From the Home Place

February 2, 2026

At 5 a.m. the thermometer shows 38 degrees, looking for a high of 50 later in the day.

This day is looking for another busy day around here. Miss Deb has a meeting at the grade school this morning and then her ladies Bible study this afternoon. For me, I’m going to attempt to make some jerky out of a little bit of elk meat that a friend gave us.

After asking the Holy Spirit to guide my mind to that which He wishes to visit with us about this morning, I soon recalled February of 1964. We were just getting started lambing and I spent the night in the old sheep wagon we always parked by the lambing lot. On the weekends, I took the night watch so dad could get some much-needed rest. Though we were just a few days into the lambing season, the ‘ol girls were shelling them out in front of a storm front that was due to arrive the next day.

Well, the weather man was partially correct, it was a severe spring storm as predicted, but it came about eight hours earlier than expected. This meant that instead of getting to deal with lambing in the daylight, along with a severe blizzard, I was getting to enjoy the experience in the dark.

The sheep wagon had the usual very small wood stove in it that at best would burn about an hour. I don’t know if you have ever seen a sheep wagon or not, but they are not overly comfortable on a blowing, snowing night. The old wagons had 0 insulation in them, so they tended to be more like living in a walk-in cooler when the temperature dipped.

I spent the night putting another stick of wood in the stove and then running outside to carry any newborns into the shed and getting them situated with their momma. Here in arises another problem; If you have ever been part of lambing you know that ewes tend to “granny” newborn lambs. That is, when one ewe gives birth to lambs, her female friends will quite often attempt to claim those lambs as theirs.

Picture a boy of 10 years, wearing all the clothes I could find, in an effort to stay somewhat warm, walking through two-hundred head of ewes, looking for the one or two who have lambed within the last few minutes. It’s snowing and blowing so hard that I can’t hardly see, and the wind keep blowing the oil lantern out. When that happens, I have to go back to the sheep wagon, relight the lantern and then return to the blizzard looking for lambs.

Cuddling the lantern in an effort to keep the wind from blowing it out, but not so close that it burns my coat, I found a set of twins, shivering in the snow. And just my luck, there are three ewes attempting to claim the two lambs. As such, I have to check the back side of each ewe, looking for the one who is the real mother. Around and around we go, with a flickering lantern, my face frozen with snow, my fingers frozen carrying two wet lambs who are like ice cubes themselves.

We finally made our way through the rest of the herd, moving slow enough that the momma can keep her nose on one of the lambs. By the time we got to the lambing shed, the lantern had long gone out again, and I had three ewes cramming their way through the door to take care of the babies.

Well anyway, after relighting the lantern, I put the lambs into a little pen along with their momma and one of the granny ewes. I figured the extra ewe could help lick and warm up one of the babies. She did, I would return her back to the outside pen in a bit. After checking all of the deliveries from earlier that evening, I returned to the shelter of my ice-cold sheep wagon.

As usual, the fire had consumed the last stick of wood, and I had to start over in my quest to find some kind of warmth before I had to go back outside. It worked, the fire was finally putting out some warmth, so there I sat snuggling the stove, maybe giving it more warm than it was giving me, but we were happily getting to know each other better when I realized – it was once again time to go back outside and check for more newborns.

This was the glorious life of a ten-year-old boy living on a ranch that raised both cattle and sheep. When I think of ten-year-olds today, I tend to think of them sitting in a nice warm house playing video games, never giving any thought of being outside in the blizzard. My, how times have changed.

But you see loved ones, getting to lamb in a blizzard with a “maybe” light, while living in a refrigerator for warmth, all to save a baby lamb from freezing; is probably what gives me a strong desire to help those who cannot help themselves today.

So, let’s spend our last moments together today talking about the “granny” ewes. Though they were a total pain when I was needing to get lambs to shelter, the ‘ol girls were helpful in the effort to get newborns up and going. Shucks, I remember several “grannies” in my life as well. Ladies like Marie, Edna, Maud, Donna and Lolly were not my mother, but they each took a special interest in getting me up and going.

Way back when our children were born; most baby showers were held after the baby was born. One reason being that there was no ultrasound to announce the gender of the baby, so unless you wanted your baby boy to get dresses at the shower, you had to wait until the doctor announced the gender. But I think the main reason that baby showers used to take place after the birth of the baby was so that all of the “grannies” could have an opportunity to cuddle the little one, giving the baby a better chance to get up and going.

Remember the phrase, “It take a community to raise a child?” Well, that’s how life used to be from the time the baby came home to the time they left for college or got married. Way back when, there were always plenty of “grannies” to help the little ones grow up and get ready to go.

Yet not all is lost. Yesterday, I stood in our church building and watched a whole lot of “granny” activity taking place. Every little one who came to church received plenty of extra attention and care from the rest of the ladies present, and quite often a cookie as well. Yep, the “grannies” are still active, helping the little ones to realize that there is plenty of extra love available for as long as it is needed.

I close with one simple statement, “Go granny, go!”

Praising God for today’s grannies with you, Neal