As of this morning, there are only three days left in 2025. I’m sitting here with my brand new plan book open in front of me and my delightful “cow calendar,” a Christmas gift, opened up to the January 2026 photo of two cows, one black and white and the other red and white. My pen is poised over a fresh legal pad, ready to write.

With 2026 on my mind, I can’t stop thinking about all that’s to come during the new year. First I have to get through the winter months. January and February, in particular, are my least favorite months, due to the snow and cold.

As a child, I never liked to be out in the elements, but even though my feet got so cold that I felt as if I were walking with wooden shoes, I always did the ranch chores. I fed cattle during my adult years, too, and maneuvered the slick and drifted roads to get to work. I marveled at our sons’ enthusiasm for winter sports, including snowmobiling. Like it or not, though, I do hope that there will be more snow this winter so that there will be water for summer.

My dad, Kenneth Osborn, always said,” Early Easter, early spring.” (Actually, that’s often true.) This year’s Easter is April 5^th. It’s anyone’s guess as to the weather then, but one thing is for sure — we’ll have a big Easter egg hunt out here at Pipi’s Pasture on or close to that date, something our family enjoys. I always look forward to springtime weather.

The hummingbirds usually return from their winter grounds sometime in May. Each spring I first notice them buzzing around the front window where they can see the indoor geraniums in bloom. I wonder if they’re the same birds as the year before because they seem to whiz around my head as if to remind me to hang out the feeder. I also look forward to the return of the robins and their morning songs.

There’s nothing like the feel of fresh spring soil on my bare hands, so when the ground warms up, I’ll be busy planting seeds and bedding plants. I look forward to this favorite time and remember the years we planted, watered, weeded and harvested big gardens. Just browsing the displays of bedding flower and vegetable plants at local stores is delightful. Even though I won’t plant a big garden this year, I’ll fill big pots of plants and put them around and on the front porch — if I can find a way to keep the deer from eating them.

Then comes fall, the best time of the year. One thing I’ll miss is harvesting pumpkins, but that won’t stop me from decorating the porch and house with them — and scarecrows and leaves and other fall décor. Besides that, there are other autumn delights, such as walking through the fallen leaves.     

There’s a lot to do and enjoy in 2026, and before we can even blink, Christmas will be upon us again, followed by yet another year.