Always Kiss Me Goodnight

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I’m sure we’ve all seen a home decor sign with the saying, “Always kiss me goodnight.”

Do you say something like that to your spouse before bed or do you say something else, like –

“Good night, sleep tight, sweet dreams.”

Maybe you are more practical and say, “Don’t forget to charge your phone.”

What does a rancher’s wife say to her husband before she goes to bed?

I say, “What time do you need breakfast?” Isn’t that romantic? Let me explain.

Jeffrey usually has a plan for the work that needs to be done the next day on the ranch. Depending on what that plan is, we may have to eat breakfast anywhere from 4am to 7am.

Eating breakfast together is an important start to our day on the ranch. We eat together and then everyone is out the door at the same time to start the work for the day.

Breakfast is the one meal we always sit down and eat together. Not everyone is home for lunch and sometimes a few of us are still working when dinner time rolls around, especially in the summer. Breakfast is a good time to go over plans and visit as a family.

Quite often we will have guests at those early morning breakfasts. I do take a few minutes to put myself together and then cook breakfast. Even if it is only my family at breakfast, majority of the time I still get dressed and ready for the day before I cook breakfast. It is a good way to start the day.

PC: Sage

Instead of a sign that says, “Always kiss me goodnight,” I need one that says, “Always tell me what time you need breakfast.” Nah, it doesn’t quite have the same romantic ring.

Here is a link to a sign or a pillow cover that says – Always Kiss Me Goodnight.

Pushin’ Up

Roller Coaster Cows
PC: Jeffrey

Have you ever heard a rancher say they’re pushin’ up? Or maybe they say something like –

“Have you pushed up?”

“When are you pushin’ up?”

“I’m starting to push up next week.”

“I pushed up last week.”

What are they talking about? Does it have anything to do with pushin’ up daisies? No, it doesn’t.

Pushin’ up refers to moving cows to a new grazing allotment where the feed is better. Cows graze in areas called allotments and they can only stay in those allotments for a certain number of days as designated by the Bureau of Land Management. When we push up, it is typically to a higher elevation where the feed is still green and not as dried out as the low country. It could be up a mountain or it could be to another allotment on the high desert where the water sources are better.

Little groups of cows are gathered into larger groups. Cowboys line the cows out and push them in the right direction to help them find the gate to the new allotment. It can take a few days to gather and find all the cows, line them out, and push them up.

Let me explain this differently.

Imagine you have 100s of kids and they are scattered in Costco. Your job is to get them out the door by 5pm so they can have better food than the food samples. You spend all afternoon gathering them and another adult takes the lead so they know where to find the door. Gathering them and getting them moving in the right direction takes all day. Finally, you push them through the door at 4pm, counting them as they go out. You realize you are short a few kids, so you go back inside to find them, gather them, and send them in the right direction so they can make it out the door. This time they are all accounted for and they are pretty happy with the new food they get to eat.

It takes some time to push up. Day by day it gets done.

The next time you hear a rancher say, “I’m pushin’ up this week,” you’ll know exactly what he is talking about – finding all his kids in Costco and getting them out the door to have better food.

PC: Justin
PC: Jasper

Jasper is on another ranch that has cows and calves. We only have yearlings right now. His push looks a little different that ours.