Today; a little mid afternoon barn mucking. I knew what I was getting into - for the most part - informed by a text message that I receive from Fred. Yeah we were going to be shoveling shit, and this shit's heavy.
For some reason at the entrance of the barn a sloppy mess of water and cow poop have been piling up. It is the kind of thick sludge that might swallow your shoe. I have the official mucking boots on. The window of the hardware store in Natrona Heights has an advertisement for them. We traveled out there earlier for general hardware type things, and a few black plastic corrugated pipes with drainage holes in them. The idea is to "french" drain the area down the hill making it much safer and nicer. There is still no way to control where the cow makes her business. In the truck under the visor I find an Iron and Wine CD, I tell Fred that I am a big fan and I pop it in. This must have been their most mellow album, forget the name now, Our Endless Numbered Days or maybe it was The Shepherd's Dog. I doubt Fred was feeling it, this is Kristen's CD for certain.
At the purple barn Fred is going to grab the Red Tractor so we can fill the bucket. I take the truck up the hill to grab a shovel and open the gate to the stock yard so the tractor can be pulled in. When I get to the Gate Ella (the cow) come waltzing up to me. I don't know what she expects I have never fed the beast. The gate, once open leads down a corridor of sorts. With Ella in this corridor Fred will not be able to drive through. I hurry down the the barn to grab her harness, I have only strapped this thing on once or twice, and I am unsure of the correct fit. No sooner than I get the harness situated Fred is there with the tractor. I have the gate out and I am standing there with the cow. Fred stops.
"The harness is on incorrectly."
"I had a feeling but was not sure exactly."
I start readjusting it. Seems it will be easier to take the whole thing off and retry.
"Great now she's loose in the pasture." Fred says as he drives away.
I have Ella in a headlock and then I slip the harness on her head with little problem. It would have been difficult to recapture her in the open field. Once you have the cow on a leash she follows with little resistance. Sometimes she even runs out ahead of you, it is good to get out of her way. In some respects it feels like walking a really really big dog.
For some reason at the entrance of the barn a sloppy mess of water and cow poop have been piling up. It is the kind of thick sludge that might swallow your shoe. I have the official mucking boots on. The window of the hardware store in Natrona Heights has an advertisement for them. We traveled out there earlier for general hardware type things, and a few black plastic corrugated pipes with drainage holes in them. The idea is to "french" drain the area down the hill making it much safer and nicer. There is still no way to control where the cow makes her business. In the truck under the visor I find an Iron and Wine CD, I tell Fred that I am a big fan and I pop it in. This must have been their most mellow album, forget the name now, Our Endless Numbered Days or maybe it was The Shepherd's Dog. I doubt Fred was feeling it, this is Kristen's CD for certain.
At the purple barn Fred is going to grab the Red Tractor so we can fill the bucket. I take the truck up the hill to grab a shovel and open the gate to the stock yard so the tractor can be pulled in. When I get to the Gate Ella (the cow) come waltzing up to me. I don't know what she expects I have never fed the beast. The gate, once open leads down a corridor of sorts. With Ella in this corridor Fred will not be able to drive through. I hurry down the the barn to grab her harness, I have only strapped this thing on once or twice, and I am unsure of the correct fit. No sooner than I get the harness situated Fred is there with the tractor. I have the gate out and I am standing there with the cow. Fred stops.
"The harness is on incorrectly."
"I had a feeling but was not sure exactly."
I start readjusting it. Seems it will be easier to take the whole thing off and retry.
"Great now she's loose in the pasture." Fred says as he drives away.
I have Ella in a headlock and then I slip the harness on her head with little problem. It would have been difficult to recapture her in the open field. Once you have the cow on a leash she follows with little resistance. Sometimes she even runs out ahead of you, it is good to get out of her way. In some respects it feels like walking a really really big dog.
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