Blogs

Depending on where you call home, spring and winter swapped places this year. While the Winter Olympics were taking place, it was 50 to 60 degrees in Idaho. But once March rolled around, winter decided to show up.

Pick nearly any day of the week from the end of February through the middle of April, and you will likely be able to find a bull sale to attend. And, if you can’t find one to attend, you can find several not to attend.

Time. We all wish we had more of it. It slips through our fingers. We start a project and it takes longer than anticipated; the cows move slowly or the barn is dirtier than we thought. Now in springtime we're checking calves, building or repairing fences, and lining up irrigation equipment: We're busy.

“Nationwide glorification of hog hunting has done nothing for control and everything for expansion. You can’t hunt enough to make a dent. It might be fun, but it’s not control.”

To supplement farm income, some get their wives jobs in town. Others expand their hobbies (i.e., making saddles, braiding horsehair or running for county commissioner). Some, in desperation, get a real estate license.

The changing seasons and my constant struggle with those changes provides me with plenty of writing fodder. It seems that no matter what Ma Nature throws at me or lays at my feet, I can find a reason to whine about it. There are those around me who might use a different term to describe my incessant “complaining,” but I try to keep my musings as family-friendly as possible.