Spring on the Ranch: Hope, Renewal, and the Occasional Snowstorm

Spring on the ranch is a season of contradictions. One day, the sun warms the earth, teasing green shoots out of the ground, and the next, a thick blanket of snow reminds us that winter isn’t quite ready to let go. Yet, even with these setbacks, spring carries an undeniable sense of hope and renewal.

The first real signs of spring aren’t always the obvious ones. Long before the last snowdrift melts, you can hear it in the songs of meadowlarks, chickadee, and robins returning to fence posts, see it in the restless energy of newborn calves kicking up their heels in the pastures, and feel it in the lengthening days that stretch chores past dinner. The smell of damp soil, freed from winter’s grip, carries a promise—soon, the pastures will be green, the creeks will run full, and life will flourish once more.

But spring isn’t without its trials. Just when you’re ready to trade the insulated coveralls for a lighter jacket, a late-season blizzard sweeps through, coating the ranch in white and making the fresh sprouts disappear under a thick layer of snow. It’s a frustrating reminder that winter doesn’t depart on schedule. Yet, there’s something about these spring snowstorms that feel different. They lack winter’s bite. The snow melts quickly, and underneath, the land continues its steady march toward warmth and growth.

For those of us who live by the rhythms of the land, spring is more than a change of season—it’s a reassurance that resilience pays off. The cattle grow strong, the land recovers, and no matter how many times winter tries to reclaim its hold, it always loses in the end.

So, even when that late snowstorm rolls in, covering the pastures in one last gasp of winter, we don’t lose heart. We know what’s coming. The grass will return, the days will lengthen, and the warmth will win. Spring on the ranch is a lesson in patience, perseverance, and the quiet certainty that renewal is inevitable.

Happy Spring Everyone

SherryAnn