I’ve recently become aquainted with the ranch owners, and my day on the ranch this week was a moderately absurd, while simultaneously lovely and educational experience.

To get to work, I travel down a US highway, then a state highway, and then a county highway, before turning onto the road our lodge is on.

Sayersbrook is just a few miles from my office, so I hopped in the car Monday morning from work, and I headed to the ranch.

I was cruising along county highway AA when a dumb ol’ country squirrel darted beneath my tire, creating a “thuhm-bump” sound that nearly made me cry.

I’m not a fan of death, and while running over a small mammal is probably some sort of Welcome to Missouri rite of passage, it still shook me up.

After the squirrel mishap, I found the bison crossing sign particularly sweet. (I’m not sure my trusty tank of a Ford Taurus would have held up well to a 2600 bull.)

Making note not to run over any of these huge creatures while on the ranch, I pulled through the gate. Immediately to my left sat the ranch’s airstrip, and a bit further down the road was the family’s home.

A sprawling single-story, log home with picture windows and beautiful landscaping, the house delivered to me a new meaning of “ranch-style home”.

Later in the day I’d be joining the Sayers for bison lasagne in the kitchen of the house, and meeting with Mrs. Sayers about Washington Country Tourism Board planning. For now though, it was time for a ranch tour in one of Mr. Sayers’ fleet of Hummers.

Along we chugged along, on road and off, around the property. I got to see what was once an apple storage space with quarter-inch-thick cork walls for insulation.

Mr. Sayers’ grandfather had stored apples from the orchard there. Now the room is arranged for presentations, and bison head (taxonimized) are hung from the walls and propped up on the floor.

Bison, as it turns out, are pretty darned smart, but they’re also herd animals. If one gets riled up or angry, it’s like that the others will follow suit. 10 angry bison is scary, but 100 angry bison is terrifying. The Sayers’ 100 or so bison, then, are kept in smaller herds in seperate fields from one another.

Though the animals don’t get sick often, when they do, the herd helps the sick animal. A group of bison will circle the sick bison, propping it up between them. They’ll then walk with it to water, where the sick animal is usually able to hydrate itself back to good health.

Fascinating!

Now, may I tell you about their mating rituals? (Little readers, cover your ears.)

Female bison require that a bull court with it for a day and a half before mating. None of this sex on the first day nonsense for these ladies. These heiffers have class.

At three years old, females start bearing lil’ ones, which Mr. Sayers assured me (as he drove his red, white and blue Hummer with what looked like an M-16 mounted on a tripod in the backseat) are “the cutests little things”.

(I have been invited to return to the ranch in a month or so to meet some of the newly-born bison calves. I hope I’m able to see them!)

On my tour of Sayersbrook, I learned about rifle ranges, sporting clays, Jeep off-road competitions, and even about Missouri history. Of course, I also learned a lot about Bison. Bison are not buffalo; their meat is 97% fat free; and you can visit one of only a few dozen large bison ranches in the USA right here in MO.

New York was starting to catch up on my cow count, but where Bison are concerned, Missouri definitely takes the lead.

MO=1; NY=0

All photos by smalltowngirl

Clearly, I was incorrect in my assumption that MO would have one up on New York were cattle are concerned.

New York City has some darn fine cow (butts). I have cow pictures from two boroughs now – does anyone know any cows in Staten Island, Queens, or The Bronx?

Photo Credit: ShellyS

There aren’t any cows at my new job, but there are lots of other great things. My first day was pretty great.

I found out that coffee brews from early morning until after lunch, and I can drink as much as I want.

Plus, there are cookies. Like, every day.

Mmmm…cookies…

Did I mention that my lunch, if I choose to eat in the dining room, is free?

Life is good, my friends.

But seriously, people, it’s great. I’ve never felt more warmly welcomed in a new job, my office was freshly painted, and I had a brand new Mac desktop waiting for me. My coworkers are friendly and helpful, and the place is just stunning.

My new supervisors have taken great efforts to make my transition smooth; planning meetings for me with each department over the coming ten days to familiarize me with our programs and the way each department works with the marketing department.

I saw a portion of the 5,000 acres of land today, including tours of several of the 10+ buildings. Besides the horse ranch, enormous lake, tennis courts, gym, cabins, and 5-story log lodge, there are miles of trails for walking/running/hiking, and it seems like I’ll have coworkers to take advantage of these things with after hours.

It seems like I’ll have a lot to learn, and also a lot to offer, which, when combined with the organization’s efforts to raise employees through its ranks (rather than lose good employees like so many organizations do), lead me to believe that I’ve found a place I’ll be able to stay and grow for a good amount of time.

And did I mention the cookies?

And milk? (seriously).

Mmmm…

Among Brooklyn’s most well-known eateries is Almondine, a patisserie in DUMBO known for it’s baguettes and pastries.

When the ex-boy called to see if I wanted to get together one last time before my move, it seemed like a good opportunity to check out Almondine.

(@andrearosen gets a mini-credit for unintentionally inspiring this trip with a tweet this morning about Almondine’s stuffed pretzels.)

The food was tasty. I had tomato and spinach soup, a grilled vegetable sandwich, and some sort of blue cheese that tasted great broken up into my mixed greens salad.

For desert, Jeff and I split a coffee and a fruit eclair that vaguely resembled a footlong sub, only in miniature and with fruit, not deli meat. As good as the real food was, the eclair kind of made me wish we’d just skipped lunch and gone straight for sharing deserts.

I can now cross Almondine off my NYC to-do, to-see, to-eat list. While I don’t think that St. Louis is without good bakeries, I would guess that this one is a notch above, so the final score on Almondine:

NY = 1; MO = 0.

***

On the bright side, my ex doesn’t live in Missouri, so I won’t have to make decisions about whether to see him once I’m gone. Every time I see him it gets a little easier, but it’s still awfully hard. On the ex-boy front, the score is:

NY = 0; MO = 1

***

As an addendum to the “I like your boots” story, I owe MO an apology for under-estimating its supply of cobblers.

My mother kindly informed me that my hometown has a large shoe repair and boot shop now. I no longer feel pressured to have my boots fixed before I leave town.

Thanks, Mom!
NY = 1; MO = 1