Hat Tips

Hello,

It’s cold. But it’s been colder. I’m willing to bet that you won’t find a farmer or rancher who would hesitate to tell you that this cold spell is nothing like the ones we’ve weathered in the past. But we dang sure got spoiled by the winter so far. And those forty below wind chills seem colder because of those nice days. I’m taking off for a cattle sale for a couple days and I dang sure hope Shirley doesn’t freeze her face while doing chores.

Now, I know many of you watch the news. And I also know that many of you don’t watch the news. I’m good for about an hour in the morning, then I tire of it. It can be really depressing.

But this past week, I did hear a story that really brightened my day.

It seems there was this young rancher up in McKenzie County. To not embarrass him, I will just call him Ole. Ole wasn’t really a young rancher. He was a middle-aged rancher, but everyone considered him young because he lived with his aging father. His father had called the shots for Ole’s entire life and he had just grown to accept this as his fate.

I know you’ve all heard of the Bakken. That ocean of oil that is trapped in the Bakken formation a couple miles beneath the surface of the earth. If you own the minerals in the area of the Bakken formation, chances are you are, or will become, wealthy.

After scraping out a living for nearly ninety years, Ole’s dad was nearing the end of his time on earth. Where he would go from here, no one knew, but Ole was pretty sure that “Whether I go to Heaven or Hell, I betcha I know someone at either place!” A fine attitude to have.

The week Ole’s dad went into the hospital and was diagnosed with terminal cancer, they hit a Bakken gusher on his land. One of the biggest and richest wells that North Dakota had ever seen. But he only had a couple months to live and would never see a dime of it.

Ole was distressed to be on the verge of losing his dad and partner. He would be living alone on the homestead. Something he had never done and it frightened him. He would have to find a partner.

So he signed up on an online dating service. I guess lots of people do this. And they have wonderful success. At least according to their ads. But that’s another story.

He met this lovely lady who was enthralled with Ole and his story. He told her of his dad in the “home” and of the tremendous wealth that would be coming their way in the next few months. He took “lovely” in to meet his Dad.

Three days later, Ole had breakfast with his “lovely” stepmother.

See, some good news.

Later, Dean