David Allan Evans has been South Dakota's state poet laureate since 2002. As far as I know, he is only our fourth -- preceded in reverse order by Audrae Visser, Adeline Jenny and Badger Clark. Let me know if I've missed someone?

David is also a longtime professor of English at South Dakota State University, and he is retiring from classroom teaching this spring. On Monday many of us will be gathered in Brookings to honor his work, both as a poet, writer and teacher.

My favorite piece by this prolific writer (who has been published in South Dakota Magazine on many occasions) is this short little thing called "A Bull Rider's Advice." Of course, it's not really just about riding bulls but you'll figure that out. Here's how it goes. If you ever get a chance to hear Dave read it, be sure to be there:

The Bull Rider's Advice
what I'm saying is
you can't take this thing light
and there's no saddle to sit in

you can do it one of two ways
as far as I'm concerned
if you want to do it

you can get on just for the ride
take hold of the rope like it was
any old rope and pray for a quick 8 seconds
and no spinning

or you can wrap your fist into his back
so deep he knows you plan to stay awhile
dig in with your whole soul
until the sonofabitch is sick of you
and lets up

what I'm saying is
it's up to you.

Our unpaid but highly appreciated Belle Fourche correspondent Ed Goss sends this interesting shot of the wind-driven spring snow this week. As they say, Mother Nature is still the greatest artist. Here in Yankton, the tulips are welcoming a warm rain.

There's no word for pig in the Lakota language, but they talk pigs quite a lot on the Rosebud Reservation where this mega hog farm was built several years ago. We sent a writer to do this story in 2005 and he was promptly kicked off the premises.

We didn't send Yankton photographer Dave Tunge to get the picture (above) from his airplane. We'd have worried that he might get shot out of the air, based on our past experience. But he survived the fly-over and came back with an interesting shot of Sun Prairie hog farm in Mellette County. The farm is just a few miles west of the town of White River. You can see State Hwy 44 in the corner of the photo.

The hog farm has been in and out of court. It has had some trouble trying to keep workers. And the Humane Farm Association has accused it of mistreating the pigs.

From this vantage point, it looks rather serene and quiet enough.

Got an interesting tip today from Richard Moulton, a reader from Conshohocken, Penn. He informs us that Dr. Harold Scheie, the renowned eye surgeon and researcher (now deceased) has roots in Brookings County. He apparently lived in a sod house by Elkton and his parents, Lars and Ella, lost everything in the Great Depression.

We'll have a bit more on this in an upcoming issue. It's always fascinating to discover very successful people who were brought up in dire poverty in the 1920s and 1930s in South Dakota.

Spring is here, and I really feel like buying a tractor and some cows. Here in Yankton today, our friendly Case-IH dealer will serve a free BBQ pork lunch before unveiling a new tractor model. Just a mile away, Stockmen's Livestock is holding a big bred cow and heifer sale (the sale is big, not the cow). I wonder if I can fit both in and still appear to be actively managing the magazine?

I don't miss having cows in the cold depths of winter, but they are delightful companions the other three seasons of the year -- expensive but delightful. To fight off the urge, I searched the web this morning for reasons not to buy cows and came across this advisory from the Virginia Extension Service. The expert cautions that it will take seven or more good years to pay for the $950 cow I want to buy -- and that doesn't include my labor at $8 an hour. And it assumes that both she and I live that long.

Only seven years? I wonder what the payback time is if I buy three cows and a new tractor?

Actually, farming is a lot like the magazine business. As my old Polish writer/friend Bob Karolevitz likes to say, "you lose a little here and you lose a little there but with enough volume you somehow make a living."

Here's a photo from Mark's Machinery's open house referenced above. The crowd gathered for the unveiling of the new Puma Series Case-IH tractor. When I saw the shiny Puma I wanted to ask right then and there what they'd give me in trade for my 1942 "M" Farmall, but then I decided I probably should clean the winter pigeon poop off it first ... maybe put some air in the tires and see if it will maybe even start.

A few days ago, we reported on the naming of the soon-to-be built Yankton-to-Nebraska bridge. Now I can't remember what the committee decided to name it. But I know it wasn't my suggestion.

Anyway, here is a fine picture of progress made on the roadbed that will lead to the river's edge. It was shot just a few days ago by Yankton aerial photographer Dave Tunge. See the hole in the forest to the left of existing Highway 81? That's the route.

Let's just call it the Strike The Ree Bridge until we remember the official committee name.

Several times in the last decade we've printed stories and pictures about the Faulkton native who turned his old family grain elevator into a home and gathering place for friends and family. Curtis Wik was an exceptional fellow; he led three church-building programs (in New York, Connecticut and Arizona), he made a living as a jet pilot with Pan Am, and he never forgot his South Dakota roots. He loved to come home to Faulkton and work on the old red elevator.

We've learned that Curtis died last Friday. Services are being held today in Gilbert, Ariz. A memorial will be held April 21 at Faulkton. Curtis flew over his beloved hometown and elevator many times by plane, but now his view is just a few thousand feet higher.

We didn't know Loren Garrigan, an 88-year-old Irish carpenter who died this week. I believe he lived in the Highmore area. You probably didn't, either; but you really should read Kevin Woster's column about Loren on the Rapid City Journal web page. Kevin's wife, Mary Garrigan, wrote for us here in Yankton before she ended up at the Journal.

You'll see that Kevin's piece on Loren is really a "big deal." Anyone who has an old aunt or uncle (or aging father or mother) will be touched by this.