Nov. 10, 2003
Today is the birthday of the USMC, and once again I am watching the sun come up over the bluffs on the East side of the Cheyenne River. Over the past month or so the sun's point of arrival has moved south, and now I can see it with a glance up rather than a turn of my head to the left. I am always a little perplexed when it comes to fixed compass directions in relation to the rising and the setting of the sun. In reference to the sun, East is a relative term; it's either a little more southerly or a little more northerly (right now it is a little more southerly); so in general it's over there inside the arc of a waving arm. Now if you really want to find directions, you wait until night and a clear sky and locate Polaris, the North Star. Then you can mark where it was and wait for the dawn, and 90° to the right of North, you should be able to locate East, roughly over there within the arc of a waving arm. That knowledge and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee if you happen to be in the right place.
The U. S. Marine Corps celebrates its birthday any where in the world where there is a marine. There is as much of a celebratory meal and a piece of cake as is possible for every marine, even if it is in a hole, in a bunker, a streambed, or somewhere on board ship, anywhere. It may be that that you would have to wait until you were not on duty, on guard, or in a quiet moment, but even if the meal was cold and the cake was a pound cake out of a C-Ration can (I can't imagine an MRE pound cake), you would share a special day with your marine brothers and sisters. You would know that they were there with Semper Fi in their hearts.
And that is similar to the way the members of this ranch feel. The work is as a unit, and all of us do all of it. The philosophical goal of the ranch is held in common: the raising of freerange, grass-fed buffalo and the restoration of the prairie to the most natural state possible. We dream big; we work hard; we have a sense of sharing, of teamwork; and on January 3rd I will celebrate the anniversary of my first year on the Cheyenne River Ranch. I'm not sure where I will be on that day or what I will be doing, but I expect to be on the ranch, and I will celebrate; and whoever is here, if anyone, will be invited to share in that celebration, however meager it may be, with me. At that time I will salute everyone who is a member of the wildideabuffalo company, who shares in the buffalo meat we produce, who is interested in his or her own health and the health of the Great Plains. To you I will raise my cup in health: Semper Fi, my friends. It will be a very good sunrise.
Today is the birthday of the USMC, and once again I am watching the sun come up over the bluffs on the East side of the Cheyenne River. Over the past month or so the sun's point of arrival has moved south, and now I can see it with a glance up rather than a turn of my head to the left. I am always a little perplexed when it comes to fixed compass directions in relation to the rising and the setting of the sun. In reference to the sun, East is a relative term; it's either a little more southerly or a little more northerly (right now it is a little more southerly); so in general it's over there inside the arc of a waving arm. Now if you really want to find directions, you wait until night and a clear sky and locate Polaris, the North Star. Then you can mark where it was and wait for the dawn, and 90° to the right of North, you should be able to locate East, roughly over there within the arc of a waving arm. That knowledge and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee if you happen to be in the right place.
The U. S. Marine Corps celebrates its birthday any where in the world where there is a marine. There is as much of a celebratory meal and a piece of cake as is possible for every marine, even if it is in a hole, in a bunker, a streambed, or somewhere on board ship, anywhere. It may be that that you would have to wait until you were not on duty, on guard, or in a quiet moment, but even if the meal was cold and the cake was a pound cake out of a C-Ration can (I can't imagine an MRE pound cake), you would share a special day with your marine brothers and sisters. You would know that they were there with Semper Fi in their hearts.
And that is similar to the way the members of this ranch feel. The work is as a unit, and all of us do all of it. The philosophical goal of the ranch is held in common: the raising of freerange, grass-fed buffalo and the restoration of the prairie to the most natural state possible. We dream big; we work hard; we have a sense of sharing, of teamwork; and on January 3rd I will celebrate the anniversary of my first year on the Cheyenne River Ranch. I'm not sure where I will be on that day or what I will be doing, but I expect to be on the ranch, and I will celebrate; and whoever is here, if anyone, will be invited to share in that celebration, however meager it may be, with me. At that time I will salute everyone who is a member of the wildideabuffalo company, who shares in the buffalo meat we produce, who is interested in his or her own health and the health of the Great Plains. To you I will raise my cup in health: Semper Fi, my friends. It will be a very good sunrise.
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