Mother’s Day

I freely admit, my wife and my mother often get shortchanged on Mother’s Day. It falls at a really awkward time of year for some of us in the ranching community. At the Bowie Ranch we are calving and fencing and starting to move cattle into their spring pastures. On top of all that activity, we also have to go to quite a few brandings during the month of May. Lots of our neighbours have cattle in community pastures, and they need to get all the calves tagged and branded so they can be moved. Unfortunately, that doesn’t leave me a lot of time to run to town to get a present, and sometimes, I’m not home to take them out for supper. They seem to take it in stride though. As long as I remember to kiss them goodbye and shout “I love you” as I’m rushing down the stairs, they put up with a tiny bit of neglect on the day. They realize marrying/raising a rancher isn’t always the romantic lifestyle described in dime novels and country songs. I don’t forget the day, and I make sure our kids don’t either, I’m just not sure a hand-drawn card from a 43-year-old man has the same allure it did when I was 4 (though the art work is shockingly similar),  they always smile, and give a hug and a kiss and say how thoughtful I was.  Mothers are just really special that way.