All Mixed Up

 Eerie, early morning shot out in the front of our ranch captures another place and time.  Time,  something that is all mixed up this week.  Some of our clocks are on daylight savings and others are real time.  You know the time the sun says it should be.  Ranchers and farmers can't ever really understand how you save daylight. The sun comes up and the sun goes down.  The same today as last week.  It doesn't change.  It is dependable.  Unlike our new time, which messes with my internal clock a bit and makes me grouchy.  I think it is one time and go to make a call and, OOps, its after five, and they are closed.

Lots of little business on the ranch.  Tax time.  Bills to be paid.  Looking into new insurance, making a long overdue budget.  And the cattle.  The grass is short, but it is sustaining them.  We got some rain last week.  4 inches, but more would be appreciated.  Hate to be greedy, but it would be nice for the fish in the stream and the grass and the flowers and all the little creatures and our cows.

 It is about time for another spa day for our cattle and today Mark went to town and got the supplies:  premise I.D tags that are electronic and tell where the calves are born and the three month window they were born in, vaccinations, tetanus shots for the bulls who will become steers, new bands for the bander, copper supplements, pour on wormer and a few more earrings to write their number on so we can tell who are boys and who are girls and what year they were born in.  We treat the cattle fairly and calmly put them through the chute, but I am still not fond of spa day.  Cows moo and calves bawl some.  But that's life, I guess.  You gotta take the good with the bad, and the cattle don't know it, but we are doing them a favor.  Well, the bull calves aren't getting any favors.  They are going to go from being baritone to tenor.  More jobs for tenors.