His daddy doesn't think it's so cute, but I love to be able to do stuff when he asks me. It won't be long and he'll hit that independent stage when he'll want to do everything himself. That's important too.
Some things just never really change. Hopefully as we age we get enough wisdom and experience to know where the balance is. Perserverance and a desire to master challenges are essential to growth and success, but so is knowing when it's time to ask for advice or help. It can also help you get there quicker.
In some things I'm like Braxton. I have no problem letting Ray get the gates, and I'd much rather get Clayton to come help me work through a problem with a colt than try to work through it myself and make matters worse.
But other things...
I'm the world's worst. I've always had a fiercely independent streak. Ray calls me a rebel. He and the kids joke that they hope the rapture comes before they have to deal with me as an old person. I used to threaten my son that someday I would get even with him. I would move in with him when I get old. He'd tell me I needed to live with one of the girls. They'd take better care of me.
I'm still struggling with this website. It's a whole lot bigger project than I had any idea. I've learned some... Just enough to be dangerous. HTML, CSS, PHP, it's like learning another language. I was never any good at that either. I spent three days (and most of the nights) this week trying to figure out why my registration page wouldn't load after I made a couple little changes. I finally found it. One little bitty apostrophe was missing! (Easy enough once I discovered there's such a thing as error logs!)
Am I going to get some help? Probably not. I found out how much it costs. Besides--I will get it! Unfortunately I've treated my photography the same way. I've never felt like we could afford the really good equipment--let alone instruction. Yesterday I went to a Photo Workshop I'd arranged as a birthday gift for our own budding photographer, and learned I've been making a hard case out of some things that once understood, are actually quite simple. Not that I haven't tried. We just got the right instructor this time. Now I'm excited.
I went with Ray on his "wolf route" this morning. He keeps telling me about all the elk he's been seeing; about giving chase to four wolves who were eating a calf when him and Jake jumped them; and watching sage grouse who are in the middle of their showy strutting and wop-wopping season. Armed with my new knowledge and my camera, I bounced out through the hills with him, then covered a couple miles on foot. We saw a herd of about 50 bull elk, sage grouse, antelope, mule deer and white tails, but the only wildlife I got close enough for a half-way decent photo, was a Meadowlark on a sage brush.
Oh well. Just seeing it is fun. Wildlife photography is a whole different deal, but I still like to record it when I can. For now I've learned some new tricks I need to practice with my ranch photos.
Maybe you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But if Braxton's great-grandma can learn to use Facebook, I guess his grandma can still learn a thing or two herself!
Maybe you can't teach an old dog new tricks. But if Braxton's great-grandma can learn to use Facebook, I guess his grandma can still learn a thing or two herself!
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| About 50 head of elk -- all bulls |
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