Just one of those days...



One of our cows in her comfortable sand bed.

"Just one of those days," when people say this they are usually in a sour mood. But I am having one of those days that reminds me that I love exactly where I am in life. (Here is your only warning this post is dripping with positive attitude, turn back now if you would rather read something about what is wrong with the world.) First of all the sun is shining, I wish this didn’t have so much impact on my mood and overall outlook, but it does and I have to be real about that. Tomorrow there are 10 inches of snow, so today is the day to appreciate and reflect. Tomorrow there will be more work.

These calves warm and happy in their
little calf coats.

 
As I look at my farm today I know every creature (bovine and human) is healthy, warm, clean and well fed, tomorrow they might be colder but the rest will still be true. Sometimes on the farm the days feel like a rush, sometimes the work is hard to make sure we can accomplish the basic tasks of care, some days I worry if we can possibly get it all done, not today.

This bucket on the front of the skid loader
shoots the sand neatly into the cows' bedds.

  

Cows laying side by side in their newly bedded sand stalls.


My right hand man, Alan came up with a new way to put the sand into the beds where the cows lay down. It was really a simple change, which door we use to go into the barn. But it was completely his idea and it is a really good idea, one I never thought of before. Suddenly I looked at the end of the barn differently, and for a moment a simple change made me feel slightly off-balance the way you feel when you are learning something new or hatching a creative new idea. A simple change shifted my paradigm. I just love it when that happens. Sometimes I worry that I am too close-minded to let this happen, that I am so worried about what else is on the list that I don’t leave room to learn, or simply see something big or small in a new way. What about you?



We are also doing additional training on cow and calf care today with a new employee, a very timid young lady who I think will be excellent at working with our animals. She is nervous to learn new things, new tasks that she has never had to perform, even though she has worked at several other farms. One is how to feed a newborn calf. I know at first she will be overwhelmed since there are so many details to get it right: cleanliness, gentleness with the vulnerable new baby, strength to lift the calf and carry it to a clean warm pen where it will be safe, how to mark her so we know who she is, how to give her a vaccine to keep her healthy in her first days of life, and how to hold her while she gives the calf the mothers first milk.



One of the newest babies on the farm, excellent care is so important when they are so small.



My hope is that we have chosen this young women wisely, that she will be an open-minded learner, that she will pay careful attention to the important details, that she will have the confidence to do the job independently after she is trained, but most of all I hope she will care. It is always my hope that they care, since every person who works with my cows is an extension of me. I hope that eventually this place will mean more than a paycheck, I hope it will be a place where she can continue to learn, grow and see things in a new way, like I am today.