I stood motionless behind a curtain panel with our then-3-year-old daughter, who pressed her finger to her lips, urging my silence so Dad and little brother would have a harder time finding us. The strategy might have worked – if only the curtains reached the floor.
That little game of hide-and-seek feels similar to spring itself, a season that tiptoes in with tree buds and daffodils, only to hide again behind winter’s chill. And most definitely, the game brings childhood flashbacks of spring calving on the farm.
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Across Illinois, farmers devoted to raising beef cows and calves begin their annual watch. For them, hide-and-seek plays out in pastures, as mother cows instinctively tuck away their newborns.
As a kid, I remember bouncing along in the middle of the pickup truck’s bench seat as Dad steered around the pasture in search of young and newborn calves. My eyes scanned through the wiper-cleaned windshield as if watching for deer prepared to cross a rural highway in October. Like hunting for morel mushrooms (another spring favorite), you wanted to be the first to find one.
Hiding places ranged from tall grass to tree cover to low spots in the terrain. Dad knew most of their favorite spots, but occasionally we spent what seemed the length of a Monopoly game to find them. The search progressed to the next level when the truck lurched across ditches and hillsides that I preferred to travel on foot. All the while, the herd of cattle watched at a distance as if daring us to a staring contest.
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I released my hands from the dash to indicate a calf sighting. Dad did one of two things. He may have kept moving along, satisfied to find the healthy creature, or scout to account for more known calves. For the brand-new arrivals, he exited the truck in a veterinary role to assess the calf’s health, administer medicine and add a numbered ear tag for identification.
When he returned to the truck, the black-haired calf stood on its skinny, long legs and fluttered its ear with the new yellow tag. That bright earring stood out like feet from beneath a short curtain.
About the Author: Joanie Stiers farms with her brother and parents in West-Central Illinois, where they grow corn, soybeans and hay, raise beef cattle and operate side businesses related to the family operation.
