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My daughter, Sydney, and her High School friends wanted to rope in the local rodeos. I gave them some fencing materials, an old squeeze chute, and bought three roping steers. The rest was up to them. A day later and they are having fun. What better way for me to spend the afternoon. Watching my daughter and her friends have fun, outside in the sun. Since the roping arena is all set up, Sydney and her friends are going to let the guests have a try too. More fun!! |
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There is a great deal more to
Smiley, Texas than you might think.
Here is a photo I took this
morning at 7:03 AM, Tuesday 16 Feb 2010
I think it is time I write down
some of what I know ...
You are
welcome to e-mail me and ask questions....
Notice the "light" in the tower... it is NOT a light!! |
The huge Manford Feed Mill was one of eight chicken feed mills that existed in Smiley by 1950. Built during the Cold War, it was the largest construction project in the history of Smiley. I was starting 1st Grade in 1950. It did not take us kids long to learn the Manford Feed Mill was not exactly what it seemed. Festooned with antennas; every door locked or "casually" guarded; mysterious lights and noises. Strangers coming and going. Huge underground rooms and tunnels under the roads and (we heard) under local buildings w/concealed doors in floors and walls. Us kids, like cats, had curiosity!!! |
| At one time, the "Mill"
had a big high-gain directional
antenna on the tower pointing South. Every kid and adult in the area knew what it was pointing at.. HAUNTED MOUNTAIN!! |
Five(5) miles out of
Smiley is Rocky Mound (map name) or Haunted Mountain (local name).
See this Google Earth KMZ file. HAUNTED HILL.KMZ |
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Since I was a little
boy living on the ranch, the beautiful red Drummond Flox was the first
"Spring" flower to bloom. When I saw them in the pasture, Spring and fun
was not far away. The Flox bring memories of a 5 year old tow-headed boy,
his single shot .22 rifle, dog and horse out walking and exploring.
For the past 60 years the first Flox has happened in late February. To my surprise, on 15 January, not only a Flox but a butterfly. This is going to be an early and unusual Spring. |
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Oh, There are Voices of the Past Links of a Broken Chain Wings that Take Me Back To Times That Will Never Come Again ... |
"Fast" Lane kills his first buck on Saturday 12 December 2009. Fast Lane is the son of Sonny and Cindy!! An 8 point that will be good eating. |
"Fast" Lane is 14 years old. His mom and dad work on the ranch. He was so proud of his buck. |
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for guests who have never ridden a horse. (A joke, of course, this was a ... surprise, to say the least .. no one, on this ranch, will ride this horse again!!) |
Monday,
23 Nov 2009 - And the water receded and lo, the road appeared...
Now we
just need some guests driving on the road... LOL
24 hours later on Sunday |
1/2 mile of water - Saturday |
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 01
Oct 2009 - Clay's Horse - Martha Stewart -
BITTEN BY GIANT RATTLESNAKE - About
2130 hrs on Thursday, 1 October 2009, our German guest, Marc, and I had
been riding since late afternoon. It got dark about 2015 hrs and we were
riding back by moonlight. On the way back to the barn, my horse, Martha,
suddenly jumped and stumbled. We were only 200 meters from the barn, just
outside the yard fence. 30 seconds later, we arrived at the barn and Martha
could hardly walk. She was holding her right rear leg up under her and
leaning against the barn post. She was trembling and sweating. I thought
she had colic. Not a clue here. Sonny Guillory, who works for me, drove
up about that time to check on us. He told me it was not colic. Something
had happened to Martha's leg. Sonny looked at her leg and, by this time,
Martha was blazing hot, sweating, and having muscle spasms. Note that Martha
is a BIG horse, weighing over 1500 lbs. Sonny wrapped Martha's foot in
an ice pack and Cindy, who also works for me, sprayed her with water to
cool her. Fortunately, Sonny had a bottle of Dexamethazone, which is a
powerful steroid aid to shock, inflammation and and promotes healing. 5
cc of Dex and 25 cc of Penicillin and suddenly she was on her way to recovery.
The next day, Sonny examined the injury and found the fang marks were over
1 inch (2.54 cm) apart. This makes the snake over 6 feet long. Enough poison
to kill a normal person, not even to mention my daughter, Sydney, who weighs
95 lbs and walks in the woods in tennis shoes. In the 60 years I have been
walking and riding on this ranch, I have only seen about 20 rattlesnakes.
Oddly enough, Martha almost stepped on one about 2 weeks ago. She was walking
along a trail and it crawled out of the grass in front of her. I pulled
her to a stop before she stepped on it. Sonny killed it and we have the
rattles. That amounts to 10% of all the rattlesnakes I have ever seen on
the ranch in the wild, all in 2 weeks. They may have sensed we were about
to get some record rains and were all crawling and active. Usually a rattlesnake
can sense the footfall vibrations of horse and find another place to be
... quickly. And, sometimes, NOT. |
