Welcome to the Ranch!

I realize that all things are relative, but to most people, especially urban dwellers, my children would be classified as “free range kids.” My family is very fortunate to live on Cross Creek Cattle Company in rural Grimes County. The ranch itself lends itself to a child’s playground. All that is required is an imagination.

Acres and acres of open pasture, wooded pastures, dry creek beds, and many ponds all offer different venues for fun. My children love to hike. They love to observe the flora and fauna, especially now in the spring time. Wildflowers are in bloom, dewberries are beginning to form on their thorny vines, and baby animals are emerging from their hiding places. The woods offer cool, shady place, including trees to climb and places to play hide and seek.

The dry creek beds are fun places to play various games, especially if you have a stick “gun” with which to shoot. Running down and up the banks are also fun and great exercise. We allow our children to go fishing in the ponds without supervision with the exception of our youngest two boys, 5 and 3 respectively.

The ranch with its horses and cows also offer a different kind of entertainment. My older children are great riders. They are allowed to ride on the ranch whenever they get the notion. The cows are not near as fun as the horses. However, Jake, especially, loves to stand in the middle of the herd watching the calves play. They are curious creatures and will soon come up to him. If he moves slowly, he can usually scratch their foreheads and/or touch their moist noses.

Sheltered by the safety of the ranch, we have no “stranger danger” to concern us. My children are like the children of old, playing outside limited only by a few rules and their imaginations. Their faces are lightly freckled and tanned in the summer. Their bodies healthy and rarely ill. The bottoms of their feet are callused and never notice the sharp points of the rocks on the road. They have great imaginations and play well with one another.

They also know this ranch like the back of their hand. Therefore, their heart strings have rooted deeply in this land just like my brother and myself, and like our father before us. Cross Creek Cattle Company is more than a family-owned and operated ranch; it is where our heart calls home. It is where members of our family bring their children to enjoy a free-range childhood; regardless of where they live the other days of the week. It is where my husband and I choose to live while raising our family, knowing full well that we wanted to have “free range kids.”

There are a few dangers to our herd in Grimes County, Texas. Young calves are the most vulnerable as most predators do not bother with such a large animal as a cow or bull. A herd of coyotes will work together to bring down a calf. Fortunately, we have not lost any animals in this manner.

About ten years ago, we did have a calf born that could have succumbed to this type of death. The birth was a hard one, and both the mother and calf were weak and tired. The mama cow delivered her calf in the wide open, situated between a creek and a slough. Usually cows like to go off and deliver in privacy, but here she was for all the world to see.

As dusk began to fall, the calf had been cleaned up, and had nursed a little, but it was still too weak to travel far. The mama cow kept trying to coax it to follow her despite the fact she needed to rest badly herself. He would try but his unsturdy legs would fail him after a few steps. She gave up for the time being and laid beside him, snuggling up to his body to keep him warm. She too was exhausted.

The rest of the herd sensing the precarious situation came to her rescue. Cows began bedding down around the new calf and mother, forming a literal circle of protection. They lay in the center completely surrounded by the herd. It was such a beautiful thing to witness. The herd working together as a team.

A small pack of coyotes came out just as the last rays of light began to fade. They circled the herd snarling with their noses in the air. Somehow they sense weakness. The mama cow rose and stood over her calf. She was understandably alarmed. Sometimes mama cows end up trampling their own calves while trying to protect them. The other cows stood up too. All of them stood facing their adversaries, heads down, adrenaline pumping. Slowly the circle tightened around the weak calf and its mama as the coyotes spread out around the perimeter.

Luckily for the herd and ourselves, the coyotes decided collectively that the fight was not worth their time. They ran off into the darkness of the woods leaving our herd safe and sound.

You might be wondering how I know this or why I did not intervene. The herd was just below our home and from my window I could see what was happening. If we had had enough time, we would have loaded a gun and fought for our herd; however, this entire event occurred in just a few minutes. We simply did not have time.

Keeping your cattle together in a multi-generational herd is predator protection. They literally get herd mentality, meaning that they think and act as one. They are a force to be reckoned with against predators; however, we don’t just have coyotes.

We also have a few cougars roaming in this territory. Three years ago, we lost a large calf to one. The only reason we know for sure is because his body got tangled in a barbed wire fence and the cat was unable to carry it off. I won’t go into the gory details, but needless to say we were upset.

We have a neighbor who has lost almost thirty goats. Their bodies are completely gone. It is like they vanished. Other neighbors have sighted the cats or heard them in the woods. Obviously Cross Creek Cattle Company cannot afford to lose any of our animals. When presented the opportunity to get two free donkeys, we accepted.

Donkeys are known for fighting off predators. They use their powerful hind legs to fight off dogs, coyotes, and other predators. Since we run two herds of cattle, we split the donkeys up in order to protect both. We hope that they will never be called to duty, but you can never be too careful.

My family does not get away very often with all of our responsibilities on our farm and the ranch. However, one perk of living and working on Cross Creek Cattle Company is getting to live on this sprawling ranch. With Spring Break approaching, we decided to get away by staying here and going camping.

We set up our camp site on a remote section of the ranch. It was a beautiful setting in a tree-rimmed meadow filled with wildflowers. As we drove up, flocks of dove took to the skies. We drove a bit further and we scared up a few wild hogs. As we watched them bound away, our eyes caught sight of more movement ahead. As we climbed the hill, we saw a herd of deer crossing our path.

It was like being in a movie. We laughed and wondered what we would see next. After making camp, we hiked to one of our lakes to go fishing. We were very successful fishing. We quickly caught four big bass. My children enjoyed paddling out in a little rowboat. At the lake, we kept catching a whiff of something rank, and found the body of a dead beaver on the bank.

Later that evening, we grilled our fish over an open fire along with roasting hot dog wieners. We played rousing games of Uno and Dutch Blitz. As soon as dusk fell, the yipping and howling of coyotes began. Their serenade lasted off and on all night long into the moments just before dawn.

In the morning, we baked biscuits in a cast-iron Dutch oven. My husband made his famous “camping eggs” and bacon on a Coleman stove. Later we went on another hike and 4-wheeler ride. We were slightly sad to tear down our camp and load up the car. We had had such a wonderful time, but all good things must come to an end.

We consider ourselves very lucky to live and work on Cross Creek Cattle Company. Raising your family in the country and on a ranch is a dream of ours. Deciding to go on a stay-cation was a great idea, as we enjoyed time together as a family, but also communed with nature in most unexpected ways. Life is definitely an adventure.

Most omnivores, like myself, upon seeing a juicy hamburger patty sitting on a toasted bun surrounded by fresh vegetables makes your mouth water. Lately the vision is ruined unless I know from where my meat came. In the news, there has been story after story of the pink slime that McDonalds used for years. It has recently decided to discontinue in its hamburger meat. Likewise, Taco Bell and Burger King have followed suit.

Although many fast food establishments have discontinued the use of pink slime, which are ammonia-treated beef trimmings added to ground beef, this morning on ABC News it was reported that ground beef sold in our grocery stores commonly have added pink slime. Initially you might wonder “why?”

I believe that it is to enable the sale of more “meat.” Why waste anything? Instead, treat waste products with powerful ammonia in order to kill any bacteria and then use it as filler. No one will be the wiser. If it looks like ground beef, then it must be. However in the U.K. savy lawmakers outlawed this procedure, but do allow pink slime to be added only in dog food.

More news that makes my tummy turn upside down is the fact that a group of scientists in The Netherlands are in the process of making beef in test tubes. Whether you call it Test Tube Beef, Cultured Beef, or whatever name they come up with, the thought of it makes my skin crawl.

If you are tired of wondering where your beef is coming from and want to enjoy good, healthy, real beef, then contact me. We are currently working on a waiting list as our grass fed beef is not quite ready to be harvested, but we only require a $100.00 non-refundable deposit to secure your quarter, half, or whole order.

For more information on these stories, among many other articles you can read:
Scientists Working on $330,000 Test Tube Meat Burger
McDonald’s Drops Use of Gooey Ammonia-Based Pink Slime in Hamburger Meat

The photograph above comes from MSNBC and was taken by Alex Johnson.

As members of the Grimes County Jr. Deputy Sheriff’s Mounted Posse, we are no strangers to parades. We make the Veteran’s Day parade, all the Christmas ones in the county, in addition to several others throughout the year. However last Saturday, we were invited by the Sam Houston Trail Ride to lead them in during the Downtown Houston Parade in honor of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Some of our horses are used to the parades, which offer much different surroundings than they are accustomed to here on the ranch. They don’t seem bothered anymore by the marching bands, the fire truck sirens, the people cheering, or the other numerous distractions. They are old pros.

On the other hand, we have a couple of horses that this was their first parade. What better way to break a horse in than start with one of the largest parades in Texas, which navigates the streets of Downtown Houston? The tall

skyscrapers line the streets creating almost a canyon effect with wind. Not to mention the number of people we are riding before; the audience is so much larger that there is not any comparison. Also, we had to ride over a bridge, which horses typically do not enjoy doing. At the same time, the bridge sat under an overpass with vehicles of every size zooming overhead; therefore, the horses needed much reassurance.

My daughter, Kyla, who is Vice-President of the Posse had the honor of leading in our group and the Sam Houston Trail Ride alongside the President, Rheaghan Pavlock. Jake followed behind. Then my husband, the Posse Drill Master, and Kenton and Cathey Holliday, the owners of Cross Creek Cattle Company, rode in the back of the line-up. My two youngest boys, Andrew and Isaac, had the pleasure of riding with me in Wagon #1.

Needless to say, the day was quite an experience. It was a honor to be invited to ride in the HLSR Downtown Parade. Thank you, Sam Houston Trail Ride. It was fun to be a part of the festivities surrounding the world’s largest livestock show. This really is a once in a lifetime experience and for some of us it was our second time around.