Uncle

One day out of the blue the thought came to me "Uncle".  I had had enough, I wanted to cry Uncle. I looked up and told the Lord "Uncle".

For the longest time anytime we worked our cattle, which means pushing them through "their's" to get to the ranch, then they would call the sheriff to report us for cattle rustling.  They didn't gain anything from it. It ate ten minutes of our day. Just gets old. 

Then they got a false judgement that stated we weren't allowed on a state section. A county judge can't take a state right away from a state leasee. But judges from my view only know power and not the laws or constitution. So now the cattle rustling accusations have faded to the back ground and the trespassing accusations have ensued. 

They set a trap to lure us onto said section. Jesse went to gather personal belongings on that section. A deputy was dispatched. But no citation given. Jesse was threatened with arrest. So badly he wanted to be. It would force this boil to a head and we could push against this contention and release the puss. But Jesse was sent on his way.

Then Tom was on the section and a deputy was dispatched. Tom was cited for trespassing. Yes, we have a day set in front of a judge. 

We have been trying to fight against all this corruption but it takes a lot of paper filing, motions, waiting periods. But if you get cited it gets to a judge in less than thirty days. 

Thank you Anthony for being a diligent snitch and thank you Cody for having the Apache County sheriff on speed dial and big thanks to Chris in the ranch truck always following us in the distance.

Well before this blessed day could arrive the false trespassing order put on by a judge in Apache County was answered by the State Attorney General. 

It was all bologna. The top has spoken. The county can not take the right of a State Lessee away. Like our lawyer said, it is like you renting a house to someone but never giving them the keys. We still have to meet in front of a judge to get the county schooled.

My cry for Uncle was answered. We spent three days on the sacred section and not once got a call for trespassing. They got their letter in the mail. Blessed day.

But they have moved back to cattle rustling. Now to get the sheriff deptment to refer all these calls to the proper authorities. The state cattle inspectors. That will put egg on the face of those who call in false reports. But of course they know that, that is why they report it to the wrong agency. Think I will gather all the false reports and take them to the State myself.

I have learned it is better to cry Uncle to the right authority than wolf to the wrong one. 

Facing Forward

One of my first memories of ranch life is sitting in the cab of the truck with my mother.  A Well was down or in layman's terms, not working or simple terms, the damn thing wasn't pumping.
My mom would drive the truck forward as she watched in the mirrors for a signal to stop.  She was short in height but she must of been long in patience. She was constantly adjusting the mirrors to find who was to signal when to stop.  Well it wasn't that easy.  When to stop, When to back up. Slow down. Just a little more.  Don't move. Move.
The signaler wasn't designated.  Any of one of the men (Uncle Cap or my dad) could make a hand gesture and she had to catch the slightest movement out any one of the three mirrors in her view.
She was always moving the mirrors to find the men.  See they were always moving around to their advantage of pulling the sucker rod out, and attaching the heavy coupler to the next section, then driving the truck forward or back just a little more to lay the sucker rod aside and start pulling the next one from the hole.

It was a long day of driving forward to pull a section of sucker rod out, attach the coupler to the next section, taking the two sections apart, releasing the top coupler, driving backwards to switch the chains to the bottom coupler, taking the top coupler off, driving forward to pull up the next section of sucker rod only to now be on step one again. Thus she was always watching in her mirrors for signals from people that always moved out of the range of her sight.

Don't worry, if she missed the slight hand gesture both of those men could yell the demand in a loud booming voice that out weighed any noise that happened to accompany this delicate job.  Usually a curse word was attached to emphasize the importance of the tedious operation that was being performed.

This was like taking your small intestines slowly through your large intestines all the while trying to diagnose where the blockage is so they could correct why your not moving your product through your pipes.  The kicker was if they found the bent or broken rod only two or maybe three down you still had to pull them all out and replace the leathers. The leathers were the end of the line.  They get worn down with every pump of the sucker rod. It just proved safer to replace them.  Then you slowly put your small intestines back through your large intestines and hope it worked or you start all over. It is very time consuming and delicate.  The trick was not to make it worse than what your were trying to fix.

After it was all put back they would test it out by attaching the pump jack.  The pump jack was a heavy piece of equipment.   If you've ever seen a picture of the oil fields with that thing attached to the oil pipe that went up and down to move the sucker rod, that is what I am talking about. If the wind don't blow, the windmill don't pump.  So you had a pump jacks.  Now a days you have an electric pump at the bottom.  You don't depend on just wind.  You become god of the Well and dictate when you will have water.  But the job of pulling the well is even more delicate because you now have the electric cord running down the hole next to the pipes.  Kinda like a main artery that can burst if your not extra careful.  Not to many wells remain wind and electric.  Most times they pull the sucker rod out and go solar.  But for cloudy days you still need a generator.

But to get back to my story.  It was long day of pulling it and putting it back together.  They had this down to an almost science.  But I do remember having to pull it twice, once.  That is a feeling of despair. Coming back the next day and starting all over again. 

One time I remember driving out to the mill with my mom.  The mill needed pulling.  The men went out early to haul the tools out and get things ready.  One would have to climb up the windmill tower and attach a chain and pulley to the center. To that the coupler was attached to a chain and the first sucker rod.
We arrived and my mom started to back up the truck and center it to the windmill.  A big shout went out to turn around and drive in. Forward.

Not thinking anything my mom did just that.  They secured the chain to the front of the truck.  I think I witnessed a tear in my moms eye.  After all these years she could drive back and then forward, while keeping an eye on the men (not in the mirror).  This day hardly a word was spoken.  Before long she could out guess the next move and already be slowing down to where she needed to come to a stop.

For the longest time we have been adjusting our mirrors.  Looking at what was behind us. Glancing forward to make sure we were going in the right direction.  Making the same ole ruts.  Staying on course.  Keeping in line. But we have turned the truck around.  Now our view is clear.  Now we can start making the calls.

I don't know if the well will be fixed.  Having full view had no effect on the repair.  It just made it easier to endure. 

Instead of turning our cheek time and time again to keep up with the task.  We are now going to push back.  Our day of reckoning is here.  We have lived on the defense for too long.  If your a family member that hasn't unfriended me for being on the defense, I'll warn you you will not like what you see on offense.

The last thing our Lawyer said was "You may not get all you want but you will have at least pound of flesh".