Tuesday August 3, 2004

Over the past months I have written more about taking out old and putting in new fence than anybody ever thought to read. But, now the end of this Cheyenne River Ranch fencing project is drawing near. And, well, I hope one more article on the subject would not be amiss. We can actually see the end where the final post will go, where the last wire is to be stretched and the last staple hammered into place. And with the end in sight comes the reality that there will always be loose ends to tie up and that the job of fencing is never really over.

A few days ago came the welcome reprieve of the Granary Girls: the folk duo Patty Kakac and Jodi Ritter who had made plans to visit for part of a day. I met them in the driveway. We talked for a few minutes then piled into the pickup to tour part of the ranch and make a visit to the buffalo herd. Both of these women are country girls, so riding the ranch truck and working the gate latches were nothing new to them. The way we build our fence was, in part, new to them. But, what was really new was the proximity from which they were able to see/watch/observe the buffalo. And that is what we did until we began to run out of daylight.

With the sun setting behind us, we headed back to the ranch house to enjoy a beer. Dan and his brother Scott had arrived just in time for introductions, and to join the Granary Girls and me on the deck for an open air folk session. Jodi and Patty brought their guitars, harmonica, and penny whistle, and we brought beer. I had recently listened to one of their CDs, The Wild Roses, and knew what to expect. They played and sang to the slightly scruffy, most attentive and appreciative audience of three. And in the open air, Scott and Dan's enthusiastic response equaled my own.

Perhaps this little celebration was a somewhat pre-mature ending for this major project. The gathering lacked the company of Chad Hammerstrom and his brother Tell, who have proven to be the best fence builders I've seen. And with them absent that evening, a certain sadness lingers at the ending. This project brought together a diverse group of people with a single purpose and managed to forge them into a team-spirited workforce. Almost a year later now, it will send them once again back to their own.

For us, The Granary Girls' visit marked a point in the history of this ranch. So, if someday you see them on a billing somewhere--maybe Northfield, Minnesota, or Gayville Music Hall in South Dakota, or some other venue on the great northern plains-go see them. Order a beer, listen to some original, old time, folk music and think about the sun setting on the Cheyenne River Ranch.

"Let the wild grass grow on the prairie/Let the buffalo roam again/Wheat grass, sweet grass, side-oats gramma/The Little and the Big Blue Stem/Of long ago/Let the wild grass grow." Let the Wild Grass Grow by Patty Kakac, 2004