New Life

"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I think the worst of winter is over. At least it is looking better now than it had. Today was another exciting day on the farm.

Today the first calf was born from my beef cows I bought last fall. Late this afternoon my daughter, Mary Beth , and her daughter came to the farm to spend the night in their camper. She walked up to the barn where I had gone to do my chores and announced that one of our cows was about to present us with a new calf.

She, Andrea and I walked to where the cow was and sure enough there was a new calf, not minutes old. From the way we carried on you would have thought this was the first calf ever born on our farm. And in truth it has been many years since we have had any baby animal born on the farm. (Other than the wild ones). He was a nice healthy Angus bull calf.

He was soon trying to stand on his own. He would get up and fall down again. Every time he got up we could tell he was getting stronger. After about a half hour we went on our way to tend to other things. Later when I rode the four wheeler to check on him again, I found he had gone under the rope fencing and down a small hill. I tried to pick him up to get him back under the fence to his mother but he was too heavy.

My dogs Erica and Lilly were all about checking on this new creature. Mom didn't like that at all. But when I got the calf to his feet he took a liking to Erica. He started following her and I kept encouraging Erica to follow me and the calf followed Erica and soon we were up the hill a little where I could put him back under the fence to return him to his mother.

Next I bawled like a new born calf and soon the cow spotted us and came running to her calf to make sure he was alright. When I left the two of them again, he was trying to figure out where the dinner end of the cow was. She was licking him and pushing him in the right direction. Later when I went back to check on them the calf was taking a much needed rest so I was assured that his tummy was full of nice warm milk. The cow was standing gaurd by him and the bull was taking care of both of them.

Today starts a new era for our farm. New life is starting to spring up all around us. Soon we will have another new calf and then there will be the foals born on the farm this year. It won't be long before the fields will start to turn green with the new growth of grass. The daffodils that my grandmother planted will be blooming around the old homestead where my father was born. We will start to see the new crop of wild turkeys and fawns during our trips over the farm.

The yearlings have grown over the winter but as the grass comes on they will start to really shift into high gear as they continue their trip into adulthood. And it is hard to believe from my little corner of heaven that all is not well with the world and our country. I have to turn the radio on to be reminded that things are not as they should be in this country.

It makes me ever more grateful that God has allowed me the privilege of living on this farm again and in the house my father built. And I think of the carpenter, Mr Brookshire that helped with all the building projects on the farm and what a well contructed house he and my dad built. It was home to our children until they were on their own. It has been a place of joy and comfort. Of sorry and grief as we lost those we loved. But through it all it has been home and a place that shields us from harm and at times from the world around us. A place of solace and comfort. A place where we have had our happiest moments and now a place to continue to build memories that will last a lifetime.

And although Bill is gone now and I live here alone, I can still hear his voice at times and see him in the rooms and remember the times we spent here together. And in our memories and our hearts, he lives on. And our lives go on until the day God calls us home and we will be reunited with those who have gone on before. The loved ones that have been so much a part of our lives and who have left an empty spot at the table and in our hearts.

Later everyone. God bless you and keep you in his care.