Easter Snow

While checking the forecast for this weekend’s Easter Sunday, snow is headed our way. Not a lot but enough that could make local travel hazardous. I’m reminded of another snowy Easter when I was fourteen or fifteen (I can’t remember exactly). That morning I counted our heifers and one was missing. She was due to calf but we didn’t think it was that soon and we allowed the small herd to roam the 20 acres that were pastured.

Besides being a holy day and the Sabbath among Christendom, I thought back to the parable of the missing lamb with the shepherd who was willing to break Sabbath rules in order find that one lost sheep. One heifer plus a calf meant there was money missing and money was tight growing up. One or two animals? It was sometimes all the profit a small farm had for that year.

The snow was heavy, wet, almost a foot deep. It stopped sometime before morning and I was fortunate that winds were calm(ish). No Tracks. She decided to sneak off before the snow ended. That wasn’t a good sign because most often, if a cow was in trouble giving birth, she would be in the worst possible place such as down in the creek where no equipment could easily be brought in.

I looked to the western fence and couldn’t see her. The ground was too wet and muddy underneath this new snow, so I trudged along, guessing that she was about a half mile away in the furthest corner of the pasture in among the trees. Cows hide when giving birth, it’s their nature. Mother and calf, a bull that couldn’t stand yet, were waiting for me.

He was still wet and huddled in the snow, a shivering newborn. Mother finished up what cows do after giving birth and allowed me to approach and pick up the calf. Some cows become defensive but she was calm and serene. She softly “mooed” occasionally as she followed me back to the barn, carrying her prize.

After penning them up, my thought was that I should have brought a sled with me, that calf was heavy.

 Linked to Poets and Storytellers United - Friday Writings 22: Upcycled Words