Monday, June 30, 2008

Am I losing it?!


So here is a chance for you to laugh at me. I seriously thought I was coming to the place in life where everything turns white, including the straitjacket I would be wearing. Now admittedly, I likely qualify for that kind of establishment, but I like to put off the inevitable. You know, fully procrastinate to the best of my ability.

We had a nice day out, meaning we had to go get groceries or we would be licking the peanut butter jar clean. So a trip to Sam's was in store. After spending a LOT of $$, reviving Mr. Wizard there at the checkout lane, and dragging the back end of the van down the road, we went home. Next up, the hauling in of the groceries.

Miss Independent, remember her? Yeah, loves to do what we are doing and needs NO help?! Well, carrying in groceries is not one of those tasks. She asked to go swing, and frankly, it was one less person or animal I would stumble over while carrying stuff in. Mr. Wizard and Curious George are among the helping hands.

Molly and company is involved too... I kind of imagine their thoughts going something like this "Yes! I am so excited they are back! I bet they bought more food for us! Let's trip them so they drop it! Wait, she is grabbing the hamburger next, let the butter and half & half go by first." Do I really think they are after us and our loads of food? Answer me this, do they have four feet?!

So as I am loading up with the 4 gallons of milk to carry in, I swear I hear a moo. But that would be ridiculous and all too coincidental. Besides, we may live in the country, but no one around here has cows. Coming for yet another load, this time may have been the hamburger... another moo-ish sound. But it isn't a cow, so that can't be it.

After hearing it another 2 times later while pushing Miss I. on the swing, I went to investigate. Keep in mind, our humble 5 acres is surrounded by my neighbor's 71 acres. Old MacDonald I will call him. He has talked of cows before, so maybe he decided to do it. I listen, and hear it again. That was off to the north, I am gathering my kids at this point, I need them to prove I am still sane. Then I saw it!


A mother and a calf. Squinting into the setting sun, I am trying to decide which side of the fence they are on. Are they loose? Are they inside his fence?? I holler at Mr. W at this point. My eyes just aren't what they used to be. "Honey! There are cows! Are they supposed to be there or do we need to call someone?!" His reply was no surprise... "Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you..." He knew they were coming, Old Mac had stopped by while mowing and filled him in a couple days ago. Some other farmer needed to rent his pasture. Cool! I'm not insane and have cows to play with!


So off we went on an adventure to check out the cows. Now anyone not familiar with the beast, you need some info. This particular mammal tends to be Nervous Nellies when out of their "norm". They tend to bellow a lot, especially to calm their frightened calves, or to at least locate them in the tall weeds. I should also paint the picture more clearly, weather has been beautiful, our windows are open. Yeah, we can hear them when the windows are open. Wonderful to hear... unless you are trying to sleep.


I take the kids to see them. I am explaining to George that when approaching them, we need to be quiet, and stop now and then so we don't frighten them. Sometimes bovine can be a tad skiddish and could run into the woods away from us. SO not the case. They didn't run, but they didn't come close enough we could touch them either. I decided to take count. We had four cows and three calves. Wow! Seven new neighbors!


As the sun started settling in behind the trees in the west, I knew it was time to head in. It was time to listen to our crickets, frogs, and now COWS as we sleep. Goodnight moooooooooon...

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