Remember back in........

I always used to marvel at how the old timers could remember specific events from specific years. In the coffee shops they would talk about the blizzard of ’54 or the feeder cattle crash of ’75. All these years were remembered mainly because the situations had a profound effect on the man remembering the year. It was not always related to something negative, they may have well remembered the high feeder cattle prices of ’80 or the high wheat prices of ’74. What was really odd is these same men rarely remembered their wife’s birthday or anniversary without help.

Today I was reflecting a bit myself about how I have come to remember specific years by events that affected me. I remember the Tonka dump truck and road grader of ’70 as the first one. I remember the total solar eclipse watched through my shadow box in ’78. I remember Jimmy Carter being president and my Dad being in a generally bad mood in ’77,’78,’79 and ’80. I remember the first time a girl and myself…., well let’s just say I remember ’83. I remember ’85 and the freedom of leaving high school. I also remember ’85 because it was the first time I lived alone away from family and without my mothers cooking.

I remember how wonderful I thought the potato business was and the open market prices of ’89 and I remember my end of the potato business because of prices in ’92. I remember the blizzard the first week of February in ’89 and how difficult the start of the calving season was. I remember the meager prices for all classes of cattle in the fall of ’96 as I am sure any cattleman does. If you were in the cattle business at the time you will forever remember December 23, 2003. From a personal standpoint I will never forget the spring of 2008.

I have also realized there are other indicators in life that may not relate to a specific year but can tell you about a specific time in a year. I noticed this week there are many more ducks and geese in my fields and on my pond. This tells me that hunting season ended last week. I can pretty well predict a drop in cattle prices if I am on the way home from an auction with a load of just purchased animals. I can usually predict a rain based on how much hay I have just had cut. Obviously as you grow older you become more in tune with the things around you that affect your life.

Today was a great day, 4 more new calves and no issues or problems. I even had time to watch my daughter’s 7^th grade basketball game this afternoon. I am just a bit nervous hoping that does not mean some type of train wreck tomorrow morning.

Today’s real environmentalist species found on the ranch is the Western meadowlark aka Sturnella neglecta.

Today’s picture is cow number 4111y and her new bull calf.