Not A Joke

For those who have been readers for several years, this story will seem very familiar but revisiting now and again is good for my mental health, along with a glimpse into human behavior. But first I will have to set up the scene…

Our farm is rural. The area is located near the edge of the county, at the end of the school district, on the outskirts of fire districts, either at the beginning of the electricity from the sub-station or the end depending on which way the circuit of power is circling toward town, and at the end of the mail route.  For many years, once we really had phone service, we were long distance to all but our little town. Calls made to the Junction less than two miles the opposite direction from the farm were considered long distance. The County Sheriff jokes that we are the “West Ender’s” and that nothing much happens this far out. I have always quipped that I live at the end of civilization as we know it.

With the scene set, let me state that our closest neighbor also has a herd of cows. Their herd is a mix of multi-colors, some have horns. The critters come in all sizes and shapes, there are reds, blacks, grays, tans, spots and dots. It seems obvious that there are many, many different beef breeds in their herd since none of them look like any of the others.

When the neighbors herd gets out, they go through yet another neighbors field behind our place and shoot helter-skelter out into the county road. Passersby assume they are our cattle because our house is the first home they come to after seeing the herd of about 70 or so meandering toward the State Highway. Long time residents of the area know that we only raise Black Angus cattle, they are all black with bright yellow ear tags, no spots and no other colors.

The non-residents of the area who are startled by the multi-hued herd and being good citizens, will usually stop and alert us to the cows being out. One time a concerned citizen opened up our chained pasture gate and shooed the herd of 70 into our field where a rodeo ensued between our cows and the neighbor herd. We had animals running through the river, over the bridge, through the barns, squirreling around and fighting each other, tearing up the turf and a lot of mehem until we could send the neighbor herd back toward their own farm.

We get a lot of concerned citizens at our door. Over the years, the total would be more than the amount of people living in the whole town. We are used to greeting people before they get out of their rigs and explain that they are not our cows but we will be sure to alert the owners. Some of the upstanding citizens don’t believe us and spend quite a bit of time describing each critter even though we state that our cattle are all black in color with yellow ear tags. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard the line that yes the ones that are out are indeed black,,, and red, and tan and white and…

Many times we notice the herd travel past the back of our place on their way out of confinement, since 70 critters is fairly noticeable, and we text the neighbor that mass-escapism is near.  But I missed it on this day and became aware of the situation when a well-meaning citizen stopped to tell me my cows were out.  Before I could get the text sent to the neighbor, a second rig stopped. This guy said the herd was running toward the Highway.

Just as I got the text sent, the third vehicle pulled into the driveway. As the driver was getting out, I said that they were not our cows and that I notified the owner. The driver still wanted to make sure I knew that the cows were out and started her story of the volume, color of each critter and the mood of the herd as they were dashing eastward. I let her get her story out (since I really didn’t have a choice), but as soon as she took a breath I repeated that they weren’t our cows. It seems like she heard me that time and after a moment of hesitation she stated that it was funny but she stopped a year ago to let us know about our cows being out. She said that my husband answered the door in his bathrobe and told her that they were not our cows. With a smile I told her that the herd was still not our cows. The look on her face confirmed that she finally realized that no matter how many times she stops, they will still not be our herd…no joke.

Thank you so much for supporting our stories. We appreciate every reader we have and love it when you spread the word about SchmidlinAngusFarms, fill out the FOLLOW information so you get each story right to your email each day and/or leave comments about the stories. I would also like to take a moment to thank those who click on the icon to do shopping with the affiliate, your clicks give me credit for directing people to their site (clicking on the affiliate icon does not make you purchase, only gets you the their site) and sometimes I get a small commission from your purchases if you do shop, without a cost to you! As always, Prime and special codes work with the icon and you do not have to purchase any item that I promote. Please consider using my link when you do your cyber shopping. Thank you for your support

I am so pleased to announce that MaryJane Nordgren has made her new book available to the public! Click here for your copy of Nandria’s War.