Well, it’s with fond hearts
And sad good-byes
We all watched the cows
being rounded up yesterday morning around 10:00
Heading to their home place.
The cranes were upset for a spell but came back. Which is a good thing.
Still, the fields feel empty without the cows.
Moving toward spring work now. Although, today we have snow and rain and not very nice conditions.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Mom and Dad get up before the grey light starts to show over by the mountains, eat breakfast, then put on my coat, load me up in the back of the pick-up truck (or up front) and head up to the far reaches of the farm.
By the time we eat breakfast, gather up all the wood gathering tools, put my coat on me, the sun is up and the frost is THICK on the grass.
You see we have to go early before the mud appears, or we would never make it up there and back.
Dad isn’t fond of being stuck and Mom is even more un-fonder since being stuck enough the four-wheel drive doesn’t work means a long walk back to the house to get the tractor and chain, then a very cold ride back to the stuck truck, and THEN Mom has to pull the pick up out, which she HATES to do.
So up we go, every day this week, then it’s back to the yard where Mom sorts and Dad cuts until today when they both announced: “This should hold us for a spell”!
Now….for me it is lots of fun. I can ride up front or in the back, whatever I want. I usually pick the back. I have a coat on you see.
We drive through the cows and the Sandhill Cranes—I don’t bark or whine or howl at them I just watch.
Then Mom sits me out of the truck and I go exploring. I go here and there and everywhere. I go where ever I want to go.
Then when I hear the chain saw stop or I hear Mom holler for me I head back to the truck and get loaded up again.
Back home
I usually go around smelling who or what has been visiting the farm while we were gone.
Then when Mom lets the hens out and heads back into the house,
I always go with her…nap time.
Mom works upstairs on her computer and I take a long nap.
Dad does Dad stuff, I don’t know what that is because, well, you see, I stay with Mom, always.
Boomer Beaglie Brown
I believe, that the gods (or God) talk to us
in our dreams
We also receive inspiration in the form of many things
Knowledge handed to us in the form of all those marvelous things in nature
The voice of understanding speaking loud into our mind of understanding
Many times the voice is bright with laughter
The weather brings its own blessings, wet, dry, soaked, covered in snow
Or even (a lessening of mud–the ground starting to dry)
All we need do is listen to our dreams and watch for the signs to unfold.
I have come to place in life where I feel we all shape the future together
Carefully and consistently
So those who understand and can explain the unexplainable will help us see the miracles (or magic, if you prefer) unfolding.
From my heart to your world,
Linda
While I was out collecting the firewood for the evening, I decided to take a walk first
Since the evening was coming on fast; long shadows stretching across the farm road
I knew if I were going to find things of interest I needed to be about it
The wind was rather sharp, but not strong or cutting, just brisk with a chill to it.
The sky was beautiful
Making my walk even more special
The colors swirling around me
On the way back to the farmyard, the woodpile and the warmth of the house…I saw a glittering little heart-shaped rock.
Giving joy to my soul and wings to the essence of myself!
From my world to your heart,
Linda
(I am posting some older photos today)
The geese are now living next to us in droves…um, rather huge flocks! I just love it.
The Sandhill Cranes are also in massive flocks behind our house in last years cornfield.
I have been seeing small flocks of Bluebirds…wonderful little bits of sky announcing spring is almost here. They will leave our area as the days and nights get warmer.
Then for the last few days I have been seeing flocks of Western Meadow Larks rushing about along the fence lines looking for left over seeds to eat.
What a joy this transission time is: 
The sounds of birds large and small, swift and colorful, gossiping and talking as they gather themselves for flights to the north, or come winging in from the south.
All the while taking one season with them, or bringing in another season as they arrive.
This is such a magical time, a herald of the marvel called Change.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The Sandhill Cranes and the Canada Geese are stuffing the fields to capacity!
Beautiful large birds rustling along searching for bits of corn
The Sandhill cranes (usually) don’t seem to share the same field as the geese,
But sometimes they do.
Their beauty is wonderfully stunning!
Your friend on a western Colorado Farm,
Linda
It seems like the migration of the Sandhill Cranes and the Canada Geese has begun. The fields are always in rotation; the skies full of huge flying wedges of big birds. The bird book (for our region) says the Sand Hill Cranes and the Canada Geese start migration the last week of February and goes through the first week or so of April.
Eckert, Colorado’s Crane Days will start in March. March 10th, plus or minus a couple of days.
Spring…it’s coming to us anytime now.
Your friend on western Colorado farm,
Linda
(Some of the photos below are not current, but they spoke to me, as I wrote this post — I have chosen to share them with you.)
I love summer, there isn’t anything about Spring, Summer or Fall that I don’t like—nothing.
Absolutely nothing!
Now, when it comes to winter, I struggle. Still there are things that bring me peace–the babel of the winter birds; the air alive with their voices, the setting and rising sun
A walk on the farm, even in the face of a full force gale—
walking in the light of a winter moon, or even when the sky is only full of frozen pinpoints of starlight.
(This is an old photo—we have no snow here yet)
Even the heavy snow upon the land has a way of lifting the soul.
In winter I enjoy those things that lighten my soul…just like in spring, summer and fall—those things that come alive within me and lighten the long, long days.
Those things that say I am home.
From my world to your heart!
Linda
Elaine and Bob sent us a photo of their beautiful trees all laden with snow, at their home in the Black Forest of Colorado.
And up on Grand Mesa, at the Grand Mesa Lodge, there is plenty of that white stuff to make anyone happy.
But here we have only experienced clouds, lots and lots of clouds…days and even weeks of clouds. The moisture shrouded mountains and the foothills surround us.
Still we experienced freezing rain and intermittent sleet with terrible cold and sideways winds.
Then this morning, after a night of a slamming wind…
.…the clouds broke apart and we experienced a brilliant splash of golden sunlight!
When I went to gather firewood, for the morning I breathed in the scent of chilled air and frost on the ground; I stood sill and watched the sunrise brightening the sky and the land.
From my world to your heart!
Linda
I saw my first Robin yesterday. It was early morning, then in the afternoon I saw another one. Two Robins. One at our place and one down at our other place. Spring is here!
Many of the other birds have started coming back, some I just don’t know the name of, but recognize them as Spring birds. The last to arrive will be the Swallows. Once the Swallows appear it will be full on Spring, without a hint of winter.
Every morning we wake up to a smattering of Canada Geese…stopping by of an evening to rest and feed upon the corn fields.
The Sandhill Cranes leave the upper cornfields late morning heading North. For some reason the two bird species do not share the same area of the farm. Also the geese leave early, early in the morning and the cranes about an hour after sunrise.
I love to stand and watch them. Boomer has learned to sit quietly by my side so I can take photos, his ears cocked, watching with interest. Still enough I can hear the beating of my heart.
After the birds fly away Boomer and walk back home. Through the cows and the calves.
Sometimes it’s just these still moments that blaze themselves upon our hearts and brain, allowing us to recall them in complete detail for the rest of our lives. Small little moments of peace and contentment.
From my world to your heart,
Linda
