Buckets and Bucket Lists

It all started when the buffalo hunter's granddaughter let him hold the gun that killed the white buffalo.  The sacred buffalo was killed 136 years ago just 15 miles from our Texas home.  From that day, had the bug - it was on his bucket list before we knew about bucket lists.  He had to have one of those guns - a Sharps - a really long heavy gun that shoots a big bullet.    Then the sharps started showing up in movies like True Grit and Dances with Wolves and Toombstone and Quigley Down Under (which we have watched more times that I can count).



 In the movie, Matthew Quigley answers a hired gun advertisement in Austrailia and of course brings his big gun.  Now Quigley, Tom Selleck, can shoot the thing and hit a bucket 900 yards away (I think that's half a mile) not just once but everytime.  He was incredible.  And "Crazy Cora" was his mostly unwelcome sidekick. She called him "Roy".
 
My wannabe buffalo hunter found his sharps rifle at a gun show in Texas before he made it to the C. Sharps Arms Company in Big Timber Montana, where the gun is made.

Now, fast forward to last weekend, when we went to the Quigley Rifle Match in Forsyth, Montana. 

We brought the gun, lots of bullets, and all the movie lines we could remember. 

The rifle match was started by a couple of ranchers who came up with the idea for the Quigley match after they watched the movie.  The ranch owner of the ranch where the match was held, had moved to Montana as a 17 year old when his dad bought the ranch in 1940.  He says it was still open range - land without fences.  Wow.

And get this, he moved there from Sweetwater, Texas!
  Small world!

Here's me, Cora, practicing with the spotting scope
 before we headed for the firing line.

And there's Roy in Montana high skies totin' his 20 pound gun.

His first station was the buffalo

And here's the target, magnified to the max

He says it was so far away that is just looked like a black blob, not a buffalo

He had practiced with the gun only a few times,
 but still hit the target 3 out of 8 times. 

 Way to go Roy!

The 6th target station he shot, was in 40 mph wind,

 standing without a rest, shooting a target that was shaped like a bucket.

But not this bucket!

It's just a table decoration.

It was beautiful country and there must be a lot of lead in those hills. 

 There's the target far, far away!

There were 635 shooters at the match-

Quigleys, Coras, and Kids.

And here's the one that got away

What did you say, Roy?

One more thing on your bucket list?

A real buffalo?

Are you crazy?

My Herb Garden

Today was as perfect a day in North Dakota that a Texas country gal could ever wish for.  The temperature was 75, the breeze was only as occasional puff, and the blue clear sky (as Forrest Gump would say) couldn't have been better.

For all the trucks with bad exhausts, the hundreds of gas flares at the oil wells, and the influx of people, the sky is still cleaner than Texas.  By the way - North Dakota's population is 642,200.  Texas has six cities that exceed that number and yellow and gray skies over even much smaller bergs.

We've had almost daily rain for three weeks, so weed pulling and hoeing was easy today.

As I worked on the herb garden (parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme - actually it's parsley, mint, cilantro, and dill) their combined essence sent a wonderful happy smell to my nose.  Then I smelled them every time I walked by.  The herb garden is just outside the kitchen door as it should be - so it's just a step and a snip away.  I'm absolutely positive that all Mexican food must have cilantro and lots of it.  But chives are my new love and work in lots of dishes.

It all smells soooo good.

My herbs remind me of you.

"In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse."

The Message (emphasis mine)

(2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

My herb garden is like so many of you who are the fragrance of Christ. We smell you when we pass by, when we get close to you, and when we get involved in the garden of your life.

Thank you for being such an exquisite fragrance, a sweet scent,

 an aroma redolent with life!

Sowing and Reaping

Helene suggested that at least some of the plants in the flower beds

 might be 50 years old,

planted by Mrs. Prather.

There's always the possibility that Mrs. Olson

and Mrs. Presnall

also made contributions



to the already lovely flowerbeds.

So, Mrs. Prather sowed, watered and reaped a beautiful garden

Mrs. Olson watered and reaped what Mrs. Prather sowed.



Then Mrs. Presnall watered and reaped what Mrs. Prather and Mrs. Olson sowed.

Then I come along and water and reap

what Mrs. Prather

and Mrs. Olson

and Mrs. Presnall

have all sown.





" the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true"

(John 4:37

red because Jesus said it)

It's like the things we sow into our children,

watered by grandparents and teachers,

and then enjoyed by others whose lives they touch.

Of course, Jesus was probably talking about deep spiritual things,

but I sure have been reaping beauty

thanks to some ladies that certainly didn't

plant or water with me in mind.



Mine Eyes Have Seen His Glory!

We took a little trip.

  Actually it was a combination of a much needed vacation for a hardworking man, a bucket list check-off, and a re-visit of a trip from the past.  Besides, Yellowstone is just right over there - in neighboring Wyoming, but by the time we got home, we had put 1400 miles on the truck! 

So, it wasn't such a little trip.

All along the way, while we were still a hundred or more miles from Yellowstone, we could see the beautiful Beartooth Mountains still glistening with snow.  I took a picture through the windshield about every mile - bug juice and all!

After a few stops along the way, we entered the first National Park in the world -

Yellowstone -

at the north entrance in Gardiner, Montana.



For the Benefit and Enjoyment

of the People

Our other trip to Yellowstone was in 1985 (wow - does that ever seem like several lifetimes ago).  We had volunteered to help build a church in Sundance, Wyoming and decided to make it a pleasure trip, as well.  We restored (at home and on the road all along the way) an old motorhome and took off on one of our few vacations with Yellowstone included. 

The wildlife is always the highlight in the park. 

The elk's growing antlers were still in velvet.

The grizzlies were too far away for a good picture.

And the mountain goats were high on the mountain.

But the buffalo roamed on the roads - and owned them without a doubt!

I rolled down the window to take a picture of one

 and could have almost touched him -

I realized how dumb that was when I was right beside him.

He says there were 150 in this herd and that he was close enough for a good shot

(with a gun not a camera). 

My absolute favorite thing about Yellowstone is the geysers

 (geothermal hotspots - hot tubs - boiling water - steam)

 coming from the ground.

Here's an faithful old geezer

waiting for a faithful old geyser

(Hah!)

We actually missed the "Old Faithful Show". I guess he didn't get the memo about show time, because he was 15 minutes early and we were still in the gift shop!

(Old Faithful's couisn!)

All through the park, we caught glimpses of the Beartooth Mountains.

When we left the park on that other trip, we passed by a museum in Cody Wyoming that turned our chauffeur's head and almost made him cry because he was missing it. 

 He said it was the largest collection of Winchester Firearms anywhere. 

 But we didn't have time to stop.

  So this trip - it was our destination - we weren't going to miss it this time.

The museum was 5 in one -

Buffalo Bill

Western Art

Plains Indians

Natural History

and

Firearms

We were there when it opened at 8 am

and we closed it down at 6. 

It was probably the best museum that I have ever seen. 

The Plains Indian exhibits were excellent - but I didn't take many pictures.

Cody is an interesting town, just oozing with history and lore.

AND there's a Buffalo Bill on every street corner!

We took the scenic route out of Cody on the casual advice of a local. 

(That's a drive by shooting!)

Were we ever surprised!

 

Because we found ourselves in the middle of the Beartooth Mountains!

and lots and lots of snow!

People were up there snowmobiling, skiing, sledding, and boarding -

the first week of June!

We saw a spot up on a mountain and I zoomed in with my camera to see what it was.

 It was someone taking pictures of a snow boarder!

 We stopped at a little store at the top of the world for gas

(That's my man in his short britches, my truck, and my North Dakota license plate!)

I was ready to recommend that every one of you go to Yellowston and take the scenic route, when I realized that the snow was what made it so great and that they had received a lota lota of snow just the weekend before. We just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

If you've been brave enough and patient enough to have stayed with me through to the end,

you can be thankful that I didn't post all 735 pictures I snapped!

However,

if you haven't been to Yellowstone

- we recommend that you make the trip too!

(self-timer on the camera - did it take? are we finished? can we go now?)

 Because it's there for your benefit and enjoyment

and

you will have seen

His Glory!