New Babies

The new babies on the ranch are getting acquainted with their new home. The calves are so cute! And they look so tiny right now.

When people say how fast kids grow, they're right, they do grow in seemingly a flash. But if you consider how fast calves grow--whoa, nelly, that's a whole other story. Although gestation for both human and cow babies is nine months, once they're born, they have very different growing rates.

For example:

Little Emma has added ten inches and over ten pounds in a year.

The little calves that were born about the same time as her last year have added several feet and over 800 pounds in a year. Many are leaving the ranch already. Just saying that makes me want to run and get a tissue. I guess those are my maternal hormones speaking!

Well, we'll enjoy these little calves while they're still little.

The mama cows are keeping a close eye on all the little ones.

And that's it for today, time to get back to my little ones! Thanks for visiting.

The Hay Barn - Down, Down, on the Ground

Okay, the title of this post is a play on my last post's title (Helium - Up, Up, and Away). Sorry, I just couldn't resist the urge to be utterly cute and witty. Unfortunately, the subject of this post isn't so cute. In fact, today I have a sad tale to tell. It actually relates to my blog title, Desert Survivor.

In order to help protect hay from the drying sun, soaking thunderstorms, and blowing snow, the ranch constructed some hay barns a couple years ago. The hay barns had a relatively simple structure: thick posts stuck into the ground, curved wooden trusses that stretched from beam to beam, and a metal sheet roof to cover everything. Sure, the elements could still get in the sides of the barn, but the tightly packed hay was much better protected. Only the outside perimeter would get bleached by the sun, while the interior hay would stay nice and green, like it's supposed to.

Except that we had a huge snow storm right before Christmas. Then the temperatures dropped. And the wind blew. And the trusses broke under the weight of all that snow, collapsing the roof onto the hay. My husband and several other ranch employees spent days shoveling the snow off the roof so that it wouldn't melt onto all the hay below. Then the dang desert wind got under that sheet metal and blew the roof off.

Fortunately most of the hay has been sold or moved, so it's not as bad as it could be.

It's a sorry sight, though, to see the roofless hay barn. The good news: It's slated to be rebuilt.

We're not the only ones who've had problems with all the snow and wind this winter. The neighboring dairy also had a barn collapse, unfortunately with some cows underneath.

Although we don't get much moisture in the desert, when it does come, it often brings problems with it. Nevertheless, we still want it! That little bit of precipitation is what makes it possible to survive out in the desert.

Helium---Up, Up and Away

When I was reading this month's National Geographic, I was surprised to come across a little article that said that helium is disappearing fast. Helium? The second most abundant element in the universe, that accounts for 24% of the elemental mass of our galaxy? Really?

It turns out that although helium is abundant in the galaxy and universe, it's mostly evaporated from our earth due to its "lighter than air" properties. The largest amount was found under the Great Plains states, where it was retrieved in conjunction with natural gas. The U.S. began stockpiling it in the 1960s, becoming the world's largest supplier of helium.

Helium's biggest use is for cryogenics--freezing, due to its very low freezing temperature. It's also used in MRI technology, for keeping flying ships aloft, for welding, and for various space and military applications.

By 1995, the helium reserve was $1.4 billion in debt. So Congress passed the Helium Privatization Act of 1996, which aims to sell off the helium reserve by 2015. What this means is that there's not going to be much helium left in the U.S., and we'll have to rely more on producers in Russia, Algeria, and Qatar for our helium.

Some experts are calling for much higher prices--for example saying that a helium balloon should cost $100.
So when I was in the store last week and saw that a helium balloon was $1, I couldn't resist buying it. If they're going the way of the ivory-billed woodpecker, I want to be in on one of the last helium balloons. It's hard to imagine a world without balloons bobbing on little kids' wrists as they walk through the zoo. And how will kids ever learn how to hold on tight if they don't have the experience of their helium balloon dancing off to the heavens?

We hear about all the changes that we should be expecting in this new millenium. I guess this is one of them. Sometimes it seems like we're getting more high-tech. But I don't think I'll be investing in cryogenics anytime soon.

p.s. If you want to learn lots more about helium, click here.

p.p.s. Do you think it was wrong of me to go buy a helium balloon just because I want some of the last cheap helium?

p.p.s.s. (or whatever the acronym should be): Tell the truth, do you want to go buy a helium balloon now?

Desert Girl's Party

Well, you only turn one once, so I couldn't resist and we had a big first birthday party for Desert Girl. (Yes, you only turn each age only once, but that first year of life may be the year with the most changes!) And although I knew Desert Girl wouldn't remember the birthday, we took photos so we could show her all the fun.

She started off the afternoon in some new duds. She is cute in about everything (this coming from the totally unbiased mother.) She likes that piano, a lot. She plays it almost every day. Or perhaps I should say pounds the keys every day.

The kids and young-at-heart went upstairs and had fun playing with trains, legos, and more.

Desert Boy had a conversation with Nicole. I'm not sure what he was telling her about, but he was animated!

Downstairs, Emma had managed to lose a shoe on her way to find some food. Uncle Dave was accommodating, and she hung out by him until his food was gone. I have a very smart daughter (of course!). In the background you can get a glimpse of the fun to come.

I had some masks for the kids, and they did a quick parade through the house showing off the masks.

Then it was pinata time! It had started snowing outside, so we made some space in the living room and everyone lived in fear for their body parts for a few minutes while the wild swings took place.

Finally the pinata was broken and the kids rushed in for the candy.

Then it was cake time. I had made a separate cupcake for Emma, and Desert Boy insisted that we put the candle into a little plastic airplane on her cupcake.

We lit the candle, sang happy birthday, and told Emma to blow out the candle.

She didn't know what to think about the candle. Desert Boy was at her side, ready to blow it out.

Desert Girl did know what to do with the cake and frosting. It disappeared quickly!

Here she is in the living room with her little friend Stacia, who's just a couple months younger. I wanted to get a photo of all the little ones. That was much easier said than done!

And Caleb managed to sneak into the photo when I wasn't looking! I didn't even know he was there until I looked at the photos later! This is Juliet, Isaac, Emma, and Stacia. What cuties!

We never could get them all to cooperate at the same time, but it still was precious to see them all squirming all over each other and looking in all directions. They will be so much different in just a year!
Next was some chaotic gift-opening, with the slightly older kids more than ready to help. Emma is so lucky to have so many people in her life.

We are really grateful to everyone who came and everyone who thought of Emma on her special day. It's true that it takes a village...

Now Desert Boy keeps reminding us EVERY DAY that his birthday is coming up. He even knows the date (although he doesn't know what the date means and that it's three months away). Birthdays with kids are sure a lot of fun!

Happy Day!

Oh my, how fast a year passes! It's been great. Happy Birthday, Emma!