The day after Christmas, my neighbor, Mark, walked the fence line of my pasture with tremendous focus. He was preparing the pasture for his newly-purchased heifers due to arrive that afternoon. He arrived just after dawn on his large ATV(All terrain vehicle). Its small bed was filled with barbed wire, a small chain saw on the end of a long pole for trimming branches and other farm paraphernalia. This will be the first set of heifers he has had in my pasture for nearly two years.  

“I raised my best heifers in this field,” he had told me earlier in the season. “They do well out in the pasture. They will be fine because of that.” He points to the thick hedgerow of cedar trees that shelters the pasture from harsh northwest winds.

Two other farmers joined him. Together, they installed the solar fence charger on a post behind the equipment shed; they drove a long copper pipe into the earth to ground the charger; they nailed boards on part of the fence where the metal mesh has sagged. 

One of my volunteers had chided me for asking him to help me on Christmas Eve. “Christmas Eve is a time to celebrate, not a time to work!” he had asserted, though he had come to help me prepare a wood shed for winter.  

Mark had worked hard and steadily in wind and mud. His face is weathered; his eyes clear and warm. He consulted with me: “I want to spray a little under the fence to keep the weeds down so the fence will hold a charge.”

I gave my consent--I would rather have Mark and his heifers than make it too difficult for him to have cows in my pasture. Mark loves cows; Mark knows cows. He sold his dairy herd several years ago. Recently, he decided to start a beef herd. Mark and his wife went to see these cows. They were out in pasture and had a gentle temperament. They are Herefords—red and white cows—that are stocky and short. Mark may already be able to imagine what the new calves will look like grown; he may even imagine what he hopes the new herd of beef cattle will look like in two years.   

He worked on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because the cows could be delivered Monday afternoon. The magic of farming is in some ways like the magic of surfing—one senses a wave of new life from a long way off, and one works to catch that wave and bring new life into the world. One can feel it even before one can see it, and one does what one needs to do to bring that life in—including working on Christmas.

I am reminded that the story of Christmas is about bringing new life into the world—new life that was long anticipated. This year, the story that has touched my heart is the story of my neighbor and his pregnant heifers. We may have calves by Easter.

Merry Christmas!

Sally