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Getting the story

Sometimes, being a reporter in North Texas means more than sitting down with a pen and a pad of paper for an interview.
Sometimes, it means feeding a calf first.

Photographer Torin Halsey and I arrived at Don Riddles' ranch in Joy back in 2004 prepared to get the story.
Don had found an unusual way to honor his father, J.Y. Riddles, who had passed away in 1992. He had placed his father's old boots on fence posts around his property, inspiring others in the small community to add their worn-out boots to his collection over the years.
Around 100 or so boots lined the fence around Don's land, which sits at the corner of Texas 148 and FM 173. Torin and I estimated the interview and pictures would take around an hour or so, but Don had a small delay in mind.
A young calf that had lost its mother several days earlier was in the pen. Don hadn't been able to catch the animal and feed it by himself. The calf was hungry and Don needed help.
Don needed OUR help.
Without hesitation, Torin and I abandoned our respective camera, notepads and pencils in the car and went over to assist. While Don chased the calf down the chute, Torin reached out his arms to help guide the animal through, and I readied the bottle of milk.
About 30 minutes later -- all parties involved a little sweaty from the unexpected activity -- the calf was fed and we all sat down in Don's bunkhouse to do our interview.
The story about Don's fence boots, in my opinion, turned out great.
But I kind of like the story behind the story better. It's not every day that I get to feed a calf at an interview.

Posted by Lara Richards at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)