Hay is put up, ranch is looking good

Happy September and happy Labor Day!

I’ve always struggled with Labor Day. I don’t know what your parents were like growing up, but mine were always of the mind that “work is a virtue.” That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I remember literally bartering for work when I was high school age.

I boarded during the week with this amazing older lady named Lois. Lois was an absolutely sweet soul with a bit of an obstinate streak in her, which may be why we got along so well. I lived with her all four years of high school and should note that when I moved in with her, I had no idea who she was.

Now, my mom (the Boss Man’s Wife) had pretty much instilled the fear of God into me, so needless to say I didn’t give Lois too many gray hairs. She had to endure the bartering phone calls to back home where I would beg to do something, which was usually met with a resounding “no” on the other end.

I was feeling pretty high and mighty, though, when one of those bartering sessions turned into a yes. I agreed to miss senior skip day in exchange for staying out later after prom so that way we could get some cattle work done. The “labor” mentality has carried over to this day, which is why I had to laugh when Swiss Steffi asked what Labor Day was, and I said it’s the day we honor working by taking the day off.

So, on this Labor Day I was hoping to be in the swather. Nope.

Last week we welcomed the new swather, Benny, to the family. Benny was named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, because there were a lot of Franklins that went into his investment. We were getting along pretty well for three days, and then we weren’t. Benny is supposed to be getting a ride back to town today for a couple replacement parts.

I’m going to say a couple of things here. I really appreciate the salesman that I got ahold of on a Sunday evening when my tilt hydraulic wouldn’t hold, and the mechanic that came out first thing Labor Day morning to see if he could get me rolling again. They were great. Now, if John Deere is interested in letting me come into the company and give them some input on equipment design, I would be all over it. Some of the stuff makes absolutely no sense on a ranch hayfield filled with gopher mounds. And why do I have a joystick that I can barely fit both hands around? Color it pink and call it a female model, I don’t care, but good heavens.

I leave this Thursday to show my future donor at a national show, so the Boss Man may get to try Benny out for a bit before I return. We have put up our needed hay for the year, so everything else right now is “bonus.” It’s still not the ideal time to be gone, but is there ever?

With Benny being out of commission, I was able to get some cows moved and the rest of the prepared for a tour we are hosting this week. The great thing about people visiting the ranch is that aesthetically, things look great. Shop’s cleaned, yards are spotless, painting is caught up. I was even able to get four loads of rock hauled into the main yard to help with some of the wind damage that occurred last winter. There’s just something very self-gratifying about not driving into a place where you are looking around and seeing all of these projects that need to be done.

Besides the tour, we have I believe five nights of Harvest Hosts this week. That has been such a great addition this summer, and has the added bonus is that it has moved a lot of beef without us having to worry about shipping. The morning after the tour we’ll pick up two groups of bulls, and then I head out that evening to catch a redeye out of Denver. After that, maybe a deep breath or two will be in order.

With that, I hope you all have a blessed week, and don’t “Labor” too hard.