Owning a Ranch

By Bob Funk, Sr.

It’s difficult to describe all of the best things about owning a ranch – maybe it’s watching the cowboys ride herd, maybe it’s watching the wildlife foraging and enjoying the fruits of God’s creation, maybe it’s the sunsets. Perhaps it’s the opportunity for a quiet walk alone or an impromptu ranch tour with a treasured friend.

For me, it’s the little things: It’s looking out across the Aspen as they turn that stunningly vibrant yellow color in the fall. It’s watching a flock of turkeys and their young pecking through the pine needles for seeds in the spring. It’s watching a cowboy coming in from a morning of pulling calves and knowing the Angus cattle are healthy, safe and comfortable.

As winter gives way to spring, baby calves run and buck through the field, their tails raised up like a flag. A new hay crop grows at a pace I can almost see. The long days of summer produce as many positive memories as the alpine flowers that dot the fields. For the best visual and audible show on the New Mexico ranch, find a quiet

place to take in the snow melting off the high country and settling into little streamlets weaving down the mountain.

As I approach my 82nd year on this beautiful earth, it truly is the simplest things - on the ranch and in life itself - that bring smiles, reflection and sincere gratefulness. As I love sharing these stories with my fantastic family, good friends and special colleagues, please know I love you and wish God’s blessings on

you, your loved ones, your work and your ranch.