by Bill Byrne | Jul 10, 2024 | Uncategorized
During haying season the weather becomes all important, as we work to get all our grass baled without being rained on, which reduces the quality of the hay as feed for our animals. It takes about 3 days to take a field from standing grass to cured dried day. The grass must be cut, left to dry in the sun for a couple of days, and then baled. At this time of year I spend my mornings watching the weather channel, trying to pick the correct time periods between forecasted rains. What stuck me as unusual, and even a little sad, was the way the weather channel now uses fear to try to get us to keep watching. All their descriptions are aimed at trying to get us to be worried or concerned about what could possibly happen, and nothing is mentioned about the beauty of the weather, the God inspired change in energy that is the only constant in our experience of the weather. Upon further reflection though I realized that they are using fear of the weather, not because it is universal or normal, not because we want to embrace fear, but because it is unusual, and therefore gets our attention. The beauty of the weather, the beauty of nature, this constant kaleidoscope of the changes in God’s environment, are so normal and taken for granted that we fail to appreciate it, we fail to give our attention to its beauty and energy. What a great world we live in, when we take the times to appreciate, to be thankful.
by Bill Byrne | Jun 19, 2024 | Uncategorized
On a ranch or farm, where a person deals on a daily basis with animals, and their life and death, at some point there must be thought given to “what” the nature of life in animals is. Though I’m sure many will think otherwise, I feel that we humans are the only form of life given “awareness of self” by our Creator. All life is a reflection of the energy of God, but I feel only people have the awareness of pain and pleasure, of good and bad, and thereby the ability to learn, grow, and change, to become more like God, to grow toward and in his image.
How did this bit of insight give me hope? By seeing in nature the harmony and flow of both life and death, the naturalness of what we perceive as “problems”, and the beauty of our God-given ability to learn from our problems, and change. How very hopeful!
by Bill Byrne | Jun 5, 2024 | Uncategorized
During this time of year we incubate duck and chicken eggs, and then raise them up after they have hatched. There’s a definite appeal to baby poultry, a harmony to their peepings, and a beauty in their softness, before their downyness turns into real feathers. With our ducks, we raise them inside, with a doorway open during the day to an outside pen. They will hardly ever leave the inside pen for the outside world, even though that’s where the sunlight, bugs, and water are. We have to push them out the door the first few times, and even then they will try to turn and come back in. Why?–because they are afraid of the unknown, of change, even though it is a movement toward the very nature of what they are, of what they wish to be. What did I learn from the ducks? That it’s normal to be fearful, to resist change. But by facing our fears we will reach the sunshine and the water. We may turn and run back in a time or two {or three}, but with patience, with persistence, with God’s pushing us out the door, we may feel some of the beauty and harmony that is our true nature.
by Bill Byrne | May 22, 2024 | Uncategorized
The early spring has accelerated the biological clock of many of the farm animals. The chickens, peacock, and turkeys are all parading around trying to impress the females of their species. In the case of our one peacock, which is a male, he has decided that our chickens and guineas must just be small peacocks, and so he spreads his feathers in an impressive display of beauty. When you spend time around the bird, you can easily understand the use of the phrase “proud as a peacock”, as they are not shy in showing off their natural attributes. If you get a chance when you come and visit the ranch, take the time to look closely at some of the peacock feathers in our office, or hopefully observe the birds themselves. There is tremendous beauty in the coloration and textures of their feathers, a beauty that makes one feel that they have seen a portion of God’s handiwork.
by Bill Byrne | May 8, 2024 | Uncategorized
“Guineas” are a type of fowl, similar to chickens but a little wilder and more independent. They are also called barnyard watchdogs because of the raucous noise they will make at any changes going on around them. Next to our peacocks people like them the best of all our “feathered friends”. They will greet you when you arrive, wait around and hope that you will feed them, and lacking that will run off together, always staying in a group. They range far and wide, up to a quarter mile or further away, and yet suffer few loses, because there will always be a several in the group who are “on guard” for any sign of harm to the flock. How those guards are picked is another mystery of nature, because they change thru-out the day. All of nature declares the necessity of the “group”, the us versus the them. The “self” is real and remains, but survives only in harmony with the “us”. Another reminder from God.
by Bill Byrne | May 1, 2024 | Uncategorized
Every winter I have the best of intentions and a long list of jobs around the ranch and the houses. However, I seem to cycle like the seasons, and have trouble getting motivated until the springtime arrives. At that time all the hustle and growth of the season inspires me also to start on the new projects for the ranch, to finish some of the old ones, and to do the maintenance necessary to keep everything running and in good shape. Of course the winter didn’t find me totally in hibernation, as all the animals still needed care and feeding, a much larger and time consuming job in cold weather. Through out all the physical demands of the ranch, we work hard at remembering that the ranch is people, not its physical buildings or projects. While wanting to put a “picture frame” around the beauty of Gods nature, we also want to be in the picture ourselves, be it nothing more than giving a smile or a chance to let kids feed the animals, or any other small interaction with the visitors who find themselves at the ranch.
