Hello, February!

 

When I saw this painting by my classmate Dora Ragland Hale on Facebook yesterday, I thought it would make the perfect way to introduce the hope of spring, which comes with turning over the calendar and eventually seeing the first robin. 

So, here we are, and Dora said, yes, I could use her painting.   

We have survived the long month of January, and this morning we could turn the page to new images on our 2024 calendars. 

One my three calendars, the February images include two wolves, two bunnies and one gray Arabian horse. 

All were welcome sights as is any image signifying a change.  

I must admit, however, that the bunnies on the side of the refrigerator have been out in public for a while. 

Don't know why, but last time I taped up the calendar, I inadvertently turned to February.  Must have been wishful thinking. 

So, the bunnies, which are cute, get a little extra time. 

And, this morning, Dora's painting that she did a few years back is getting center stage on the blog.

Also, the available stock images of St. Brigid's Day are pretty nice too. 

Happy St. Brigid's Day to all my Irish friends and to anyone named Bridie.  

The morning has already started on a positive note.  I heard birds singing off in the woods, and I could have read the morning paper while walking to the house. 

Amazing what all that fog of the past few days has been hiding, especially the sun. 

💚💚💚💚💚

My dad, Harold Tibbs, raised registered horned Herefords, and our farm on North Boyer was known as the Ponderay Hereford Ranch.

When Mother and Harold were married in 1954, his herd eventually came to the farm.  I can remember one summer when they were pasturing on what was then the Bill Neu place at the base of Schweitzer.  

Harold's leased pastureland later became known as a housing development called Edelweiss Village. 

The Hereford herd ended up being an integral part of our lives with cows and calves every year and with some of them serving as 4-H projects. And, from that came some material that appeared in a story in my first book Pocket Girdles. 

The story was appropriately named "Great Horned Cows," and it documented some of my more embarrassing moments brought on by my cow Millie and thoroughly enjoyed (fiendishly so) by the ladies in the local Cow Belles.  

After 4-H years, I often groomed and washed up to ten head of the bunch and took them to the fair.  At the time, there was unapologetic prejudice against Herefords with horns because many of the ranchers had gone to Polled Herefords. 

My dad eventually followed the trend, but during the 4-H years, we had to allow plenty of time to sand those horns and later polish them up for the fair. 

Lots of good memories of time spent with the cattle, so you can imagine my surprise when I received some images from my friend and former student Nadine Hoekema Campbell yesterday. 

Nadine has been going through boxes at her house.  Like me, she likes to keep things. 

In one of the boxes, she found the items below and sent them to me with the message "small world." 

I told Nadine that I do remember the Hoekema name coming up occasionally in dinner table conversations, and I knew that Harold had great respect for the Hoekema's.

Now, I see that there was a link "way back when," and maybe it just explains why Nadine and I have appreciated each other over the years.  

 Twas fun to receive these treasures from our respective pasts and to do a little time travel to the good ol' days. 

Thanks, Nadine. 

One more note:  one of the cows named on the registration papers was born the same day and year as Bill and his sister Margaret. 

When I told Bill, he simply replied, "I'm betting that I've outlived the cow." 

Below:  My daughter, Annie, so labeled in the photo, enjoyed a new adventure yesterday. 

She and her Groundspeak, Inc. lackeys tried curling as a team-building experience. 

Annie said she enjoyed the sport and that it's a lot harder than it looks. 

It's an Irish holiday today, but since my mind tracked back to my dad's pasture area for his cows, later called Edelweiss, I thought it would be fun to end with this video.  

Happy Thursday.