December's Gifts

December happened, and the slide to Christmas is in full swing. We started the cows home from the range on the first day of the month. We grazed the valley ground initially, but by now the herd looks to us to feed them by hand each day. It’s nice when we have additional grazing in the valley and don’t have to feed on Christmas morning. This won’t be one of those years.

We had some fun grazing the first and second calvers on farm ground around the community. These young cows marched dutifully along the county roads to their destinations. First stop was a field of cover crops, those crops planted after harvest primarily to enhance soil fertility. The cows do their part by turning the mix of grain, kale, turnips and radishes into manure, setting the stage for farming again in the spring.

Then we went to a field of barley that had been harvested and regrown. Mark set up a water tank and ran a hose, but they hardly used it. The snow was soft and I imagine they took a lot of water in that way, plus the feed was lush and moist. We walked them back today. Though this is an agricultural community, cows aren’t generally part of traffic in the countryside. I claim it's good for motorists to come upon us. Slow down along your hurried way and watch a cow.

Our Christmas tree is a cedar we cut in the mountains as we were bringing the cows home. It’s a big one, adorned very simply with ornaments I’ve had since the kids were little. I have a box of nests I've collected over the years and some tiny eggs from the craft store to put in the bottom. My favorite ornaments are the ones the kids made in grade school. I still appreciate those teachers! 

After snow cover for a couple of weeks, we’ve had a nice thaw; not very Christmasy but it sure feels good. Today is the winter solstice. It’s extra special because it coincides with the December full moon, aptly called the long night moon.

I finally, just six days before Christmas, got a wreath made for the front door. The greens are cut from the yard and the vine that forms the base grows wild in the fence lines. Christmas can come now.

The morning we rode to the cows

one for Seth and Leah, one for us 

back in the valley, grazing cover crops

after the thaw and before the haystack

Merry Christmas!

Sistering

My sisters have been here. We had non-stop fun for almost a week. We thought of a new word to describe the activity - sistering. To spend time with one’s sisters – visiting, supporting, traveling, laughing, reminiscing, cooking, etc.

There are four local sisters (and a local brother), one Montana sister, and one we call the faraway sister who lives in Maryland.

We spent a day at each one of our local homes. My house was the first day where we got the first wave of visiting underway. At brother Rich’s we talked about his service in Vietnam and watched California quail feed on the lawn at dusk. Merle’s day featured a wagon ride with the Clydesdales, Honey and Liz. Kit fed us roast pork by candlelight. On Becky’s day (she lives on the ranch where we grew up) we visited our ancestral home at dusk and approved our niece’s remodel of our own childhood home next door.

We pulled out Mom’s photo albums and had a great time reminiscing. We dug out some hand made vintage clothing, Becky and Donna’s wedding dresses, Janene’s maid-of-honor dress and a prom dress or two. We laughed and carried on about fabric and bygone styles. We marveled at how Mom sewed four dresses in the two-weeks AFTER our house burned down in May 1969 and BEFORE Janene got married in June of that same summer. Whose sewing machine did she borrow? She didn’t even have a kitchen and with seven kids to manage, how did she pull it off?

We argued back and forth about who was who in some of the photos. Becky can usually figure it out, but even she was stumped by the person in the coonskin hat helping clean up on the morning after our house burned down. He/she is leaning over, examining one of the many fire damaged items that were strewn across the lawn. Before our discussion was over, some of the sisters even second-guessed that it was a coonskin hat after all! It was.  

I know outsiders see us and all the ways we're alike. I see our differences. We live varied lives. We have different opinions and different challenges. We have the same history, but remember different details about the same events. We’re on the other side of lots of life’s decisions. We've had our share of missteps and disappointments, and have learned to find beauty in the imperfections that make up our lives. For some reason I’m reminded of the lines of a poem Donna sent me back when I got divorced from my first husband. It's by Veronica Shoftsall and the passage I'm thinking of goes, "So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to leave you flowers." It's a grown-up way of looking at happiness, and grown ups we are.   

six sisters plus Howdy and Cole