Baby Boom

A photo from Todd of twins born to one of our mamas, No. 775. We were in Topeka at the time, watching our granddaughters' activities. The twins got to stay awhile in the shed but are now out in the lot with their mama and the herd.

I have a pretty cushy job these days. I get to be the paparazzi for our new baby calves. But I don't have to staff the overnight shifts. Or - come to think of it - the daytime shifts either.

Tye and Todd, who handle the day-to-day care for our mamas and babies, had several days when they took catnaps in their pickups instead of getting into REM sleep their nice cozy beds. Sub-zero wind chills and newborn baby calves are not a good combination. 

The twins have their own "earrings" now. Tye and Todd use a different system than we did. They tag the babies with the mama's number.

I don't think the few cookies I delivered make up for the sleepless nights. But we sure appreciate all their work. It wasn't all that long ago that we were the ones watching the maternity ward and warming up new babies. 

Come to think of it, maybe another cookie run is in order. 

Snow and chilly temperatures haven't made calving easy on man or beast. But - ready or not - it's calving time in Kansas for us and for lots of other folks. We always had people ask why we calved in January and February. Like many Kansas farm families, our operation was diversified. Crop farmers are busy in the spring, summer and fall with those duties. They have time for the extra work that feeding cattle and calving entails during the dormant winter season.

Our mamas and babies have the yellow tags. Tye and Todd use other colors. 

For the last few years before retirement, I was the hired hand who helped with feeding chores and did my best to help when Randy needed to pull a calf. I can't say that I'm missing the time in that rather drafty feed truck every day. But I definitely enjoy the drives through the cattle lots with camera in hand.

 

Some extra hay spread out gave babies a place to snuggle down.  

On one of our trips through the cattle, we saw a mama cleaning off her brand new baby. 
 

It's good that Tye and Todd have a liberal visitation policy. I'm sure the paparazzi will be back. 

 

Snow Perspective

 

Changing your vantage point can make all the difference in the world. It's true for photos. And it's true for life itself.

As the snow started falling near dusk on January 8, I took several photos from both my front and back doors. The photos were pretty. But I kept looking at the wires, draped from the windmill to the house, and wishing they weren't there. (OK, if I'd really thought that through, I would be mighty thankful for those wires. Electricity is a wonderful thing.)

So, I shifted my lens to the north, trying to avoid the lines. Mission accomplished ... except that the yard light couldn't illuminate the swing the way I'd hoped. So I put on my shoes and I shifted my perspective. That change of vantage point yielded my favorite shot of our January 8-9 snowstorm.  It also made my sweatshirt and shoes wet, but they dried off.

 

I didn't really think about it at the time, but there's a lesson there for life, too. We get "stuck," looking at people and situations in the same old way - at least, I can do that. Sometimes, we need to shift our perspective to see those same things differently. 

That lesson was further illuminated - so to speak - when I compared snow photos I'd taken on a gloomy January morning - January 5 - and photos taken in the morning of January 9 after the sun started shining. Those sunless shots seemed almost blue. But, with the sun shining, there was less "flatness" and more dimension. At that point, I couldn't get down our road for a re-do of the shots. The January 8-9 snow and accompanying wind left behind plenty of drifts. 

But that didn't keep me from wandering our farmyard. Thankfully, I didn't step out of my boots, though it was close a time or two.

 I decided to take my dusk scene in the sunlight ... different perspective, yet again!

 

We have windbreaks on all sides of our house. But the wind-driven snow still made drifts on the trees and bushes, as well as the driveways.

 

It took me awhile to warm up after my snow excursion.

But the temperatures then entered the deep-freeze zone. It may start to get better tomorrow.

Hmmm ... I guess we're back to that perspective thing again.

Life is like a landscape. You live in the midst of it but can describe it only from the vantage point of distance.

Charles Lindbergh

 

"I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields that it kisses them so gently? Then it covers them up snug, you know, like a white quilt. And perhaps it says, 'Go to sleep, darlings, until the summer comes again.' "

Lewis Carroll

"Snow ... blots and softens the top of every object like ice on a plum pudding. Hedges, telegraph wires, cars, postboxes, recycling bins. The world is losing its edges. Look upwards and it seems as if the stars themselves are being poured from the sky and turn out not to be vast and fiery globes after all but tiny, frozen things which melt in the palm of your hand."

Mark Haddon

 

And speaking of perspective ... These photos are pretty. But the wind chills that have put Kansas in the deep freeze are UGLY. I have not missed having to spend my mornings in a feed truck during these multiple days of sub-zero wind chills. (That truck never really warmed up.) I've thought a lot about the people who have been caring for livestock, fixing utility lines and doing other outside work in these frigid temperatures. 

I'm also thankful for the people who spent time in our cold attic, replacing a water pipe! Unfortunately, our old farmhouse pipes fell victim to the cold. We are thankful for the prompt and attentive service of a local business - Meyer Electrical in Stafford. Pipes to our upstairs bathroom sink burst Sunday night. Thankfully, we were still up and heard the water dripping from upstairs and through the dining room ceiling, splashing through the chandelier. We knew there was nothing they could do then, but Randy called Meyer's answering service to get on the list for first thing Monday morning. But, soon after, Jake Meyer called us back to check on us - even though it was after 11 PM. Randy reiterated that he had turned off the water to the house and that there was nothing Jake could do. We kept mopping up water and listening to it drip into the tin pans I'd placed under the chandelier. And, true to their word, Meyer Electric was out to make the repairs first thing Monday morning. 

These photos are dark, but I didn't turn on the light. You know, electricity and water don't mix!

 Thank you, Meyer Electric! We appreciate you!