NOAH ADAMS, host: John Hoiland is a farmer and a cattle rancher. He was born in 1927. He still works the ranch his family has owned since they came here from Norway back at the turn of the century. Hoiland is a bachelor. He lives with his dog in McLeod, Montana. He is also a musician. He collects and fixes accordions and sometimes at the end of the day he picks one up and plays.
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Mr. JOHN HOILAND (Farmer; Cattle Rancher): I'm John Hoiland and I've worked all my life on ranching and stuff and still at it. And the dog is Nippy and I've had him since he was a little pup.
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Mr. HOILAND: But it is kind of amazing when you play the accordion that he will try to, you know, match up the tone on it.
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Mr. HOILAND: Well, I've been on the ranching stuff ever since I was little, anywhere from herding sheep to then we went into the cattle at later years and started in with horses to do the work originally. And then later on, you've got first an iron wheel tractor and then you've got a rubber tire tractor and then you got rid of the horses and do it all with mechanical end of things.
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Mr. HOILAND: Well, it's been pretty poor here lately in the last few years, but like it is you just keep on working and maybe it's a better life than being around. You can look and see what the world is doing a little better than nature's doing.
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Mr. HOILAND: But the only thing in with the ranching deal, you can never know when you're going to be sure you're through with the day's work. There's no use figuring on it because if you figure it all down it's going to do it, it's not going to come out that way...
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Mr. HOILAND: ...but the main thing is, like I said, on your deal and things was going along and everything was pretty and quiet and you're not getting soaked, you're not freezing to death and that's your enjoyment out of your farming and ranching.
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Mr. HOILAND: Anyway, as it comes along on there, it's still quite nifty to--main thing is to have a dog that will stick with you whenever you go on out. And then you take and be out their haying or out there farming or out there fencing, have him puddle off a ways, but when you come back or you get quite a ways from where you're leaving on the deal, you come back and wonder if he run off and went home a half a mile when you're working. And then your dog is sitting there waiting underneath the pickup or truck or whatever you drove out to the field. That makes the best of the day.
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Mr. HOILAND: Yeah, I would say I'm pretty lucky.
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ADAMS: That was John Hoiland and his dog Nippy. Their story was sent to us by producer Barrett Golding.
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LINDA WERTHEIMER (Host): You're listening to NPR's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
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