Last week, as we passed the Vernal Equinox, I saw in my social media feeds, pictures of blooming daffodils and blossoming cherry trees. But, even in this bizarrely warm year, we are a long way from flowers. Calves are a better harbinger of spring around here anyways, and we’ve been watching their numbers grow for weeks now.
Today, winter was trying to decide if it was going to make a comeback. The kids came out to feed with us like they usually do on the weekends. Spoiled by our recent warm weather, they ignored me when I told them to grab their warm coats, and walked out the door in light jackets. There was much grumbling and complaining on the feed grounds when we stepped out into the bitter chill. You could almost feel the moisture in the air coalesce into snow flakes around us.
When we first start feeding early in the winter, everyone is excited. It’s a chance to get close to the animals that spend the pleasant months grazing far away from us. They don’t need us and they know it. Then the weather turns cold and suddenly they want to see us, or the food we offer. We have old friends who will eat out of our hands, and we always hope to make a few new ones to our social circle. The oldest is excited to drive the truck, and the younger two think it’s pretty cool to ride on the flat bed while their dad pitches hay.
But by this time, feeding has become more of a chore, even for the kids (and me) who only do it one day a week. They roll out of bed on a Sunday morning and would rather stay in their pajamas and play Nintendo or Minecraft, or literally anything other than pulling on their jeans and muck boots and head out in the cold only to ride in a bumpy old truck out to feed a bunch of stinky old calves, then spend the rest of the day shaking hay out their shirt.
But the calves were out, their tails lifted as they ran across the feed grounds, oblivious to the sudden turn in weather. Even the kids mood improved, if only for the bit we were out there. It may be a cold, grey day, green grass a long way from sprouting, but all these new babies have put me in a mood for spring.
Vegetarian Ranchwife 