Winter has many sounds— snow crunching, limbs creaking, ice cracking, cows and horses eating hay, the chains on the tractor tires clinking, and for most of the last month, incessant wind blowing! It is depressing to wake up in the middle of the night to hear the wind howling and realize that it didn’t even lie down with the sun. It makes even sunshiny mornings cold and brutal. The last few mornings, albeit very cold, were virtually windless (only 5-10 mph winds and not 20-30 mph) and thus much more comfortable.
Crunching snow, if you have never experienced it before, is actually quite loud. There is no sneaking up on anyone with the snow crunching underfoot. They say that snow crunches when it is really cold and dry. No I haven’t researched it. I’m good with this explanation. It is really cold, and the snow is really powdery and dry, and I hear it crunch really loud. That works for me. Lots of things keep me awake at night… why snow crunches when you walk on it is not one of them.
A couple of days ago a new “winter” sound met us when we were out doing chores. The feeding tractor left before me, which meant that Huck The Wonder Dog (which is a perfect name for him because he really does make me wonder sometimes) headed out with the tractor. I was heading to the shop when Huck came tearing back to the yard. I didn’t think much about this other than to wonder how he knew I was out and about as I hadn’t whistled for him yet. We headed out and stopped over south at the water tank where Pine was putting out mineral. I needed to grab some goggles out of the pickup as it was snowing some and hitting me in the eyes. And yes, sometimes I’m a wimp about things hitting me in the eyes. I can admit it. Wimp.
Pine was on the other side of the fence (the tank waters two pastures) and motioned for me to shut things off and listen. I’ll be danged if a coyote wasn’t howling like crazy, and he sounded like he was awfully close. Being married to a man who LOVES to coyote hunt has its advantages. Hours of coyote calling videos enabled me to correctly GUESS that it was a challenge howl (which my coyote calling husband confirmed), and the coyote did not like Huck. Pine said he had been howling for some time farther away and when we showed up (Huck and I) he had come in closer. The picture below shows exactly where we spotted him. He was only about 350 yards out (confirmed with Pine’s range finder).
This is the breeding season for coyotes, thus probably the reason the coyote was so bold. Needless to say, Huck and I didn’t see him again as we were bringing cows to feed in this area later in the morning.
Thought I would share this picture with all of you who don’t follow me on Facebook. This was my fun, obviously snarky, picture I posted this week. It has been shared close to 200 times so I’m not the only one who could relate to it! 🙂
Please continue to comment on the USDA’s proposal to allow importation of beef from Brazil. At this point, the website only shows 221 comments. I would love it if we could all FLOOD the website with comments. You do NOT have to be a livestock producer to comment. Consumers need to comment, as well. As a consumer, as well as a producer, I need to know that the food my family eats is safe. Pleasecommenton the USDA website. Let them know that the US does not need Brazilian beef imports.
For more information, please follow the link below to read my article in the Tri-State Livestock News this week regarding foot-and-mouth disease. Feel free to share it with as many people as you can to help educate both producers and consumers alike on what is happening with the USDA.
Like father, like daughter. My heart is smiling.
Until next time, or as my JARW friend Carolina from NY taught me, Ate a proxima (that is “until next time” in Portuguese!)
Spent a few days watching this replacement heifer that had a little eye irritation. We wanted to make darn sure it that it didn’t progress in to anything more than a little runny eye. Thankfully it didn’t!
Cut in to a watermelon this week and it was hollow. Completely. I have never had that happen before. It had three distinct sections, but completely hollow in the middle.
The Wild Child and Huck. I think they love each other. Good ole Huckleberry!
“You talkin to us?” A few of the bums watching me intently to see what my plan was, and already planning their escape route. Their mommas were old and/or crippled cull cows that went to the sale this month. There wasn’t a plan. I was just checking on them. They didn’t make a run for it, which is always nice.
Eagles Nest. The view in our winter pasture. The place where the Wild Child’s imaginary eagle friends, Earl and Pearl, live. We have TONS of Earl and Pearl stories. They are really quite delightful, mischievous, and helpful– depending on the day.
This beauty was a LONG way away from a hunter looking to score big. I honestly wasn’t laughing… shaking my head, but not laughing— really. Poor guy. There were some nice ones by him, too, so I’m sure he wasn’t too upset.
Huck will just grab the Wild Child’s finger and hold them in our mouth. They are both so goofy.
One of the waterhole blinds. It is actually quite pretty here, but still don’t know how many hours I could sit in one.
This is how we wash the dirt off of tomatoes at our house. Isn’t this how everyone does it? She is going to be a wet little girl when they all start turning!
A little poem that totally could have been written about me.
Forgetter Be Forgotten
My forgetter’s getting better,
But my rememberer is broke
To you that my seem funny
But, to me, that is no joke
For when I’m ‘here’ I’m wondering
If I really should be ‘there’
And, when I try to think it through,
I haven’t got a prayer!
Oft times I walk into a room,
Say ‘what am I here for?’
I wrack my brain, but all in vain!
A zero is my score.
At times I put something away
Where it is safe, but, Gee!
The person it is safest from
Is, generally, me!
When shopping I may see someone,
Say ‘Hi’ and have a chat,
Then, when the person walks away
I ask myself, ‘who the hell was that?’
Yes, my forgetter’s getting better
While my rememberer is broke,
And it’s driving me plumb crazy
And that isn’t any joke.
Taken from the Thursday, July 25,2013 edition of the Nation’s Center News
Author not named
My “OH Sh**!” move of the week… I may have taken my corner a little wide trying to catch all the windrow. This is right along the highway hence the woven wire and not just a five-wire barbed-wire fence. Glad I saw it immediately and got stopped before I ripped out a whole chunk of fence. Guess I know what I will be doing this week.
My heart was broken when we got home at 3 a.m. this morning. We found our old dog Better standing outside the shop like he didn’t know where he was, couldn’t really walk, and looking at us like “What the heck is going on and what is wrong with me.” We hauled some blankets out to him right in the middle of the driveway. I’m afraid today is the day that we will have to say ‘Good-Bye’ to our old friend. I’m crying while typing this as I know my tomorrow post will probably be telling you that he is gone. My heart is so sad…