Wind for Sale

We’ve been pummeled for days by high winds, which get to Mark more than any other weather extreme. For one thing he wears contacts and he’s always fighting his eyes. And a cold wind - which it always is - is hard on calves. Mark is doctoring a few for scours right now. He hasn’t lost any, but it’s only because he monitors them constantly (and luck he tells me). He treats them with liquids and usually after a couple of treatments they’re back to healthy. The constant tending and worrying is stressful. I tell Mark he can’t save every calf, but he doesn’t hear me.  

Feeding the cows their daily ration in the wind is miserable too. Anna and I fed the last two Sundays to give the regular crew a break and oh, how I appreciate that regular crew! Anna had straw drilled into every pore and every crease in her clothing.

Mark has put a million miles on the 4-wheeler this spring. It’s really good for checking cows and for tagging babies. He can park in the midst of the herd, turn off the machine and walk from calf to calf in the quiet, putting a tag in one ear and administering a couple of vitamin/mineral shots with little stress on the calves. He has honed his methods so that the mother cow accepts him and the whole herd stays calm. The 4-wheeler doesn’t need saddled and doesn’t leave him when he dismounts.

That’s all fine and good, but the 4-wheeler will be the death of the saddle horse. Horses need to be ridden just like the ranch wife needs to ride - to be in shape for the long days of trailing cattle ahead. We need to be needed. Mark and I ride a little this time of year, but not enough to get around the 4 head of horses that need ridden. I tell Mark it’s okay. He’s got too much work to do to beat himself up for not checking cattle on a horse. We just need to face facts and figure out how to get the horses handled enough to be safe when we need them. 

Today has a slow motion feel. The grass is green, budding is well under way and my one clump of daffodils is in bloom. But at only 38 degrees we all wait. I saw in my diary that it was 78 degrees on this date last year and we were in a hot-weather frenzy. But for today, 2018, spring is on hold.