The Road Less Traveled

I have long loved this poem. As everyone knows, the roads are metaphors for choices one makes in life. It seems that we, in our family, are always choosing the road "less traveled by." Even the choice of living on the ranch is a "less traveled by" decision that we have never regretted. One day we had three cars drive by on the county road and Roy complained that there was entirely too much traffic! Living literally in nature every day  makes our life more connected to our source.

We definitely took the "road less traveled" when we chose to raise Longhorn cattle. It would have been much easier to go with the flow and raise Angus or Herefords. It would be much easier to "finish" the cattle on corn and grain rather that keeping them all-natural and totally grass fed. People laugh, traditional ranchers scoff, and many seem somewhat uninformed with their statements. My favorite is: "Longhorn, good heavens longhorn meat is tougher than a boot!" This misconception no doubt orginated after the cattle were driven a couple of thousand miles up the cattle trails. Today's Longhorn is a deliciously marbled, naturally lean meat that is very tender. My second favorite is: "You have to finish cattle on corn to get flavor." What you get when cattle are force fed grain is an unhealthy amount of fat  in the meat which masquarades as flavor!

The two people from which  we purchased our original herd  were both following the "road less traveled" themselves, as evidenced with their choice of ranch signs. One is located in Mountain Home, Texas and one is in Meeker, Colorado. The top picture is the sign that we travel under every day as we return down our "road less traveled" to home. The other side says "Happy Trails" --our wish for all of you.