Calving season started today. As our daughter-in-law excitedly exclaimed at the sight of the first photo: “Woo hoo! Bring on calving season!” Technically, the birth was a couple of weeks early, but the surprise factor just adds to the delight. In animal husbandry there is nothing more hopeful or joyous than the daily “hide-and-seek” game that dominates your routine this time of year. Mama cows like to stash their babies while they go out to graze, so the calves are trained to lay low and out of sight nearby just in case a predator might take advantage of their vulnerability. Over the next few weeks we will be on the lookout for newborns curled up behind clumps of grass or hidden in the trees.

This burst of excitement characterized by unsteady, wobbly beginnings develops astoundingly fast into a leaping banter in the pasture that resembles a third grade class on the playground after lunch. The calves steadily gain weight and hang out together like pals while the responsible moms spend their days satiating their healthy appetites. It’s incredibly life-giving to look out the window of your home and watch the animals you take care of strengthen and thrive.

But in ranching, this season of joy will inevitably morph into some days that are less thrilling. Sweaty days of summer are coming when pastures need mowing and the tractor’s air conditioner (and window) is broken. Days when a fence line is splayed by a tree that fell after a heavy rain and high winds. Days when expensive machinery needs to be impossibly loaded and taken in for repairs. Even days (and sometimes dark nights) when all of your investment of attention and money results in the loss of something you have grown to love because you spent your days watching it grow.

Fortunately, the happy memories of calving season like we are experiencing in the weeks to come is hardwired into the brains of ranchers and serves to mitigate the harder days. And, apparently, it’s enough to fuel us. The joys of seeing new life begin and nurturing that life while it’s been entrusted to you inevitably weighs heavier in the scales of the heart than the losses and struggle.

Tonight the ranch is at peace and no other life is more perfect.