Beef Cake: I Need Your Vote!

I'm celebrating a little "beef cake" today on The County Line. No, not that kind of beef cake, though I am kind of partial to the guy in the photo.

You see, my photo, The Blizzard of Oz, is one of 15 finalists selected in a Winter on the Ranch photo contest for Beef Magazine.

I already feel like a winner, since more than 200 photos were submitted. Editors at Beef Magazine narrowed them down to 15 to be eligible for VISA gift cards - $125 for champion and $75 for reserve. Voting is open until noon Thursday, March 8, 2013. To vote, visit the Beef Magazine website finalist photo gallery.

I would be honored if you'd vote for my photo. But I know I have a lot of good competition. Whether I get your vote or not, you'll enjoy seeing the wintery photos from farms and ranches across the country.

And you might just win a Beef hat for yourself. Four voters, chosen at random, will have some new head gear So, go vote!

As I said, it's an honor just to be one of the finalists. But winning would be like having my cake and eating it, too. Mmmmmm - beef cake!

Just in case you missed them, click here and here and here or more photos from our Blizzard of Oz. 

More Photos? That's sNOw Surprise

 

There is s'NO'w doubt that the 2013 Blizzard of Oz provided beautiful scenes, along with some much needed moisture.

The second round of winter on Sunday and Monday delivered another 6 inches of snow to the County Line. This was on top of the 14-plus inches we got last week.

Randy says it's been a long time since the co-op made gates. This gate is in an old corral.

Though we are very thankful for the moisture, the snow doesn't end the drought for this region. A foot of snow translates to about 1 inch of moisture. Meteorologists said this was a wetter snow, so the 1 1/2-feet-plus of snow was equivalent to about 2 inches of rain. We are in the neighborhood of 10-12 inches behind in moisture after two years of drought.

Even with a blustery day on Monday, a good covering of snow stayed put on the wheat fields, where it insulated the 2013 wheat crop and will provide some timely moisture as it melts.

We had six babies during the storm and lost only one. One mama was smart enough to deliver her newborn in the barn on Monday.

While the old barn is nowhere close to airtight, it did provide some protection from the bitter wind and blowing snow.

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Instead of attempting to drive out into the pasture south of our house yesterday morning, we walked to see if there were new babies.

No new babies, but it was a beautiful morning in the pasture.

One of the babies seemed to play hide and seek with us among the pasture trees, which provided good protection during the storms.

The babies also found some warmth in the hay bales - in hay spread for bedding ...

... and for their mamas to eat.

I'm thankful the electricity stayed on, and we stayed nice and cozy in our home on the County Line, despite all the snow and wind. 

I enjoyed the snow days. Today, it's back to reality. I don't recall ever having had five snow days in a row at school. Nothing says reality like a return to middle school choir.

 ***

Today, I'm linked with a couple of different bloggers who participate in Wordless (or Wordfull) Wednesday. (You know that I'm always wordfull!). Visit Project Alicia and Kristi's Live and Love Out Loud and check out the other photo posts.

Stretcher Bearers

A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations,

but look what they can do when they stick together!

Anonymous

This morning, I again watch as the snowflakes come down. The sidewalk I cleared after our 14-inch snow last week is again obscured with a blanket of white, marred only by cat footprints.

The cattle are again wearing a coat of white.

A snowflake is said to be as individually unique as a human fingerprint. An individual flake looks fragile. And it is. With the heat of a human hand, a flake disappears almost immediately. But when they are piled together, they are a force to be reckoned with.

My car - February 22, 2013. I did get it partially dug out before this 2nd round of snow started.

We humans are like that, too. Yes, individuals can be strong and accomplish a great deal. But how much more can we do when we come together?

Yesterday, Pastor Amy continued a sermon series based on Church of the Resurrection Pastor Adam Hamilton's book, The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus. Among the Scripture readings for this week was Mark 2: 1-12.

It's a familiar story told over and over again as children gather for Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. Jesus is preaching at Peter's home in Capernaum. Some men have a friend who is sick and paralyzed. They have heard that Jesus is a healer, so they carry their friend to the place where Jesus is preaching, believing He can help. When they find that the home is too crowded to enter through the door, they cut a hole in Peter's roof. They lower their friend, who is resting on a stretcher, through the hole and into Jesus' presence. And Jesus sees the friends' great faith and heals the paralyzed man.

There are several things we can take away from this story. The first is that all of us need stretcher-bearers. ... Who are the people who would pick you up, tear off the roof and lower you to Jesus? We all need friends like that, whose faith is strong even when ours is weak, who are friends not just in word, but in deed.

Who are our stretcher-bearers? Whose stretcher-bearer are you?

From Adam Hamilton's book, The Way: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus

It's a good question. And I think I've had it answered over and over again in the past week. On Saturday, we had a funeral dinner for a lifetime member of our church. The funeral and the dinner were postponed because of the snowstorm.

But, on Saturday, church members who ranged in age from their 20s to their 80s came together to help. Some made "Methodist meatloaf," our church's go-to main dish for funeral dinners. Some made cakes, salads and potato casseroles at their own homes and brought them to be shared by the grieving family. A few of us gathered to serve the meal, pouring out kindness and hugs along with lots of hot coffee.

And there were more hands helping behind the scenes. A crew of men came to clear the sidewalks and the parking lot so that mourners could get into the building.

That funeral dinner is just one small example of how we can be stretcher-bearers for one another. On the news and through Facebook, I've read all sorts of accounts how people have come together to push stranded motorists out of snowbanks or taken a meal to a homebound person when their normal Meals on Wheels delivery wasn't possible.

Snowflakes aren't the only things that are strong when they stick together.

***

Today I am linked to Michelle DeRusha's Hear It On Sunday, Use It On Monday feature and Jennifer Dukes Lee's Tell His Story. Be sure and visit their blogs to see what other bloggers of faith are saying today.

Time-Lapse Photography

I stood on the back steps this morning and watched the sun come up. The light brings a whole new look to the Blizzard of Oz, as some commentators are calling the 14-inch-plus snow that fell in Kansas on Wednesday and Thursday.

When I went to bed, I thought there would be school today at Stafford. And while my own kids are grown and gone, I still live by the school calendar since I accompany the middle school choir and soloists. I must admit I was probably just as excited as they were to learn via Facebook this morning that school would be out for another day. Another snow day should mean uninterrupted time to get started on the church newsletter and get more writing done.

But, I'm just as happy it means that it's another day without makeup. It's another day to read a book or watch a movie under my warm K-State blanket and not feel too guilty. It's another day to find beauty in the outdoors (and perhaps tax some more muscles. Randy and I certainly did that yesterday as we slogged through the snow on the way to the barn.)

The beauty has shifted as quickly as the snow blown landscape. Though I don't have a fancy time-lapse setting on my camera, I have recorded the changes all the same with still photos.

What a difference a day makes! On Wednesday morning when we checked cows, I noticed the snow sticking to the side of the barn and took the photo above.

The return trip to the barn yesterday afternoon was a lot slower. It's no wonder when you see the pile of snow now blocking the old barn door.

These days, the old Ford tractor is brought out of retirement when the guys are ready to roll up electric fence wire. But this week, it served as another indicator of snowfall from one day to the next.

The same was true of a flower pot at the front of our house. On Wednesday afternoon, there was already a generous pile of snow. But those 4 inches of snow paled in comparison to the white "top hat" we found as we explored yesterday afternoon.

Today, we'll see how all the baby calves fared during the Blizzard of Oz.

A Kansas farmer and rancher has a split personality on snow days. He recognizes the blessing of the moisture as it falls on fields, especially in a drought. But the snow is hard on the baby calves and their mamas.

I'm guessing that Kansas farmers and ranchers would agree with this quote by Carl Reiner:

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.

Yes, perhaps. But I still like snow days.