October Reflections: A Month of Change

Once upon a time, it would be October.

I know. That’s a strange time of year for most.

But for me, it was shifting gears from the warp drive we called winter, spring, and summer to an actual pause. It was a chance to catch our breath on the ranch because almost every minute of the rest of the year was filled with work.

It would begin in the spring when we’d start getting the cows ready for their summer trip to the mountains. This would involve a Saturday of branding and vaccinations. It started early and went until it was done.

At about the same time, we’d begin irrigating the fields. We grew alfalfa hay, most of which we used for the cows over the winter. This meant clearing out the ditches (burning them out and fixing weak spots), and then the actual irrigation began.

Since this involved a lot of cooperation with neighbors, when it came our turn, it was non-stop moving canvases and getting the job done.

Usually, about mid-May, the snow had cleared enough in the mountains to allow us to go up and fix the fences. We laid them down in the fall to keep the snow and cold from breaking them. Some breakage still occurred.

Putting the fences up meant a lot of walking, often carrying posts and wood up steep hills. It prepared me well for things I’d do in the army.

Then we’d take the cows to the mountains. That got rid of weekends off for a while. Every week we’d go up into them to check on the herd. Often that meant hunting them down, counting them, and doctoring any that needed it. Add fixing fences that need repairing to the list and you have a full weekend.

Bringing in the hay was another activity that kept us busy. My brother usually mowed it down, I raked it, and then he baled it. And then there was the Herculean task of bringing in the bales. That activity started early before the sun got too warm and maybe knocked off for a couple of hours early in the afternoon. Then went back to it till the sun went down.

And when all that was over, we got to bring the cows down. There might have been a little more work getting them to the auction, but that was almost a mere afterthought compared to everything else.

By then, it would be October. A chance to sit, read, watch a little TV before the gales and winter snow arrived to herald a new set of challenges and work.

Today, I approach October with a little dread. It’s one of those months that I’ve learned that if something will go wrong; it will be then.

So, there goes that month.