I’ve always felt bad for farmers and ranchers who are so busy trying to beat every penny out of a hay field or truckload of cattle, that they lose their ability to take time and pleasure in the less profitable but surely more beautiful reasons to be spending a lifetime out here. I suppose that goes for anyone who has their head down so much of the time that they forget to look up and enjoy the views.
When I was a girl growing up in a suburb of Los Angeles, I never dreamed that I’d spend my life on a ranch. Over the past 30+ years, friends and family members have asked if I miss my old life, career or everything a city has to offer. The short answer is no, I really don’t. I enjoyed Southern California when I grew up there, but I honestly don’t recognize it today. I loved my career in business and I’d like to think I’ve been able to use my marketing skills and experience to benefit community, cattle industry and political causes that are important to me since moving to Northern Nevada. Leaving the working world was not a difficult choice for me. I watched my parents’ model and knew that if Fred and I were ever fortunate enough to have children, I would be a stay at home mom. Having my mom present and available for us growing up made all the difference in my life. I always felt blessed to have been able to stay at home and raise my daughter, make a good home for she and her dad, help Fred on the ranch and be available to care for Fred’s parents when they needed extra help toward the end of their lives.
Aside from those essential jobs, living on a big old ranch has afforded me the opportunity to indulge in some hobbies and animals that the average person can only day dream about.
Through the years, I’ve kept bees, raised pigs, and had a Percheron draft horse team that pulled a wagon I built myself. I’ve raised some beautiful longhorn steers for the pure pleasure of doing it, and I’ve grown a long abandoned species of forage alfalfa just because I was fascinated by its resilience and potential. I’ve taken thousands of pictures, painted a little, sat at my father in law’s knee and learned to twist a few horsehair ropes, made scores of buckaroo bedrolls and tried to learn all I could about the native plants and animals in our area. I’ve taken full advantage of the bounty of this magnificent place I am lucky enough to call home.
Make no mistake, when times were tough, I didn’t waste money on hobbies, but I kept my critters around and my alfalfa fenced and watered. I waited until we had things back in the black before spending much time or money on hobbies, but when times were okay, I let myself have the time and resources to enjoy the freedom that living on a ranch affords.
Patrice and I have bred Berniedoodles and given them to 22 wonderful families. She also breeds horses and then trains and sells nice ranch and barrel horses, not simply as a business but as a true labor of love. I’m glad that if I have succeeded at nothing else, I’ve instilled in her a genuine love for this place, a respect for how rare her opportunity to live like this is, and a curiosity and desire to think outside the box, and sometimes do something big, just because she can.
I could probably give you a list of dozens of projects or hobbies I’ve indulged over the years, and whether the end result was successful or a failure, all have enriched life for me here on our ranch.
Now whether you live in town or out on a little acreage, I’m here to tell you that taking the time, effort and expense to indulge your imagination and passion with hobbies and past times is well worth every input. It’s the stuff that makes life worth living.
Kris Stewart is a rancher from Paradise Valley, NV.
