Cattle Chasing

Ok, not to sound paranoid or anything, but sometimes I wonder now if things happen just so I can blog about them............nah! But, maybe its becoming like an illness for me, thinking everything's about the blog!

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Thursday night around 10:30 p.m., I was at the computer, feeling smug and self-satisfied because I had published the hay raking post, PLUS, was in the process of visiting blogs and commenting. I had just left a comment on Countrygirl's

"I'm out standing in my field" post (her blogs ARE outstanding, by the way), and had surfed to Ruth's Visions & Revisions, also an excellent blog, as are all on the list to the right! Anyhow.........I had commented about Countrygirl's Hereford cow photo, and then KA-BAM......ZING!!! The receiver of the land-line phone next to my computer rattled on its cradle and blue light flashed from it, followed by bright lightning outdoors and an immediate crash of thunder. OK, I thought, meekly.......I can take a hint....... and promptly powered down the computer and unplugged all cords. I've always heard said that one should not be using a land-line phone during a lightning storm, and I may have just been shown the reason why.

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The next morning......which was yesterday......Husband got up at his usual ungodly hour, to head to the barn early to start chores. Pretty soon, the telephone rang, jarring me from my peaceful sleep, and I knew the news would not be good. Husband shouted, "Get everyone up......we've got CATTLE OUT!" Why was I not very surprised. "Everyone" means me and our overgrown daughter and son who still reside here. I burst into their murky cave rooms, shook them and shouted above the whir of their fans, "Get up......there's CATTLE OUT!" Groans and moans filled the air. My daughter muttered, "But, I'm tired", to which I kindly replied, "What a pity. Just get up!!"

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Soon, our ragtag, sleepy-eyed cattle-chasing crew stumbled from the house, ready to follow Husband's orders, which for me was to stand in one corner of the field while everyone else ran to the other end to try and coax the cattle back. The "cattle" being fifty dry cows and heifers, who escaped from their lot during the night due to an electric fence shorting out (possibly it happened during that sharp lightning hit last night).

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So, let's look at the photos of the morning's fun.......click any photos to see them larger: There they go......two dogs and the people in this family who are still able to run.......(Its times like these when a four-wheeler would surely come in handy!):

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Oh, boy.......they did coax the cattle to turn around, and now here they come galloping in my direction! All I have to do is stand my ground!

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Well, that went well, actually........but, unfortunately there were still about thirty critters on the loose in the neighbor's soybean field! I headed across the hay field in order to follow the fenceline along the bean field. Oddly enough, the other day when I was driving the tractor for hay baling, I kept thinking that I'd like to walk out along that fenceline sometime soon and take photos. Always, always......be careful what you wish for!! Here I was, getting my wish.......but, not quite in the way I wanted it to happen!

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Pretty soon, this was the view........looks like a peaceful, pastoral scene, doesn't it!? In truth, its an alarming sight........a boisterous, unchaparoned group of bovines, headed down the gravel road towards the highway which leads into town. Goodness only knows what they might try to accomplish there.......storming the grain elevator, or the bank! Or, demanding to be seated en masse for moo-lattes at the tiny Main Street cafe! Or, trying to rent moo-vies at the convenience store! Oh, what a nightmare!

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Well, somehow, Husband managed to sneak through the ditch, to get ahead of the bunch of troublesome Holsteins, turning them about-face.......in MY direction, again! Here they come........

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Hm-m........stopped in their tracks to gaze at wildflowers in the ditch, I believe. Who'd have ever imagined such a thing?!

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I waited by the pickup which was parked crossways in the road. Finally.......finally.......the wayward lot somehow found it in their hearts to turn obediently into our farm drive.

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Oh, but wait.......we have one slow-poke. Her name is "Unique", wouldn't you know. She lags behind because she is a pet, meaning the kids have spoiled her over the years. Can't you tell by the way she and my daughter amble so companionably together?!

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Well, if you think that's the end of the story........you are so very wrong! The mass of troublemakers may have turned into the driveway, but then they headed out into another hay field where they didn't belong! To them, it probably appeared to be the perfect place to enjoy breakfast!!

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I, once again, not being a runner........kept my watch from the pickup on the driveway. Let the young ones run around......and Husband. I can walk a mean walk, but when I try to run these days, there's too much flopping and flapping going on.......you know how it goes!

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My daughter likes this photo of herself........she says it looks like she's making her way all alone in the world. We all kind of do that, I think.

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After the cattle finally were chased and herded back to their assigned pen behind the barn, this here wild ol' tomcat whispered some wisdom to me as I trudged by. I suspect he's a Buddhist, or something. He quipped, "Know thyself......and know thy opponent."

Actually, Husband did know his opponents quite well yesterday morning. He knew what the escaped heifers and dry cows truly wished for. It was to get back to where their food was. That's why he turned on the silo unloader before we started the roundup. The cattle hear the hum of the silo unloader and they know that yummy silage is piling up in the feedbunk for them to munch on.

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Needless to say, after the morning's escapades, milking ran late and everyone around here was exhausted all day! I hope that is NOT the case at your house today, but if it is, then just enjoy resting!!

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Thanks for dropping by!

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