The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

Well, spring is here, supposedly everyone’s favorite time of the year, with the exception of skiers for obvious reasons and those who yearn for fall so they can rake leaves. I am not a member of e...

Sue is always trying to add variety to our meals. Since we both have worked out of our home offices the entire thirty-five years of our marriage, this is a very good thing. “Eating out” is a lux...

We take pride, here on the Hodgson Ranch, in staying as old fashioned as possible. Our cattle are gathered and worked horseback, no four wheelers or other motorized devices allowed. In spite of our...

You gotta be kidding? That is my standard response to all the suggestions floating around out there about how I should be spending my “Stay At Home” time. Seems everyone has an opinion and you kno...

There is one irony of life that has frustrated and fascinated me as long as I can remember. We are all put on this earth with the same basic skills. We walk, talk, throw rocks, break things and fix th...

I guess I must be pretty easy to entertain. Most of my early morning coffee and quiet times are spent reading headlines from online newspapers. Headlines only because they want to charge me to read...

Regular “Under The Wire” readers know I often compare human and bovine intelligence with the latter consistently coming out the winner. Today’s column once again points out how far ahead cows are o...

Talk about close calls! I just had one. It was so close, just the thought of it gives me chills. “what,” you may ask, “was so memorably awful?” I’m going to begin writing very slowly and carefully...

You may have heard of the Midas Touch. It does not refer to mufflers, rather the fable of a man whose touch turned everything into gold. Lesser known is another fable I created to describe my luck at...

I’ll never have to make up stories as long as I have friends. My friend received a card in the mail last month asking if he would participate in a survey evaluating new pickups. They offered to pay hi...

If you have spent the past three months stranded half way between Jeffry City and Mayoworth, Wyo., you probably haven’t heard about stimulus dollars flowing into just about every citizen’s bank acc...

Recently, it was pointed out I exhibit prejudice in my stories. Sadly, I had to agree. Looking back at past columns, a pattern of blatant prejudice is evident. Before you call the Civil Liberties...

Many years ago I attended a small, two room school about four miles from our ranch house. We didn’t have many neighbors so two rooms was enough for the eight or 10 kids spread out over four or five g...

You have no doubt noticed that I write about the funny things that happen to me. It’s easy to do because I don’t have to make anything up and who would know more about it than me? I was there. Eve...

Everywhere I turn, I have heard a lot about the wonder of technology. It has worked itself into our lives, like it or not. Ironically, agriculture, usually one of the last bastions to resist change,...

Well, Thanksgiving is over, didn’t get around to writing about it, mostly because I ate too much and slept through most of it. I’m sure you didn’t have that same problem. However, with that behin...

I guess you could say I have been “flipped off.” Now, depending on how your mind works, you may think Sue popped the clutch on the pickup while I was feeding off the flatbed. Some might assume thi...

Well, winter is here. I said I could hardly wait for it to get here. Boy, was that a stupid thing to say. I have to wonder just what was I thinking of. I do, however know what I was not thinking of. I...

I just realized Fall and Winter are when I truly enjoy rodeoing the most. “What’s that?” you say. How can I enjoy rodeoing in our region in the fall and winter? There are no rodeos then. You’r...

Thanksgiving is coming up soon. I’m not sure if it is a national tradition to use the occasion to stop for a moment and think of the things we are thankful for or not. At our house, however, t...

Partnerships. I will be the first to admit this is a strange title for an “Under The Wire.” Truth of the matter is, for some reason this morning while driving across our Sandhills pasture this sub...

This story is very hard to write because I am, in a way, having to retract a statement I have made quite often the past few months. Even worse I must “throw in the towel," “wave the white flag” and a...

Once again, winter looms ahead. That means it’s time to switch from straw to felt hats, “T” shirts to long sleeves and jackets and for a cowboy, the most difficult change of all. Fall means it’s...

The shiny new four wheel drive pickup rolled into the yard. As Rancher Smith walked up to the driver’s side window he was greeted by a big jovial smiling face. “Howdy, I’m your new neighbor across the...

I have never considered myself a superstitious person, in fact I have made fun of friends who believed in any type of that behavior. I will admit, however, if it is genetically heritable, I may have...