This site may have affiliate links for which we may receive a commission
This week, this cowdog salutes agriculture!
And let’s be sure to recognize the all-important sidekick, the cowdog.
We in the northern Rockies already had winter storm warnings and feet of the white stuff. Then it warmed and melted in. After so many years, it is harder to get excited at the first snow, but even mom agrees, this was pretty.
But the warm sunshine is welcomed back.
If we weren’t already urgently preparing for winter, this little storm nudges us all to finish up. Most of the hay is in. All the apples have been picked, with the boys’ annual help.
This was a slim year for apples, though. I watch mom wash them and run them through her slick little slicer, then they are dried or chopped and made into Apple Pie Jam for Sprout. This neat little machine can do all kind of things, separates seeds, cores and scrap for the chickens, and of course there are always a few juicy bits for this helper. 
You can find one here, and you will have fun with this: https://amzn.to/3j0Hw1R
We continue to pick up, clean up, put away. The beautiful colors we had this year pretty much left with the snow and a couple of very cold nights. The horses are looking for a little hay now, and are getting shaggy.
The cows are getting shaggy too, I guess, but it is harder to tell with them!
Of course, this cowdog has been busier than a pup with 2 tails, and this season of harvest got me thinking. So this week I recognize agriculture and the importance of the people who grow the hay, feed the cows, harvest the wheat and generally keep the world running and everyone fed!
The combines have cleaned the fields and wheat has filled silos and rests in huge golden mounds near the railway. Even in a desperately dry year, hay is baled and hauled, to feed all the critters through another spare winter. To the south, sugar beets are stockpiled, ready for processing. The whole country has its own local harvest, all contributing to the most basic and vital of needs. Here at home, we have canned, dried and frozen all kind of things. We have hay and grain ready to feed the stock all winter.
And all the cows have gone home from the high country; with the next cold storm, they’ll have good green hay to keep them warm.
Just think about this bounty! I tell you, there are cherries, apples, mint, grains, and alfalfa. There is beef, chicken, lamb. Even if you don’t eat meat, some farmer out there is growing the soybeans that make your meatless meat! 
OK, I admit that doesn’t make any sense at all to me, but then I am primarily a carnivore. I appreciate meat in all forms and, even though I like pumpkin, blueberries, beans and grain, I do not understand leaving out steak!
Farmers and ranchers work hard, long hours, often with plenty of hurdles and headaches, to produce so much food for us. Mostly it is solitary work with plenty of worries. Of course, they do get to work out in beautiful country and they do have loyal helpers such as myself. None of us would eat without the farmers and ranchers of agriculture! And cowboys! Yes, we still have those out here, my dad was one of the best in his day. 
None of it would do much good if it didn’t get hauled to market, and we better send a big shout-out to all the truckers, too. 
These are professions of faith, hope and grit.
Kids keep dreaming of being farmers and cowboys. Of course life in the country is the best, and 4-H and FFA helps to start ’em young, too. It is a good way for a human to grow up.
Now, not all of us Heelers get to live the ranch life. I am blessed to have been chosen out of that shelter so long ago, and get to follow in the pawprints of other great cowdogs on the ranch.
Nothing beats the happy exhaustion at the end of the day, knowing the cows were put where they needed to go, and I helped make it happen! But even if you don’t have a ranch, you Heelers can still keep your home in order, herd what is needed, patrol cats, kids and all your people, and rest from a job well-done at the end of a busy day.
Even if you can’t be the ranch dog, you can sure enjoy a few reminders anytime. 
And this is a good time of year to gather a few good books for those longer nights indoors.
There are plenty of great cowboy stories: https://amzn.to/3lHKklW
or maybe some real history of the west; of course I like this one about an explorer’s dog! 
https://amzn.to/3FEGPVs
Mom loved this story of an old woman who up and bought a horse, then packed up her little dog and rode coast to coast! 
Of course, the famous cowdog Hank shares his tales and views of ranch life for everyone to experience:
Well I need to get back to work. You know these ranch chores won’t do themselves!
And there is a lot riding on this little speckled cowdog.
Leave a Reply