Cattle

Since I STILL don't have any pictures taken of any projects I have completed, I will have to talk about some things that have been on my mind.

I am married to a Farmer, shocking, I know, as the name kind of gives it away. However, I was raised a Rancher. One might not think so, but there IS a difference. Watching my husband and father-in-law dink around with their little cow/calf herd and their feeder calves drives me CRAZY! I can't say a thing about how they grow their corn or beans, because I don't know anything about it. Oh, but the cattle I know and they are oh so doing it wrong. Of course, I have no say in the matter and have to keep my big mouth shut at all appropriate times. But, someday, they will be mine :)

As we head out of January and head into February, March and Spring, I start thinking about calving season. I miss it. If anyone tells my father that, I will deny it and denounce you as insane! I miss the cute little calves, I am a girly girl after-all. I kinda miss calves in the bathtub, on the floor of the bathroom in front of the heater or in front of the heater in the hallway. Babies worth money always won the warmest spots in the house! I even enjoy the memory of waking up one morning to a little black calf standing in our bedroom. My sister's and I horrified that it might poop on our clothes that were scattered on our floor.

I don't necessarily miss chasing a stupid cow around a pasture for an hour at 2 am, but it didn't hurt me, as my parents reminded me. I know how to use pulling chains, have seen a few c-sections and have witnessed the birth of quite a few calves. I wasn't overly fond of carrying buckets of water or feed and didn't always enjoy the daily chores, but I did like the bottle calves we always seemed to collect every year.

I honestly didn't think I was learning a whole lot while I was out there. I never considered myself much of a rancher's daughter. I did animal judging in FFA, but that is what everyone did. I didn't actually KNOW anything about it or have any opinions on it, right? Oh, oh so wrong. I have opinions on everything. The uppity Rancher's daughter in me laughs or cringes at these Farmer's attempts at raising cows. Of course, they are doing a perfectly decent job and it is working just fine for them, but it isn't the way it is suppose to be done. It isn't the way my Daddy did it!