Congratulations to Andrea Leininger!!

This is her winning entry..........

Andrea's proud family: Zane, Barbara, Andrea, Zack

Our Land is Our Life Essay entry by Andrea Leininger

            So what does the land signify, what does it mean to you?  This question has been asked of ranchers nonstop for the past few years, ever since it was made known that the Army wanted to expand their Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site.  And every time, we answer, “It’s our life.” 
            Now, some people just can’t understand why we get so worked up over a piece of land.  And wouldn’t it just be easier, they ask, to take the money and get a house in town where you don’t have to work yourself to the bone 24/7?  Well, actually, no.  It would not be easier.  We would be miserable.  Why?  Because we’re not working.
            I know that sounds preposterous to some, but to us, it makes all the sense in the world. When you have worked so hard to build something out of nothing, and you have put your sweat, your tears, and your blood into it, it is impossible to give it up and see all of those years, all of that time, and all of that precious, hard-earned money go to waste.  And when you think of what will happen to that land when tanks roll over it, bombs blast it, and bullets riddle your house in urban warfare training, it makes you sick, and it makes your blood boil.  How can they take something away from us that we worked our whole lives to build, and put everything into it until that is all we live and breathe?  It is very unfair. 
            Our ancestors came here to start new lives.  They came here with nothing more than a few precious possessions, and the clothes on their backs.  And you know what?  They made a life for themselves. Not by their connections, or social status, or money, but by working.  Working for freedom, and working for the world.  And while they worked, they discovered joys that few will have the opportunity to experience.  They learned how to work with the land and reap its benefits.  They got to see life created, and life taken away.  They experienced the good with the bad, and today, the younger generations are very fortunate to see those same things, and have those same experiences.  Our ancestors didn’t start something so rewarding as ranching, just to see it be taken away further down the line. 
            The ranching industry certainly isn’t as big as it was 100 or 150 years ago, but it’s still here.  And personally, I think it’s the best thing in the world.  I don’t know of anything else that can teach life’s lessons quite as good as ranching.  Yes, there are hard times.  There are times when drought takes the water, and the grass, and even your animals.  And there are times when the cold and snow freezes the water, and the grass, and your animals.  But there are also the good times, which heavily outweigh the bad.  There are the times when you look out across green pastures, and see the cows and calves that are fat and happy, and the horses sleek and shiny, and yes, even the happy dogs that are covered in cow poop. 
            Throughout my life living on this ranch, I’ve learned something.  You have to work for what you want.  Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices, and sometimes you don’t get what you want.  But through it all, you learn.  Something else I’ve learned; you have to treat every experience as a learning one, and apply what you learned throughout the rest of your life…you’ll be better off if you do that.
            Ranching is something that can’t truly be described in words.  It’s something that you have to experience to understand its full meaning.  It’s more than a word or any number of words can describe.  I know I haven’t done it justice, but I’ve come as close as I can to describing what ranching and the land means to me.  I don’t know of any other way to live my life, and I don’t know of anything that I’d rather be doing.  I am adopted, and I can’t bear to think about what my life would have been like if I hadn’t been.  Ranching is my world, and I will do everything I can to stop this expansion from happening.  My life is too valuable to me, to let someone else take it away.  Thank you.

Congratulations again Andrea! We have no doubt you will have a great and rewarding future. A future you are already helping mold for you and all others!