In 1998, when my son, Ben, graduated from high school, he had made plans to attend college, had been accepted at a couple schools of his choice, and, we all thought, was preparing to head to college in the fall. A few weeks before graduation he said he really didn't want to do that. So after graduation, he packed his truck and headed west to Montana, then Wyoming. There in Daniel, Wyoming he spent about a year and a half living and working as a cowboy, ranch hand. This is a picture taken from that time, someone took it for Ben, as Ben is the young man in the baseball cap on the south end of this calf being branded (and immunized and castrated).

Ben is now graduating from UB (University at Buffalo) as a mechanical engineer and already has been offered and has accepted a position as a design engineer at MOOG, a company located here in western New York. Spending time as a cowboy was good for him.