Responsibilities

One thing I've learned since moving to the ranch with my wonderful husband is plans are made to be broken. I can't tell you how many times I have made wonderful, thoughtful and grand plans only to have them pushed aside to help out a calving heifer, gather bulls that were in with the heifers or fix a broken fence line. It's all part of life on the ranch.

It was only a few nights ago that I was visiting with a co-worker and filling her in on what it's like to live on a ranch. I never had sat down and really explained it to anyone before. Nearly all of my friends and acquaintences are familiar with the type of lifestyle my family takes part in so I'd never been asked. It was kind of nice to reflect on what I love, and sometimes dislike, about ranch life. Sure, it's a little annoying to have to drive 30 miles one way to get groceries or a prescription filled, but it's so wonderful to know that my kiddos are being raised on the same ground as their great-great grandpa.

During my conversation with my co-worker one main thing stood out to me. She was stunned by the amount of responsibility it takes to run a ranch. Night checks for the heifers, morning chores and checks on the water tanks don't seem that odd to me. I will admit I don't do my fair share of the chores or checks, but Shawn will ask for my help when he needs it. It's kind of tough with two little kiddos and the nearest daycare 30 miles away. Back to the story, I had never pondered the responsibility involved in ranching before because I was raised on a farm/ranch and know the effort it takes to work in agriculture. I grew up watching my dad work day in and day out from sunrise to sunset on the ranch, and I aways admired his perseverance and diligence in caring for his livestock and crops.

 

It was the first time my co-worker realized the responsibilities of ranchers. I filled her in on the fact that ranchers don't get vacations without a lot of prep work and finger crossing to get to where we're going. We don't get weekends off, it's definately not a 9-5 job. Our vacations usually involve a trip to town to get salt and mineral or a ride to a distant pasture. We get little glimpses of vacations everyday. We get sightseeing tours of beautiful country everyday on our way to feed cows. We can watch the sunrise while out checking the heifers for the third time that night. We get quiet time to relax while gathering heavies off the lot. We can't leave the ranch without taking care of the cows first because they are our livelihood, and we will always treat them well. I hope that one day the animal activists in our country will realize that ranchers put our animals health above our own at times, and we work hard day in and day out to provide this country with a much needed resource, USDA Beef.

The pictures on today's post are old ranch pictures that my father in law found of some of the previous generations on our ranch. I love looking at these old photos because it reminds me of the hard work put in before my time. I'm sure the women of those days could tell stories that make mine look like a walk in the park. If only they had kept a journal....