My first real experience was with cattle ranchers near Porterville. I got invited to go camp in the Sequoias with them 3 Summers in a row. They took the time to teach me so much. A lot of times they'd start by asking me what I knew:

"You know how to saddle a horse."

"No."

"Get over here and learn."

I loved that. I ate that up. I'd been wanting that for years and I wasn't about to miss a chance to learn something from those folks. I was amazed by them. We rode over 20 miles in the Sequoia NF the first day on my first trip there and they knew exactly where they were the entire time. I was impressed with that. I really wanted to know how they did that.

I learned an incredibly amount just by listening to them. Their experience was vast and I had none. By the end of my last trip with them I had knowledge that would take me years to put into practice. Things they said I should know would become relevant years later and because I listened I had a clue.

I put what they taught me to work, but it was years before I really figured things out, before I felt comfortable, and even then I wouldn't say I was "experienced".

I still can't say that. Not when I compare myself to those guys. I could never do what I do without having learned from them. No way.

There are still a lot of folks here in the Ozarks that live for the outdoors, and kids still grow up learning how to be outside, and wanting to be out.

My daughter was born in Los Angeles. We left LA when she was 3-1/2. We moved here when she was 8. She's 28 now, here's a couple photos of her and her boyfriend. This one was taken last week:



And this was taken a few weeks ago:



I'm pretty convinced photos like these would have never been taken had we stayed in LA.

Here's one of their neighbors taken last week too. It's the norm here...



Far different from where and how I grew up...