This past weekend found the Ledbetter family at the JW Marriott resort in San Antonio attending the Texas Deer Association's annual get-together. We attend this partly because it is great for our family business, wildlife biology, and partly because it is like a big reunion with many friends we have made over the years. For some reason these wildlife-industry events are always attended by entire families, not just the biologist or breeder. Most of the people in the deer industry live on ranches, many on very remote ranches, so it ends up being a big ranch-family-fest.On Friday evening we encountered a family we had met when we lived in South Texas. Their children are all in their early twenties now and two of them are currently attending A&M. The girls are beautiful and elegant and the boy is handsome and gentlemanly (seriously, this family has more than their fair share of good looks). Once they and my children started conversing, the conversation quickly turned to "ranch kid" stories, which contrasted sharply with appearances. There were stories about picking a skunk up by the tail, trying to catch a headless chicken that was running around the yard, and various stories about snakes, bugs and creepy-crawlies of all sorts. A town kid would have been horrified.Back in June, I attended my first quilt retreat with my quilty friends from Richland Springs. As we visited and quilted, we realized we all live WAY OUT in the country. We talked a lot about how much we love our country homes and how puzzled our city friends are about why we live there and how we are able to survive so far from civilization. One friend, who shall remain nameless told us a childhood story about how she saw her brothers riding the milk calf and used her Polaroid Swinger camera to capture photographic evidence. She said that one picture kept her brothers under her thumb for years!On the way to San Antonio to attend the shindig, I heard a news story about a teenage boy collapsing and being hospitalized following a four-day marathon of playing a videogame in his room. His mother said she saw him come out a few times for snacks. He was severely dehydrated. Can someone explain this to me? I grew up in the suburbs, but was born to parents who were both farm kids. I was not allowed to stay cooped up in my room or in the house, even if I had wanted to do so. Until I was twelve or so, I was outside climbing a tree or helping my dad work on something as long as there was daylight.I realize that it is not possible for everyone to live on a farm or ranch, but we can still raise our kids in a ranchy way. And just because a kid lives on a ranch is no guarantee he/she is growing up in the ranchy way. The ranch kid way is to be outside, to have animals, to be fearless, to have responsibility (lots of it), to be competent, to be realistic, to be in awe of God and His creation, and to learn by doing. Can y'all imagine what a wonderful world it would be if more kids were raised that way? springcreekartsguild@gmail.com