THE ROAD TO by Tim McCray,
aka the C
photos & illustration by Derek Sample,
Tim@ABPmag.com
Derek@ABPmag.com
Derek, Willow, and Maverick picked me up in Phoenix on January 5th after a few short days with my daughter and my 1-week old granddaughter Chloe. My sixth overall (I’m catching up to Bob), but Chloe is also a rainbow baby, with some tiny shoes to fill and big holes to heal. Of course, the entire world had changed since 2020 (when I was last at the NWSS) and is still in that development mode, much like the yards at NWSS this year. My older brother Joe was of immense help in 2020, acting as my caretaker, driver, landlord, and assistant. I’ve been lucky to have him in Littleton, Co, in that I had a place to stay, warm free food to eat, as well as a place to ship magazines to for distribution. Back then, Oklahoma was a drive-through state on my way to Phoenix, not a destination afterward. I don’t even think Covid was on any radar back then; the world was normal. Jim (Sample, former publisher) died a little later that month, just after we had finished getting that year’s February issue off to the printer. Looking back on it now, I’m surprised we got through it all. After all, Derek, Valerie, and the dogs came
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DENVER 34
American Beef Producer
February 2022
