Drought

Six months is a long time to go between blog entries, but everyone needs a sabbatical now and then, right? I haven't been writing much at all for a while other than some emails. My last SGF article (one of two this year) was written in May, and I thought I'd never get it done! There are times when the ideas and words flow, and other times they barely trickle or almost dry up. This summer proved to be such a time for me. At least a couple of things played into this I think.

For one, when the workload is high enough that there is little time to play, it's also difficult to be creative. In the busy season I can get bogged down and blinded by the daily grind, and that is a good way to stifle creativity. I am being taught again the importance of rest, of being still. This summer the Lord has pricked my spirit a few times with the lessons from the lives of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42).

Martha invited Jesus to her home and then busied herself with "much service", while her sister Mary sat at Jesus' feet and just drank in what he had to say. Martha noticed this and tried to get Jesus to spur Mary on to help her, but he would not. He said Mary had chosen what was necessary and good, and he wouldn't take that away from her. How many of us are so much like Martha, going, doing, and serving, while all those seemingly imperative tasks rob us of listening to the Lord's word as we sit at his feet (not to mention what little time we might have left to listen to Him, we're so worn out we'll fall asleep sitting up)? "But who's going to do Martha's job if she sits at his feet, too?" you may ask. I don't know. This is what I've been wrestling with. Who will milk and feed my cows, get grandma's groceries, mow yard, etc., if I'm tuning out the world at Jesus' feet for a while? Martha's tasks seem so necessary to us, don't they? Make no mistake, serving others with the love of Christ is part of our calling as followers of Jesus. But it must flow out of an existing, vibrant relationship with the Source of Living Water. And being too taken with even something as honorable as serving can lead to a dry cup not running over. Thank goodness the Father is ever faithful to restore us when we realize our need for Him. He fills our cup and helps us see our Martha tasks don't need to be so overwhelming.

A second reason the words haven't been flowing as freely is that my noble theories and attempts at better grazing management were a miserable failure in cocklebur prevention this summer. Most of our pastures ended up with an infestation of the resilient undesirable weed again this year, which resulted in decreased grass production. We did get our broken mower repaired in order to try a different approach at combating them and have been clipping them off after the cows have grazed what grass remains. We are still working on the issue of why they're there in the first place. There is a reason for them, whether it's soil fertility issues, past or present grazing management or something else. But it has been a literal thorn in my side knowing the grass was being crowded out, and that any we don't get clipped in time will be sticking to the cows and dog! Once again, sometimes the problems at hand loom pretty big and in this case, it really made me feel like a bit of a failure. The heat and drought this summer coupled with the cockleburs have done a number on pasture quality and subsequently milk production. The bright spot is that the milk cows seemed to handle the heat as well as they ever have other than decreased milk, but the nurse cows' body condition suffered a bit and there were discouraging numbers of udder infections in my heifer calves. So when a lot doesn't seem to be going right here, I hardly feel like I can offer offer much inspiration.

But just as serving can distract us from divine communion, so discouragement can blind us to opportunities of hope. The key is in perspective, right? There is something to be learned from this trial, and there are resources out there from which to learn it. When all I can see is the problem at hand it appears to me an impassable mountain. But if I can step back far enough I realize it's part of the greater landscape. Most of all, I can trust my Provider, who knows all about my needs--and my cows' needs (He does, after all, keep a running count on the number of sparrows!)--to give us every tool necessary to scale the mountain. It's not beyond Him to move mountains. But if He calls us to climb it, the view from the top will be breathtaking.

The Early Bird

Every day while the cows are up at the winter pasture we go check on them, pump water, and give them a fresh strip of grass. About a week, week and a half before we were to bring them home, I found a heifer named Brooke whose udder was developing quickly and ahead of schedule. Sometimes they'll start doing that a few weeks before they calve, but it kept looking more and more like she was getting serious about the process. I was concerned, because I didn't think she was due until mid April, and a calf 5 weeks premature would have little chance of survival.

On March 9 we took care of the cows in the morning, and since Brooke's udder was looking pretty tight (a sign that calving usually isn't far away), I went back up to check on her in the afternoon. As I walked down the hill I could see she was off by herself in the middle of the leftovers from a round bale the cows had just consumed the day before. I figured she was either going to have her calf soon or she already had, but I couldn't see anything from where I was. She would put her head down but I couldn't tell from a distance whether she was eating hay or licking something.

As I got close, I realized she had already had the calf. And I was amazed to see that it was alive! She looked fully developed, but she was the little bittiest thing! Somehow Brooke's breeding date must have been off, because she had to have been at least 3 weeks early based on when I turned the bulls in, but since the calf was alive and developed she surely wouldn't have been 5 weeks early. Still slightly damp and shivering a bit, I rubbed her a bit with some hay while mama looked on and mooed at me. I called Dad and asked him to get some colostrum thawed out and warmed so we could get some milk in her right away. We fed her on the bottle, and she was able to get up and start walking around. She couldn't have weighed much more than 20 lbs, and only came up to my knee (I'm not tall). We left her with her mama for a few hours and then Mom and Dad brought her home that evening so she didn't wander across the fence into the trees and the opportunistic jaws of a coyote. We bottle fed her for the next 4 days until all the cows came home. I was hoping Brooke would remember her baby and take her back. After the cattle drive, I let the baby follow me out into the pasture. All the cows nearby had to come over and smell her, as if to say, "Where did you come from?" or maybe "What is that?" As we rounded the corner Brooke was standing there contentedly chewing her cud, and when she saw what was with me, her head popped up and her ears perked up. I think her actions said, "Hey, that looks familiar...is that what I think it is?" After she smelled the baby, she mooed at it a little bit, and I knew all would be fine.

All this time I've been trying to decide on a name that fits the calf. The babies have the same first letter to their name as the mama so it's easier to keep track of cow families. I kept calling her Little Bit, but I already have a cow named Bitty (who was also very small when she was born) and I call her Little Bitty. I thought Bit might be a little confusing (although not as confusing as the time when we had two Natalies...when I was away in college the rest of the family did more of the naming and didn't know we already had one). So, without further ado, I introduce to you the first calf of 2010... Butternut!

She's already growing fast thanks to Brooke's good mothering. And later this week she'll probably start having lots of little buddies joining her, since there are several cows showing signs that they're getting closer to calving...on schedule!

So we are officially back in the milking business, and looking forward to another adventurous production season!

Driving Miss Daisy

Every winter goes by faster, doesn't it? I can't believe I'll have baby calves running around in about 4 weeks. As usual, spring means things will get really busy around here in a hurry, but a big part of me still always looks forward to the explosion of new life on the farm. After having a slower pace for a couple months, by March we usually begin to get a little excited about production starting up again. And I'm sure I could get an amen or two if I say it will be wonderful to have some warmer temperatures and green grass once more!
Well, before we can start milking again we need to bring the cows home from the winter pasture in the semi-annual "cattle drive". We're planning for Saturday, March 13th at 10:30 am. Everyone will meet at the Swiss Connection to ride the hay wagon (or other vehicles) to where the cows are and walk them home from there. There will be a lunch back at the farm afterward. If you want to get some good cardiovascular exercise with a bunch of great people (and a herd of cows that I'm hoping and praying will be well-behaved!), come join us! All we ask is that you rsvp by e-mailing or calling (info @ www.swissconnectioncheese.com) so we can prepare enough food.
By the way, Daisy the cow will be among those marching home...she's getting to be an old pro, as this is probably about her 7th round trip.