“New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted
time to make your annual good
resolutions. Next week you can
begin paving hell with them as usual.”
~Mark Twain~

I’ve heard it before “time flies when you’re having fun” but I’m going to have to disagree and say it flies by whether fun is involved or not. Here we are knocking on the door to 2010 and I’m still trying to figure out just exactly where 2009 got away from me. It was just a year ago that we were moving into this new space and things were very frenzied at that stage in the game. We have settled in and the usual adjustments have been made but it does not feel like I’ve been here a year already. Although I do believe that when your life revolves around the next deadline and we have several each month, time has a way of zipping by you.

This year I’ve decided not to make any resolutions, my one and only goal for each and every day is trying to stay in the moment, and savor what is happening that day in that space, rather then always worrying about the next objective, the next deadline and target dates that always are looming overhead. I want to regain the appreciation for all those moments of grace that I managed to race through this past year. I want to complete that hard day of work and labor on the ranch and pause to enjoy the aching muscles that come with a hard days work and savor the sense of accomplishment of spending the day outdoors with the animals I love, rather then see it has that task I’ve got to get through to get to the next obligation.

I want to dwell at the mailbox and visit with my neighbors for that long hour catching up with life on my street, I want to approach calving season not as a difficult task, but with the same wonderment I used to have for each and every calve born, before life started getting in the way. I want to find more time for old friends and new friends alike, I’m looking forward to long phone conversations that do more then just play catch-up. I’m going to take the same approach with this magazine, after a year of apprehension and change we can see the larger picture and know that we can and will survive whatever comes our way. The Western Cowman is still committed to reflect your lives, and the ranching profession, whatever changes we all incur. We are not only looking at hanging in there we plan to stay on top.

With that said, let me take a moment to guide you through what your going to find in this January 2010 edition. Last year we had a tremendous response to the articles that we included in the Cowman’s Spring Review, so much so, that we’re bringing that to you once more with cattle health related articles, making snow work for you, plus so much more. Wes Ishmael is weighing in with a piece on our industry that I think you’ll find extremely interesting. Once again this is our Big Bull Book Spring edition and we have a formidable group of breeders listed that can keep you on the cutting edge for every cattle breed you’re interested in.

Grab a fresh cup of coffee, slide the newspaper over and grab your Western Cowman before heading out this morning, because you know the temperature just might climb a few degrees in the few moments you enjoy an article or two. As for myself I’m going to slide into my new muck boots, (my January treat each year) take a deep breath of cold air and just enjoy the moment before heading on down the trail. I hope your trail into 2010 is memorable, encouraging and prosperous………..Happy Trails!