Think Again!

Here's a good one from Utahna... I'm sure none of us can relate!

From Utahna:

While at the flat one day I was driving the utility tractor picking up pipe.  We finished one row and Uncle Ross sent me out the gate onto the road and gave me instructions to go in the next gate where the pipe would be set up.  Before taking off he said “Don’t run over the fence”!  

I'm sure you can imagine what was going on in my teenage head. “Ughh yeah!  Did you really have to tell me that?  I'm not that dumb!” 

So I took off…I'm sure singing at the top of my lungs (cause no one would be able to hear me over the tractor). Or maybe I was carrying out a conversation with a boy... you know, me being both sides... out loud. Yeah embarrassing, I probably shouldn't admit that kind of thing. But when you are stuck behind the wheel of a truck or tractor all day, you gotta find something to entertain yourself.  

Anywho back to the story.  

Just be-boppin' along and you guessed it.   Thump. “DOUEEE!”  I had forgotten to watch my trailer, and yup, I had run over the fence.  And YES, he did need to tell me not to run over the fence! 

He was nice and didn't even get mad at me.  And somehow, I even got out of fixing  the fence! ;) 

Lesson learned: if you think you're smarter than that… Think again. 

Second Coming or Northern Lights?

Juniper, I'm convinced has the best night sky anywhere.  One summer, some of the "city cousins" came to visit, it was dark when we got out of the car, one cousin said "Whoa!  You guys got a lot of stars here!"  Amazing what you can see without light pollution!  
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From Jerica:

One night Laura and I were out feeding the calves late. When we were heading back up to the house we looked up in the sky and saw the different colors. We saw the red in the sky and Laura said something about it being the Second Coming. I don't remember how old we were but we were pretty young. I started freaking out so I ran up to the house and we went in to tell Mom and Dad about it. We all went out and climbed the hill behind the house and I remember just staring in awe up at the sky, wondering how such a beautiful thing was possible. As we all know, it wasn't the Second Coming :) But I sure did love looking at the Northern lights.

Tiny Paradise

Hey All!  Have you all been having a little taste of Spring like I have?  Makes me want to go hike the hills in Juniper.  I don't think there is anything more beautiful than Spring/Early Summer in Juniper, when the hills are ablaze with the bright blooms of wildflowers.  No story today, but a few pics of home!

Seriously... is there anyplace more beautiful than Juniper?!?  Feel so blessed to have been raised in this tiny paradise!

The Real Enemy

Have any of you read the Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites series by Chris Heimerdinger?  They were popular at our house for a while.  In the second book some Gadianton Robbers find the time warp and make it from Book of Mormon times to present day.  Of course this is fiction, who believes in time warps?

Except.

When you have to get up before the sun to feed the cows, this somehow seems like a very real possibility.  What if the Gadianton's were hiding between the stacks?  I had to check.  In hind sight, I'm really not sure what I would have done had I confronted one Gadianton.  Probably pee.

Thankfully, I never encountered such an enemy.  The real threat, however, does not walk around with a loin cloth and war paint armed with swords and cimeters.  It disguises itself as some sweet, loving, barnyard creature, innocently lapping up spilled milk from the barn floor, sweetly rubbing against ones leg begging for attention, purring with contentment.

Until...

You approach the stack in the dark.

Aaaahhhhh!!!  Bat cat strikes again!  Full on heart seizure ensues, finally, as your heart beat nears normal, you carefully peek around to make sure nobody saw, realize that somehow, amazingly, your pants are still dry, and finish feeding the cows.

The other very real enemy to cow feeders???

Who of us have not had to traverse upward between two stacks in pursuit of hay in a fashion similar to this:

Thanks for the demo young Jason.

Anyway, that moment when you have neared the top and a dang flock of birds decide to exit the stack and greet you?  Or fly into you.  (Have you seen that old bird movie?  Frightening.)  Start heart seizure process again only this chain of events may or may not include you falling to near death bouncing between the two stacks like a Plinko chip.

It's amazing any of us made it out alive.  Really.

Why Do They Call it PMS???

BECAUSE MAD COW DISEASE WAS ALREADY TAKEN!!!

Haha... Levi's favorite joke.

But seriously, this is one story about a mad cow you are not gonna wanna miss!

From Jason:

Every morning before school I had to feed the cows.  While I was feeding, either Dad or Uncle Ross would milk the cows, if they saw me in the morning they would con me into gathering the cows from the corral to the holding pen for them.  

One such morning, I guess I wasn't sneaky enough, so Ross got me to go get the cows for him.  I hiked up the hill and brought all the cows down and around, when I got to the straw pile I did all my whooping and hollering to get the cows up and going; there was one cow in the corner that was not getting up. I walked along the wall up to her and kicked her to get her going.  She looked at me and as she got up, she charged at me!  With a lightning-quick-farm-ninja move, I stepped to the side and she hit her head on the wall. As I looked at her from a distance, she seemed pretty defensive. I decided not to press my luck with her so I just looked at her number (I can’t remember what it was now) and went on. When I had gathered the rest of the cows in the holding pen, I went in and let Uncle Ross know I had gathered them all except for one and gave him the cow’s number.  

Ross asked “Why didn't you bring her in?”

When I told him that the cow had charged me he gave me a questioning look as if I were talking nonsense.  He confirmed the number with me and was pretty confident that “that cow would not do such a thing.”  Together we went out to get the cow.  As we neared the straw pile he went up to check the number on the tag as I hung back, keeping my distance from the mad cow.  

When Ross confirmed the number he turned around to tell me that “this cow would not hurt a …..”

As he spoke I saw the cow charging toward him in the background, I pointed at the cow stuttering Uncle Ross's name.

Uncle Ross said “What?”

He turned around to see what I was pointing at; just then the cow hit him sending him sliding in the fresh manure.  The cow broke off and turned around for another run.  Not quite sure what to do I waved my arms and hollered while Ross raised his hand at the cow while working his way off the ground. Between the commotions the two of us made, the cow backed off.  

As we walked away from the straw pile I said to Uncle Ross “Nice cow huh?”

He didn't have much to say.

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Aren't you glad you stopped by?!?  I told ya it was a good one!  To keep reading such fine literature, e-mail me your stories!  jami_c_hurst@hotmail.com

Hay Scratches

So I got an e-mail tonight... I LOVE e-mail (hint, hint, wink, wink)!!!  

This one is from Jerica:

I was driving home this past weekend and saw a field with people getting ready for this next years crop growing. I couldn't help but think of all the times we would roll bales, stack the trucks, or even transport the pipe from one field to another. I starting thinking more about the whole process from when the hay is cut to when it is fed to the cows. Then I remember sitting on top of the hay stacks getting my feet in the right position to push the whole front of the stack off. My favorite part was watching it fall and hearing the loud thunks each bale made. Every time that happened I would smile as the whole front fell then (on more than one occasion) I would look down and wonder how I was going to get down off the stack. I was never the adventurous type to just jump from the top of the stack. I will admit it took me a good self-talking-to to get myself to jump off 4 layers. There have also been a few times where I would just pull a bale from near the bottom and get the front off  that way and (again, on more than one occasion) I didn't move fast enough to avoid the falling bales. Just have to say, hay scratches are not my favorite scratch to have but I sure was proud of each one of them.

Thanks Jerica!  

P.S. I love the sound of a well choreographed "thunk" as well!