I’ve never had to defend humanity from complete utter destruction; nobody has, as far as I know. Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered that this - what would you say, court? A trial? - has picked me for this. I’m not saying you made a mistake, per se, but wouldn’t, I dunno, a philosopher be better at this? Maybe an author? The President?
It’s not like we have a “President of Earth”, but surely there’s someone more in that vein that would make more sense for this… exercise?
I’m just your average guy. But maybe that’s the point? You want more of a working-man, blue-collar perspective on things?
I mean, I do run a ranch. Third generation, and that’s no small potatoes, given how uncertain everything seems to be these days. That’s about a thousand acres of prairie, solo. I’m the one out there checking fences, replacing the salt licks, and dealing with the animals. Any given year, I’m having to navigate everything from weather to hay prices. Some years are better than others, but - after some bumps - we’re on the right side of the balance sheet. Grew the herd, kept the lights on.
Speaking of lights, did it just get dimmer in here? I can’t tell if my eyes are just adjusting or what.
I guess I’ll keep going and you’ll tell me if I’m on the right track? OK?
If this were one of the extension meet-n-greets, what else would I say?
How about that “we do it right”? We, in this case, is me and my Mom and the herd. The cows have plenty of room to roam, free range, and all that. My herd is almost entirely a Hereford-Angus cross - we call the breed “Black Baldy”. They’re cute suckers, big things. Sometimes they come with a shock of white on the head and a circle around their eyes. Makes ‘em look like pandas.
It’s kind of a miracle, if you think about it - you take sun, rain, and a plot of prairie and run it through a herd of grass grazers. Never a feed lot. Never. Our animals are cared for. Watched over. Protected. Which, I suppose kinda seems like a contradiction, right? To put so much love and care into something right up to the point I ship them off, turn ‘em into hamburgers.
“It’s not much, but it’s an honest living,” is what they say.