Mark & Brett push cows to the feed ground where hay will be put out on dozed area
Yes, 2 cows stand on ice waiting for ice to be chopped so they can drink, temps range around -9 to 14
I'm adding to the update of Colorado ranch journal via phone conversations with my daughter on this page. oh...check out the thumb nails of photos she sent me too.
The following notes are from phone calls from my daughter in South East Colorado during the winter 2007. She was too busy to journal, so I thought I'd write a few notes to reflect life on a tiny bit of this world. I've tried to remember to date them.
Early Jan,around the 11th. Update on the winter wonder...I wonder when it'll stop... land of southeast Colorado
Kim called today, she & Brett had been to town and got lots and lots of groceries, medicines and other supplies as another artic front storm approaches tomorrow. This is her 1st day not to be searching for cattle but since another storm monster rolls in soon, they want to be as prepared as possible.
She told me that yesterday she, Mark and Brett left early daybreak and headed across roads opened only the day before by one of their neighbors on a d-9 cat to the pasture where their 1st calf heifers are stranded about 20 miles east. This is the 1st chance they had to get over to that area of ranch and they are soooo gratefully to the neighbors helping with the big cat! They feel blessed by all their neighbors. Cattle from all the ranches have drifted and mingled with each other, ranchers feed the animal, it matters not who's it is, just that it gets hay.
When the D-9 got to this pasture two days ago the driver found 8 head (of the 100 or so in that pasture, 75 of which Kim would normally have close to home to calve out 2-year olds that hadn't seen deep snow before, standing inside their own snow corral, the cattle hadn't ventured out of an approx 10 foot x 10 foot area, the white snow was untouched around them after ...this is day 15 of this storm. There were 7 days ahead of this in which around 15 inches had covered 1st then melted a little before the next major storm hit the 28th of Dec. which is the one that caused 3-4 foot level white and drifts 10 foot with ease.
This is the storm the National guard thought all cattle were fine, it had stopped snowing, 3 days they helped put hay out, to some, but what about the other ranches and cattle that still have yet to find a taste of hay? After 14 days beyond the point all is to be fine, no one told these cattle that. hummm, wonder of wonders.
Maybe the combined body heat, or mildly warm at least, of the cattle conserved some energy in their stand together against the elements, nothing to eat anywhere anyway, it's all under 3 foot of snow. Altho, Kim did say she took a ruler to measure places yesterday and the shallowest today was 2 foot, and of course the drifts continue to be impassable/
Sun has shined the past couple days and even though 28 degrees most of time, the sun did gain some inches back from the depth leaving wet muddy sloppy places where ice wasn't covering.
She thinks she could be a spokes woman for 4-wheel drive vehicles, said she's never been in such messes and stuck then out so many times ever! It was a good thing they took two trucks!!
anyway, they got to the pasture and had to walk to search for cattle, her hubby, Mark thought some may be in a certain area and sure enough 14 head in a corner so walked to them as now driving was not an option since no caterpillar tracks to follow.
Yucca cactus hid under flat snow but it seems the snow was like a bubble around these tops and if a person walked over it, they fell complety thru and had to struggle back on top of more firm footing. ouch.
It took 2 hours for the 3 of them, yes, Brett too, to go to the cattle and get them started back towards the pickup, the cows would exchange leaders once in awhile, one or more heifers would go down and all would stop and rest 5 minutes then push on and after the cows found the people's surface trail, as the people didn't go down far, except when the yucca points made an appearance, the cows followed that thin trail to the pickup. Kim's part Jersey cross from her old milk cow a few years ago, was with this bunch and she is nice, stayed at the back and seemed to help keep the other heifers less concerned about 2 legged aliens being right there.
They found a few more starving faces, fed 4 big bales of hay and was back home after eleven hours of one foot in front of the other and hopes, prayers, mud and ice, and thanks to all for all the prayers, she says she knows they are helping as they all keep their spirits up.
This morning Brett was near the lower gas tanks at the house, heard a weak meowing and told his folks, "That's not Smokey, he has a deep meow, that's Patch!" And sure enough, Patch, a cat they raised from kitten had been gone since the 28th when this last deep snow hit. She streaked out of some rocks above the corrals and leaped into Brett’s arms.
Needless to say, she received a can of cat food, warm water, and a soft bed and I'm sure she's snuggled with Brett as I type this note. She's light as a feather now but happy to see her people!
A couple of days ago Kim watched some of their longhorns follow a snowmobile to the barn near the outdoor arena, and she said 3 babies were with them! the old 20 year old cow she thought was gone... was with the group!
A few are missing. But a bright spot was when she drove back past the barn after feeding the Oryx their first hay
and to see 3 babies curled at the base of a big hay bale with sun shine on them while long horns clicked above them in their sleep, was a nice sight that keeps one remembering why you place one foot in front of the other and keep searching for cattle everyday and leaning against the wind and hang tight to faith.
And I hope all will continue to send all good wishes and prayers their way, thank you!!!
She was in her pickup when she called had just gotten back to the horse barn where some supplies were to be left, then to start finding out where people were and how much longer they'd be out, it was already dark, around 6 PM her time. I think around 6--8 people are feeding and searching in different directions as each day brings a new story. Some good, some sad.
And her hubby wasn't in yet with the tractor.
She claims that's the best time of day, when she sees him headed her direction and she doesn't have to wonder where he is anymore.
that's the latest news from the cold front.
I hope everyone’s keeping warm, safe and keep your refrigerators stocked!
fEB 13TH, I'VE ADDED A PAGE to continue these journal type conversations, please check next page for more updates.
Feb 8th, remember the calf with the cow that was so hateful, well, the baby's up and on a bottle and doing good. Cold damp freezing temps continue to hamper spirits of beast and burden men. Kim has 2 calves on bottles, another was just brought in today by her hubby. The calf warmed on the farrowing heat pad but remains listless. He's a big baby out of an older cow but the constant cold drains these newborns. On a better note, one of the heifers had a little half longhorn baby this morning and it was up nursing in minutes, the new mom proud and cleaning it polished slick.
Two of the neighbors cows walked across drifts, they must've heard the heifers and made their way to the pens, Kim said they looked sooo pitiful and thin, hadn't seen people and feed for over a month. she fed them, gave them a place to rest and called the neighbors to let them know 2 more cows alive. Some thawing a couple days ago also brought so much mud to the main road, which is dirt, that the school bus couldn't get there safely. I suppose one of these days we will deliver Christmas presents. Maybe by next week-end. Faith, one foot in front of the other and a warm spell and we've got it made! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feb 3rd,-- the mail lady's truck flipped on it's back yesterday near Kim's mailbox, Mark, soninlaw, helped her get out and she finished delivering the mail with a neighbors help. The mail really does go on when at all possible! Frozen ruts toss vehicles. Weather--minus 30 wind chill last night, minus 10 otherwise. Burrrr! Kim says when she ear tagged a couple baby calves that survived this fridgid fight, flat ice slabs clung to their hair where their mothers licked them and the slobbers froze. Kim saw something dark in the road near town, thought it was a cow in road, it was just a dark splotch of road where snow & ice had melted off. That's bad when you haven't seen pavement in so long that a dark spot is foreign.
And she tells me she took a picture of a polar bear, now she's joking, I know better but it will be interesting to see that picture! No telling what she's turned into a polar critter, probably a snow covered stump. The snowmoblie flipped her off the other day, humm, wonder if that bumped her head. Good thing she doesn't have her computer back yet so she could see this, she may frown at me for this one. ha.
Cows and ranchers continue their struggle, it will be another frozen night tonight, we hope & pray for another sunny day tomorrow! Kim had to take a calf that was 8 days old into the house to the heating pad, it was down and already listless, the cow just would not claim it after a week of trying to make her accept it. The calf got drenched with electralites, milk replacement and warmth and went from laying in 'going going gone' position, to that of a calf curled up and getting a new outlook. Hopefully healing and life will retun to this little critter's wish list. It will get to stay in a warm spot tonight and have people fret over it, sure is better than some old sorry neglectful hateful cow, Kim opened the gate and kicked her out. Sometimes the shepard has to take over.
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Feb 1st 2007, 8 degrees last night at the ranch. The heifers have all been moved via pickups & trailers closer to home and they reside in snow pens, that's right, the snow's been scraped to form a corral and Kim says a couple places of her real pens are usable for putting new mommas also. She claims she can see edges of road because the snow sinks down a little now, she tried to drive her 4 wheel drive to the old log pile, it pushed so much snow in front of the bumper in only 6 feet that she had to back out, so she walked the football field length distance a few times to get posts to deliver to her hubby so he could burn them where a water tank float was froze solid.
She has a couple calves on bottle, seems like a 4 legged critter is on the back porch on heating pad nearly every day just to warm up before going back to their new mom. Frozen ears and tails are minor, this year they've seen older cows, good mothers in the past, lay down have their baby then leave it... seems survival is natures call this year. But thank goodness, there are still cows and even new mommas that will try to stick your head in the snow bank if you bother their calf. So life goes on for some and others find warmth only in deep sleep of no awaking.
What a trip this winter is! My kid tells me it's warm, at 22 degrees and she's not seen a sprig of grass since Dec 19th--I think that's the time of 1st snowfall, the snow still hits over her knees and if wind fills the roads with snow drifts, it's back to square one. Remember, this is Southeast Colorado, not MT or WY or even mountains of Colorado where this is expected up high. But only a normal 3--4 hour drive from our home in top part of Tx. yes, we get snow too, and blizzards, but usually see ground in a week or 10 days! This just isn't normal for this area. This week calls for more snow.
She had 6 rolls of film developed yesterday when she drove into town for supplies, and got them on CD so if her computer will work.. I'll have some new photos to put up.
She took one photo of a cow that looked asleep snuggled with head curled to body, it wasn't asleep, another behind it was going away too, and 5 calves around them were gone. This was last week sometime, while I was in Long Beach where flower petals scattered over the sidewalk. The phone brought us close, but I couldn't send her any of the heat.
Today I'm headed to hang paintings at two shows and this morning she is chopping ice with an ax so cattle can water. We will try to go up there this weekend, if another snow doesn't keep our little 4-wheel drive CRV out of the race. It does great for winter travel, but if the snow is too deep, well... we may have Christmas in July!
Kim tells me the railroad attracts antelope on the tracks, the deep snow is hard to travel in, and the train has killed lots of them because they won't jump into the snow. Isn't it odd...the different paths all over this world. Well, I better head for Barnes & Noble to hang my art show and to Dumas for the miniature invitational show.
How long can you hang on? ...with faith a lot longer.
1st day after 4 days of snowed in, takes Mark 6 hours to scoop way with tractor to mailbox, one mile. And then no mail for another week till after county rds cleared at least one way.
snow snow and more snow, keeps one guessing where the road edges are...
pickup with big hay bales, heifers in front, can barely see cattle backs.
my daughter's sense of humor shows here
now this is pretty,
where is the right road
Snowblower on wrong road, Some times gifts happen unexpected.
This really was a shortcut to the pickup after searching for cattle
Anti-freeze ... I think a good thing to have here.
my 9 yr old grandson, not so little anymore.
this one isn't a pretty picture, after effects still linger to claim life
Jan 21st, quick note, more snow in Colorado, they got 50 heifers out of the far place by stock trailer, roller off cat, ground blizzard, barely made it out before drifts closed roads again... just so much white, so much sad, so much --too much. A snowmobile mission at Kim's sister-in-law's, found 11 live cows that had been trapped past 23 or so days in rugged area and 8 others that hadn't been able to hold on. The blowing winds and near blind conditions a couple days ago didn't help matters any, they moved the heifers out in this weather, 50 more head to go back for when can get roads open again. The cat had to pull each loaded pickup-trailer out of ice trap so they could get started. Lucky heifers are closer to house now. One foot at a time... oh I wish I could help somehow. Prayers most welcome, thanks!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Second note for Jan 17, 1st is below this, under the line. It's noonish, Kim called again said they couldn't get to the pasture as planned because snow drifts covered the road taller than pickups only couple miles from the
heifers. They retreated, had to back up a long ways before able to turn around. She told me, " Ice pellets stung my cheeks as I leaned out of the door as far as I could in order to see around the big bales of hay that blocked my view. We dropped the hay at the closest low spot of snow so it will be there when we're able to get back.... Just awhile ago, closer to home, I opened a gate to drive into another pasture and a new calf was trying to nurse between it's mom's front legs wobbly and wet but the cow licked it and stood still, not even coming to hay where we feed that group of cattle. On way back past the new pair, after breaking ice at the water tank, the baby was nursing. The sun shines and is maybe 30 degrees now!" "The insurance man came to check the roof where the 7 uprights broke from weight of snow 2 weeks ago."
Yes, they heard loud popping noises back when this storm first hit and checked the attic to find 7 uprights broke and a few side beams also. They slept in a different room where safer till the roof proved it would hold up after they shoveled snow off it for several hours in blowing wind. That's old news but I don't think I'd mentioned it in earlier notes.
She had to go, there's work to do. A few comments over the conversation... "Antelope stand in groups, one was in the road in front of me yesterdy and would not jump off the road into the snow untill I pulled up beside it hoping it wouldn't bang into the truck, it didn't, it jumped to the snow. Rabbits follow the snow plowed roads too, they will not jump out of the way so we go slow and hope they stay to the side. ... The mail lady made it all the way to our mailbox today for the 1st time since this hit. Paved roads near Springfield are clear it's just when you hit the 70 miles of dirt road that it's bad. Still can not drive in the pastures as the snow just pushes up in front of bumper and you're stuck from going forward. The winds blow drifts over roads that were clear, come on up, it's fun!"
I know that girl of mine says that in jest!! Again-- back to the laugh so don't cry thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jan 17, AM --My daughter just got off the phone with me,
she and her hubby are headed with two pickups loaded with big bales to the pasture
where the 75 heifers she was to calf out this winter plus 30 or so other cows still remain and will stay as there is no way to get trucks in, cows too weak to drive them 20 miles, and so they will deliever hay and feed and check for those calving as often as can.
She laughed this morning telling me they have to get into the pickups with use of an ax to pry frozen steel apart.
Said she didn't even wear a vest under coat yeaterday as it got up to 23 or so which seemed like a heat wave.
Her determination and faith remain deep and her husband is also the type to chuckle when he says...
"I don't know which is worse, cutting off a finger all at once or just pieces at a time each day."
you know his heart is heavy.
Kim says that if you have one cattle panel, find cows on snow path, place the panel across trail to block it, cows think they are caught and will not go around into the snow. The road is like ice with marbles on it and no one counts the slips, slides and falls anymore. The mail lady has been tossed around in her truck by frozen slabs of ice which jut from the road and throw heavy pickups from side to side. She hasn't made it all the way out to their place yet but has dropped mail at her brother-in-law's horse barn which is 7 miles closer and they can pick it up there. Maybe the road should be labled "Warning, drivers beware, buckle on and hold tight- road tries to eat you."
If it weren't for being able to find some humor life might bite.
I know this is so hard for all the ranchers in area as well as affecting the whole mid country now, all the way to south TX where a new buyer of my art lives. She tells me they have 28 degree drizzle and are trying to keep animals fed and watch for newborn calves there as the turmoil stomps across the states eastward. Another bidder in CA says they've lost fruit crops there and in PA, my friend tells me she's reading a book while perched in sunshine and wishes she could take the cold away and give the heat to Kim.. A bidder in Virgina told me last week, her airconditioner was on!
I'll update my little news from the winter wonder land as I can get to it, must go paint now.
Well, a few days have passed, on Jan 15th Kim tells me the yucca tips can be seen in a few places where snow depth decreases. The other day when we thought it would be 18 degrees there, it was minus 14 at her home! And 18 above here at home in TX. 200 miles apart.
It is calving season but at the rate the air freezes soft breath, the outlook isn't good. A few calves have survived so far, more have not. The freezing temps and being trapped in snow drifts till someone finds them has caused cows to become listless and lose the spark that once shone in their eyes. They can not find a dry place to have their babies, they do not have the strength to push when the time comes and the ranchers work from dark morning till dark night to keep hay and feed to the ones found while trying to locate others still unaccounted for. And they .. the national news.. say the cattle survived this blizzard... they just don't know the real story do they.
One cow survives, another lays down and sleeps forever and a calf takes it's 1st breath which is it's last. It's different when winter doesn't give you what you are used to and prepared for. Storms hit this area and that's expected but not this severe degree and not for this long. The equipment and man power and the timing...
Kim says the days are a blurr, someone sheared a water valve & pipe a few days ago, they were trying to help, the water still pours out, finding cattle and feeding them is more important than broken pipe at this point. The worst someone was stuck was a big front end loader, it fell into a gully nose first as snow hid the edge of the banks. A big caterpiller had to get it out. No one hurt.
They helped a cow with a calf the other night, in that 14 degree cold, took it home and warmed it but it still didn't make it. A week old calf gave up the same day, and those are just a couple of the many. The little longhorn babies I talked about earlier are a month old, the ones that came in with their moms to the hay bale. They are still hanging on and doing fine so far.
Cows don't leave the place they were fed so it's easier to feed then look for new ones to bring to the feed grounds. My grandson & his cousins who live close went to school for the 1st time since Christmas break, the school bus could get through today. These kids know about the meaning of help, good neighbors, good pickups, caution around big equipment, the look of hunger from a cow, the sound of ice in the night, cold, warmth, life, ...death. They are ages 9, 7 and 5... , the 7 yr old had a birthday this month, so he's 8 now.
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Kim tags newborn as worried mom watches. March 18th, snow spotty now & green has hopes.
March 17th, we finally drive to daughter's & family! Christmas presents and hugs and kisses and help put out feed, and see the wet mud mingled with spotty snow, and...carcasses of baby calves, and cows, and feel the eagerness of cattle when they see the pickup loaded with big hay bales headed their direction. Some calves are thin, some blink and stretch in sunshine, their bellies full and noses damp. Baby calves stand as if tiny soldiers, heads up, stiff arch to neck, frozen in mid thought, but after the pickup passes, they run and scoot around cactus and retun to babies of the prairie! Odd, no birds! Except hawks or ravens that glide in swoops over old feed grounds where last month snow claimed its toll. One feed ground we drove thru I counted 19 tiny carcasses, mostly bones. Coyotes trot easy. Saddest place was where one cow lost her struggle and her calf lay at her feet. Snow and freezing temps below zero for soo long had been too much. Well, on to nicer notes!
Green sprigs shoot their arms out to see if it's safe. It must be as a few white wild flowers brave the uncertain March month. But my grandson wears green today so the earth must surely wish to join in on this St Patrick day tradition. We are all glad! It was sooo good to see everyone! And such a relief to know grass is close. Hay remains scarce and at a premium.
Before we had to come back home, I rode on 4-wheeler with Kim. She needed to check the heifers. A quick fly over the hill as fast as you can ride behind that dare devil daughter to find new born calf or trouble... and sitting on back of 4-wheeler my camera clinging to one hand, and a rope in the other, a tackle box with medicine and ear tags in front, and daughter..I did not teach her to claim her space like his..or did I?? ha She looks left and right and forward and behind all at once as we zip thru cedars, across low creek beds-and over tall-can't-see-over-the-hill waterdam at windmill! She chuckles, I let my face enjoy the wind and the freedom of being alive with the smell of cedar, sage and new growth and life returns to a deeply scarred area of our world. It's what people see, what they do and how they react... it's that one foot in front of the other and look, the top of the hill is here. And mostly knowing His hand is there is what helps more than anything to wake up and pull those same boots on again.
March 8th, this blizzard's after effects linger even as mud increases and warmth soaks into calves that lay beside their now hopeful mommas. Snow drifts have caused several areas of fence to lie on ground helpless. Kim drove the 4-wheeler from one pasture to another a few days ago, just up the hill, across the fallen fence, and she headed for a far windmill to check that area. She found one carcass of a cow who's story is untold. Snow will slowly give up its hidden secrets as more of it melts to give spring grasses moisture. What a trade-off, a cow for extra green. And it looks like it will be real green. And in the corrals a handful of heifers wait motherhood, and two cows are down, can't get up, due to some unknown forces. After-effects of snow jail even though now they have good feed, mineral, hay and daily care with someone that worries over them --bodies still show ill effects. Now on to happier things. Two of the bottle babies started eatting grain. The two colts are up in pens. Kim halters them and a special softness sounds in her voice as I hear her tell me about how one colt would turn to face her and "He learns so fast..." I'm glad life begins to show signs of something other than snow, drifts, find more hay, and mud. Can you believe this, one farmer told them he would sell them a certain amount of hay... but all of a sudden, he only had about half of what he promised! Funny how some people don't live up to a handshake and their word. Guess they have their reasons. But that doesn't make things right.
Oh I nearly forgot, a couple weeks ago one of the outside heifers stuck her head between cable fence reaching for some hay. The cow with head stuck in fence felt the cables tighten and pulled her head up, her feet went under the fence, head caught between cable..oh oh, she went down. Kim just happened to be checking the heifers in corral and noticed a few outside heifers had found their way past snow boundries and into area near corral. Then she saw the stuck heifer just as it was going down. Kim's report to me, "That cow was big and I didn't know how in the world I was going to get her head turned to get her out, no time to run for help, the cow was already jerking as if breathing its last. So I just grabbed her head and pulled, pushed and somehow her head came out. She lay there, I thought that was it, another dead cow, then after minutes, she breathed a big sigh, wobbled to her feet and I got her out of that area. She walked funny for awhile but is fine now".
Hummm, so one guy has a bad handshake but the Main Man Upstairs has a way of helping give strength somehow when we need it. That's better isn't it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ March 1st, it's been busy around here and up at ranch! Here, painting on mural as can be seen on other page. And at my daughter's... Kim tells me a couple weeks ago... " We are shipping some of the cows out of this snow so some relief to feeding and worse--finding hay. Grass can be found at father-in-law's place south of here in upper Oklahoma so two loads shipped out today, a little later than planned as a railroad truck turned over at the mailbox, Mark found the guy, shaken, pickup rolled all the way over to land on wheels but with wrinkled top. All the precautions taken and feeding got underway a little late.
Then the cows were moved by semi. The trucks came to area on main dirt road, well, ice road. They stopped in road, portable pens placed at back with loading chute. Traffic is light, a couple pickups turned around as couldn't go around trucks, except one neighbor in 4-wheel drive, he took to the bar-ditch and did fine. The Schawn man who brings frozen food to area people stayed and took orders from my daughter and her sister-in-law as he watched the gathering of cattle with feed to lure them from pasture to road into pens and gently urge them onto the trucks. No time for any wild cow break-outs! The snow still works as barriers but is slowly lowering it's top as mud builds. Temperatures range in zero to 30 degrees, cattle range from skin to bones and hope still hangs on.
The trucks could not turn around but the arrangment worked nice since the trucks were headed south to their destination about 70 miles or so.
Kim called later in evening with a sad note. One of the semi trailers came off the 5thwheel only 10 miles from destination. By the time this events domino effect ended 8 cows had to be put down due to broken legs, my gosh, the blizzard and now some freakish accident! The next day 3 more loads of cows were trailered to the south place, and one of those semis had to be unloaded and reloaded to a different truck because of motor trouble.
Now on to good news! Kim tells me she still thought she'd go close that gate she tried to get to a few weeks ago but got stuck with 4-wheeler and spent an hour or so digging herself out. Well, she hadn't ridden since early Dec,and one of her geldings was close, she put halter on him, hopped aboard and let him, Sunset, take her to the gate. She said the snow was knee deep to him on average. She had to uncover the gate from the drift but got it closed then enjoyed her ride back home. Something about a horse sure makes one glad to be alive don't it.
I'm adding a few more pictures from Kim, one is not pretty, but true. And a couple are fun, thank goodness. The tiny twin didn't make it, the other baby finally gave up too, but three others are doing fine to be orphans. The last time Kim called me, I could hear the swish swish of milk being stirred in big bottle and knew she was on her way to feed babies on her way to routine check of heifers.
Another phone call with a smile in her voice as she told me "Momma Deer" was seen close to home. They hadn't seen her since about a week after the blizzard hit. Kim fed her from hand, and noticed several scrapes and cuts from stories untold. The doe is thin, she's around 10 years old now I think. That cat of Brett's is a lot heavier now, Brett can drive a snowmobil, the feed truck in the pastures in mud and snow and ice, he's 9, and after having a big bale hay flake fall on him, he skirts clear of the back of pickups with big hay bales... This year brings memories that will last. Srength with faith is a great stepping stone isn't it? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Feb 13, 07. Continued from Home Page. That phone is so nice to have! Kim tells me sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't now as the waters melt into ground and soak around telephone lines. So far static rings in our ears but that's better than nothing!
Yesterday she called around 2 PM and said different people had been stuck 8 times, three of them twice each as they fed and checked for troubles with cows and calves and chopped ice at tanks. The big tractor grunts and groans and gains respect and surely might beam with pride if it were capable of thought. That big thing has saved the day more than once.
Kim called me on her cell phone while headed to a back pasture with Mark to feed. She drove her pickup to leave on the main road just in case... and later in the evening, she called to let me know, yes, another stuck in the muck of what lies beneath the snow and ice. Good thing they had her pickup to walk to, better than having to hike 3-4 miles! So that made 9 stuck in the slush for the day. It seems snow melts under cover and makes a bottomless mud pit when anyone breaks thru the icey top surface. Isn't that something, we wish for sunny days and the mud creates blocks, and if we wish for freezing temps to keep the ground solid, well, calves perish when born to fridgid air from mothers still weak from the ordeal they've been though. Deep breath, pat the tractor and keep pulling. I will be adding more thumbnail photos Kim just sent me soon. Remember, you may click on those to enlarge photo.
Kim has 3 or 4 babies on the bottle at home now. The one she thought would kick the bucket is still determined. He did have a setback and had to be drenched again but back to nursing the bottle the next day. A teetiny baby was brought in by Mark last night, she may be a twin. Kim says she's been curled in tight little ball on back porch getting warm. A farrowing heat pad is kept for these days. As we talked a bit later I heard a loud "maaaaaahhh!!" and Kim laugh then tell me ' "I gotta go mom"...and in same breath with a hint of a grin "You can't come in my kitchen" , ha something tells me the tiny, maybe-a-twin just might make it thru this winter!
The heifers have done pretty good since being moved closer to home where can be checked and fed as normal. Weakness is being overcome by daily hay and feed. The fact a longhorn bull for heifers was used is something Kim is so glad about as she tells me more than once she's gone out to check the heifers, saw one with a bubble sack or feet starting and in nearly no time that cow has laid down, had the babe and is up with it nursing by time Kim's finished feeding the others. She's not had to pull any so far. Now, some have died from freezing weather, or not quite right developed because came too soon due to the stress of this storm. We continue to hope and pray for warm days to help these critters get a sparkle back to their eyes.
We all are sending prayers to the folks in all hardships, those with snow piled tall in the north must surely be in a struggle for their families & animals . What a year! And now that it's into the 8th week of one foot in front of the other the work continues to balance on top and ride this storm out. I ought to paint a picture, it would be a cowboy, one arm held high with a snow shovel as he or she.. fans a bronc named Blizzard, as they spur snowflakes from it's shoulders with a big grin that says, " Bring it on!" One can do that you know, with faith. Yep, I think I'll paint that.
mixed media, "One Message" sold Thanks AZ, more crosses to come this fall
Horsefeathers Studio, Canyon, Tx., Gallery #112 in Amarillo at Art of the Sunsets. Art specializing in critters with personality. Fine art or whimsical commissions welcome.
Please remember to close the gate but not your heart.