Autumn Arrives

Autumn is finally here. The horses have been moved to a winter pasture, making the barn and corrals at our house seem empty.My dismal failure of a garden has been cleaned up and I am already anxious to receive my Fedco seed catalog in early January. Try, try again! There is no other way!
The hay has been hauled and the wagons, which will hold a chopped version of that hay, have been anally and obsessively lined up. I know who is responsible for this, but I'm not telling. Besides, it makes for a cool picture. "Five little hay wagons, all in a row...the sun setting nicely, casting quite a glow..."
The corrals, recently emptied of the horses, are now stocked with hay sufficient for the newly weaned heifer calves which will be arriving today. There is finally time for evening walks around the house and evening walks are made all the more fun because the children can actually...walk.
We can even explore the tall grass in the roadside ditches, off limits during the warmer months due to the threat of rattlesnakes.
We get in some good family time these days, which is a great thing. Evenings spent visiting the barn cats, making Play-doh worms, and hunting trips with friends (although they are not so much trips as hunting drives. Danish Cowboy told me when I first came out here that if you chose to walk and hunt, you would starve. But when it comes to eating wildlife, I would rather starve. As much as I want to enjoy this most organic, natural form of protein, I just can't do it.)
The newly weaned heifers will be in their freshly prepared corral when I get home from work this evening. They will bawl all night long and continue bawling intermittently for the next few days. Just when you think they've forgotten about mom, one will let out a cry and the rest will follow suit. I'll shed a few silent tears for them and take some pictures. They are the most wonderfully curious little creatures you've ever seen.