What contributes to a meaningful life and how do you hope this apprenticeship will help you explore that?
May 2025

A meaningful life and an interest in agriculture go hand in hand. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a farmer and a veterinarian. As the years went on, I forgot about those dreams and set my sights elsewhere. Over the past few years I experienced some major life changes, and I have been driven down a path by the desire to live a good life: one guided by love. I kept drifting towards ranching and have decided to see it through

A meaningful life is something different for everybody.I am drawn to a life rooted in simplicity and happiness. Working outside day after day with the land and animals is a chance to observe this beautiful planet and how its intuitive systems work and an opportunity to be a part of a timeless cycle. Through ranching, I have the privilege to experience the way life runs its course, witnessing birth and death, maybe all in one day. Through agriculture, one gets to live close to the land, noting the day when the first little blades of green grass appear or spotting the moon rising over the horizon while checking the mother herd in the dark of night.

In my first few weeks as an apprentice at San Juan Ranch, I have found myself tremendously fulfilled and at peace. The opportunity to live each day centered around observation is truly a gift. One of the things that we joke about here is the idea of time. In a meaningful life, time does not matter. Light and dark are more major landmarks in a day than 9-5. Tasks take as long as they take, and while there is always something to do, completion is not dictated by a watch. Presence is key in agriculture, for the day is unpredictable no matter how well you plan. And so it is presence that is key in a meaningful life. Everyday of this apprenticeship has been filled with lessons and experiences, each adding to the handbook of a meaningful life in its own way.

 

Final Reflections
November 2025

As I wrap up my eight month season down here at San Juan Ranch, I can barely believe that I haven’t been working in ranching my whole life. That’s not because I think I know everything or am particularly skilled, but because it feels so right to be doing day in and day out. There wasn’t one single day where I thought this isn’t the right path for me, which I had never really experienced before. I found a profound sense of peace in this work, though I don’t really like to call it work. Spending your days immersed in agriculture brings you close to life’s true purpose. Life is about water, sun, and soil; the full cycle from birth to death. Ranching repeatedly illustrates the interconnectedness of all things, all facets of life converging into a oneness. 

Spring, summer, and fall all brought their own world to the ranch. My time here began in the cold, windy spring of the San Luis Valley, where I learned to monitor a mother herd during their calving. This was the beginning of my education in learning to read cows. I learned to pay attention to how close to labor a cow may be, as well as how to read the moods of the mothers when I needed to handle and doctor the calves. I developed a sense for if I had to be sneaky and wait for the cow to walk away before I could put an ear tag in her calf, or if she was unbothered by my handling of her new baby. It was a period of increasing my ability to observe, and since then observation and the ability to notice is my favorite ranching skill. 

After spring came the summer, which was a flurry of plumbing and herding. Keeping cows watered became the center of every day. It was also during this time when I really got to know the land. It’s a really wonderful thing becoming so acquainted with a large spread of foothills and then look at a map back in the ranch office and know what that draw actually looks like and what rock outcropping lurks in that canyon. To become acquainted with those antelope fawns and watch them grow, while seeing how the grasses and wildflowers transform throughout the growing season was often stunning. The consistency of roaming a certain parcel of land daily is something I had never experienced before at this scale and was not something I expected to be so awed by. 

Once fall rolled around, it was time for me to get the hang of the real practical and mechanical skills that make up so much of ranching. This is when the plumbing started to click, when I finally got a little more savvy with machinery, and the basics of electricity. While I was doing maintenance and repairs  throughout my apprenticeship, I was following instructions without deeply understanding what I was doing. The slower pace of fall allowed me to take the time to really get thinking, practice, and inquire.

 While my path forward and my future in ranching remain unclear, this apprenticeship showed me a way of living and working that I will carry with me wherever I go. To me, ranching is about using your mind and paying close attention. One has to be a jack of all trades and a creative thinker. Never knowing what each day will bring can be a lot of fun. Through this apprenticeship I learned about cattle and land stewardship, but I also learned how to be patient, how to take my time and figure things out, and how to see the whole picture. I learned a lot about trust and approaching a situation without judgement, just to see something for what it is and go from there. I am grateful my mentors George and Julie took a chance on me eight months ago because to learn on San Juan Ranch has truly been a gift.Â