It’s been a long spring and now already summer……and I’ve been so busy with a new book and family, including grandchildren, and the ranch and the work that I’ve neglected keeping up with any of my journaling or blogging…..
So, for today, perhaps just a reference to what makes summer a busy time for ranchers and farmers. The old adage, “gotta make hay while the sun shines” is an apt description of life during this incredibly important time of year. The summer is what makes the rest of the year possible. So, while so many people think of summer as relaxing and a vacation time, a time for barbeques and friends, traveling and kicking back, for us it is a harried and hopefully profitable time of year. It starts EARLY and goes LATE, each day, every day. No real Sundays off…..even holidays like the Fourth of July are just days with perhaps a late afternoon picnic or barbeque, fireworks and maybe some homemade ice cream and a potluck with family or friends.
Which is a great time, but certainly not one that is cloaked in a sense of summer haze! But still, the warmth and the beauty surround us and time spent in the garden in early morning, or with my husband and kids or grandkids, and even a little time spent with the horses or moving through the cows is a gift.
The cows graze and move about. The grain fields and the hay fields move slightly in late afternoon breezes and when lightning strikes, the sky crackles and pops, sending shivers down the dogs’ backs and across the kids’ faces!
Ah, summer……..
