Step into the world of a ranch on Dry Creek, where poetry captures the essence of living close to the earth and nature with vivid depictions of cattle, wildlife, and the land’s rhythms highlighting the deep connection between humans and their environment with the cycles of rain, drought, and renewal that emphasize how weather shapes the business of raising cattle with the challenges of a changing California where the transformation of agricultural lands into urban spaces reveals both loss and resilience. Anthropomorphism and metaphor are often used to bridge understanding between species, encouraging readers to see the world and themselves through different eyes. The importance of community, local traditions, generational wisdom, and stewardship are woven throughout, offering hope and perspective for us all. APRIL’S DRUM ‘On the make,’ my mother’d say of springtime sojourns: the lone tom among the gobbles of rafters a strut, the fan and drag as damp earth warms to steam the green to flower skiffs of color, to dress the oaks in tender iridescence while finches softly fall aflitter, giddy with the rapture stirred within the air we breathe, inhale into our flesh. Like quail paired, couples nested near the creek in the old days, empty cars parked along this quiet road like Do Not Disturb signs, lovers drawn by April’s pounding drum to taste the wild just beyond the sagging barbed wire.