softly with demands that I would love to fulfill but can’t. What am I saying? That age has brought the word “can’t” into my vocabulary. Well it may be there, but that doesn’t mean I have to use it.
Panic Attack
August 1943, the second Friday, a day that will bring out the best and worst for a boy who had just recently progressed to swimming without Water Wings.
A trip that left knowledge at home
My two boys, John and Greg, are 10 and 12 respectively. It’s a hot August day of 1975, our San Luis Obispo County Fair is now in my rear view mirror and I felt like the three of us needed a totally new experience to wind up the boys summer vacation.
I got my start in 1944
I met all my body parts on an assembly line one day in 1944 at a Ford factory in Detroit City. But my design was created one night in the mind of a Shade Tree mechanic and who’s neighbor was an automobile engineer at the Ford factory in Detroit City.
A Horses Point of View
I have been around horses most of my life on a daily basis and my wife Zee spends most of every day working with our herd of horses reminding them all to remember their manners and don’t fight, exercising others and then playing nurse to any that might need some TLC, or determining if a call to our vet is necessary.
Impassible in wet weather
A life or death trap was set for three unsuspecting very different souls. One was an elderly couple out for a drive in the country. The other was a yearling steer who had just arrived by cattle truck from Burns, Oregon. But each in their own unique way were setting their disaster traps.
The Life and Times of Bob the Lion Hearted
Bob, my right hand dog was born on our V6 ranch on a cold blustery day in the year 2004 February 9 making him 15 years old now. If you use 6 dog years for each of our years, Bob is now 90 years old which certainly qualifies him as an elder statesmen who tells me that life’s been good to him and “nobody has had more fun than I!”
Which came first the wheel or the ball?
What do you all think our society would look like if we had wheels only and no balls? Or what would our society look like if we had only balls? (footballs, basketballs, golf balls,8 balls and goof balls.) I’m sure we will never know the exact answers to those questions. But what we do know is what our society looks when we have both wheel and ball.