A blog about outdoor adventure, family travel, national parks, media, technology, marketing, fitness and me.
Here’s our first Johnson Family Holiday Video Blog/Greeting. Our 7-year-old and 9-year-old had much to do with the production, direction and editing of this vlog. It was a lot of fun to make, despite the 1 degree, frosty and foggy temperature!
From our family out on the frontier of Wyoming to you and yours: We wish you very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! (BTW, Finis, our 2-year-old is battling an ear infection and that’s why he’s not real jovial like he usually is.)
I live on the frontier of Wyoming. I love this state because of its natural beauty, ruggedness, big open spaces, wild animals, its authentic Western heritage, and the fact there are only 530,000 of us lucky enough to live here. It’s lonely, and I like it that way.
The following is an actual job opening that I read on our local Landertalk email listserve a while back. I love it. It describes so many of the hard-working people who are my neighbors and friends. And regardless of the monetary compensation for performing the listed duties, I have a feeling — a pretty certain one — that the individual who fits this position will be compensated well. For the compensation — shall we call it, fulfillment — received for doing hard work on the frontier does not only come in the form of monetary currency.
This job posting was written by local ranch owner/operator Nannette Slingerland, who gave me permission to publish it.
I am looking for an amazing person who is honest, considerate and excited to be a jack-of-all-trades: Someone to fix fence, make a gate that opens without always buying a new powder river one, repair old barns and sheds in a manner in keeping with their character, understand how water flows through a ditch and across a meadow;
run a tractor or a skid steer, chain saw, shovel, backhoe, four-wheeler; how to look under the hood to see if there is oil, battery, radiator and wires or if there is air in the tires; someone who just likes being busy and doesn’t mind working alone; someone with common sense and the sense to work safely; someone who understands that all life on a ranch is not depicted in a Marlboro commercial;
someone who likes working in an environment that takes pride in maintaining room at the table for everything that calls the ranch home, such as beaver, cougar, bear, red angus cattle, eagles, blue herons, churro sheep, trout, ancient cottonwoods, sage, willow and cedar, mule deer, coyotes, dung beetles, hummingbirds, and pigmy owls along with an assortment of chickens, ducks, turkeys, peafowl, snakes, voles, and an old apple orchard that desperately needs a bit ( an understatement) of pruning so we can make cider again and endless apple pies.
I am looking for a magic person who is as patient with an old cow that can’t see the wide-open gate right in front of her as they are with the pick-up that decided not to start this morning of all mornings; and who appreciates animals as well as himself and his tools; a person that doesn’t mind an occasional day in the saddle. (Pay and benefits are negotiable for the right person.)
(Thanks to my friend, Scott Copeland, for use of his Red Canyon photo.)
Click HERE for my last Frontier-Related blog post.
Gary Vaynerchuk, of @garyvee and Wine Library TV fame, is a living example and inspiration to all of us who want to live our passion.
I read a ton of books, usually several at once. When I got my copy of Gary’s new book, everything else moved to the bottom of the pile and remained there until I finished Crush It. I couldn’t put it down. Like Gary himself, his book will get you all fired up and motivated to follow your passion, and in doing so, to work your butt off, and become a better hustler.
Drop what you’re doing and get a copy of the book. Now. You will thank me for this tip. (You’re welcome.)
Until your book is in hand, here’s a clip from his keynote at the 2009 Web 2.0 Expo. It will also pump you up.
My husband, Jerry, goes in for a lumbar fusion operation this week. The poor guy just had a 4-level neck fusion three months ago.
I knew he was a super hero when I married him. He’s a marathoner and ultra endurance athlete whose dream is to do the Hawaii Ironman. He’s also a Physical Education teacher. Plus, he’s married to me, which is no cake walk. Unfortunately, his spine is not a super great one. He has experienced radiating pain, nerve damage and numbness in his legs for a long time. He is even more of a super hero than I originally thought.
Anyway, although he’ll be practically bionic 12 months from now, we are in the market for a manny at this time. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a manny is a male version of a nanny. (For the record, Jerry supports hiring a manny, provided he can meet all the requirements!)
Please be sure to read through to the bottom to note some additional considerations.
Hours for this position will be Monday through Friday, 4 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Manny will tend to tasks including, but not limited to the following:
–Make coffee at 4 am, and otherwise on demand and upon request.
–Must be a remarkable singer and performer. Manny will be required to wake the kids up each morning at 6:30 by singing their favorite songs in great fashion.
-Make a deluxe, gourmet breakfast every morning. Probably waffles and pancakes and cereal for the kids and omeletes to order for the Mrs, and what the heck, also for the guy with the big brace on lying on the couch over there.
–Follow the boys around in the morning, cleaning the toothpaste from their sinks, and collecting their dirty clothes after they change for school.
–Make lunches for the boys, including making origami out of the notes their Mommy writes for them to be included in the lunch boxes.
-Haul garbage, preferably before it is overflowing.
-Keep up on the laundry (approx. 1 load/day would be a good start).
–Deep-clean all the grout in all the rooms that have tile. If necessary, re-grout.
–Sand and touch up/repair/paint all dents and marks on the painted walls and baseboards.
–Offer, and go, to the grocery store as often as requested (could be several trips in a day for one item each trip).
-Cook delightfully delicious and unique dinners. Lean meats on the grill, with a great fresh salad and vegetable at the minimum for dinner each night, with at least one, but usually two, homemade dessert(s) from which to choose.
–Make terrific fresh salads for lunch every day.
-Sort through all the outdoor gear in the garage and basement and compartmentalize into color-coded tubs by sport and season. Be ready and willing to hunt gear down and get it together for our outings on a moment’s notice.
–Must be a self-starter when it comes to cleaning up the house. Must be a white tornado-type who deep cleans the house 1-2 times per day. We don’t use dusters here so candidate must be adept at using a cloth. The tile and wood floors need to be hand-scrubbed. Candidate will be expected to remove his shirt and do the scrubbing of the floors in the family room in the evenings when the Mrs. is relaxing in same room perhaps reading a book and sipping wine at the end of the day.
-Also needs to be really good crumb picker-upper. Crumbs must be collected in a timely manner from all surfaces, including but not limited to floors, counters and tables.
–Must rake leaves if there are any. Before they pile up.
–Must shovel our walks before we need to use them. There must never be any snow accumulation on our sidewalks or driveways. Also must be willing to do our neighbors’ walks 2-3 times per winter. This may result in more homemade holiday gifts from them so Manny will be encouraged to do more often so long as it doesn’t prevent him from getting the Johnsons’ work done.
-Scrub the toilets and the bathroom floors, counter, bath and shower a minimum of one time per day.
–Playdoh at the end of the day must be sorted through and somehow any colors that got mixed must be extracted so each playdoh is restored to its original color and quantity. This is a big deal for our toddler and your abiding to this will not go unrewarded. (If time permits, Manny will also be expected to collect each Johnson family member’s shoes and pluck any playdoh from their soles if so implanted).
-Come well-equipped. There will be no spontaneous or repetitive trips to the Hardware store. Manny must have all the tools to do the job right the first time when he reports to this position.
-Needs to have a positive, cheerful disposition but not be too chatty. Preference given to the candidate who doesn’t necessarily talk, but who is a spectacular listener. (Come to think of it, candidate needs to be someone who naturally wants to listen and asks questions that he thinks the Mrs. might want to address. NOTE: As long as the Manny can get the job done, he doesn’t have to talk at all. Just listen, listen, listen. If Manny does engage in discussion it will be amicable and supportive in nature.)
–Replenish the back yard with sod at no cost. Ideal candidate will be industrious and creative and therefore know how to get materials for little, or no cost.
–Be available to dispose of any spiders or bugs spotted, on command.
–Rub the Mrs.’ feet, probably every day.
–Change the oil and stay on top of keeping all the Johnson vehicles cleaned and running in great condition, to the point where they each have the “new car” smell in them.
–Be willing to watch an unlimited amount of movies geared toward women (sometimes referred to as “chick flicks”, and could include episodes of “So You Think You Can Dance”)
–Set the DVR up when asked, and DVD player and surround sound implementation with every movie we watch. This should be automatic.
–Must be willing, and show an eagerness to join in on head-banging and break-dancing, even if it’s to Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, and to enthusiastically embark in the Johnson “Crusher Wrestling Matches” our family is accustomed to having, without complaint, and with great vim & vigor.
–Unload and load the dishwasher at all times, several times a week, keeping counters cleaned and uncluttered at all times.
–One massage at the end of the day for the Mrs. would likely improve relations throughout the house.
–Be ready to climb a tall ladder or through difficult obstacle course-like conditions to fetch things that are out of the Johnsons’ reach.
–Always brush the snow off the cars and make sure the cars are all toasty when we’re ready to get in them.
–Make any necessary calls to Verizon, etc.
–Must have a teapot of hot water on the stove ready to pour at any time throughout the day for the Mrs. to have her Yerba mate or tea.
–Manny will always have wine on hand for the Mrs. and will be quick to offer and pour her a glass no later than 5:01 pm. He may occasionally be called upon to provide a can of beer to the Mr. who is lying on the couch with a sore back.
–Other tasks TBA
SPECIAL NOTES:
• Friday is casual day: Leave the cape at home on this day.
• Benefits: Upon doing all of the above, Manny will benefit by getting to work in a very positive atmosphere surrounded by happiness and love. It will be a “fun” place at which to work.
• Salary: N/A. Ideal candidate will be someone who is looking for first-hand experience. This isn’t a “job” as much as it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from which to build your portfolio and muscles.
• Preferences: Preference will be given to candidate who is in his 20s, and/or who resembles Antonio Banderas, and can tango.
• Research indicates that given the scope of work and high expectations, a Nanny might be a better fit. But we remain hopeful.
• Summary: M is for Mature, A is for Athletic, N is for Nature-Loving, N is for Nurturing, and Y is for Yes (it will help if candidate is a Yes Manny)
Thank you to my many girlfriends who contributed to the job description: Erica Mazurie, Jill Ooten, Anne Austin, Kathy Browning, Regina Woodhouse, my sisters Alicia Haulman and Amber Hollins, my mom, Deborah Ellis, Gina Krieger, Holly Copeland, Barb Cartwright, Lavonne Smith, Cynthia Beckwith and Julie Sorensen.
I should also add that one of my girlfriends said she’s has dibs on the ideal candidate, if he exists, and would gladly and immediately accept his hand in marriage. And, I asked my sister, Alicia, if she thought readers of this would know that I’m joking. To this, she said, “I think whoever reads it will think it is a joke, but maybe you will get one ‘taker.'”
It only takes one — albeit an extra special super duper one.
(And, finally, thanks to friend and colleague Bill Garrels for suggesting we hire a manny in the first place.)
–UEOE (Un-Equal Opportunity Employer)–
I travel quite a bit to attend and present at various tourism-related conferences throughout the country.
The headline for this comes from a saying I like to use in my tourism conference presentation introductions: “You can take the frontier out of the girl but (often) you can’t take the girl out of the frontier.”
I love living in Wyoming. Wyoming is largely considered frontier. In fact, the U. S. Census Bureau classifies much of our state as not even rural, instead calling it “frontier.”
We rank 50th out of 50 states for population. Only about 530,000 people are lucky enough to call Wyoming home.
Our state is full of big, wide open, seemingly empty spaces. When we think about population density, there are only 5 people per square mile here. You could say it’s a little lonely here.
There are more animals than people here. For example, there are approximately 600,000 pronghorn (antelope). When you add in all the wild animals, we humans are outnumbered about 2-to-1. When you add in farm and ranch animals, we’re outnumbered 3-to-1. So Wyoming is not only a lonely place, it’s a wild place.
Frontier means “a region at the edge of a settled area.” Frederick Jackson Turner, an American historian in the early 20th Century, is best known for his essay called “the significance of the frontier,” which among other things, said that “when pioneers moved into the frontier zone they were changed significantly by the encounter.” In 1893, Turner argued that unlimited free land offered the psychological sense of unlimited opportunity, which in turn had many consequences, such as optimism and future orientation.
I love this because I like to think it describes most of the people I know who live in Wyoming. We’re an optimistic bunch and I think it’s largely because we live in a landscape that provides a wide variety of unhindered and striking views, whether we’re looking at snow-covered, glaciated granite mountains, valleys, meadows, buttes, sagebrush-covered hills, a desert, a prairie, or a herd of pronghorn.
I view my parents’ decision to move us from Iowa to Wyoming when I was just 3 years old as one of the greatest gifts they’ve given me. I love Wyoming. So much so that after leaving to college and living/working in other states for eight years, my husband and I chose to return to Wyoming in 1995, where we’ve been ever since and where we hope to always remain.
But for all its wonderful aspects, getting out of the frontier can be difficult. Recently, I was trying to fly out of Wyoming for a trip to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, where I was invited to be a keynote presenter at a tourism conference. I had planned my departure so that I would have a couple of days to explore the region before the conference.
I’m the mother of three young boys, so I don’t like to travel very often and not for very long periods of time when I do. I booked the 6 am flight out of Riverton to make connection in Denver, to save me the 5.5 hours it takes to drive to Denver, or the 4.5 hours it takes to drive to Salt Lake City.
So Monday, Oct. 12, I arrive at Riverton airport at 5 a. m. First thing I notice is there’s no plane waiting outside. I’ve traveled enough to know this is not good news. Typically the plane rests in Riverton after carting passengers from Denver on the evening flight into Riverton. Still, I check in and nothing is said about the flight not being on schedule. However, I was asked if I’d be willing to take travel credits in exchange for a later flight because the flight had been “downgraded from 24 to 18 passengers.”
I say, no, I can’t do that. This is a big trip, one that I planned 3 months ago, and besides, I had to make it to a keynote presentation I was giving at a conference.
Typically for the 6 am flight, we go through security around 5:30 am. But it’s now 6:15 am and there’s still no plane there and the security gates are closed and unmanned. There are about 20 of us just sitting or wandering around.
By 6:30 a.m., I’m anxious. My connection in Denver to fly to Seattle is tight. I had scheduled a flight that allowed me about one hour in Denver. At this point, my flight in Denver is to be boarding in about an hour and a half. This Riverton-to-Denver flight, if I ever get on it, is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It’s glaringly obvious my trip is off to an awful start, probably an altogether non-starter.
I go to the ticketing counter and ask, “So are we going to be flying out soon? Is there a plane coming?” To which the friendly attendant says “I don’t know. We don’t have any information right now.”
At this point I size up my surroundings and come to a realization. You can tell the locals from the visitors. The visitors are the ones who act like, and believe, they’re going somewhere this morning.
The locals, on the other hand, are reading books like “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Some of them have even kept their motors running in the parking lot on this 20-degree morning. After chit chatting a little, I learn from a couple of locals with tickets for this morning’s early flight who fly often that “this flight only goes about 50% of the time.” Hmmm. This stinks, I think to myself.
I also see Father Bob Cook, President of Wyoming Catholic College, based in my town of Lander. I go up to him, and I ask how he’s doing. We both decide to pray to St. Jude, “the patron saint of hopeless causes” – or, the “Miraculous Saint.”
Turns out there are no later flights that will put me in Denver in time to make a connecting flight to Seattle that has availability. So, I take my chances and move my itinerary to the same time tomorrow. Things must work out, as my conference is the day after and I have to be there. I go home and will try this all over again, starting with another wakeup call tomorrow at 3:15 am. Grrr.
Many Wyoming people have horror stories that probably are more spectacular than my example here. For instance, one time two of my colleagues got out of Denver very, very late and behind schedule on their flight into Riverton following a conference. They said when the plane finally did land in Riverton, it was 1 am and the doors were locked and no one was working at the Riverton airport! Someone had to be called and awakened to come and open up the airport for the late passengers.
But, back to my story. Thankfully, all worked out beautifully for me to get out of the frontier the next day. But, as Rita Faruki, from The Nature Conservancy, so aptly stated, she felt like Bill Murray in the movie, Groundhog Day, doomed to repeat the day over again. (I didn’t even unload my suitcase from my car into the house, and I wore the same outfit to the airport when I tried again, successfully, to fly out Tuesday.)
I should mention that I don’t have a problem flying on small planes. In fact, I prefer them to the big jets. I just wish they’d show up more often.
Also, even if they only show up 50% of the time, my experience is that they’ve gotten me to my destination safely 100% of the time.
And, often I’m flying with friends or neighbors – there is always at least someone I know on my flight. Heck, I even went to school with one of the pilots, who is so much younger than my 41 years that it seems impossible he can be flying jets. (Where’s his “Bob the Builder” backpack, I think, and then remember he’s probably a good 38 years old by now).
Plus, when we’re taxiing out to the runway in Riverton, we’re ALWAYS “#1 for departure,” which is also pretty cool.
And probably the biggest thing I’ll add is it truly is a miracle that I can live out on the frontier, literally, and yet I have scheduled (albeit not super reliable) air service just 25 miles away. When things go right, I can leave Lander, WY, in the morning and be getting my toes wet in the ocean by early afternoon.
Would I trade living on the frontier of Wyoming for a city that has a big airport and provides reliable flights? Nope. Not a chance.
If this is the cost of living on the frontier, I’ll gladly pay it.
Thanks to my dad, Bill Sniffin, and Ernie Over, who provided some of the information about Wyoming being classified as a frontier and how we’re so outnumbered by animals here. These are two of Wyoming’s biggest boosters and they love Wyoming as much as I do.