At 12:15 a.m., I know that my husband will wake up to check heifers who are about to calve. Sometimes he lets me sleep; sometimes he takes me along.

I know he’ll get his coveralls and boots on faster than me. I know that the pickup truck will be cold until we get down the road a mile and a half to the calving barn, “The Cow Palace,” and the calving pasture. By the time the truck is warmed up, it’s time to get out. A windy twenty degrees at night is bone chilling.