I’m headed out on an adventure on Tuesday.  I am AMPED!  Not sure what I’m going to see, but see I shall.

People, I had a pretty good weekend.  It started off busy as heck but got good from there.

Jade Fitz was named as the state champion in Nursery Operations proficiency awards.  Duke received a WLC scholarship.

On Friday, the Shattuck FFA hosted a meet-and-greet with the Dean of Oklahoma State University college of Ag AND the head of the Okie State Vet Med School.  We took care of the venue and prepared the lunch.  The crew at Ellis County Animal Hospital made this happen and asked for our help.  Yes….but….

We were at the State FFA Convention until early Thursday morning.  Then the music department was competing at Tri-State in Enid.  And then, the softball team was in the state tournament working on winning their 3rd straight state softball championship.

And then the baseball boys were playing in the state baseball tournament for the first time in 24 years.  Shattuck has played good baseball but they are in a class that is dominated by schools that do not play football.  These schools play fall and spring baseball.  In the fall, Shattuck wins state football championships.  They had not made it to the state tourney in a while.  However, in the years of ’92, ’93 and ’94 Shattuck went back-to back-to back.  No, I am too old to be on those teams.  But, middle brother Jake Kelln was the anchor of those teams.

So, it was basically a busy week in Shattuck America.  Throw in some greenhouse sales.

The Friday event was top shelf.  SNB bank provided us their Traeger cooker on wheels.  Venture foods hooked us up with all we needed.  Gusto’s made the cakes.  Good turnout and a cool event for our kids.  We did have to send a girl home early.  Why?  Her OYE class winning Hereford heifer was starting to calve.  A cell phone video of the birthing and then a cool pic of the heifer calf standing in front of momma reminds me why we do what we do.  Cool pics.

Saturday found me hosting some livestock professionals from NE OK.  I sold a couple of wethers too cheap but I love dealing with true livestock people.  Devin Delozier and Shane Johnson are wicked good ag teachers and I get in a good mood when there is no wind, shining sun and a chance to talk stock.  I then went and opened up the greenhouse for a bit.  An 8th grade student and his family showed up to buy veggies.  60 plus veggie plants plus sweet potato vines and hanging baskets.  I see a lot of Fridays at the local farmers market for this kid as he peddles his products.  He might have had the grand watermelon and reserve grand overall veggie at the State Fair of OK this past fall.

Duke and I moved some goats around.  Mini herfs are being watched.  We chiseled up some ground that was grazed out.  I love farming!

Saturday night found the Dragon Lady and I near Aline, OK at Brady Thomas’ 30th birthday party.  Off the hook.  Fred Slater was there and in prime form.  Brady and his family are the kind that just put everybody in a good humor.  Good, NO, GREAT people.  I love telling stories about Brady and his parents.  Good, good, good people.

I laughed so hard that I cried.  Mason Ryel told stories that spanned from the early 90s and involved livestock greats such as Randy Nation, Larry Moore, Randy Pullan, Bob Listen and Tim Herren.  I laughed a lot.  And then he told a story about getting in a fight with a dude that had a stump for an arm.  People, I cried laughing at this ass beating that he took from a one- armed guy.  “Dude, you ain’t been hit in the face until a guy with a stump pokes you right in the nose.”   Great night with even better people.

And then Sunday found me actually taking care of crap around paradise.  At one point, I was moving some panels on the west side of the big machine shed.  I noticed some red ants moving around a den.  I thought to myself, “There ought to be a horny toad nearby.”  Moments later, as I was moving a panel, I saw a horny toad.  The first one this year.  Duke and I like horny toads.  He has given a speech about horny toads.  He has won some contests, BUT he doesn’t try to win.  He is a good public speaker but he doesn’t want to be.  Oh well!

I then came back for another panel.  I was standing in the exact same spot as I was when I spotted the horny toad.  I was on the phone with Brandon the Bruce when I heard a buzzing.  Then the buzzing hit me right in the fat roll on my left side.  No, I was not wearing a shirt.  It was a hummingbird.  Cool!  I’m so sweet that a humming bird hit me up.

I then came back for a third panel when a small dust devil started right at the cement deer and headed south right past me.  I stood there, same spot as before and watched this little twister move down the weed row to the south.  It was at this point that I realized I was witnessing some kind of mystical stuff.  Horny toad, hummingbird and dust devil.  I felt like I should smoke some peyote or something, burn some sagebrush and say some chants.  But, I found an ice chest instead.  And then chiseled up a small patch of shitty wheat ground.  Did I mention that I love farming?

And then, as I was doing chores, I caught a second horny toad.  I doubt that I go buy a lottery ticket but I do feel lucky.  Speaking of cool stuff, the Dragon Lady and I did watch the Kentucky Derby.  That horse ran a clean race.  One of these days….

It is amazing how good things get when the wind isn’t blowing.  Peace of mind.  Now, I am at my desk, writing bill checks and typing this crap while eating a Charlie’s cheeseburger and tots.  Dude, it could be worse.  Have a good one and a better tomorrow.

Basically, if you give me just a bit of time, thoughts go rolling through my skull.  And since I am rather thick headed (thanks to paternal genetics), some thoughts just keep bouncing off the inside of my skull.

“I’m your huckleberry.”  I love that movie.  I never saw it in a movie theater, even though it is right in my age genre.  But I thoroughly enjoy watching the movie “Tombstone”.  It is a movie that Duke and I can watch together.   And it turns into a history lesson or a current events homework.  How?  Here you go.

Billy Zane– an actor.  He is an actor in Tombstone.  He has also played in numerous other movies.  Maybe even in one of the biggest movies of all time.

Val Kilmer–it is hard for kids like Duke to understand how big of a star Val Kilmer was back in the late 80s and early 90s.  I remember a cool flick called Real Genius.  Also Willow.  He was so big, they cast him as Batman.    Oh well.  However, his role as Doc Holliday is legendary.  Maybe, even historical.  Classic role.

Sam Elliott–he was recently in Oklahoma at the Cowboy Hall of Fame.  One of the great voices of all time.  The Sacketts to the Big Lebowski and my favorite role of his was in Road House and he will forever more be the voice of “Beef–It’s whats for dinner”.  At least in my mind.

Speaking of voices–the narrator for Tombstone is Robert Mitchum.  RUSM?!  They had Robert Mitchum do the narration but NOT play in the movie.

Charlton Hesston–he plays in the movie.  But, JEEMINY , this is the voice of Moses, played the iconic role of Ben-Hur as well as “Damn dirty apes.”   He was the voice and face of the NRA.  This guy was a man’s man for 50 plus years.  And he just had a side role in this flick as Charles Goodnight.

Now, the Dragon Lady and I have a daughter that can’t tell us what project that she is currently working on.  But, I do know that the director has history with some/or none/ or all of the characters of Tombstone.  I think that I will just sit here and shake my head.

I don’t want to buy any wethers.  I just want to show goats/stock and not worry about politics or dirty pool.  I want to have fun.  I want those that are playing kiss-ass games and dirty pool to……I want the kids to have fun while learning.  Basically, I need to go fishing.

Name a movie about ass-chewings.  Now, name a movie about a greenhouse.  And now, name a movie about myself getting an ass eating about a greenhouse being open for business.  Even though, we did not advertise that we would be open until next week.  But, I met a person there today.  Guess what they bought? Two sweet potato vine.  2.  The inside of my glasses was like a terminator, complete with info scrolling on the inside of the visual.

And now, refer to the topic actor.  Name a movie that was unsinkable, at the box office.  No, that director did not attend a college in Lawton…. but.

Some stories are just better than others.  The story of the bull Heat Wave is cool.  900 has a fun back story.  Of course, I like a good story.  I would like to tell a story or two on here about a thing or twelve, but I won’t.

A couple of years ago, a cool dude goat breeder in Nebraska called.  Ron Simonson hollered at me and said, “I need you to take care of a family.  They need to lease a buck or two.  Great people that want to do right and the kids are golden.”  He was right.  I have enjoyed dealing with this family.  Good people.

Tonight, Randy Kegley got me to answer the phone while I was out of the wind.  We talked about bucks, AIing does, etc. etc. etc.  After talking goats, he asked how my kids were doing and if my daughter was still in California.  “Yes, sir. She is still there.”

Randy then told me that his oldest was getting ready to start her career as an ag ed teacher in Nebraska.  Marissa–which is the owner of the goats is doing awesome in school and has her goals and sights set high.  And then he said, “Do you remember that my other daughter was applying to Stanford?”

I replied that I did remember.  I also remember thinking  “DANG! That will cost a pile of cash.”  He said, “She did get accepted and I am thankful for that.”

We talked about daughters in college.  I had to ask the obvious question, “What in the heck is this going to cost a year?”  He told me and I am pretty sure that there is a stain on our carport concrete where I crapped myself.  He went on to tell me how he was planning on making it work BUT….BUT….his daughter had written some reports, essays, financial deals…..AND….AND…..Stanford was making it work for them.

I got two things from this story.  One—Stanford obviously wants this girl as a student.  Two–It is cool to see that a farm kid with dreams still has a chance, regardless of $s.  And of course, three—It is fun to get to hear these kind of stories.

We have been busy the past few days.  We hauled several CDE teams to Stillwater for state contests.  One deal went good, just not as good as we hoped.  Another was good.  And the other, well, all 4 team members were 8th grade boys.  I like their future.  All of these kids were top notch.  I am honored to get to work with this caliber of students.

On this fine Sunday morning, I met 4 kids at the ag building so that we could head to OKC for the State FFA Choir.  Within minutes of leaving, one of the moms called.  She was on her way there.  Her son had just lost a grandpa.  No doubt that we waited.  I told the young man, “If you need to stay, it is not a problem.”  I loved it when he hugged his mom, turned and squared up to me and said, “Mr. Kelln, I’m going.  My grandpa would want me to do that.”

And in the Shattuck Schools calendar this week—the FFA has state convention, the choir has tri-state, the softball team is in the state tournament and the baseball team is in the state tournament.  Not room for much schooling but a lot of kids will be making memories.

And during all of this, Duke has a dang sure heifer bull that he raised.  He had a young heifer calve to him and all things went well.  Across the road, different bull and different cows, Tammy had a c-section on a mini herf heifer.  It’s not a cool thing when Duke’s calf may be smaller than the mini herf.  Duke’s deal is a hereford cross bull x red angus/charolais cow.

While Duke and I were gone this weekend, Tammy had John Q Kelln, Johnny File and John Rakestraw helping her with the mini herf ordeal.  One thing that we have around here is lots of good help.  And as a result, she has a live cow with a live calf.  But now I’m worried about the rest of these heifers.  It’s always something.

Taters and okra are in the ground–a month late.  If the wind wasn’t blowing 40 mph  then I might have chiseled some ground.  But NOPE!  Not today.

Peace out and good luck.

Opening day of the Shattuck FFA greenhouse was today.  It was packed FULL of green.  And we sold a pile.  It went really well. But, we’ve still got a lot.  We had a lot of customers from other towns.  I like it.  I am still learning about this side of agriculture but it is fun to see what is in demand and use some ideas to teach about value-added products.  You know something is going right when the kids are buying the projects before the sale.

Some boys finished up welding some projects to take to a local consignment auction.

Getting ready to head to state CDE contests this weekend.

I see that there was a buck sale tonight.  I didn’t mean to miss it but I was dealing with goat related problems.  Which does NOT mean that I didn’t buy anything.

My favorite son has hit a road bump or twelve during the past month.  He hasn’t been capable of doing much right.  Therefore, I had grounded him from driving.  Wednesday was the first day that I let him have the keys again.  And guess what, I now get to pay a deductible and get a pickup repaired.  Nobody was hurt, but dang it still pisses a dad smooth off.

The insurance agent that called from “corporate” had questions.   “Sir, how long has this child lived with you?”

I replied, “Since he was hatched.”  She actually laughed and then asked, “So, he lives with you?”

“Yes.  But ma’am, if you’ve have ever had a teenage son, then you know that there are definitely times that you would like him to live elsewhere.” , said ME!

One thing about a teenage son that knows that he is in trouble, some work gets done around the place.  Barns are clean.  And a bonus of his being grounded–I haven’t had a big fuel bill to pay at the local quick stop.

Banners & Backdrops this weekend.  Sounds like a really good line up of goats that will be there.

We hauled 11 kids to the NW area speech contest in Enid on Wednesday.  Tough contest.  And since Enid is a short distance to Garber, I thought that I better to talk to Schoovy about these bucks that they are selling.

Lot 1 is a goat that sold intact as a baby.  He was originally bought to be a wether, but he just kept looking more and more like a power buck.  And that is what he is.  WIDE chested, big ribbed, wide based, big  back and ass.  He could be a bit longer bodied and hipped but this one will change those pretty does that need more crap to them.  Basically, he is a chunk of meat and muscle on a square skeleton.  Good goat.

Lot 2 is a changer.  Massive chest, ribcage, bone and ass.  Scary square rack and wicked big center rib.  Good hip and big footed while still being cool made.  This one is fun to get your hands on and cool to watch move around the pen.

Lot 3  is cool made with a round ribcage.  He is deadly looking from the side profile but still has mass and muscle.  Big, wide loin.  Not as massive in rack shape as the other two but still very good.

They needed the pics up last week in order to give people a chance to get there and see these in person.  Outstanding trio of bucks that are capable of working in any program.  This lot 2 will be one of the better bucks that sell this year.

And speaking of bucks, Pullan is selling a dang good one this saturday at Banners and Backdrops.  Pics of him are on Facebook.  He handles as cool as he looks.

Things that can flat out piss me off include when I start bidding on something, try to remember what website I am on, which login do I use, oh crap…which password do I use for this site, re-enter password, now remember correct password and enter that one, logged in, enter the amount, submit bid, are you sure that you want to bid this amount, click yes AND then, you have been outbid.  Another bidder has submitted a max bid and your bid did not meet the minimum.  WHAT??!!

At this point, I could throat punch somebody.  So I take my anger out on the computer mouse.  Type new amount, angrily click, CRAP, same message, new higher amount, really CRAP, new now higher amount, SOB!!!!!!!!!! This continues until I get the high bid.  AND I am now $50 past where I wanted to be in the end.  But I won.  Screw that max bid crap.  I WON!  Or did I?

There is something about that max bid deal that sets me on fire.  I have to see where they maxed out, why did they set it that way, click, click.  I got the stock that I wanted.  I ended up the “winning” bidder.  I now have to make arrangements to get this wether delivered to me.  Oh, did I mention that it is a wether sheep?  The life of an ag teacher.

Duke and I had a six hour round trip drive in order to get lunch on this fine Sunday.  We took 3 head of bucks to Fletcher, OK.  Why Fletcher?  Because the most influential man in the livestock industry has a drop off point there…at his wife’s house.  Who?  What?

Yes, we met up with Bob May. Yes, that Bob May.  I first met him in a parking lot at OYE in like 2006.  Vince McGolden had hooked us up with him.  Now, nobody can sell stock unless it times with Bob’s travels from northern California to the Midwest and back.  This is the most connected dude in the industry.  And he is a real person that thinks like a real person…even though he is from California.  I don’t see Bob very often.  We text on occasion.  But I am always in a good mood around him.  I couldn’t make connections with him on Friday evening, so I told him.  I will get these bucks to you at Fletcher.  He replied, “Good, we’ll go eat Mexican.”  And that we did.  It was very good food in Elgin.  Of course, we had to enter the restaurant from the alley.  The Bob door as he put it.  This was a nice establishment that actually has a storefront and front door.  We just didn’t use that part.

On Saturday night, I told Duke that I was going to drop bucks off with Bob on Sunday.  “Do you want to go?” His reply, “I think that I want to go.”  Now, he is glad that he went.  Why?  At one point, Duke wiped tears from his eyes.  The rest of the time, he was laughing.

We discussed electronic logging devices, Toy Story, the goat industry, insurance, hauling white buffaloes, showing stock, cops, bucket lists (yaks), etc, etc, etc.  Doe goats with knitted ear muffs.  I saw pictures.

Noah came up in the discussion.  What?  Yes, Noah.  I asked him about a deal several years ago.  Bob’s pickup had broke down and he

So couldn’t get to a pickup destination until the Monday after.  I had a doe goat, another doe was there for him, 2 sheep and a Berk gilt.  He asked if I could get that stock near I35.  I said that I could but there wasn’t any dividers in the box.   He said not to worry about it.  Actually, he said, ” Listen up you mouthy little bastard, I do this for a living.  Trust me.  I’m right.”  I did as told, and you know what, sheep, goats and pigs can all live in harmony together.  Maybe us humans need to take note.

Now back to the bible according to Bob and the question of mixing species.  This obviously wasn’t the first time somebody had asked this question.  In Bob’s words (minus one or twelve F bombs)  “Do you think that when it was raining for 40 days and 40 nights that Noah and his sons built individual pens inside the ark?  Hell no!  They herded that stock onto the ark 2 by 2 in a hurry. I mean they were pushing that stock to get their asses onto that boat.  Maybe even 3 by 3 for all we know.  There are probably species missing that we don’t even know about that got on that ark but didn’t come off of it because some lions got hungry while on that big boat.”  Duke was in tears at this point.  I will never be able to hear rain without thinking about lions on the ark.  It’s so simple but classic.

I have more stories from today but they pale in comparison.  There are very few people that can say that they were the founding father of an industry.  Bob May is THE founding father of hauling stock.  He is a livestock person and therefore knows how to feed, water and doctor the stock as need be.  We left on the note that “Duke needs to go on a trip with me from Indy to California.  Of course, he will probably end up shell shocked.”  I replied, “No, that kid grew up around Poe, Milligan, Schoovy, BK and myself.  I’m real sure that he won’t be shell-shocked.”  I’m also real sure that Duke would hit the road right now.  And in conclusion, I’m telling you that we had a wicked fun lunch on this fine Sunday.

So here’s to a happy today and a better tomorrow.

I have had my faith shaken really bad over the past few years.  Not my faith in GOD, (NEVER) but my faith in the jr. livestock show program.  I’ve been led behind the curtain and didn’t like what I saw.  However, there have been moments lately that give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about the industry as a whole that makes me happy to be a part of it.

To start with, I spent this wet (YES!) saturday on the road with a dad and a student.  We started the day eating breakfast at the PollyAnna Cafe in Woodward (YES!).  Then we ventured out to pickup a lamb (yes, a lamb) for a student.  Rodney Washmon is a damn good hand with these show lambs.  And these kids of his can flat ass outwork and out show most.  And these kids are fun.  Washmon was doing me and more importantly a student a favor in order to get a top shelf sheep for reasonable money.  The breeder was great to deal with as well.  We then stopped at another big name farm.  Great FFA/stock show family.  I left there the first time today, really liking what we had gotten done there.  Then, we got a call to come back.  And I REALLY liked what happened then.  All involved in this paragraph are stock show junkies that like to see hard working kids have a chance.  Dollars were left on the table compared to an auction, but it is fun to see breeders make sure good stock end up in the hands of great kids.  It is a great practice that pays off for all involved.

Then, I got home and dealt with ear tagging, vaccinating and horn burning.  Not fun, but it went well.

And now, I am inside, checking this book of faces when I see that a bonafide good one is having a birthday.  It is a known fact that I put more value on the kid than I do the animal.  Here’s the story.

At the 2014 Tulsa show, I was in a foul mood.  At least that is my excuse for my mistake with this kid.  I was standing near the show ring talking.  In front of me was a great kid that was in junior college at the time.  He was watching his sister show.  I wanted to know what the goat was that she was showing.  So, I hollered at him.  “Hey Kody!”

He didn’t turn around and acknowledge me.  So, I said LOUDER “Hey, Kody!”  He kind of turned and looked, like Who.I.T.H.?! are you talking to?  But, he acted like I was talking to somebody else.  So…..

I now said, “Damn, Dietz!”  He turned around and squared up to me like WTF?! Dude!

Schneberger was standing next to me, now laughing like a hyena that enjoyed getting kicked in the nuts.  “Why are you calling him Kody?”

What? When?  Oh hell!   I don’t know.  I’m a dumbass. RUSM?!

For some reason, I had it in my head that Kory Dietz was Kody…..not Kory.  That deal has haunted me for years.  I can’t explain how I screwed that name up.  It isn’t like me to screw up a name.  Especially a kid that I have known for years.

Let me fill in the blanks.  Kory Dietz grew up in Alva.  He wasn’t a known stock show kid when he was younger.  He was THAT kid that followed Mr. Staats and Mr. Nation anywhere that they would take him.  He bought cheap goats and made them good, real good.  He was an addict to studying livestock.  Nation scooped Dietz up into the livestock judging contests.  And they won.  Won state titles, then went to some national contests then went and judged overseas.  They won a lot.  This kid has an eye for stock.

Staats moved to the state office so then Lastly started hauling Dietz around showing does.  That pair was doing WAY good together.  But Jon then moved to Georgia.  This left Dietz with some dang nice does.  He needed some help and a buck to use.  Poe Cat and Dietz started showing goats together.  This pair worked well together.  Are you noticing a trend?  Everybody that deals with Dietz has a good run.

Poe bought a cheap, skinny goat from me one summer.  It was the classic “Hey, what do you want for that skinny bastard?”

My reply, “Dang.  That’s out of a wicked good doe that had triplets.  He’s just skinny.  Who is it for?”  Poe replied, “Ah heck, that Dietz boy needs one that will feed.”  My reply, “What do you have to spend?”   He replied, “Not much, but I got it in cash.”  Done.  Well, Kory took that little, skinny goat and cashed a few checks.  He ended up reserve grand at Woodward District (behind Bree and right ahead of Duke) and then made the sale at OYE.  The next year, I let Kory and Bree Taylor have pick of the wethers at our place.  Kory won a class at OYE with his goat.

Now, Kory is getting ready to graduate the great college in Stillwater–OSU.  He has helped his sister to success.  He has raised good goats.  He still helps Poe, goes to Georgia to help Lastly and follows good livestock.  And he is literally, the story of why livestock exhibition is a great thing.  His parents have been very involved and are great to be around at shows.  GREAT people!  And to this day, it still pisses me off at myself that I called him Kody.  One of my few regrets!  To this day, I truly cannot explain my mistake that day.  I can blame it on the fact that I normally called him Dietz.  But I screwed up and it burns my ass.

So, when I saw on the socially transmitted disease known as Facebook that Kory Dietz was having a birthday, I had to text him “Hey Kody!  Kody!  Hey Kody, tell Kory Dietz happy birthday!”  And he replied in appropriate fashion–better than I would have.

Basically, it was good to see that it rained more on the burnt areas of NW OK.  Thank GOD!  I saw some good livestock today.  Dealt with some even better people.  Got in a better mood.  Was reminded of one of my biggest mistakes.  Remembered why we do what we do.  Happy birthday to Kory Dietz.  And all of those like him that bring the positives of livestock showing to the forefront.  We can get caught up in the dollars, the politics, theBS or whatever.  But in the end, it all comes back to the basics.  A kid, now adult, like Kory Dietz is EXACTLY what the stock show program is about.  Oh, and I have met his girl.  I will gladly speak for Staats, Nation, Poe and myself and allow that this kid is following suit and is looking to do as we all did and improve the gene pool by marrying higher quality.

Everyone of us in this industry needs to step back, realize the true value of a dollar and remember why it is what we do.  I’ve been guilty.  We all have.  We need to celebrate success stories and condemn wrong doings.  We don’t need crooks and lawyers.  We need success stories and yet we have plenty of these happy stories amongst us.  Regardless of their name.  Kody or Kory.  They are right there in front of us.

p.s.  Yes, this is one of the few times that I have admitted that I was a not smart person.

p.s.s.  And for those of you that text wanting to know when I was going to write some stuff….here you go.

The skies finally opened up on Friday night.  It wasn’t the amounts that the weather people were calling for, but it was rain.  We had just about 1″ in the gauge.  It’s a start and we will take it.  I pray that it is enough to let the healing begin on the burnt areas.  And I also pray that it is enough to prime the pump and keep some more rain coming this way in order to break this drought.