Sept. 27, 2014
My morning was anything but quiet. I woke up at 3:15am to the sounds of a child herding the cows. Before I recognized the voice, I was asleep again. Half an hour later I woke up again and knew it was time to get up.

As I walked through the darkness to the calf barn, I could hear Jaci coming from the direction of the parlor, hurrying to catch up to me. As we fed the calves together she talked the entire time. How can a child be so vocal at 4 in the morning? As we were finishing up the watering, Rob arrived with the announcement that a heifer calf was just born. Jaci went to help Rob prepare a clean pen then they headed for the maternity pens to get the calf. As soon as they left the barn, I missed her chatter.  They were soon back with the new calf, who was still wet and slimy. We got some old towels, so Jaci started rubbing her down while I went to get the cow's first milking. As I approached with the warm bottles of milk I could hear Jaci crooning to the baby calf. I stopped to watch. It reminded me of a new mother with her own new baby!  She kept up a monologue as she vigorously wiped off the calf. I handed her the bottle of milk and she offered it to the calf, who latched onto it right away. I wondered if the calf could feel the love that was being poured into it at that moment. Jaci would have snuggled down in the straw with the calf if her mother hadn't shown up to take her home. She very reluctantly went home, never realizing she had just made a memory that I will hold in my heart forever.