November is a time to be thankful

Here we are in November. It is the eleventh month and has a name meaning 9th. The latin word, “Novem,” means 9th but rest assured it is the eleventh month. November is mostly known for Thanksgiving. The production year in the fields is over and we give thanks for the bounty we have received. Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the U.S. and many other countries. Early celebrations included days of fasting as well as the Thanksgiving Day feast. First celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in October, 1621, journals document that feast as lasting three days and was attended by Native Americans from the Wampanoag people and Pilgrims, survivors of the Mayflower. Celebrated since 1789, when President George Washington issued a proclamation declaring Thanksgiving a holiday but it was celebrated only intermittently until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln assigned it to the last Thursday in November annually. Finally in 1885, President Ulysses Grant signed into law the Holidays Act making Thanksgiving a yearly appointed federal holiday. Congress then made Thanksgiving and other federal holidays paid holidays for all federal workers. President Franklin Roosevelt moved the celebration to one week earlier amid significant controversy. Congress assigned it a permanent observation date of the fourth Thursday in November in 1942.**

            Thank you and acknowledgements to Wikipedia for assisting with all those facts, and dates.   May your Thanksgiving turkey not be so dry. 

            November is the month when fall gives way to forces of winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. Our songbirds have all flown south for the winter months and are blessing some sheepherders in the Peruvian mountains and some fishermen on some remote tributary of the Amazon with their songs. Vaqueros of the coastal plains of Mexico are enjoying the sweet song of the meadowlark, which only recently sang that same song to a couple cowboys who were riding across their pasture in southeastern Colorado. It is proof that songbirds are multi-lingual.

            And back at the ranch, the focus has shifted from, shipping time which is slowing down following a frenzy during the middle of October, to finishing up a few projects before winter’s icy grip really sets in. A mental calculation of possible available cash flow and project costs has been backed up by in-depth analysis of actual figures on paper and a precise plan is developed regarding projects and upgrades that need to be completed before the end of the year. Possibly the focus is to purchase a new piece of equipment to replace one that is worn beyond repair. Maybe the purchase is for a desired upgrade such as a new ranch horse and saddle along with a new stock trailer. In any case projects are on the front burner. Unfortunately, all too often the plan is how to survive another year without making a profit or how to survive another year taking a loss. But let’s not think or dwell on that scenario due to the obvious disheartening pall that it casts over the rural life when that happens. Ride along with me as we take a peek into some of these thoughts as they finish shipping cattle in the fall and the turkey has been roasted and eaten.

**The facts and figures about Thanksgiving history are from Wikipedia

After Shipping’s Finished in the Fall

The County Crew’s been busy,

Blading up the roads.

Ranchers will be shipping calves,

By the semi loads.

Now the big rigs are a rolling,

Horse trailers are seen everywhere.

Calf prices are holding strong,

Fall shipping shaped up real fair.

Roundup sure was pretty,

In our own little piece of heaven.

Steers are pushing eight and a half,

Heifers are doing better than seven.

Shipping time is always exciting,

Thinking what you might clear.

Sending calves to market

You’ve been watching and banking on all year.

I’m planning in my mind,

On the profit I might bank,

New tires for the feed truck,

Replace that rusted water tank.

I’ll replace some fence,

Not all, but at least some.

It is not if I’ll do some fence,

There ‘re just so many places to chose from.

And diligence is needed in this planning,

Nothing can be overlooked.

For once the rabbit has been roasted,

It cannot then be uncooked.

And it all depends on the buyers,

And what they might bid.

If they don’t bid the needed price,

Then that slams the lid.

But it is fun to dream and plan,

I believe it’s going to work.

I’ll be positive and look forward,

And the planning I will not shirk.

May the calves all weigh heavy,

And the buyers all bid high.

We’ll all enjoy shipping season,

‘N’ pray nothing goes awry.