3.15.26
There truly is something special about this time of year. I like to call it The Greening. The time of year when spring is just around the corner and Mother Nature cannot decide if she wants us to pile layers of clothes on or take them off! One minute the skies are blue, and a warm, gentle breeze ruffles your hair, the next you are squinting your eyes as you lean into a bitter cold wind that chills you to the bone. Yet despite these radical changes that can happen a mere day apart, The Greening has begun.
This is the time of year when cows cannot decide if they want to munch on hay or, after a few mouthfuls, wander off in search of tender green grass shoots that are making their appearance. It is a fickle time of year. When the sun is shining, one has the strong desire to get outside to start working up the vegetable garden plot. To think about what veggies one will grow this season and where each plant will go. Yet past experience tells us to hold our horses and be a wee bit more patient before placing those tender seedlings out to fend for themselves.
I love this time of year. The cows out in the big field, bellies heavy, are showing signs that before long a baby will be suckling at their side. As I go out each morning to feed, I diligently check each girl, especially the three heifers who will be calving for their first time, to see how close each one may be to dropping their calf. As I sit for a moment on the four-wheeler, watching the girls munch away on their breakfast of hay, I miss my dearest sitting beside me so very much.
It takes me back to the days many years ago when instead of having 6 expectant girls, we had 65 mother cows out in the field. I would sit alone on the four-wheeler after checking them each morning as Darrell was working in Bend during the week while I tended to things on the farm. A day after each calf was born, I would head out to tag them, give them a Bo-Se shot and castrate the wee lads. That is why it was so important that every cow we had was comfy with me being around them, for there is nothing worse than being alone and having to deal with an overprotective mum while you are trying to take care of her baby!
Calling Darrell each night for our daily chat, I would give him an update. “Blossom had a lovely big heifer calf this morning, Matey.” I would say. “I am going to call her Flower.” For he knew it was my custom to name each of our brood cows and if they had a heifer, it too received a name. As I shared the daily news, I would occasionally hold back from telling him all the details of what may have transpired. Any of the trials and tribulations I had to deal with, such as having to struggle alone to reposition and pull a calf that had got stuck in the birth canal, taking care of a prolapse or finding a baby that coyotes had got to before mum could get to her feet to protect it, I waited until my dearest was home. I knew it would just make him feel terrible that I was having to deal with these challenges all by myself while he was away. Yet this was the life we had chosen and although sometimes it was so very, very hard, in the long run it was well worth it.
Now, as I sit by myself watching the girls around me, I find tears stinging my eyes. It was not that long ago when my dearest would have been sitting here beside me. Oh, I was still the one that would usually take care of the newborn calves or help a cow deliver if she was having issues, but at least my Darrell would be there nearby. This year, I will once again be on my own. Once again, I will tell myself, “I can do this!”, knowing that I have done it before.
As I lay in bed tonight, I will tell my dearest all about the day I have had and share with him how much the grass is growing and the frogs singing so loudly at night. I will lay out my plans for tomorrow and my ideas for the vegetable garden this year. As the tears dampen my pillow, as they do each and every night, I will ask him to watch over me and keep me safe. Just as the grass grows and moves upwards through the soil despite the inclement weather, so I know I must continue to move upwards and onwards too. After all, the time of The Greening is here.
