Life on a Ranch

 Every year looks a little different, but overall, our agricultural life runs through the various seasons as expected. Some years we have more or less to do given the circumstances, but in general there is a rhythm to our life and a rhythm to the season we’re in. Our current season includes long days- it was light out when I woke up just after 4 o’clock this morning. And it had just barely got ten dark when I went to bed a little after 10 o’clock last night. I typically try to get a little more sleep than that, but when it’s light out, my body just thinks it should be awake! Anyway, the long days of June include things like irrigating and starting this week, haying.

But I’m getting ahead of myself because last week it was the first week of June… which meant it was time for the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show. Katelyn did great showing her steer and Cooper, his pig. We have two more pigs who are right on track to take to county fair, but next year we’ll get pigs a little sooner because Cooper’s stockshow pig came awfully close to not making weight. Speaking of Cooper, he celebrated his birthday on the first day of the show. It’s funny to think back, but my doctor was actually at stockshow with her daughter (and her horse) the year Cooper was born. We lived in Enterprise then, so in true small-town fashion, she called my overdue-self every day to check in and see if I was in labor. As fate would have it, she drove home from Union on June 4th, met me at the hospital the morning of the 5th and Cooper was born by the afternoon. At the time, I didn’t think ahead that the baby boy born during stockshow would someday be celebrating his birthday there. But here we are! I’ve been thinking about seasons a lot lately. I know there’s the catchy song by The Byrds about these verses in Ecclesiastes (go ahead and sing it, it’ll get stuck in your head like it has been in mine!), but a couple weeks ago I looked up the actual verses: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Having lived not only an agricultural experience of sea sons, but having spent my entire life in the Pacific North west where we live through the very distinct seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter, I read these verses because I realized they talk about these life experiences as if they come at separate and distinct times- just like actual seasons. And what I’ve learned over the last few months is that isn’t always the case. Sometimes, oftentimes, most times, the experiences listed in those verses happen simultaneously. Throughout the last six months, while there has been much to celebrate, there’s also been a really hard thing happening at the same time.... When I was about the same age as Lucy and went to col lege, the first friend I met was Brooke. We sat next to each other in Anatomy & Physiology and became fast friends. Not long after meeting her, I met her boyfriend, Bodie. Brooke and I ended up eventually being room mates, sharing a house with a group of girls. Brooke and Bodie were there for everything- including being at the house when Buck came to pick me up on our first date. They got married the same summer we did. And post-college, Bodie was one of the only people who has ever been able to push (or maybe drag) us to get away for a few days and go on some family trips together. He and Katelyn shared a love for ice cream and he made a point to appreciate ice cream with her (see picture!). When we couldn’t get away, they brought vacation to us. They showed up in Troy several times with coolers full of food and bags full of games. And when our kids were old enough, they’d drive over from Idaho and meet us in Baker to watch volleyball and basketball games. This fall, when Brooke told me Bodie wasn’t acting like himself, I chalked it up to stress. As a middle school administrator, his job was stressful. We both agreed he needed a break and knew that when Christmas came, he’d get one and he’d be more like himself. On December 28th, we were driving home from a basketball game in Prairie City and when we got into cell service I had several missed calls from Brooke. Bodie hadn’t gotten better over the break and a trip to the emergency room revealed severe Glioblastoma brain cancer. On June 2nd, barely five months after diagnosis and after every attempt to slow down the aggressive cancer, Bodie died. So, for the past five months, while we’ve been celebrating some big things, I’ve also kept a bag packed in my car so I could run to Boise when I needed to. As a nurse-friend, I can stay really strong while I’m in helping mode. I gladly helped with medical tasks and phone calls and asked all the questions- all the practical things. And I also spent some very emotional drives home, feeling the depths of this loss. Through all of it, I’ve realized the seasons talked about in Ecclesiastes aren’t necessarily separate and distinct because life is in fact, a mix of all things. It is possible to have celebrations like graduation and feelings of immense joy and pride, while also feeling the intense ache of grief at the same time. Now here we are in the busy season of summer when we have so much to get done and to plan for. And while time doesn’t stop, I do think it’s wise to take pause and reflect on the things that matter most because when it’s all said and done, three things last forever- faith, hope and love- and the greatest of these is love. ~Chelsea