Sometimes I get so busy trying to explain the hard stuff about agriculture that I don’t take enough time to focus on all the good reasons we choose this lifestyle for ourselves and for our kids.  I am especially cognizant right now, as Coronavirus changes lives all across our country — and all over the world.  This morning’s news filled me in:  a trillion-dollar relief plan for the U.S. (I don’t understand where that money’s going to come from); political posturing galore and embarrassingly open criticism of our nation’s President; Montana and many other states now in complete lock-down mode.  Coronavirus seems pretty scary when I watch the news.

But when I turn off the TV or finish the article, Coronavirus seems very far away from the PV.  It’s not affecting my daily life.  We Blakes are used to staying home and we have a ranch for our backyard — so that feeling of confinement that others fear doesn’t factor in for us.  We live on the sparsely-populated side of one of the least-populous states — which means we’re rarely confronted with germs we’d rather not be confronted with.  We live in the greatest country in the world — I can’t imagine what it would be like living in an apartment in China right now.  We don’t worry much about running out of supplies — because there’s always a half beef in the deep freezer.  We know most of the folks within a 50-mile radius — so there’s no concern about the strangers from two blocks over going out of their gourds and turning to crime.  What’s more, so long as the world needs beef, we will have a job.  And the list of the blessings we’re counting right now goes on.  So extremely thankful to be raising our kids here instead of… well, anywhere else.

I have always chosen agriculture and rural life… and now, living in these strange times, I am continually thankful to be down a dirt road.

Today’s Weather:  High of 55.  Low of 28.  Ah spring.

Today On The Ranch:  My mom helped me to make lunch for the Bangs-vaccinating crew:  spaghetti with garlic toast, kale salad, and grapes for dessert.  After lunch, as Muggins napped, Mom stayed with the kids so Beau and I could take the burn barrels to the county dump.  Ha — a heck of a date!

By 4 p.m. our family of six was on the road to The Creek Place:  time to move those mama cows we caked all winter to fresh pasture in McConkey Coulee.  Asher and I rode (he on Doogan, me on Jiggers) as Beau and the other three kids used the horn on the cake truck to call the cows to the gate.  (Moving cows that way, with the aid of a feed truck, always seems a little bit like cheating to me, as it’s something I never ever did with my dad growing up.  But I have to admit, it sure makes it easy!)  Asher and I had just a few stragglers to bring in and a couple others to sort out and then we counted them through the gate.  Starting to see a few baby calves out there : )

Today’s Best Pictures:

© Tami Blake