Hardly a single day goes by without me thanking the Lord for all my blessings but this day before Easter was special. There was a chill in the air when I went out to do my normal rounds this morning, and I was thankful for my coveralls, jacket, stocking cap, and gloves. The sun was trying to fight its way through the clouds and the winds were calm. The cool morning air filled my lungs and the majesty around me warmed my heart. There were no lights, no buildings, no automobiles, no other people and no sounds to intrude on the wonder about me. A few wild turkeys scampered off on my approach and a mule deer stood motionless as I rode by. A hawk soared above the trees as I headed to the Cedar draw and the cows grazed peacefully on the distant hillside. As I rounded a bend I noticed a cow was off by herself about to give birth. In her confusion, after each labor pain she would look around for her calf and call out to it. As I drew nearer, another calf approached the calling cow and tried to suckle her. Both cow and calf paid me little heed until I was within 20 feet of them, but when I stopped, they slowly ambled off. I kept my distance as they walked about 100 yards away, and she once again had a labor pain. The calf had now given up and the cow kept turning in circles looking for the calf that had not yet come. She was one of only two cows yet to calf and I soon found the other, so I headed back to the buildings. When I got back into the house, I set up my spotting scope on the cow so that I could check her every so often. It wasn't very long before I could actually see two of the calf's feet protruding from her. I now could be fairly certain that the birth would be no problem. I attended to a few household chores and soon a newborn calf was on the ground. I smiled as I watched him on wobbly legs trying to find the right spot on mama. She kept wanting to lick him, and in trying to do so, kept pivoting away from him. But at last nature's instincts took over. Mama stood, baby latched on, and his tail went 100 miles an hour. A few hours later I spread the round hay bale across the flats and walked among 60 cows and calves. When I headed back towards the pickup, one calf was licking the truck door and another was using his head and trying to batter the six-inch round central core of the bale left on the ground. I went back and got the Razor and slowly drove up to the new cow/calf pair. She was a very gentle mother and just lay next to her calf, allowing me to walk up within 2 feet of her before she stood. When I lifted the calf's leg to see that I had a new heifer, mama just mooed softly. I inserted the tag in the calf's left ear and slowly walked away. As I looked back over my shoulder I saw the youngster latch on to mama once again. All was good with the world. In driving back towards the rest of the herd, I looked at this beautiful house at the base of the mountain and I was overwhelmed with emotion. Everything about me was so beautiful. It was so perfect and I could not believe how blessed I was. I stopped the Razor, stepped off and got on my knees. The emotion was so powerful that I did not know what to say. I prayed the "Our Father". Upon its completion I slowly got to my feet and looked all about me. I said something like "I have been so blessed that I can hardly believe it. There is no way that I deserve all these blessings. Whatever relative earned these blessings for me, I thank you. I thank you." It is said somewhere in Scripture that when a man is truly good that his children shall be blessed for seven generations. I am not deserving, I am too proud, and I am very difficult to live with. Yet I am blessed beyond all measure. Someone else's goodness has brought this upon me and I am truly grateful. Thank you Lord for this gift of life, and thank you for Your Son. Thank You too, for the gift of all those who share it with me and all those who have come before me. Happy Easter to you all, and may God bless each and every one of you.