A rancher's Christmas
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Most people now days get to have Christmas off. They sleep in or get up early to open presents. Breakfast is made, everybody sits and eats together and stays in the warm house with their family. If some are lucky, they will get to spend a little time outside sledding. Most of the time when you are in town you don’t get the opportunity to do such activities.
Ranchers get to wake up before the sun to go take care of the animals that provide them with what they own. Without the animals, ranchers wouldn’t have the open skies above them, and the open range around them. Christmas is a day a rancher can walk out the door, see what they have and be grateful. No cars driving by, loud noises from their neighbors, and no clutter.
They can walk out the door and see a blizzard, high bitter winds, or even stillness. Either way they go out and brave the weather to take care of those that take care of them with no hesitation. When most walk through that door on Christmas Day, a flood of gratefulness hits them. Some feed with a tractor, some feed with a pickup, and sometimes you need a tractor and a pickup. After the equipment is warm, family members may join with sleds and other fun winter activity gear.
When you get to the cattle to feed them for the day, their hooves squeak on the snow and you can see the air come out their noses. You get hit with the realization that they depend on you as much as you depend on them. Without you, they would be digging in the snow searching for nutritious grass to keep them going so they can make it through an aggressive weather we know and expect. Some will lay the hay in different shapes and patterns around the field. The hay that doesn’t get eaten by the end of the day becomes a bed for the cattle.
After the animals get fed, more family might join the outside festivities. Fun outside the house is something some cherish on Christmas Day. Of course doing all this depends on the weather, which can be unpredictable in Montana. One moment it can be beautiful weather and the next its ugly and ruins any chance for outside fun. When you wake up it could be a blizzard, but by the time you get done feeding, it could be clear and blue. This of course could be swapped around to open blue skies when you wake up to a blizzard, when the feeding is done for the day.
When the outside fun is done, the party gets moved back indoors for warm drinks and good food. Most of the time presents can be opened at this point. Some even wait for other family members that had things to do that morning. Christmas supper is done later that evening with the family and friends that are able to join. The presents that weren’t opened earlier get opened since everybody is there.
Living in town and ranching are two very different lifestyles, however, they are more alike than you think. Both do the same on Christmas. They enjoy their family time and are grateful for something. It may be something simple, for some others, it runs deeper. For the most part we all want the same thing from Christmas day, such as healthy friends and family. We want one day of peacefulness that can settle around and make you feel safe and secure.
