Wildfires and Cows

Smoke from the wildfires up around the Fort Worth area was in the air this morning when I went out to get the morning paper. I was careful to look all around, just in case something was on fire here. It is so absurd that California is washing away, and we are burning up (literally) from being so dry! I went to Cranfill's Gap last week to see my sister, Sue, and her family, and to get some more of that wonderful alfalfa hay from my friend, the lady horse trainer. Picked up a small nail in my front tire, so we drove over to Meridian to get the tire fixed and visit with my little brother and his family. As we came off the mountain into Meridian, we could see a huge blackish cloud that looked like smoke. Turned out it was the little town of Cross Plains burning up from a wildfire. Back in the 70's and '80's, my cowboy husband and I would meet our horsetrader friends from Lubbock at Cross Plains, as it was about the halfway point from their places to ours. I remember a neat and friendly small town that now seems to be tragically burned up. My sister and I spent part of the day checking her cattle. It is so dry and has been for so long, that all the livestock have had no pasture or grass since last summer. A lot of the cattle ranchers are culling their herds, getting rid of some of their animals, as the cost of hay and feed is so prohibitive. Sue has several hundred head of cattle and leases a lot of places for them, so we had a full day. Getting out and opening all those gates is what keeps you young! We loaded a little "ranny " (a very young calf without a mama) into the trailer and brought him to the lot behind Sue's house, so she could feed him.  The calf that brings the best money at auction is called a black-baldie (black with a white face), and he is a black-baldie. His mother, a weak, really old cow, had been down, contracted pneumonia, and couldn't get up, so her calf was about to starve. Here we two old cowgirls were, out in a big pasture, in the dark of night, and in the cold, trying to get this poor old cow to eat and drink and give her a shot of medicine, while fending off the sixty or so other cows, their calves, and two huge bulls, all at the same time! So typical of the life of a person raising livestock. Reminded me of the many, many times throughout the 55 years I have had horses and a few cows, goats, deer, sheep, etc., that I have been out in horrific weather, trying my best to help that animal. All you can do is your best, and let God do the rest.... sometimes with great results, and sometimes not. The key thing was that you did go out there in those awful circumstances and do your best. My Daddy would have said doing things like that builds character. If that is the case, all of us who have done so must have a lot of character built up! Besides, they don't call me A Little Ranch Gal for nothing!!!!!