OK, a quick story illustrating why I'm so glad we're not in Wyoming. A friend of mine who is a rancher was telling me a story. It began with him commenting on how it was almost balmy that morning when he drove his "snow machine" from the ranch to where he has to keep his diesel truck plugged in at a neighbor's house. The temp? 10 degrees. It was 15 below the previous day. The ranch house is a quarter mile from the UP railroad (where the railroad keeps the right of way cleared) and his wife and kids are walking the distance to where they park their Suburban, because the ranch won't be open until Spring - or after the mud season, more likely.

I've certainly lived that way myself - I guess life is a series of trade-offs. We've locked the back gates because there was a burglary in our neighborhood - and I drive to and from work through a most depressing and slightly threatening ghetto - two problems that my friend in Wyoming does not face. The key may be to ranch in an area with decent weather :)