Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...

On a sprawling, 600-acre ranch near Stephenville, Kent Perkins is up before dawn most mornings.

He checks his email, and often posts to Facebook a photo of the many spectacular views he’s captured with his camera before heading out to feed the family dogs — Buffy, a Great Pyrenees so large she could easily be mistaken for one of the Brahma cattle that roam the ranch, and JayJay, a friendly and affectionate pit bull — as well as the ducks, a swan, and Ruthie, his charming wife.

“If this isn’t the life, it’s pretty close,” he laughs.