The Friday Evening Wind Down

T G I F ! What a week I've had at work. Not that the work of a rural postmaster is extremely hard. Usually it's pretty steady and sometimes, when the the truck is really loaded with heavy bags, it can be fairly physical, but this week has been a one-thing-after-another scramble. I've had to deal with everything from the furnace not working to the computer playing tricks on me and a conference call that went on forever, along with all the usual customers at the counter and mail to sort.

Not that I'm complaining. I really feel privileged to have this job. For a small town job it pays well and comes with a nice benefit package, but what I like about it the best is the contact that I have with the people of the community. If I ever won the lottery I don't know if I'd want to give that up. Oh well, with my luck (and the fact that I only buy maybe a dozen tickets per year) I don't think I have to worry about that.

Having had such a hectic week as this one has been, by this afternoon I had started planning what I would do when I got home tonight. It was going to be just like they do in the movies ... sit down and read the paper, pour myself a relaxing cocktail of some kind, order out for supper ... What an imagination I have!

What really happened was that I changed into a comfy sweat suit, started a load of laundry, and made myself some toast to curb my appetite until 7:30 or later when Glen will get home from work; supper is in the slow cooker. The drink would still be a nice relaxer, but I just can't bring myself to drink alone ... oh well, it would just be empty calories anyway.

I can't believe that February is almost over. That's two months gone out of the year already; where does the time go? The big day of March 7th is coming up. Will the United States actually open their border to Canadian beef? There are lobby groups down there doing their utmost to stop it - not because they don't trust the saftey of Canadian beef, but because they are in a position, or are trying to get themselves into a position, that they will be able to more money. There was an article in the Western Producer a while back that told of one of the big feedlots in Alberta about to sell out to an American company. The Canadians who owned it had to sell because the BSE crisis was breaking them, and it was the American's who had the money to buy them out. In no way can I picture that scenario being a good thing for the Canadian beef industry.

Glen has been keeping a close watch on calf prices at the auction mart. We have to sell our last year calves before this year's batch starts to arrive. There's just not enough pens out at the barn to keep everything sorted out and as they all get fed different rations, they all have to have their own place. That probably means we'll spend at least some time this weekend sorting cattle and getting them ready to load for their trip to the auction barn.

If I thought my workweek was tough, sorting cattle with a farmer who expects me to read his mind (and that of at least five cows at a time) will have me just as happy as heck to get back to the grind on Monday morning.

A little more sun, a little less snow

There's still a long way to go, but spring is on its way. It's not the cold and snow that get to me during winter, it's the lack of sunlight. There are a lot of people who head south for a week or two during the deep, dark days of winter to soak up the sun's rays. They're looking for the "soaking up the sun on the beach" kind of sun. I'm not nearly so demanding in the heat and sun tanning capacities of the sun - I'm just glad to see it over the horizon for more than 7 hours per day!

These days it is just getting daylight as I drive to work at 8:00 in the morning, and it's still bright out as I fix supper an hour after I'm home at night. As soon as the roads aren't quite so icey I've vowed to get out walking again, like I did a few years ago. I know that I need the exercise and the dog is in even worse shape.

The news tonight gave the encouraging news that the border will reopen on March 7th as planned. Although that doesn't make it a done deal yet, it is something to take into account in deciding when to market our last year's calves. Glen is debating the before the border opens vs. after question, and hasn't really come up with a definitive answer. It's just like playing any other market - no one has a crystal ball; we'll just have to make our move and hope for the best.

The new calves will begin to arrive in mid March. The cows all look happy, healthy, and well fed so we don't anticipate any problems. The bull we've been using for the past two years has been excellent, his offspring have been small calves (for easy births) but hardy, with a great ability to thrive and gain weight quickly. We'll have to buy a new one this year as his daughters are old enough to breed this year, and it's best to keep variety in the genetics. We'll likely be doing some shopping at the Redvers Ag-Ex and Bull Congress next month - the best big city show in a small town that Saskatchewan has to offer - or so say many of the exhibitors who come back every year.

The forecast is for higher temperatures for the rest of the week. We had some wonderful, melting days last week - just a taste of what will come. Not that I'm any fan of the mud of March, but it's what we have to go through to get to April showers and May flowers.