The Naming of Shine Hollow Ranch

I have never lived in a "named" place before.  So, as I began to write the story of how our little piece of  Missouri got its name, I began to ponder why we felt so compelled to name it.  It never occurred to me to name the house I grew up in - a good sized stucco home in a tiny Iowa town.  It never occurred to me to name any of my subsequent dwellings either - my dormroom in college, my first apartments, my first house in Marina del Rey, California, the next in Redondo Beach, California, later the one on the intracoastal in Belleair, Florida, and the last one, a Spanish bungalow in Tampa, Florida.  All of them were nice, respectable places to live.  Some of them had more character than others (My little spanish bungalow will always be my personal favorite in that category.)  Yet, none of them ever demanded or compelled me to give them a name. 

It wasn't long after we found our Missouri property that we began to discuss names for it.  I don't remember whether it was me or my husband Jerry who first brought it up.  But it came up with some regularity until we settled on the 'right one'.  For that, we have to thank our neighbor Jack.  Although we did not purchase the property from him, Jack once owned it and other surrounding property.  He operated a hog farm here. His wife Jody was a school teacher and principal and they raised their two daughters Stacy and Lisa here.  He still lives just down the road in the underground house overlooking Big Sugar Creek which he built in the 70s. 

We met Jack shortly after we purchased the property.  We were not ready to move here but came to visit and stay for a few days.   We had heard that there was a cave included in the land that we purchased but had not been able to find it.  Jack explained that it was located in the very southwestern corner of our 64 acres.  There is a substantial rocky outcropping there which is very characteristic of this part of the Ozarks.  A natural spring flows through the rocks and there is an overhang that extends 10 feet or so over a pond formed by the spring.  There is no easy way to get to this area from our house other than a 20 to 30 minute hike on some pretty rough terrain. 

One day, we put on our hiking boots, packed some bottled water, camera and took off determined to find the cave.   To the two of us who had been city dwellers for many years, it was spectacular - a beautiful formation of rock hewn by water that had been there eroding and changing since the Ice Age.  We were thrilled to find it and reported our success to neighbor Jack.  His response was, "Well, you have found Shine Hollow!"  He went on to explain that it was referred to as Shine Hollow because it was used by moonshiners in the 30s.  While we have no way to confirm this, it would be a perfect location due to the ready supply of fresh water and protected area where smoke would not have been easily detected.  

Jerry and I looked at each other. There was no hesitation, doubt or compromise necessary.  Our new home was named Shine Hollow Ranch!

The name was easily settled  and we are still happy with the decision nearly 5 years later.  However, I have still not completely rationalized our compulsion to name the property.  I have been doing some research on the internet to try to find out why some houses have names.  I think that is a subject for a future post.

A Shorty Story

When you live in the country and care for a lot of animals as we do, life and death are much more a part of everyday life.  Wild animals fall prey to road kill and hunting - a major pasttime here.  I spent the first two hunting seasons cringing with each shot.  Now, I hardly notice them.  I cried the first time I hit an adorable wild bunny with my car.  Now, I know that these instances are, to some extent, unavoidable.  Our domesticated animals fall prey to coyotes, owls, and sometimes our own animals.  At least two of our dogs are intent on reducing our chicken population whenever the opportunity arises.  And, our harsh winter brought on a disease in our meat rabbits killing as much as 15% of our breeding stock.  I have had a tough time adjusting to seeing and experiencing death on this scale.   But . . .. .

On the other hand, we also revel in the creation of life.  Our rabbits produce between 40 to 50 new bunnies each week; we are still excited with each new litter.  In the last two months, we gathered and incubated 3 dozen Brahma chicken eggs; we have 13 healthy baby chicks.  This time of year, our neighbor's fields are full of adorable young calves.  That brings me to the true subject of this story - Shorty.

Shorty was an appaloosa horse with a wooly white coat - not too tall (I assume that is where he got his name) but stocky with thick legs and big head.  He never belonged to us but he touched our lives deeply.  Shorty was owned for many years by our neighbor's cousin Dave.  Dave and Shorty were great friends.  Once they were lost on a Midwestern praire in a blinding snowstorm.  Dave could not see his way home so he closed his eyes, patted Shorty's neck, and asked him to get them back to the barn safely.  The next time he opened his eyes, he and Shorty were there.  As he thanked the horse for saving his life, Dave promised Shorty that he would make sure the loyal hard working horse would be allowed to "die of old age".   As we all know, life does not always follow the natural order.  Several years ago and way before his time, Dave succumbed to cancer.  Shorty's fate was left to family members who struggled with how to take care of Shorty while living up to Dave's promise.  This is how Shorty came to Shine Hollow Ranch.  He was grazing pastures with our neighbors' cattle when calving season came.  They were concerned for the safety of the calves as horses have been known to cause harm to young calves.  The decision was to move Shorty to Shine Hollow's equine pasture to ensure the safety of our neighbor's calves. 

According to Wikipedia, horses live an average of 25 to 30 years.  We were told that Shorty was at least 32 years old when he came here a month ago.  He moved slowly and had difficulty seeing, but he enjoyed the new grasses coming up in the field and a bucket of sweet feed  now and then.  He loved sneeking in to the barn to escape the weather and took some coaxing to get him back out into the field.

Yesterday was our first beautiful Spring day with lots of sun and temperatures in the high 60s.  In mid-afternoon, Shorty laid down in a sunny spot and died of old age.  It happened very quickly.  I am sure that it was just the way that Dave would have wanted it.  

As with any loss, we were sad to see him go but also thankful that he touched our lives.

Spring is Here! Well, sort of....

With the first day of Spring 2010 came over 5 inches of snow and ice.  While the moisture will be great for the pasture and get the creek running, it may ruin the crop of cress which grows there abundantly this time of year.  The weather also provides a reminder that we must not be tempted to plant in the garden too early.  Mother nature loves to tempt us to get out in the garden only to be surprised with a late freeze.  As a result, our little seedlings - tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, basil, oregano, and some salvia are resting safely on heated mats under grow lights in Jerry's workshop.  Potatoes, onions, and snow peas followed closely by cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli will go in the ground within the next week or two. 

Our first shipment of locally grown native plants and another package of tree seedlings should arrive later this week.  That will be the official launch of our native plant nursery.  Check back again for updates on the native plants.  I have a lot to learn about them and will be sharing that information.