Cowgirl Roundup
"Judy Durnal: Home on the Ranch" - Transcript
On Location
[Music: Annie, Get Your Gun]
Got no diamonds, got no pearls
Still I think I’m a lucky girl
I’ve got the sun in the morning
And the moon at night
[Judy Durnal]
When you’re born into a family of ranchers they expect it of you. It’s like whoever’s going to be here to carry on. And so when you’re very, very young they start you out with responsibility. And I guess I never thought my responsibility was anywhere but here.
[Laurie Richards]
Judy Durnal carries on the ranching traditions of her father, grandfather and great-grandfather. It’s not a job; it’s a way of being.
[Judy Durnal]
It’s something that’s passed on from generation to generation. You’re the caretakers.
[Laurie Richards]
Almost every day Judy checks the fenceline on her ranch. She works alone in the wide-open space.
[Judy Durnal]
When you’re lying in bed early in the morning and you’re thinking, what do I have to do. It’s like being in a blizzard, you have to do what’s necessary first. And then you do the other things that you thought about all these other times.
That’s one thing about it, it never gets boring. You know animals keep it from getting boring because they change your mind a lot.
But it is kind of a lone thing. I guess I get lonely because my parents used to be here too when they were helping. But no, there isn’t anybody but me. Well, my dog, I’ve got it with my dog.
I guess if I live to be 92 (like a friend of mine) and I’m still calving, I’ll still cry on the first calf ever born. It’s truly a miracle you know, and you just... It’s in bigger hands than ours. It’s just an awesome sight for people to see. And sometimes, those are the quiet times that you’re not alone.
[Laurie Richards]
But some jobs can’t be done along. The code of the West means that friends help friends.
[Judy Durnal]
We’ve got a good crew this morning. This is Bob over here on the paint horse. That’s his wife, Celeste. And then that’s my sister who was a problem child, Tomi. Susanne from up at Minatare and Louanne from Minatare. This is pretty much my crew all the time. Not sixty-six of us but... you know...
[Laurie Richards]
So I’m the interloper today.
[Judy Durnal]
Yes, you’re the foreigner.
[Laurie Richards]
I’m the foreigner from the east.
[Judy Durnal]
Yup, from the east. We’ll see... we’ll put it to her, eh?
Good friends! And this was not the nicest day but they did show up. No wimps in the bunch. They’re just always there... they’re a phone call away. Everybody had different places to go but when I said, lets see if we can’t get ‘em moved before it storms... there they come.
[Laurie Richards]
Once again we’re moving Judy’s cattle. This time we’re weaning the calves from the mamas so the mamas can make it through the winter.
It takes all morning, and it’s exhausting.
Cattle rounded up, friends gone, Judy heads back home. Her next job requires another kind of friend.
[Judy Durnal]
This Bobcat? That’s my grunt machine. I can’t hardly ranch without it, whether its winter or summer. I lift, I push, I do everything with it. I can’t work it.
[Laurie Richards]
Judy has embraced the life handed down by her ancestors. But she’s living it on her own terms.
[Judy Durnal]
I suppose in a lot of respects it’s probably what did keep me single you know. Because I enjoyed it so much and not everyone wants to give up whatever it entails.
Children, I probably wished I’d a had children but I have nieces and nephews and friends that have children...
Maybe if I’d got into town more often we’d all have a different story.
I think probably the darkest moment I ever had was... Well, broke up with a fella, chapter twelve, and my father died all in one year. I don’t think there’s probably much more that I needed that year, you know. And I think you probably get to feeling sorry for yourself and you get paranoid. You think everybody’s against you and – you finally reach down to the bootstraps and pull it back up and I guess it wasn’t so bad was it? ‘Cause there’s always somebody that has it worse.
[Laurie Richards]
Judy also cares for her aging mother, Jean. Jean believes surviving the ranching life is in the blood.
[Jean Durnal]
I think it would be a hard thing for a girl to adjust to if she hasn’t been around it. [Why?] It’s hard work.
[Judy Durnal]
You have to live with yourself. And if I can go to bed every night and think I’ve done the best job I can... and it may not be the best job, but it’s the best job I can do. Then you can live with yourself. That’s all I have to live with is myself.
[Laurie Richards]
But who will follow in Judy’s footsteps?
[Judy Durnal]
That’s a good question. I don’t know yet. I guess whoever has the same love for it as I do.
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