‘“Are you still on the green side?” I speak to Jim almost every day and that’s always how we start our conversations. It basically means “are you still alive?” Today is his birthday but that’s still the first thing we say.’ Brian (pictured in the first and seventh images) lives on The Rimmelspacher ranch with his partner Rose (image three), Beth’s cousin. Beth - the hugely talented artist and faux family member I mentioned previously, grew up on this ranch and she wanted to show it to me as we took a break from the cattle drive we were following through Peola, WA. We relaxed into a bunch of camping chairs in the yard and Brian was excited to tell me about his friend Jim who lives not too far away, but is ‘a recluse, a hermit of a man’, he doesn’t really speak to anyone but Brian. They’re both ex military men who live thirty minutes out of town and where their next-door neighbours are miles away. We left early that morning; to make sure we wouldn’t get in the way of the cattle drive Rose had invited us to follow. A cattle drive - for the uninitiated, is basically a winter homecoming for a ranch’s cows. It’s a much longer process than it sounds, especially every time one of the herd would decide that it knew a better way home: expect after this plenty of swearing from the herders. What was especially great about this was that every rider was a woman - a team of Cowgirls, each with a little dog that would confidently follow close to the horse’s hooves, expertly weaving through their legs if needed. There was Lynda with her horse Marty, Sarah with Monty, Cathy and Bella, and finally Toni but sadly I didn’t catch her horse’s name. As they got closer to their ranch we took a break and they peer pressured me into taking a beer (I don’t need much pushing to be fair) before they invited us all back to their ranch to sit on the porch and eat pizza. If it wasn’t for the barking and fumbling of seven or more dogs, the sounds of everyone munching and appreciating the food, and the celebratory conversation of finishing the job; you could have heard a pin drop. It must be an incredibly peaceful place to live. ~~~~ #usa #clarkston #lewiston #washington