Pics From Home

I didn't have my fancy camera with me, but I still managed to take some decent pictures with my cell phone. I was born in Malad City, Idaho, and lived there the first 18 years of my life. It is a beautiful mountain valley located in the south eastern corner of the great state of Idaho. I grew up on a 700-acre ranch where we raised alfalfa and wheat and ran 300 head of cattle. This is a view of the valley:

Here is a picture from the front deck of my parents' house. You can see the log cabin where my great-grandfather was born. And way off in the distance you can see the highest mountain in the valley, Oxford Mountain. My family is a true cowboy family. Each year in early summer, our cowboy friends from around the state would join us on an old-fashioned cattle drive. On horseback, we would drive our 300 head of cattle from the base of Oxford mountain to an upper valley, where they would graze until the end of summer.

This is a view of the yard and corrals at my parents' ranch. You can see one of my mom's ubiquitous flower beds and also the John Deere swather. I used to spend 10 hours a day on one of these swathers cutting down the hay. I always felt so out of place running these huge pieces of machinery. Just imagine me plowing the field from sunup to sundown all the while listening to Broadway show-tunes, which would have me crying my eyes out!

The front side of my parents' house:

This is a view of the meadow. Beneath that tree is a small swimming hole that I used to spend hours and hours in.