summer

Still just 24 hours, yet the longest of days

06/25/2026 by ladysmith@cowdogsadvice.com

God must have a sense of humor, and smile at our small hopes and expectations.

Last year, just 2 days before the official start of summer, it piled up a couple of inches of snow overnight, quickly dispatched with dawn by a driving rain. Some of the high mountain passes had a lot I heard.

This year, we had a week of storms – rain, wind, a tornado or two – and hail that piled up like snow for some.

And for some, a winter storm warning on the weekend!

A few days ago we celebrated the summer solstice. Still just 24 hours, yet the longest of days. It is the most daylight we get in any one day this year.

It is light long before sun-up, by 4:30 in the morning, and even the rooster knows to start crowing early! And I can’t stay awake long enough for darkness, going to bed by 9:30 when it is still light.

We revel in this generous luxury, a true gift from God.

It is especially precious to those of us who know that, not only is darkness going to increase, but that darkness comes with the promise of winter. I’m torn between the joy of summer and the dread of shortening days!

Blessed with good rain so far, my world is lush and green, drawing in all that sunshine, everything growing like – well, weeds!

Every day, I pick a good shady spot to supervise the frequent mowing and weed-wacking, encouraging the boss in her work with a smile and bark now and then.

I want to wallow in this extra light, with an urgency to use up every rich gold second, quick, before it gradually, almost imperceptibly, wanes into dusk.

With all this daylight, we need to get out and not waste a second of it. I try to spend part of every long summer day in water. We all need it, and most everyone loves it in some form.

We wade in it,

drink it,

play on it and in it,

shake it off and dry in the sun,

or wait for it to freeze so we can fish through it, slide on it,

or make snow dog angels in it!

But now it is summer.

Most of the cows have come up to the mountains and will graze the high country ’til fall.

The horses go to the high fir forests and escape the heat and flies, grazing the lush green meadows.

Gardens are planted, and it’s not quite time for haying or harvest. This year, the garden is reluctant, only now escaping frost for a hot sun, still enduring chilly nights, even if they are short.

This dog knows the days are as long as we’ll ever get, so I think about bigger water.

How does a beautiful old boat fit in with cowdog wisdom?

For most of us cowdogs, the biggest puddle of water we see is a creek or horse trough [still good options to cool off at the end of a day moving cows!]. Well, my dad was an old cowboy, but he loved airplanes and boats too, maybe almost as much as sitting a good horse and working with me on the ranch.

He told stories of a Navy destroyer he once was on called the USS Henderson, DD786.

I can’t say I’m crazy about boats and big water. I like my creek, but don’t care for big lakes and waves washing up under me. Boats are windy and noisy, but I’ve gone because I stick to my people, no matter what weird fun they find.

The term “Steady as she goes” is an ancient mariners phrase. The captain of a sailing vessel would give the instruction to his helmsman [kind of like the cowdog on a ship I think]. “Steady as she goes” meant stay the course you are on. Regardless of wind gusts or cross currents, stick with the compass heading. I believe this old nautical phrase still has meaning today, even though there is way more technology to guide a ship now. Think if we followed the advice to keep on with steady progress, not blown off course by storms and trouble. Keep calm at the helm.

Get on the true course, hold steady and do not waver.

Some of the Apostles knew boats and water. They didn’t always get it right, but knew to hold strong. One said, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but not crushed.”

There are a lot of storms right now in this world. Hold steady. Maybe an old cowdog could become a sailor after all.

No matter what vessel you’re steering – steady as she goes, my friend. And make these longest 24 hours count!

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens –

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Breathe

07/24/2025 by ladysmith@cowdogsadvice.com

I lay on the porch in the early hours, breathing in fresh, cool, rain-sweetened air. Birds started their lilting, mixed songs in the pre-dawn darkness, a gift of summer – does anyone but me hear those very first notes at 4 AM?

Here in the short-summer north, these brief months become a rush to accomplish a lot before cold and snow.

But this year, we’ve had weekly cooling and refreshing rains. Sometimes gully-washers, with hail for many. Hail bigger than golf balls and more destructive, or tiny pelting peas that quickly melt. Rolling thunder, blinding strikes of lightning.

I laid here on the porch Sunday, watching the biggest storm yet, waves of a downpour that blotted out the hills, the trees, blown in sheets even onto my safe haven. And the smell! Even those without the highly refined sniffing abilities of a cowdog must love the clear, crisp scent!

We rush to get things done before the storm, but then the storm slows us down. I lay on the porch, reflecting on all things Heeler – summer, work, weather, smells, the blessing and the trouble – watered trees, no drought, no fire. Or maybe lightning strikes, hail-flattened fields, floods.

This week, kids, cows and cowdogs will storm town, as the county fair brings everyone together to celebrate a productive summer.

Not me; this little old cowdog stays home. I’ll lay on the porch or in the deep shade if the sun is hot, content with the peace of no noise.

I’ll listen to the rushing creek and the birds singing – that’s enough.

Next week we will mow the fields and bale hay to feed some critters come winter.

It looks like three days of rain, then the sun will come out, we will hit the trail and get back to the hurry-up chores of summer. We’ll weed, rake, dig, build, wash, paint, weed some more, prune, plant, gather. And wonder how there can still be so many weeds! We will sand, paint, repair.

Move dirt. Move hay. Build fences.

And I’ll supervise {often from the shade}, rule from the four-wheeler, jump in the creek for regular cool-downs.

I’ll keep an eye on little boys and manage that guy driving the swather and baler; I’ll follow the tractor.

I’ll take the morning watch, breathing in all the new night scents and early songs.

I’ll take a siesta here at high noon – maybe shade and a breeze from a blistering sun, or maybe protection from rain.

In the evening, I’ll watch the light sink behind the foothills, the deer and turkeys in the meadows, crows flying home.

Then I’ll lay on the porch, breathe in the perfect, brief, heavenly air. And never forget this summer.

So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

A Few Seconds of Summer

06/01/2023 by ladysmith@cowdogsadvice.com

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It was snowing just a few short weeks ago, then suddenly, every tree had leaves burst open! It seems like it took a long time for the trees in the orchard to leaf out. We walked through it, finding too much tragic vole damage, with questionable survival and new growth in a few of the saplings.

It is wonderfully green now, and we have plenty of rain, clouds, and cool mornings. Soon we will have, at least, a few seconds of summer.

We have lots of rain already, and only starting our normal high-rainfall month of June.

Of course the rain is welcome after the drought last year, and is better than snow. We don’t have to water all the new trees as much either.

This energizes us all, and it is in my Heeler heart and nature to charge at life with all I’ve got.

I’m told by old Lady that when one gets a bit long in the tooth, “all” may not be so much, but it doesn’t dampen a relentless warrior soul!

In youth, we trail a herd all day, and dart back and forth after wayward bovines, going after the toughest ones tooth and nail.

I can get them out of deep and thorny brush, and the rankest beast learned they were no match for a Heeler.

I apply the same exuberance to all my jobs – running, chasing, barking, guarding, dancing, begging, eating…

even though I am not as high-octane as some cowdogs around her. and

I do sometimes lay on the porch, thinking about summer.

Here in our short season, there is a lot to do. Long daylight hours beg to be filled, and I will help.

These are long days in a very short season.

There is a lot to plant, then guard and care for. But this is only the easy and brief start.

Here is my summer work list, jobs that need a cowdog in charge:

Fix fences

Plant and water

Prune, rake, dig

Patrol, guard, bark

Check out new smells in the fresh wet ground. Check again each dawn.

Paint the chicken coop,

Wash the truck,

More fencing – especially for new gardens and to keep everything out. Out in the pasture, to keep everything in!

It’s raining plenty now, but I’ll help water later on.

Clean up the horse and cow pens – man, they are messy eaters!

Work from dawn til dusk,

’til the work is done.

But exactly because summer is such a short and precious time of generosity, I know it must be a time of pause, to relish every gifted moment too.

So, I will also lay on the porch enjoying the shade, a summer breeze, even a good storm.

And here is my summer joy list:

I will listen as mom reads her summer books, out on the wide porch, sharing passages with me. Here is what we’re reading:

A Badger Boy in Blue: Civil War Letters of Chauncey H Cooke

https://amzn.to/3xd6pid

A Chorus of Cranes https://amzn.to/3xagNY6

An Island Garden https://amzn.to/3x7nYyL

And she uses this to write down thoughts, mostly about me, I think! https://amzn.to/3McR31s

I will watch out for Sprout as he plays in the creek and pond, seeing a little boy discovering his country, getting big too fast.

Play in the sun.

Lay on the porch.

Lay in the shade and in the cool grass.

Listen to the creek.

Listen to the birds.

Chew a bone.

Take a ride.

Watch the clouds sail overhead – is that one turning into a dog?

Go boating with dad – not because I love boating, but because I love dad.

Walk the gardens – admiring the blooms, maybe sampling a carrot or cucumber here and there.

Remember the brevity of this life, cherishing every blessed minute I am granted.

Even in summer, time would be a cruel thing, without the promise of heaven. I know that one day I’ll run and dance again with mom and dad there.

What will you do with this one brief season, your few seconds of summer?

How will you make your precious few moments count?

I Hate TV

06/17/2022 by ladysmith@cowdogsadvice.com

I’m on my way outside, because it is beautiful and we have so brief a summer. But first I want to tell you why I hate TV.

It is important to get outside – there were winter storm warnings around the region this week. WINTER STORM WARNINGS in June!!

We had a winter storm advisory but only had very chilly winds and heavy clouds the past few days.

There is still snow in the mountains.

And rain, but that is a good thing.

It is green and growing and hopefully will fight off the drought of last year.

Maybe there will be plenty of pasture and later, hay.

Mercifully, we don’t have the flooding going on around Yellowstone Park.

I like to be outside, watching and helping mom, laying on the porch in early morning sun as it warms up, and in the breezy shade later. And of course, patrolling the place.

So I have to get out there and savor the day, but I want to tell you one thing I do not like in the summer.

Now I admit, in my younger days, I watched a little TV. When I first came here, I would watch if there were cows or horses on TV, and even went behind it to look for where they were coming from, because of course I was ready to help move the herd on out of the living room!

Now here is a Ladysmith List on why I hate TV:

It is all bad news.

It is an avenue for lying politicians to twist the truth and promote false propaganda.

It is no longer fun and innocent entertainment. It celebrates rudeness, anger and general nastiness in all formats.

It is the modern carnival sideshow, but with anonymity, so watchers can ogle the fat, deformed and suffering, crazy hoarders and melodramatic “reality” actors, neither real nor actors.

All news is not “breaking news”, but stations are still 24 hours, so they stir up alerts to sound vital and current. It only is anxiety-causing regurgitation of old news, most of the time.

Even the commercials are awful. There is no creativity, humor or wit. Even dog food ones aren’t very good. And the insurance commercials are the worst. As a dog I don’t need it, but I would not be influenced to buy insurance from a company with truly dumb ads. They are just plain stupid!

There are 200 channels, most of which are infomercials, advertising, hard-sell shopping. There are ‘way too many phony reality shows, none real and none worth watching.

There are a few with great old shows, a few educational and edifying, a precious few worth watching. And then only for a little time.

Very few movies are any good anyway. Maybe a few with cows, cowdogs, horses or cats. or a person loving a dog.

TV interferes with dad playing ball with his favorite cowdog. It is true that the years have slowed us down, but I’m still up for an easy game of catch or keep-away, and it is always good exercise for us both.