Our seasons aren't like you think...

We are coming in to My Season...slowly but surely as the days get longer and we move toward the Summer Solstice, we move closer and closer to my favorite time of year. We have two seasons here; Not My Season and My Season. Not My Season looks a lot like Winter. My Season looks like Not Winter(With Some Winter Scattered In). Still with me?! Each of our seasons is 6 months long, but My Season always seems to fly by and disappear the quickest.

Each morning we watch the sun come back toward us a little bit more. Instead of coming up to the south, clearing the rim rock at 9 in the morning, it's making its way toward our yard a little closer to 7:30. Warm days are still scattered with days that feel like February's leftovers, but for the most part are pleasant and keep us outside most of the day.

The heifer bunch calved out well and we had only one loss during calving season. As you know, if you've followed me long, we still have to make it through spring and summer without sickness and loss that sometimes comes with the temperature changes. Cold nights and hot days make it easier to have pneumonia show up in the calves. There's a long way to go from calving season to shipping season. That's not pessimism, that's just the reality of a life with livestock. However, we are relishing in that small victory for now.

Easter was well timed with its promise of new life. There was a calf born in the main cow bunch, lilac buds made themselves known and the grass was showing a hint of green in the meadow that I finished dragging the Monday after.

With the coming of My Season, we are quickly back to "too much to do and not enough time to do it" mode. We did, however, beat the high water and the need to get calves across. The cows went up the mountain a few days ago and I mean that almost literally. Ten years ago, getting them up the mile long switch back that climbs about 500 feet out of the meadow took about 10 people, as many dogs and a full day. The cows of then didn't know why we insisted they climbed out of the meadow grass across rocks to a place they'd never been and they moved like Vermont Molasses in January. They've gone up every year since and each time has been a little less difficult. This year, they ran through the gate, across the river and charged up the first slope of the switch back. It only took the 3 of us to guide them to the road and they marched single file, stretched out for the length of the switchback to the top. They can make that trek in about an hour now, maybe 2. They know by now where their favorite places are up there and they've started to show us some places we have never seen. They scatter across that mountain pasture for miles making new trails and finding old favorites.

The following day we rode to the top again to encourage them to travel about 4 more miles to the back side. We anticipated a large gather to get them going, but when we topped out and looked across the valley, half of them were already most of the way there and the rest were on their way. It didn't take much encouragement from us to get them motivated to finish the trip. There's nothing neater than a line of cows stretched out for a mile, single file, heading to the places they like to go.

The two days spent horseback were beautiful and warm. There was a breeze of course but that made it a touch easier on heavy cows. Ladies, remember your 11th hour of pregnancy? They are in it now and hiking isn't their favorite thing to do at the moment. We saw flox blooming in white and purple, desert hibiscus (parsley really, but how fun is that??), and the beginnings of bitterroot. The deer are migrating back to their summer ground and we saw several groups as we made our way across the mountain. Weebeast saw a lizard and we watched sage grouse fly away in front of us.

I spent some time in the tractor the next day dragging the rest of the big meadow. A snow squall came in covering my tracks and making new paths more fun and easier to see. I even appreciated that snow storm for the way it made the green grass more evident in the meadow.

Yep, My Season will come on exponentially now. Each trip up the mountain will show more signs of spring...new calves, new flowers, new growth. Springs will pick up their flow and the last drifts of snow hidden in the north slopes will slowly melt away. There will be more and more tasks to complete each day, horseback miles put in, brandings to attend and haying to anticipate. My Season took forever to get here(plus a day) and I am learning more and more each year how to appreciate each moment it gives us.