From the Home Place

March 17, 2026

This crazy weather. Yesterday morning we were at 3 degrees. Today at 4 a.m. I’m looking at 34 degrees, headed for 67 with 50+ mph wind gusts! It looks like the weather for the rest of the week will not be a fireman’s friend.

Well, here we are at another March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. My momma had a whole batch of Irish blood in her, while Miss Deb’s dad was a full-blood Irishmen. As such, neither of us have ever struggled with being hot tempered, Ha, Ha!

When I was a kid, we had an ‘ol neighbor who was full-blood Irish. Every St. Patty Day, mom would fry steaks and George would show up with a case of beer. Dad, Mom and George would drink, eat and make me play Pinochle until the wee hours of the next morning. On one of those “special” occasions George left me this parcel of Irish wisdom when he said, “We Irish have always been blamed for being fighters. We don’t fight any more than anyone else, we just start more of them!”

All I know is that my Irish momma packed a batch of fight around with her. It may have taken her a bit to get mad, but when she did, it was going to be a long week. You see, we usually started calving right about St. Patrick’s Day each year. So, after the big celebration my folks would have with George, came weeks without much sleep, lots of extra stress and few kind words. As such, I learned to keep extra quiet in the Spring

Spring was always a time for calving and lambing and fixin’ fences. Yep, I usually spent most of April riding fences. At that time of the year, the ground was usually still too frozen to dig post holes, but it was a great time to saddle a horse and with a packsaddle on another horse, load up wire, staples, a hammer, fence stretchers and fencing pliers.

Though most days still had a bit of a chill to them in April, that just made it more likely that a feller wouldn’t have to negotiate any buzz-tales. Those ‘ol buggers were still asleep in the ground. Besides that, for whatever reason, mom would get cabin fever about then and that would usually result in the Irish showin’ up as being just plain crabby. As such, that made fence fixin’ a pleasure rather than a chore.

I would take a saddle horse and a pack horse, leave home not long after sunrise and chores. Usually, I was careful to check cattle along with fixing fence on most weekends in April, so I didn’t have to spend too much time around the house. Heck, I would grab a bit of grub before leavin’ the house in the morning, allowing me to stay busy until evening chore time.

Yet, evening chore time could sure enough end up causing a feller to walk in on a two-legged rattler. If momma had been shut up all day in the house, she was fixin’ to come uncoiled about supper time. Thus, a major reason I had become extra quiet by the time I was in junior-high school? Besides, usually I had done used up all of my words talking to my horse, and it was just safer to not open my yap when the lady of the house was feeling a bit cagy!

In 2 Corinthians 12:20, the Apostle Paul writes, “For I am afraid that when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and I may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances;”

It would appear that Paul knew that sometimes we disappointment those around us, which leads to “angry tempers.” Though I loved Spring, perhaps it wasn’t my momma’s favorite time of the year. I mean with trying to thaw out lambs and calves in her living room, along with boots covered with manure, snow and mud tromping through her house, how could a lady get disappointed? Then add to the recipe, very little sleep and no meaningful conversation and you had cooked up a heap of “disappointment” around our outfit each spring.

So, here we are looking at St. Patrick’s Day and Springtime once again. Perhaps, it may be wise to tread softly, especially if you live with an Irish person. Celebrate today and be quiet tomorrow.

“Does anyone need some fence fixed?”

Trying not to disappoint anyone with you, Neal

And by the way, I didn’t marry my momma. My Irish girl is a joy to be around!