Seven Days

These seven days before Christmas are when I mow

the back section of the ranch. Wide open land

and Handel's Messiah on the radio seem to get me in the

spirit. Long days on a tractor also give me plenty of time

for reflection. I will think of Christmas past celebrated with family,

friends and animals no longer here. I loved them all.  I will think about 

all the parents making great personal sacrifice to insure their

children have presents under the tree then contrast that with
 friends that have been blessed with a bountiful life. I will think
about certain people who have the spirit of giving all
year round then contrast that with my occasional random acts of
kindness. I will think about all the people, and animals, I have met
on Blogger and wish them joy and peace and time.... to reflect.

Klaus Badelt, Master of Crescendo

The songs included in this clip are part of the original soundtrack from the Asian

film "The Promise".  Even if you are not a big fan of Chinese films, this soundtrack

by Klaus Badelt is brilliant. Forget about all the flying around, unless of course you
are into that.

Shipping out

This morning we shipped one of the stallions to PA.

We prepped him for the long ride with leg wraps, a warm

blanket, fresh water and hay.  The driver and Alex secure

the panels while our curious traveler looks on.



First born calf.

Born at dawn, this bull calf is about 8 hours old and is the 

 first of many more to come this winter. I didn't have much time

to take this pic as mom was just behind me and I was in no

mood to go airborn. Three other calves were also born today.

This is also the time of year when coyotes will be out on

night patrol, sometimes even in broad daylight. They are  

so cunning that they will sneek up on a mother and calf then

slowly try to lure the calf away by pretending it wants to play.

But most of the time it's an attack by many under the cover

of darkness.

I'm not a light sleeper but the sound of a coyote war party in

the middle of the night never fails to wake me.

The Taylor Test

Alien

Whenever I check on the herd at night I hope to see

all green eyes reflecting back from my search light. Once

in awhile there will be some other colored eyes mixed in with green,

thats when I reach for the 223 with night vision.