Got a Question? Ask A COWBOY POET!
october 2024
Falling leaves, chilly breezes, and shorter days are some of many of the markers of fall. This month, the cowboy poets describe their observations of the season as they answer this question:
How does the land, and the animals you surround yourself with, change as the days get shorter and darker?
~Feeling like Fall
yvonne hollenbeck:
Fortunately, I live where there are four distinct seasons. We are currently experiencing fall, where the trees are changing colors and dropping their leaves. We have had a couple frosty nights, so the flowers and gardens are done for the year; the green grass is now brown and the animals are growing more hair as they too prepare for winter. Nature has a way of taking care of them in that manner. The cattle also seem to know that it is time to come home from summer pastures, as they seem to trail with little guidance. Calves are being weaned, and, after they have settled to life without their mamas, they are transferred to a feedlot where they will spend the next few months getting twice-daily rations. The cows will go into winter pastures where they will graze until winter shows its face with snow cover, at which time they will enjoy ample feedings of hay that was harvested this past summer. Bulls and horses go into separate pastures where they receive the same treatment as the cows. Fall work is busy, but it is rewarding to get everybody home and prepared for winter.
waddie mitchell:
When sim'ring summer solstice fades
and Fall steps into view
and the quaken asp’ bloom color
and grass its ashen hue
And the cows and horses coat up
And ants crawl into hole
and the mule deer migrate southward
Before nights can take their toll
And the snakes tangle together
Birds head south with the Sun
And the snow hare transforms to white
Dogs think that it's all fun
And somehow the air is filtered
'til it tastes sparkling new
And beaver work their extra shifts
to see the winter through
It is Autumn wrapping things up
as the cycle's running low
It is counting fiscal stories
It is time for letting go
It charges one to look ahead
Quells urge to tally out
It slows the pace, also your roll
and proves up on your tout
I've loved Fall's yearly visits long
Just not what's next to come
Still Autumn's here, it's crisp and clear
Indulge her season's fun
bill lowman:
Yes, good question. Being born and raised in this habitat, our habits and existence are controlled by the seasonal weather changes, both us and our livestock. Cattle and horses’ behaviors are most prevalent in our way of making a living. First and foremost, they’re creatures of habit (as we are also). The daily winter feeding, spring calving, summer pasture rotations, and fall gatherings go on unheralded to them. But the most notable changes come in the fall of shorter daylight days and “frosty fork handle” mornings. Whereas spring branding roundups and summer gatherings to move to fresh pastures take an experienced bunch of neighbors saddled up to help, the fall roundups are the simplest.
The old feeding pickup with a rusted-out muffler and loud Trip Hopper dispenser can replace a half dozen well-mounted riders. Those old girls are in love with it and will come out of deep canyons and over high ridges from miles away when they catch an ear of it. They’ll totally swarm it as you slowly lead them into smaller fall working pastures. Our horses are much the same, where spring and summer months we have to keep a “wrangle horse” in to corral our saddle horse bunch, but the shorter oncoming winter days changes their mindset to be waiting at the corrals every morning for their “bait of oats.”
The wildlife is notable as the big mule deer bucks come out of a long summer of seclusion in the backcountry for the rut to socialize with the does and fawns that have been “underfoot” all summer. Then there’s the sky filled with “V” shaped geese and cranes all headed south to remind us of the coming winter.
dick gibford:
Outwardly we can see how the land and its many inhabitants change in their habits and routines going into the winter, but inwardly I can only guess how the spirit of the land and critters feel about it. I know my mood is affected. We seem to slow down and become more contemplative and take stock of things in general. To quote from Kiskaddon from his classic “When They’ve Finished Shipping Cattle in the Fall:”
Though yer not exactly blue
Yet you don't feel like you do
In the winter, or the long hot summer days.
For your feelins and the weather
Seem to sort of go together,
And yer quiet in the dreamy autumn haze.
Some of the big critters, and small, tend to go into hibernation. This is rattlesnake country and these pit vipers disappear during the winter, for which I am thankful. I can afford to let my guard down until next May when they start coming out again. This is a good question and one that provides a lot of food for thought! Thanks very much.
annie mackenzie:
There was frost on the ground, and I rode my colt today, so this what I came up with for an answer, "The ground gets harder, and the horses get friskier, so that's a fun combo!"
dw groethe:
I could go on and on about leaves changing, grass browning, and critters hairing up, but I think what I'm gonna do for this one is post a couple of poems to sum it up, as I have written plenty on this very subject. Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year, so it's fairly easy to let the pen wander with your thoughts. Hope you don't mind.
a flurry of wings
a flurry of wings
five, ten,
twentyfive,
fifty? who knows.
in the windbreak,
of ash and
russian olive,
all remains hidden.
sparrows?
or something else,
restless
at my trespass
through leaf litter
redolent
with the cinnamon
scent of Fall.
Autumn
The barrel,
a thirty ought six,
rests lightly
on the branch,
patiently waiting
the doe.
The branch, uncaring,
pays no mind,
as it currently
has nothing better to do.
Done with a season's
budding and blooming,
flowering to fruiting,
it is time to let
leaves slip.
Time to gather slumber
for the coming deep sleep.
Hope this works for you and, as always,
Thanks for asking,
dw
