It's that time of year -- cattle come down from the high country.

It's that time of year again. The ranchers bring their cattle down from the high country for the winter.

This annual tradition happens down Pencil Road in Modoc Recreational Estates. Now, if I still lived in San Jose, California, I would have been extraordinarily annoyed by this process. But I noticed that I simply didn't mind. I wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere.

I enjoyed the pretty, sunny day and while moving at about 3 miles per hour down that stretch of road -- about 3 miles distant ahead of us yet -- I marveled at the herding dogs that kept the cattle moving -- any how they aggressively worked the ones that didn't want to go in the right direction. I wondered what the riders were talking about. I thought how pleasant it would be to be out riding at a leisurely pace this morning.

Of course, ranching isn't always this idyllic. I suspect that the work is pretty hard at times. But this morning, it looked like a very good life.