Greetings From Willow Springs Guest Ranch!
Life on the Ranch
Last month was one of the harshest we've had. It seemed like each new morning dawned overcast and snowing, or overcast and cold, or overcast and blowing. You might recognize a pattern! Temperatures were low, often in the single digits and even below zero at times. It made for some interesting forms of clothing donned for those early morning chores. Layers became important. Many, many layers. Often we found it hard to bend we were so bound up in coats and sweaters and shirts. Petting the dog was not only fun for her, but it was a great hand-warming experience for us as well!
In the middle of February we had two weeks of snow that closed our road, trapping us on the ranch for several days. Oh darn! We were pretty smug sitting here in a snowy winter wonderland with a warm wood stove, lots of food, and the pristine beauty of new fallen snow each morning. We had to chain the tractor up to get to the cattle with the hay wagon. We had to shovel paths to the house. And we had to plow out the driveway for the eventual day when the county road department got our road open! But all in all, it reminded us of the pioneer spirit we so admire. Living here at Willow Springs Ranch and generating our own electricity, learning to live in harmony with the land, enjoying a truly simple lifestyle that harkens to an earlier time, we found the "inconvenience" of being snowed in just another reminder that life is what you make of it and that some challenges are blessings in disguise.
Birding Report
We have incoming! Many of our feathered migrants are returning even though the weather is still very much in the grip of winter here in south central Oregon.
The killdeers cry woke us the other night and sure enough the next morning we saw a pair in our lower pasture. Each spring we keep an eye out for their ground nests with their traditional four eggs. Some years when we are extremely lucky, we catch a glimpse of the fuzzy offspring near creek beds and the shoulders of gravel roads.
Also returned are the sandhill cranes with their odd, scratchy cries like old watches being wound too tight. Some pairs return with last year's chick in tow. Said chick eventually goes off on its own to start life without mom and dad. Sound familiar?
Other species we have seen are: Evening Grosbeaks, Buzzards, Blue Birds, Meadow Larks, and a number of ducks and geese. Each day brings with it the prospect of spotting more returnees and with that sighting, confirmation that spring is indeed just around the corner!
We're hoping this newsletter finds you all happy and healthy and enjoying the last of winter and the promise of spring as we are here at Willow Springs!
Patty and Keith Barnhart
March 19, 2008 | 
