CALF_News_October_November_2020

45 CALF News • October | November 2020 • www.calfnews.net Beyond the Ranch Gate My Prescription – A Ranch Road Trip A s this COVID-19 thing with its accompany- ing paranoia goes into its sixth month, I’m still limiting my exposure and excursions outside the “ranch gate,” like most of us across the country. I’m still not sure whether everything around this virus is totally real, but what is real is the imposed isolation or social distanc- ing, just possibly creating another disease – cabin fever. Many symptoms of this range from loneliness and depression to down-right economic strife. With many businesses such as restaurant and travel industries shuttered, and agricultural markets from red meats to grains on the downside, things are tough. For me, my architecture business has been ironically good and actually has been increasing, but with caution and adjustments to procedures and in-person dialogues. Approaching 200 days of what I refer to as “cowering in place,” I believe a prescription for curing my affliction would be an extended road trip, specifically across the great state of Texas. I’ve written many times before about my affection for all things Texas, and I think a large dose of such is what the doctor ordered. With a final destination of the “Third Coast” or precisely Port Aransas for some real estate shopping, I am sure my symptoms will wane. First, just crossing the state line in the Texas Panhandle and the liberal views on highway speed limits and road conditions that allow for such is the first step in recovery. With the pass- ing miles come the various vistas of fertile farmlands and abun- dant grasslands filled with fat black cattle and the occasional iconic longhorn. Continuing my treatment, I traverse U.S. Highway 83 bisecting the 275,000- acre 6666 Ranch in King County, Texas. Renowned for its range management, black Angus and Quarter Horses, the 6666s is truly the heart of small-town America as Guthrie, Texas, population 160 and county seat, endures totally on the existence of this famed ranch. With just one business, the “6666 Supply House” within the unincorporated community, I stop for a souvenir – an oil-cloth trucker cap embla- zoned with their brand. As quoted by Boots O’Neal, 88-year-old 6666 Ranch cowboy,“You can get any- thing from horses to Post Toasties (corn flakes) in our Supply House. The public is always welcome.” With the four sixes fading in my rearview mirror, it was on to another ranch of a different nature. Further south, at Buffalo Gap, Texas, population 460, is the Perini Ranch and its Steak- house, a 2014 winner of America’s Classic Award from the James Beard Foundation. Established in 1983 by Tom Perini, famed chuckwagon chef who returned to the family’s ranch as a purveyor of fine mesquite-grilled steaks and unique southern comfort sides, such as my choice of Green Chile Hominy. Gate to the Garrison Brothers Distillery, home to the first legal distillery in Texas and one of the best in production and hospitality. Everything is bigger in Texas. This armadillo, found in the Perini Ranch yard, was practicing virus protocol. Continued on page 47  By Blaine Davis Contributing Editor