0:03

Hello there friends,

0:03

both old and new. Welcome to the

0:08

strive seek find podcast, I'm

0:08

your host chance Whitmore home

0:14

to bite sized lifestyle advice

0:14

from a fellow traveler on the

0:19

road to a better life. Brought

0:19

to you by someone who is a

0:25

longtime educator, writer,

0:25

parent, and an outdoor

0:29

enthusiast, who may just may

0:29

like a good DRAM because our

0:35

future is set not just through

0:35

our choices, but by our

0:40

willingness to explore and find

0:40

a better way. Welcome back

0:45

friends. It's been a good week,

0:45

an exhausting one, but a good

0:51

one nonetheless. And as I record

0:51

this, I find myself wishing that

0:57

I had saved a title I use

0:57

several weeks ago. Because it

1:02

fits, again, on what happened.

1:02

Now let's get started. This

1:08

week, my family and I were a

1:08

visiting, visiting the old

1:13

family homestead, the family

1:13

farm, which it was founded by

1:19

one of my ancestors in the year

1:19

1900. Which seems a lot more

1:24

ancient than it did when I was

1:24

in high school. Or Does that

1:30

just mean, I'm more ancient than

1:30

I was in high school.

1:36

Let's put that thought aside for

1:36

now. Slow place, I spent 10

1:41

years and some change living in

1:41

a place that I learned to know

1:49

like the back of my hand growing

1:49

up.

1:53

And sharing that with my kids is

1:53

always interesting, because in

1:58

some ways, I am less protective

1:58

than my folks were. And in other

2:04

ways I am so very much more. And

2:04

a lot of that in the back of my

2:10

head is because they don't have

2:10

the same knowledge and skill set

2:14

that I had, because they haven't

2:14

had that opportunity. And this

2:18

week, I had the chance to help

2:18

them remedy some of those gaps,

2:22

because they have skills that I

2:22

couldn't have even imagined at

2:27

15 years old. And by the same

2:27

token, they have never had the

2:33

opportunity to wander up and

2:33

down the old family farm with a

2:38

22 strapped to their back and

2:38

just go where they will, because

2:42

they'd been up and down in

2:42

herding cattle herding sheep.

2:46

And they been shooting in some

2:46

way or another. As long as you

2:51

could remember, obviously,

2:51

guided protected, but that was

2:57

how I grew up. But those aren't

2:57

the only skills we're going to

3:01

talk about today. So I'm a

3:01

little bit sore tonight. Because

3:05

a couple of days ago, I had the

3:05

opportunity to do something I

3:10

hadn't done since I was in my

3:10

20s At least with any sort of

3:15

regularity. Growing up a big

3:15

part of what we did, because we

3:20

did run animals was fixing

3:20

barbed wire fence. And when you

3:26

grew up in a place that is near

3:26

Yellowstone, and for those who

3:31

don't know, that means there's a

3:31

lot of old, leftover lava rock

3:37

around which made building

3:37

fences somewhat of an adventure.

3:43

You've got great soil for

3:43

growing, but you also get some

3:48

special treats along the way.

3:48

Specifically, you got to figure

3:52

out how to get fence posts at

3:52

times deep enough in the ground

3:55

that they'll stay. And that was

3:55

really challenging with wooden

3:58

posts. So we I can remember when

3:58

I was a teenager, we replaced

4:05

all the rotting out wooden posts

4:05

that we could with steel posts.

4:11

And if you've ever had the

4:11

opportunity to use a steel post

4:14

driver, it's simple as all get

4:14

out. It provides you with great

4:17

leverage. So you can deliver a

4:17

lot of force to a steel post and

4:22

in just a few hits drive it deep

4:22

enough into the ground that it

4:25

is a stable place to hang

4:25

chicken wire, not often. Barbed

4:30

wire, hog wire, whatever you

4:30

need to keep the animals in. And

4:35

I could remember being amazed at

4:35

my father being able to drive

4:38

him in in just two or three hits

4:38

and then trying to replicate

4:42

that as a early teenager and

4:42

trying to to do it faster when I

4:48

was getting older and stronger.

4:48

They will add that there is a

4:52

special level of pain when you

4:52

are hitting those posts as hard

4:57

as you can When you hit a rock

4:57

square on underground, your

5:05

teeth ring, your elbows, ring,

5:05

your knees even ring, you feel

5:10

it through your entire body.

5:10

It's a special kind of pain, it

5:16

goes away fairly quickly. But

5:16

then you have to pull the post

5:19

and do it all over again and

5:19

hopefully get past the rock the

5:22

next time. So all this to say, a

5:22

fence that my father, my

5:29

brother, and I had rebuilt when

5:29

I was in late high school, I

5:35

think were some of those posts

5:35

were still some that we'd put

5:39

in, probably when I was in

5:39

middle school. But we pulled a

5:44

great deal of the rotten ones

5:44

and pounded a bunch of steel

5:48

posts in. And since that time,

5:48

Dad had just kept updating it

5:54

kept updating as long as he cut.

5:54

But eventually, it was let go.

6:00

And that wasn't helped by the

6:00

people farming the next ground

6:04

over who kept hitting it. So the

6:04

wires down, I thought the wire

6:08

was gone, I discovered that it

6:08

was most definitely not. And a

6:12

lot of the posts had rotted out

6:12

or been knocked down. So I got

6:17

the opportunity to, to relearn

6:17

how to do that. And my girls got

6:21

the chance to learn how to do

6:21

it, how to repair a fence with

6:29

40 year old wire, while pounding

6:29

steel posts. More than anything,

6:34

we just got the posts in place

6:34

to mark the property line. And a

6:38

couple of places we stuck the

6:38

wire back up. It's a simplified

6:41

version of what I used to do on

6:41

the weekends and evenings with

6:46

my father with my brother, but

6:46

it was good learning. For one

6:51

thing, I was once again

6:51

reminded, I'm not 18 anymore.

6:57

Consequently, the soreness, my

6:57

six year old got to learn that

7:01

wild fit is sitting in the back

7:01

of the truck. So the issue is

7:04

fun. Picking up and carrying

7:04

steel posts to dad to keep him

7:07

working is not as much fun. The

7:07

other two, well, one was

7:13

driving. And the other one was

7:13

making sure I had what I needed

7:17

to get things done. It was

7:17

really efficient. And we all

7:23

learn something from it. Because

7:23

I'd never organized fence

7:26

building with kids who had never

7:26

done it before. And my girls,

7:31

the two oldest, I needed a

7:31

marker put it ahead gate. So

7:36

they took another old steel post

7:36

and the post driver and went up

7:41

themselves and did it

7:41

themselves. Which is something

7:44

that the day before, they would

7:44

have had no idea how to do even

7:48

though it is probably as simple

7:48

as it will come. The next of my

7:55

really outdated rusty skills

7:55

that I got to practice this week

8:01

was something that most of you

8:01

probably have not even heard of

8:08

flood irrigation. I have a

8:08

picture up on the strife seek

8:11

find page on Facebook right now

8:11

that kind of shows some of what

8:17

you do. Growing up flood

8:17

irrigation is how we watered our

8:21

pasture. And it's the cheapest

8:21

way to do irrigation. It is

8:28

definitely not the most water

8:28

efficient, but it is the

8:31

cheapest way to do it. You don't

8:31

need a pump, you don't need

8:35

pipes, you need a chunk of

8:35

plastic tarp, with a board stuck

8:41

through it. And if it's a really

8:41

deep ditch some extra supports

8:45

to block the water so that you

8:45

can send water across the

8:50

pasture, or in this case, the

8:50

ark. Once you forget, after not

8:55

doing it for 20 something years,

8:55

possibly more on an irregular

9:00

basis is how long it takes to do

9:00

it. Because it's not turn on the

9:07

sprinkler for an hour. And walk

9:07

away it is get it going double

9:12

check it monitor adjust

9:12

constantly. It's very user

9:19

intense. And on top of that, you

9:19

have to know the ground you're

9:25

doing it on really well. You

9:25

have to know where the ground

9:28

slopes where it's high so that

9:28

you set the dam up in the right

9:31

place. So it breaks and covers

9:31

the maximum amount of pasture

9:36

lawn you can. And if you haven't

9:36

done it for a long time, you

9:41

make a lot of mistakes. And

9:41

that's fine. I will say when I

9:45

was in expertly doing this at

9:45

age 910 11 It seemed a lot more

9:51

fun. Because dad had it all

9:51

mapped out where he put it he

9:55

just put it in and you found

9:55

some reason to dink around and

10:01

play in the water and throw some

10:01

mud at each other. What could be

10:05

better after all, when you

10:05

haven't done it for a while, and

10:08

you're up to your ankles or more

10:08

in mud, or standing in water,

10:13

and it's 12 hours later, it's

10:13

not as much fun as when you did

10:18

it 1011 12. But there is an

10:18

element of nostalgia and good

10:25

new learning to go along with my

10:25

simplified remembrance of it.

10:30

And I will admit, I was not as

10:30

expert at it, as my father. And

10:36

my brother has kept up on it.

10:36

And I am sure that he could have

10:39

done a much better job than I,

10:39

but I got it done. The last bit

10:43

of learning is something that I

10:43

have been meaning to get to for

10:48

a long time. When I was I think

10:48

12, maybe 13 years old, I'd have

10:53

to look back because I have the

10:53

notes still someplace. My father

10:57

gave me the family 22 which had

10:57

come from his father. And he'd

11:03

gotten it if the story goes

11:03

correctly from his father. So

11:08

old bolt action, external firing

11:08

pin that you have to set by

11:14

hand. It is a great starter 22

11:14

Long Rifle to learn shooter. And

11:21

yet, I have failed to teach my

11:21

kids how to safely use it. I

11:28

kept it under lock and key. But

11:28

I don't think I've even had it

11:32

out to maybe three. Now, it's

11:32

longer than three years. So we

11:39

took the opportunity, since

11:39

we're on the farm, to do some

11:44

basic gun safety, and allow them

11:44

to shoot a little bit.

11:49

I had the 15 year old, the 12

11:49

year old and even the six year

11:55

old working with me. And we did

11:55

a run through on the rules of

12:00

gun safety. We modeled them, we

12:00

talked about them, we practice

12:06

them. We all before we shot. And

12:06

once we had shot, I made them go

12:16

in and write them all down. And

12:16

I'll be honest, I went full

12:21

teacher on this. And I went

12:21

through and graded them on what

12:26

they remembered and what they

12:26

did not. They had a great

12:31

experience with it. And because

12:31

it was scaffolded and protected,

12:37

it was really safe. My big

12:37

regret is I hadn't done this a

12:42

long time ago with the older

12:42

two. Because knowing how to be

12:47

around and be safe with firearms

12:47

was just a part of how I grew

12:52

up. And sharing that with them

12:52

in a safe protected manner was

13:01

impactful for me. And it has my

13:01

daughter's asking questions

13:06

about how it works and why it

13:06

works. Not just the rules by

13:11

rote, but trying to seeking to

13:11

understand and at least one of

13:16

them wanting to get out and

13:16

shoot again. For me it brought

13:19

the rules back because I had to

13:19

think of the why that dad had

13:22

taught me growing up. Eventually

13:22

you do something, it becomes

13:26

rote. And having to break it

13:26

down and teach it to somebody

13:30

else brings it back to life for

13:30

you. And without too many more

13:34

details. I'm going to say it was

13:34

an incredible week. Not only did

13:38

we do those things, but we had

13:38

time to do more board games than

13:43

we've done in a long time. My

13:43

two younger daughters learn the

13:46

basics of knitting and are

13:46

working on it because they see

13:49

their grandmother doing it all

13:49

the time. And she helped guide

13:52

them. And my oldest learns the

13:52

basics of crocheting and is

13:56

currently working on a beanie

13:56

for me. I'll throw up a picture

13:59

when she finishes. And the one

13:59

thing I keep coming back to is

14:03

that learning wouldn't have

14:03

happened if we had been at home

14:08

operated at our normal pace of

14:08

play. But because we were

14:12

operating in a different

14:12

environment and slowing down,

14:19

not much you were still running

14:19

to get things done. But

14:22

different things. There was the

14:22

opportunity to either enhance or

14:28

learn new skills. And while the

14:28

likelihood of my daughter's

14:31

needing to learn how to build a

14:31

barbed wire fence or pound of

14:35

steel post in in the future.

14:35

Outside of that environment is

14:41

fairly low. They still can do it

14:41

if called upon. And for some

14:48

reason that really matters to me

14:48

tonight. One final thing. I was

14:53

going to do a full episode on

14:53

this, but this seems more

14:58

appropriate I'd wanted to shout

14:58

out Grand Teton distillery in

15:05

Driggs, Idaho. They are a small

15:05

batch distillery that had been

15:11

open since I believe 2011

15:11

putting out their vodkas and

15:16

their whiskies in 2014. I'd

15:16

wanted to go by there for a long

15:21

time, stop and check it out. We

15:21

took Amy and my mother, we went

15:26

up there, we did a tasting did

15:26

the tour. I've had a few of

15:30

their their whiskies, their

15:30

cultures run and their

15:34

Catamount. But I've tried their

15:34

whole lineup now and came home

15:37

with a bottle of the private

15:37

reserved. It's an impressive

15:41

setup, because four people are

15:41

putting out their entire

15:46

production line. Just want you

15:46

to take a second Think about

15:49

that for full time people, which

15:49

includes their distiller

15:54

distilling, bottling, labeling,

15:54

boxing, and getting out the

16:01

door. Some high quality spirits,

16:01

because I'm going to tell you

16:06

folks, Grand Teton distillery is

16:06

without a doubt, the best

16:13

distillery currently operating

16:13

in the state of Idaho. If you

16:17

ever have the opportunity to

16:17

drop by, go check it out. Well,

16:22

friends, that's it for this

16:22

week's edition of strive seek

16:24

find. Thank you again for

16:24

listening. If you'd like to join

16:29

the discussion, or have ideas

16:29

for future episodes, hop on over

16:33

to the strife seek find podcast

16:33

group on Facebook.

16:37

Alternatively, if Facebook's not

16:37

your thing, you can find me on

16:43

Instagram at strife seek find

16:43

podcast on Twitter. As at chance

16:48

Whitmore five. We're even on

16:48

email. Links for all those are

16:53

in the show notes below. Until

16:53

next time, my friends, keep

16:58

seeking your own brilliant

16:58

future