3.26.23
Mother Nature is feeling rather fickle these days. The Spring Equinox arrived on time, according to the calendar and it really was a lovely day, then Mother Nature had a bit of a tizzy fit and decided to remind us of who exactly was in charge! The days are definitely getting longer. Birds that left us in late autumn for warmer climes, long gone from our fields and farmyards, have returned with their spring voices well-tuned for the coming mating season. The grass is turning green and new shoots valiantly push their way up through the mantle of snow that Mother Nature insists on laying down each morning. Although this today she has decided a heavier blanket was in order!
Just when I had transitioned from wearing a warm turtleneck to a cotton t-shirt under my wooly jumper of a morning, I find I may be being a tad impatient in my hopes for warmer weather, so today the turtleneck is back. It is a chilly 20 degrees outside but even though I have the fire roaring in the stove, and it is becoming toasty inside the house, milking will be a cool chore in less than an hour’s time.
We really are an impatient lot, us humans. We want so much and want it right now. We want to see the green grass coming on so our cows can munch contentedly away on that instead of the hay we dole out each morning. We want to get in the garden with the tractor and tiller, working up the soil in preparation for planting. We want some sunny days so this chore or that chore can be erased off the long list of things to do before summer comes. We want our flowers to start poking their heads above muddy ground so as to relive the drab colours of winter foliage with their bright hues of spring. We want so much.
We complain about the cold, the snow, the mud and the challenge of doing chores in such conditions, although we do virtuously remind ourselves we need the moisture. The sudden squalls of icy rain, snow pellets and hail drench us and chill us to the bone, making us worry about the new calves entering the world in these conditions. We ask ourselves when on earth will spring and warmer weather arrive.
Suddenly I feel a tad ashamed of myself. Here I sit in a warm house, the light of my old table lamp shines down with a warm glow on me and my cosy armchair, a steaming cup of strong English tea by my side. The fire crackles merrily in the woodstove and off in the distance I hear my young cockerels crowing, heralding the dawn of a new day. Darrell is stirring and will soon join me out here in the living room. With a fresh cup of tea for me and a cup of coffee for him, we will plan our day. What a luxury that is!
For many years, even in the coldest and nastiest of weather, Darrell headed off to work in Bend, pulling wire in frigid temperatures in new houses in the middle of winter. At home, I would head out to take care of the farm chores, the feeding and tending of 65 mother cows, our bulls, horses and other farm animals, watching for the immanent birth of new calves or piglets. Like so many who will head out this chilly morning to go to work, plowing roads, opening up shops, filling cars and trucks with petrol, tending someone’s or one’s own livestock, the work goes on no matter the weather.
Today, our lives are so much easier. Darrell no longer gets ready to head down the driveway in his van, bound for Bend and a week’s worth of work away from home, we no longer have a big herd of cows to tend or pigs to farrow. Instead, we have the time to sit side by side in front of a good fire, planning what project we will work on today, taking our time before heading out to do the daily feeding chore – although of course milking Heidi will take place at 7 a.m. on the dot! Yes, we are so fortunate and blessed with the life we have.
As I glance out the window, the trees bear their mantle of white very elegantly. The ground has a snug blanket of snow that is actually warming and protecting the tender green shoots of grass that poke through the soil. It will be a grand day, for what is most important is that we are here and so very blessed to see it. Mother Nature does indeed know what she is doing, all we have to do is be patient and accept.
