Guest Blog

I love words. I try to use some every day so I don’t get out of practice.

What if I were in a wreck on my horse and couldn’t remember how to say, “Whoa!”? If I mistakenly yelled, “Wo!” instead, would my horse know what to do?

As I write this blog, there is little going on for our ranch right now, other than the nightly chore of feeding cows. This time of year always feels like the proverbial calm before the storm. Our first official calving date is 10 days away. While feeding, we inspect and count cows to see who will be the first to “go.”

If you raise cows, you either have to really love these animals or be somewhat not right in the head. The bovine can make a person half-crazy with her habits of finding fence holes, calving in dumb places and maybe getting a bit ornery at times. And let’s face it, we ain’t gettin’ rich doing this job.

If you read my last blog (part II is coming), you know the propensity for my livestock to get “out.” This propensity started when my first 4-H weaner pig burrowed from his pen a week before early weigh-ins some 15 odd years ago. That little pig was never seen again.

Twas’ the first day of Christmas,
and all through the house,
My wife, she was stirring,
in a seasonal blouse.

This is the season of the year when we are poignantly reminded of all the things for which we should be grateful. Too often, however, life gets in the way, and we don’t take the time to consider all our blessings. Between breaking ice in stock tanks, trying to get teenagers out of bed to do chores and working to remember what was in grandma’s turkey dressing before we leave the grocery store, we often don’t stop to reflect on all we have.