Eric T. Knight's Blog, page 30
August 25, 2015
Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Horrible nags
By the time I was older, around 10 or so, I was heartily sick of riding the nags we had at the ranch. Mom and Dad had good horses. My older sister, Kim, had a good horse, but I was still rotating between Lady (who, as I’ve mentioned before, was completely evil), Misty and Beauty. … Continue reading Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Horrible nags
Watching the End of the World – Chapter 4
Chapter Four In just a few minutes they were airborne, the jet banked and they flew east. Kelly and the male flight attendant came around a few minutes later with trays of champagne. The Indian woman shook her head when the champagne was offered. “Oh no, it’s much too early,” she said. “Only a bit … Continue reading Watching the End of the World – Chapter 4
August 21, 2015
Watching the End of the World – Chapter 3
Chapter Three A shuttle carried them out to a gleaming, expensive-looking jet. There were exclamations and a couple of high fives were exchanged. Nate had to admit that he was excited about the idea of riding on a private jet. He’d never even been this close to one before. A male flight attendant was standing … Continue reading Watching the End of the World – Chapter 3
August 18, 2015
Watching the End of the World – Chapter 2
Chapter Two The Day Before Nate Devereaux sat in a VIP lounge at Los Angeles International Airport and wondered if he’d killed his acting career before it ever really got started. He was a graduate of Julliard, a gifted actor with a promising future. He’d played Hamlet to a sold-out theater for two full weeks. … Continue reading Watching the End of the World – Chapter 2
August 16, 2015
Watching the End of the World – Chapter 1
Chapter One The jet lurched and started to lose altitude. Someone screamed. Nate heard someone saying “Ohshit ohshit ohshit” over and over again. The ground was coming up fast. The pilot was wrong. They didn’t have enough fuel to make it to Tanzania. Then, blessed miracle, the engines came back on and the jet leveled … Continue reading Watching the End of the World – Chapter 1
August 7, 2015
Tales from Date Creek Ranch – My little Short Stuff
The first calf I ever raised with a bottle was a little heifer. I was about nine or so and we were driving some cattle back to the corrals. As I recall, I was riding in the drags (that’s at the back of the herd) with Dad and there was this little red calf with … Continue reading Tales from Date Creek Ranch – My little Short Stuff
August 5, 2015
Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Junior the sadistic sheep
At one time or another, we raised all manner of animals on Date Creek Ranch. Chickens, ducks, geese, wild turkeys, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs. If Old MacDonald had it on his farm, at one time or another we had it too. This is about the time we raised a lamb. Sometimes, in the spring, when … Continue reading Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Junior the sadistic sheep
July 31, 2015
It’s the Great Pumpkin Conspiracy, Charlie Brown!
Have you ever noticed how every year about early October tons of pumpkin-flavored crap suddenly sprouts up everywhere? Pumpkin coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin beer, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin gasoline—the list goes on and on. And that stuff hangs around and hangs around—like that nasty carbuncle on your lip you just can’t get rid of—until after Christmas. (Tip: do … Continue reading It’s the Great Pumpkin Conspiracy, Charlie Brown!
July 23, 2015
Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Roundups – 3
Another major part of corral work was separating, or “cutting” the cattle. Yearlings and cows that were not producing were cut out to be shipped off and sold. Sometimes there were cows that were slated to be moved to a different pasture. Some cutting was done in the corrals from horseback, but cutting cattle on … Continue reading Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Roundups – 3
July 16, 2015
Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Roundups – 2
Once we got the cattle into the corrals, then the real fun began. And by fun I mean a couple days of hysterical bellowing. Oh, and I imagine the cattle were frightened too. The first thing we needed to do was separate, or “cut” the cows away from the calves. You had to do this … Continue reading Tales from Date Creek Ranch – Roundups – 2
