HAT TIPS
Hello,
Wow! What a ripper! Sixty mph winds. Maybe more. Up to 18 inches of snow. And, being the good planner that I am, we held off calving till the middle of April to stay away from storms. Since we’ve started, we’ve had two nice days. And I can’t remember when they were.
But I missed most of the storm. I was on my way home from Houston. Shirley and Will kept giving me storm reports. The neighbors were helping hold cows together and moving the baby calves behind the few branches we call trees. Some broke down caragana trees. They do not stop a mild breeze, let alone hurricane force winds. Felt like Harding County around here for a couple of days!
But all in all, between Will, Shirley, and the neighbors, we fared pretty darn good. They advised me not to try and make it home. It was tough, but I found a nice steak house and lounge to spend the evening. And they were in my thoughts.
Dad tells about a similar storm years ago. I think it was in the late twenties. Grandpa Herb had told Dad about the storm. It was still back in the day of horses. Farmers had been in the field for a few weeks. Planting corn, seeding small grains, working ground…And it was all done with horsepower. Workhorse power. No one had any hay leftover after the winter. So the horses were turned loose to graze when not being used. A May storm hit and the temperature started dropping. As the temperature dropped, the winds came up, and the snow came sideways. It was a full- blown winter blizzard,
The horses had shed their winter coats and were slick-haired from being worked. Hundreds drifted with the wind, and were caught in pasture corners as the temperature kept dropping. When the storm subsided, many farmers found their horses had frozen to death standing up! It was, and still is, a tough old country.
For all of you who had to fight the storm this weekend, I tip my hat to you, and remember we’re one day closer to green grass.
Storm aside, we darn sure woke up to some good news this morning. After ten years of searching, Bin Laden was found, and justice was served. All this time we have been hearing that he was living in a cave in the mountains of Afghanistan. Gone to ground like a fox pursued by the hounds. Yeah, right. He was living in a million dollar villa in a large city.
Watching a reenactment of the raid this morning, you had to marvel at the courage of twenty-five young men who hopped on a couple of choppers, and left on a mission that you know they have thought about and trained for much of their young lives. From what I’ve heard so far, we didn’t lose any soldiers! Congratulations, men! You’ll do to ride the river with.
I’ve got to get outside and see if all the calves that Shirley and Will had in the house are nursing the right mothers. See you next week.
Later,
Dean