As you enjoy your Sunday BBQ’s and your days off, we ranchers sometimes wonder what a day off must feel like.

We start our Sunday mornings at the water gaps to move your upcoming steaks to better feed so they make your mouth water along with that beer you’ll be sipping on.

As I drive chumming cattle ahead of my husband to another pasture, I think how nice it would be to lay around having coffee and a full breakfast. I would love to see my husband sleep in to at least 7am, as he works his butt off, as all ranchers do, even at the age many men are retired.

But no, instead he works. He works in the heat; he works in the cold; he works on the good days and the bad. We are both out the door at the crack of dawn every morning.

Sure we could do something else. Do I complain? Sometimes I do, as I’m walking to the truck rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. But then I wake up and I’m over it and in love with the life all over again.

At my age, I can only help do what I can, unlike our adult children who are off, married, and ranching on their own. Wow do they work hard too, and make us even prouder than they know! I usually watch the grand-kids.  I guess that’s the easy part. All except our 15 year old granddaughter, who works alongside her parents and doesn’t know the meaning of “slow down”. She is taking after our lifestyle herself.

The whole family is often out the door at 4am during so many busy days. But everyone keeps on keeping on, 7 days a week (only 6 if there’s a birth, wedding, funeral, or if we wives are lucky on our anniversary).

And even though ranchers and farmers are constantly criticized about how we do what we do, or why don’t do that or this, or how we shouldn’t do the other, we continue on all the same. We raise our children with the skills needed to carry on. Many of our children go on to college and carry on in their own lives, and hopefully return and carry the torch of the ranch life we taught them.

We do it because we care. And we will do it until our health prevents us. Ranchers and farmers care to provide the best for your table, because the same food on your table is on ours. So please, today, if you BBQ, think of all of us for a moment, knowing we work our butts off to bring the best to you. And today we are going to do all we can again, and we are going to hug our grandchildren and love this rancher’s life.

Today will be a good day.

By Kris Azevedo

Kris Azevedo is a Rancher, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Daughter, and Advocate of Farming and Ranching.