Welcome to Liberty Pines Ranch. My name is Wayne Schmeling and I’ll be your guide.
The header picture you see is not Liberty Pines Ranch, or LPR as it has become even more affectionately known. The picture you see is a place that holds a special place in my heart, the Badlands of eastern Montana, and for a few precious days each fall it is my home away from home. LPR is actually the name family and friends have come to use when referring to my home in Bemidji, Minnesota. Hardly a ranch at a very modest 1.5 acres, my sister, Val, coined the phrase when I relocated here in 2003. The homestead gains its name from a large “Liberty” bell that stands in a small garden near the end of my driveway, the towering Norway Pines that carpet my backyard in needles of rust, and the reference to the escape I made from the city at that crucial turning point in my life. I am not originally from the North Woods, but I choose to make my life here.
I live for the outdoors; the exploration, amazement, wind-in-your-face, grit-on-your-teeth, freedom, and the beauty of it all. In late August, 2007, I chose to walk away from a comfortable lifestyle working for the nation’s leading outdoors lifestyle retailer to pursue greater personal goals. I started by living the dream season of fall through numerous hunting and fishing trips, and then set out to settle a score with some unfinished business. In January, 2008, I began my latest expedition pursuing the completion of a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in Creative and Professional Writing and a Bachelors of Science degree in History at Bemidji State University. I have chosen to document this experience here, at the virtual Liberty Pines Ranch, as well as all the other expeditions I will undertake along the way.
As for the tagline, that is yours for the taking. Everyone should apply it as they see fit to their own lives. I know how it applies to mine. It stems from a dream I’ve had and that I still have for my life and my future and there are only two people no longer of this world who truly know what it means to me and what my future holds.
Thanks for visiting the ranch. Enjoy the ride.
wayne@libertypinesranch.com
