Talmage Mission

Good Morning! Remember how that 10 foot post smacked me in the face? This past week all things wooden were my bane. I walked my face into an H-brace, cracked a rake handle across my forehead like they do in cartoons, fixed a shattered fence post, smashed my foot under that same broken post, almost took down a 50 foot tall tree with my bare hands (and grandpa), tore my jeans to shreds (via barbed wire, which I was attaching to a post), and successfully developed heat exhaustion. This isn't complaining, just stating my accomplishments. Needless to say, it has been a very eventful week. My grandparents abandoned us after two weeks of suffering at our ranch . . . I'd say their feeling was warranted. I've loved having them around, especially because it's likely the last time I'll see them for at least another two years. Earlier this week I found a certain playlist of my music that threw me back a few years. It's interesting to think retrospectively about your own lif...

Good Morning! The weather is getting warmer, as much as Texas will permit, This has signalled all the local wildlife that it's time to leave their homes and invade our space on the ranch. Aside from the ever-present buffalo and the new dogs, I've seen evidence of a number of other animals. I saw a butterfly and a caterpillar, two field mice that bounded away immediately, another pocket gopher (the mysterious rodent from a few emails back), a couple different lizards, and some new birds sticking around our bison. My dad called them flycatchers, I'm just happy to witness large herbivore/small bird symbiosis in person. Yes, I've been at the ranch every day this past week. The experience is good for me, and it's important to help my family, but I'm sore. My goodness. Since my grandparents are the helpful kind of folk, their arrival has doubled my time at Blackacre Ranch. I've helped demolish one derelict sunroom, three different carport roofings, and a garage ov...

Good Morning! Monday evening I had the opportunity to attend a lesson with our local missionaries. It was a fun reminder of what missionary lessons are like, though we held it in a park, when the weather was like 40 degrees. And I forgot a sweater, but it's fine. Not many unusual or exciting things happened. We're still working with the buffalo, but we found some new friends for them.  We now have two new ranch dogs, both are Great Pyrenees, and are super white and fluffy! The older one is a boy, he's just shy of two years, and we named him Mr. Darcy. Lizzy is the girl, she's just a puppy, and a little more energetic. Both are super lazy, so they'll follow you and then sit down, and they don't bark at everything that moves. We keep them near the buffalo, so far both sides seem okay with the other. Loud, energetic dogs are bad to have around buffalo because they resemble wolves and the buffalo don't like that. It makes things harder, which is why we like our ...

Good Morning! I love writing these emails. Partly because I get to bug everyone and hear their comments on my thoughts, and partly because it's a joy to write. Writing to me is a way to immerse myself in another world, assemble my thoughts, and explore creative solutions and challenges that allow layered characters to grow and become more than what they could be. Reading is very similar, only I'm not the one in control. This helps me learn from and enjoy another's creative process and work.  Have you ever made a friend astonishingly quickly? I was invited to attend a locally performed play, titled "The Play That Goes Wrong." This proved to be one of the funniest performances I've seen, theatrical or through a screen. Yet, after the evening I was left with a new friend, one who shares many of my views on reading and writing. I'm enjoying having a good friend to talk to about books, and all things writer. A quick thought I'll mention is that my heart goe...