From a young age, my mom and dad taught me that the Bible teaches us to pray for the Holy Land of Israel. In the face of brazen and callous attacks from those hell bent on the inhalation of the Jews, I pray for God’s chosen people even more today.

It happens every spring. The best laid plans dashed by unpredictable weather, equipment malfunctions, illness, or most likely all three. But really, the truth behind why spring always gets crazy when you are working on a ranch or farm, is that there’s more to do than can be done. Every year, we must go through the charade that our chore list is doable, and every year we discover it is impossible, but that we must do it anyway.

PIERRE, S.D. Governor Kristi Noem, in coordination with the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs, has proclaimed May as “National Military Appreciation Month,” a time for all to honor, remember, recognize, and appreciate those who have served in the past and those now serving, as well as their families.

About a month ago, the Legislature passed a bill known as the Landowner Bill of Rights. The measure places regulations on proposed carbon pipelines that are being built in eastern South Dakota and requires the carbon pipeline to pay additional money annually to landowners and counties.

Last week, I brought home three orphan lambs to bottle feed, and this week I was expecting the sheep I brought home last month to begin having babies of their own. My old flock is still at the old place, and won’t start welcoming babies until May, but we’ve been keeping the new little flock at our barn in town as a kind of quarantine (safety first!) but also because they were supposed to start lambing April 11th. Since weather can shift from balmy to blizzardy in a matter of hours this time of year, keeping them close seemed like a good idea during their lambing period.

“Bossie” was a common name evolving in the mid-1800s for milk cows. Most early-day farms and ranches had one or more of the bovines.

There is an old joke where a man walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doc, it hurts every time I do this. What should I do? To which the doctor replies, “Simple, don’t do that!” While the advice seems trite and maybe even insulting, like most jokes, there is some truth in it.

South Dakota Democratic Party Executive Director Dan Ahlers released the following statement after the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the U.S. economy added 303,000 new jobs in March, once again exceeding expectations and bringing the total number of jobs created under President Biden to over 15 million: “President Biden has built the strongest economy in the world from the middle-out and bottom-up. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, South Dakota has created 34,500 new jobs, including 481 jobs in clean energy. The state has also seen nearly 34,000 applications to start new businesses. Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, South Dakota has one of the lowest lowest unemployment rates at 2.1%. This administration is also lowering costs for South Dakotans, including $68 million in home energy rebates. Nearly 200,000 seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries in South Dakota are also saving money on prescription drugs. This November, voters will remember that the Biden-Harris Administration is truly helping South Dakotans where it matters most.”

Little Pasture on the Prairie Early last week my husband got a text message. It read: “Does your wife want some bum lambs?” A fellow shepherd and rancher in the midst of lambing was being overrun by triplets and needed to find them homes.

I often say that if we don’t get national security right, the rest is just conversation. Getting it right requires demonstrating not only the strength to deter threats from materializing in the first place and maintaining the capabilities to defeat them, but also the will and credibility to hold such threats accountable. In this era of complex challenges, securing our nation requires a holistic approach that encompasses defense, border security, and energy security, among other elements.