Custer County Chronicle

How is it already December? That last page in the calendar, the last 31 days of writing “2023,” the last few weeks of this year, with all of its successes and failures and joys and sorrows. On the ranch, it is tempting to begin to look toward spring somewhat impatiently: to the increasingly-longer days, the arrival of the first calves, planting the first seeds, harvesting the first early greens. The lull in the regular rhythm of ranch work can be frustrating for those who want to be busy all the time.

Black-capped chickadees, house finches, northern flickers, red-breasted nuthatches, hairy woodpeckers—from my front porch, I’ve watched and listened to birds for hours in these recent weeks. On one of my usual walks around town, I spied a homemade pinecone bird feeder dangling by a string off of a tree in someone’s yard, and it inspired me to make some for myself so that I too could enjoy the sight and sounds of different birds through the winter. In doing so, I reconnected with an old hobby and found a new way to keep the cold winter blues at bay.

A few weeks ago for a work assignment I had to attend a creative writing seminar, during which we were tasked with talking to a fellow attendee about significant moments in our life when we were children, young adults and at an older time in our lives. After we discussed these events, we then had to pick one to write more in depth about. I chose to write about my young adult life, when I decided what I was going to major in while I was at Chadron State College (CSC).