The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Hello April! Wow, that March lion cut loose a few days late! We were somewhat prepared for the storm as the warnings were out there, but it's always a surprise when the weatherman is right. It had finally dried out enough at our place; we didn't have to wear our muck boots everywhere. We were moving cow/calf pairs to green grass; the calves were loving it, bucking, kicking, and taking long naps in the warm sunshine. The meadowlarks were serenading us in pairs just in time for nest building and egg-laying. We can hope that it is soon anyway! Now on to our second storm of April and more mud and cold nights with not exceptionally warm days. I am sure the birds are as unhappy as we are, the grass has put a hold on growing anymore, the calves do their best to generate some body heat with activity, but I am sure they miss the sunshine.

With self-isolation and the colder weather, we have been doing some much-needed upgrades and remodeling on our ranch house, things we don't do when it's to nice to stay inside. I am grateful Ronnie has some carpentry skills as we couldn't hire anyone right now. He and Skylar have finished some new windows and the wood flooring, and it's looking darn good! It shouldn't be too long, and we will have the furniture straightened out and the rest of the house back to a new normal. It is funny how you start a small project, and suddenly it becomes a much larger project, and the fixing things you didn't know needed it. It always seems to create a bigger mess then you may have anticipated. Hopefully, we will have it completed before it is dry enough to get to work in the fields.

Each week we hear more distressing news of lives lost, more hot spots, dwindling medical supplies, and financial distress from coronavirus. Ronnie and I both fall in the older compromised immune systems category, due to pre-existing conditions, so we continue to social distance, wear masks, and carry our disinfecting wipes. We are thankful this appears to be working throughout the United States as the cases have seemed to be slowing in some areas, and here in Montana, we have much less than anywhere. It was different celebrating Easter without being in church, and our family has ushered at Christ Lutheran church every April for many years, celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with our community and many people who come home for Easter. I believe God is in control, and hopefully, everyone will come out of our situation more loving, more considerate, more likely to forgive, more appreciative of the freedoms we value so highly.

We look forward to gathering with friends and family in the not too distant future, it may be summer before this happens, and hopefully, it will be because this virus is gone. Stay safe. God Bless our communities, our country, our President and all of those struggling with the pandemic. It too shall pass away.