the hairdryer and the heifer....

...or one day she will be.  Right now, she's a wide eyed, clumsy, wobbly little calf.

She came into this world on a really cold night.  It was nearly 7 degrees when Nelson Taylor (Chad's dad) plopped her onto the kitchen floor to warm her. We were in the basement asleep.  Then following the loud THUD on the floor heard from below...a brrrrrrrrrr, brrrrrrrring.  A hairdryer?
 A baby calf, newborn, still wet warms herself with the help of Chad's mom, Sandy who weilds the hairdryer.  It was something I'd never seen, yet it made sense.  The calf might die in the cold, bitter air and being wet too didn't help.  I bent down to hold her head up in my hands as Sandy worked feverishly.  Turning the calf she explains this is something that will start happening a lot in the weeks to come.  For as of Saturday, we moved the pregger cows to a pasture closer to their home otherwise thought of as a seasonal maternity ward if you will.  Once again, it made sense.  Ranching is a lot of common sense and hard work.  Hard to imagine that steak on your table took so much work.  The planning, the budgeting, the decisions, the sleepless nights when the cows are in labor are all part of the cycle. 
Anyway, after about two hours of warming the bovine beauty we took her back to her mama.  I can't tell you what that's like.  I feel like a little kid sometimes...so excited and thrilled to be seeing something like this for the first time.  I mean sometimes I feel like the weekends are places of discovery and learning.  These are the romantic and thrilling tales I tell.......the downside to all of this.....
 
SNOT FREEZES!!!!