Articles

AMY KIRK: Husband is a regular Cowboy MacGyver

If you’ve ever watched the hit TV show “MacGuyver” from the 1980s and early ’90s, then you have a good idea of what my husband is like — a handsome guy.

AMY KIRK: Demanding ranch tasks lead to ‘job security’

It’s highly unlikely that I will ever find myself out of work. My chances of getting fired or let go are slim. Trust me, I’ve tried.

AMY KIRK: Marriage happy when wife has problems for husband to fix

I’m a creative person, and I enjoy putting my creativity to work for my husband. As his supportive spouse, it’s my job to be encouraging and helpful.

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AMY KIRK: Ranch kids get creative when there's no TV

Hauling garbage? No need for a pick-up truck. I've got a miniature bicycle and a rope.

Hooded sweatshirt the unofficial state uniform

I couldn’t survive South Dakota, winter, fall, our shortlived springs, Black Hills summer nights and calving season without hooded sweatshirts. I wear them 320 days a year.
I want to clarify that I don’t wear “hoodies.” A hooded sweatshirt is an amped-up garment that is too gritty to be called by a sissy name. We’re talking the brute of work wear here!

Why guys talk about the weather

Men talk about the weather because it serves as a flotation device any time a man’s floundering for something to say. Talking about the weather fills conversational voids.
When two men have nothing in common they can always rely on one back-up topic that any guy can comment on. Weather covers a multitude of differences between guys because all men can relate to this topic. Many a quiet man has overcome awkward moments by mentioning the weather.

Calving and childbirth: Not so different after all

The first few weeks of calving season are similar to having a baby for the obvious reason: it’s painful to go through. But there are other similarities between calving time and being a new parent:

• Amy's Ranch Slants

Dreams of easier life involve contraptions

Everyone has big dreams about what would make their life better. Similarly, my husband and I have a lot of little dreams like that.

• Amy's Ranch Slants

Education rally set Wednesday at Capitol

While a rally against proposed cuts in state aid to education is planned for Wednesday, the school day will continue as usual in Mitchell. That’s the view of Superintendent Joe Graves. “The way to stand up for education is to stand up in your classroom and teach,” Graves said. “The best thing for the kids is to sit down and learn.”
The South Dakota Education Association, an umbrella agency for local teachers’ unions, the Associated School Boards of South Dakota and the Stand Up for Education organization are organizing the rally.

Paying tribute to cows

I am grateful for cows. They provide many things for my family besides tasty beef and I feel they deserve a little praise.

• Amy's Ranch Slants

Columns

AMY KIRK: Hand over the hand-me-downs

More than once I have perused the women’s section of winter work wear at various farm and ranch stores, tried a pair on, convinced myself to buy them, then made the mistake of looking at the price tag.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: The science behind baby calves

Calving is the one time I appreciate having suffered through high school biology class. Science and biology were never strong points for me in school but this time of year gets me all warm and fuzzy thinking about Punnett squares.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Reading ear tags

What looks like a 7 is a 2, what looks like an 8 is a 6, and 6’s look like 5’s.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Cows with an Attitude

I usually can’t remember calving details of every cow unless we’ve had a memorable relationship with them and even then I rarely remember them by their eartag numbers.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Sorting springers

The ranch task of sorting springers (cows that start showing early signs of calving) could be described as calving season “busy work” consisting of a time-consuming activity that involves sorting out cows that mislead livestock handlers into thinking the cows are going to have their calves soon.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Women key to the modern ranch

A depiction of a modern-day ranch just wouldn’t be complete or accurate without a determined woman in it.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Newborn calves are my heroes

I can’t imagine a tougher way to begin life than to be a calf. It takes so much effort for newborn calves to get across that rickety, iffy bridge of life and make it alive.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Mirages - Farmers often see things not there as calving season nears

It’s that time of year around here — that threshold to calving season when we frequently see ranch mirages in our pasture.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Checking Out the Ladies

There’s no other animal that gets looked at more than cows. Ranchers spend a lot of time analyzing the looks of their cows.

• Amy Kirk

AMY KIRK: Stages of an agventure for a woman on a ranch

Many of the ranch predicaments I encounter are the kind I do not have the mental capacity to solve. This is due to the biological fact that I was born with a woman’s mind.

• Amy Kirk