I have come to a conclusion: People are stupid.
Allow me to expound upon this astonishing revelation. Just this past week Steve and I were out in the wheat field mowing down what should have been beautiful swaths of wheat. In reality the majority of what was cut was an ugly weed known far and wide as ragweed. The silent killer. I affectionately name the plant as such because only two people on the farm are not allergic to the pollen produced by this pestilent plant. Myself and Katie. Mostly because we rock, but a secondary reason is that everyone rocks a little bit less.
As I came in from the field to grab some water for myself and Steve, also to check the time and see if we needed to start on evening chores, Katie comes walking determinedly towards me. I stopped because she looked ready to kill someone, once she got to the barn where I was she calmly told me that "Claire just gored a kid". I look the question "Are you serious" at her to which she replied with the details. Turns out this little 4 year old girl thought that it would be a great idea to walk up to a 1,200 pound animal and scream at it because she saw a spider. Normaly Claire wouldn't bat an eye at the scream, but the kid started waving her hands around and bopped Claire on the nose. - This is not a good thing. Cattle have very sensitive noses, kind of like a dog or a cat. - Claire shook her head and caught the kid in the stomach. The kid was fine, but cried bloody murder ran away and thought that God was coming down to smite her for her wicked ways. Or something like that.
Mom and Dad came running into the house to get a staff member and tell us that the cow is dangerous. Katie asked them what happened, they tell the story. Katie checks out the kid and sees a three inch abrassion, some swelling, and the start of what I'm sure by now is a pretty bruise. Katie reminds the good traumatized parents that there is a sign at the begining of the trail saying, DO NOT PET OR FEED THE ANIMALS. Brainiac that Dad is says, "No there isn't". The reply falls from the lips, "Yes there is, right before you come to the hog lot on a green sign".
Katie filled out an incident report to cover the bases then came out to tell "the boys". I just looked at her and said, "OK. Anything you want me to do?" as I'm first aid trained. She said, "Nope, just don't say it's our fault". Oke Doke, I can do that. She goes off and tells Steve the story.
Later that day when Steve and I are milking Claire we got to talking about the rough day that Claire had, and what was on the agenda for the next day. Steve stopped milking for a second pats Claire and says, "Go for the heart next time sweetie, prove that Darwin was right". I laughed at the time and asked him what we should do to avoid this in the future, if anything. He resumed milking and said that all we can do is stress that the animals have horns for a reason and that cattle are not the same thing as petting a dog.
The next day we took measurements of the boys and the girls, just to see how much they have grown over the past year. Claire weighed in at an impressive 1,213 lbs. Beau moved the scale over to 1,450 lbs. Luke "Big Boy" weighed 1,536 lbs. T-Bone weighed 1,005 lbs. And "Little One" 6 week old Friendly weighed in at 192. In this past week Friendly finally out weighed me at 215, and has moved on to eating solid food. She still gets confused about the difference between hay and straw, but that's alright. She'll pick it up eventually.
Anyway.
People are stupid. If a sign says DO NOT...anything, you probably should pay attention and oh, don't do what you were about to do.
Buck
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
July so far
We are having freakish weather out here. Now, I remember as a child being scolded for using the word freak or any derivation of the word. But let's be honest. It is the middle of July, and I'm wearing one of the three Fall season shirts I brought with me. 'S cold out there. I have to be honest though, I don't mind it. Maybe I'm only cold because I wear three layers to work everyday, and am out in the fields without cloud cover. Maybe that's why I'm chilly. But it still doesn't seem right to me.
Updates.
School: One more month until I get that piece of paper that is so coveted to hang on a wall in one's office. Problem with that is that if I hang it in the office that Steve and I share, some sort of vermin would probably get to it before anyone besides S or myself could enjoy it. I'm looking into doing some wilderness survival courses which are essentially EMS training courses for state parks. Further pursuing the whole using my degree thing.
Work: Work has been keeping me busy this month. Steve has been out of town for 11 days this month so I've been big dog on campus for the 50 farm. It's fun, but at the same time, I have to have the answers which isn't always easy to do. Nothing else has died yet. My farm is still getting about 2 gallons of milk from Claire every day. 1900 is getting their horses re-shod today, and the new shoes are pretty cool. The shoes are kind of like track spikes. Meaning that the spikes can be replaced when they get worn down. I think that's neat. Plus the farrier is a real nice guy. Funny even, in a Midwest small town kind of way.
Romance: I have been in communication with a very charming young woman that I met at Concordia for the past four years. She currently has a teaching job where her principal is one of Dad's former colleagues. How's that for the LCMS? Smaller world than a Walt Disney ride. Anyway, she conned me into a "long distance" relationship which doesn't really mean a whole lot. I say that because nothing has really changed. I still talk to her almost everyday, either by phone or online. It isn't as though I can take her out for dinner, or go rent a movie, or walk through town. 360 miles is quite the distance. Anyway, so yeah. There is a special someone out there.
Social life: I've been asked not to come to game night until my temper has improved. Now I know what you're thinking. "Buck, you're a pretty laid back kind of guy. You tollerate people very well. Something like that." Turns out that when you play Risk at game night, and you're doing pretty well until you can't get a roll to save your life and end up losing three of the continents you control in under five minutes, get so upset that you throw the dice out the window and a meteor strikes the game board throwing pieces everywhere...people don't let you play Risk with them anymore. In my defense, we had been playing for 4 hours straight, and I elminated two opponents. Social life is going well. Cory is without a doubt the guy that I go to with anything. He just moved, with my help, to an apartment in Grimes. To make that a bit more real for you folks, Grimes is 5 minutes north of Urbandale. We hang out quite a bit.
I've been talking with the Pastor at the church that I try to get to, and he's a very nice man. He didn't quite understand why a 20-something didn't like the contemporary service on Saturday nights until I told him a bit about my background at which point he brightened right up and told me to come to the 8 am Sunday morning service for a liturgical service. Problem is, I work Sunday mornings. If I want to get chores done and the site set up for the day, I have to be at work at 8. He was very understanding and offered to tape the service and give me a copy of the tapes. I said that would be great, but I'll still miss out on communion, and the relationships that I could form with other members of the congregation. Again, he didn't quite understand why a 20-something would worry about those kind of things at which point I elaborated on my background. - The only downside to this church is that one has to be a member to partake in communion. Being confirmed isn't enough. Reminds me a bit of Grace RF, or St. Paul Brookfield. I also can't become a member right now. New member classes are Sunday mornings and as previously said, I can't get to those. So, untill my schedule changes, or the season slows down to limited hours, I'll make do with the Church in a Can.
That's about all I can think of.
Oh, Big Sister - Ginger had a nail in her hoof, and your sheep are dying from worms. You still don't have pigs. But threshing is coming up! Some good news and bad news. Depending on how you interpret it.
Buck
Updates.
School: One more month until I get that piece of paper that is so coveted to hang on a wall in one's office. Problem with that is that if I hang it in the office that Steve and I share, some sort of vermin would probably get to it before anyone besides S or myself could enjoy it. I'm looking into doing some wilderness survival courses which are essentially EMS training courses for state parks. Further pursuing the whole using my degree thing.
Work: Work has been keeping me busy this month. Steve has been out of town for 11 days this month so I've been big dog on campus for the 50 farm. It's fun, but at the same time, I have to have the answers which isn't always easy to do. Nothing else has died yet. My farm is still getting about 2 gallons of milk from Claire every day. 1900 is getting their horses re-shod today, and the new shoes are pretty cool. The shoes are kind of like track spikes. Meaning that the spikes can be replaced when they get worn down. I think that's neat. Plus the farrier is a real nice guy. Funny even, in a Midwest small town kind of way.
Romance: I have been in communication with a very charming young woman that I met at Concordia for the past four years. She currently has a teaching job where her principal is one of Dad's former colleagues. How's that for the LCMS? Smaller world than a Walt Disney ride. Anyway, she conned me into a "long distance" relationship which doesn't really mean a whole lot. I say that because nothing has really changed. I still talk to her almost everyday, either by phone or online. It isn't as though I can take her out for dinner, or go rent a movie, or walk through town. 360 miles is quite the distance. Anyway, so yeah. There is a special someone out there.
Social life: I've been asked not to come to game night until my temper has improved. Now I know what you're thinking. "Buck, you're a pretty laid back kind of guy. You tollerate people very well. Something like that." Turns out that when you play Risk at game night, and you're doing pretty well until you can't get a roll to save your life and end up losing three of the continents you control in under five minutes, get so upset that you throw the dice out the window and a meteor strikes the game board throwing pieces everywhere...people don't let you play Risk with them anymore. In my defense, we had been playing for 4 hours straight, and I elminated two opponents. Social life is going well. Cory is without a doubt the guy that I go to with anything. He just moved, with my help, to an apartment in Grimes. To make that a bit more real for you folks, Grimes is 5 minutes north of Urbandale. We hang out quite a bit.
I've been talking with the Pastor at the church that I try to get to, and he's a very nice man. He didn't quite understand why a 20-something didn't like the contemporary service on Saturday nights until I told him a bit about my background at which point he brightened right up and told me to come to the 8 am Sunday morning service for a liturgical service. Problem is, I work Sunday mornings. If I want to get chores done and the site set up for the day, I have to be at work at 8. He was very understanding and offered to tape the service and give me a copy of the tapes. I said that would be great, but I'll still miss out on communion, and the relationships that I could form with other members of the congregation. Again, he didn't quite understand why a 20-something would worry about those kind of things at which point I elaborated on my background. - The only downside to this church is that one has to be a member to partake in communion. Being confirmed isn't enough. Reminds me a bit of Grace RF, or St. Paul Brookfield. I also can't become a member right now. New member classes are Sunday mornings and as previously said, I can't get to those. So, untill my schedule changes, or the season slows down to limited hours, I'll make do with the Church in a Can.
That's about all I can think of.
Oh, Big Sister - Ginger had a nail in her hoof, and your sheep are dying from worms. You still don't have pigs. But threshing is coming up! Some good news and bad news. Depending on how you interpret it.
Buck
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
June
Well, this past month was a whirl-wind of activity. Personally I'm very glad that June is over as nothing good happens in the month - birthdays excluded. I'll catch you up a bit on things that have been happening, but there won't be a whole lot of commentary in this post, the paper and I are currently in a bitter struggle since the crosswords keep beating me.
The second week of June was hectic. I had just found out that my sister is engaged the same day that a friend that I used to drive to HCHS was killed. Little bit of awesome, add a dash of devastating, bake for 30 minutes and that was my evening. That Tuesday my farm had a calf, who's name is Friendly. Supposedly it is a historic name - the wife of the territorial Governor of Iowa. That Governor shares his name with one of our oxen by the way. The rest of the week was fairly uneventful.
Third week of June. Kate's old farm had their second calf who is a bull calf, and very leggy. In fact, he is all legs. We've taken to calling him Skipper for some reason. Maybe it was because the calving which should have taken 1-2 hours max, took 6 hours. Ended up that Tony, and Sam had to pull him because the vet wasn't in the office at 10 PM. I also became an Iowa citizen this past week. Plates, car title, drivers licence, the whole 9 yards. Luckily one of my roommates didn't need their car that day and I got everything squared away before noon. -One side note here, Iowa's department of transportation is very strange. You can get a drivers licence at the DMV (DOT out here), but you can't change a title, or get your sticker, you have to go to the county hall. Strange. -
Fourth week of June. My phone died. Monday and Tuesday were brutally hot. It was nice to clear up all of the rain that we had gotten the previous week, and the crops are showing their love of the sun. Our corn has startled to tassel already, and in a week or so we'll probably have silks start to show up. Our potatoes are ready for harvest. Turnips, beets, beans, radishes, and rutabaga have been very popular in our dinners as they have gotten so big so fast that we're selling them at the garden market just so that the non-thinned veggies have room to grow. Anyway, apparently when you have your phone in a pocket that is saturated with sweat all day, in 90+ degrees of actual heat, plus the 8 or 9 degrees of heat index...a phone will die. I have a new one, and a new number, shoot me an email or talk to my folks, they have the number and I can get it to you. Wednesday Henry - a volunteer - and I slaughtered and butchered a lamb for the wedding later in the week. It was a lot of fun to do that, granted Henry did most of the work to start with, but I did the slaughter, then once Henry got the skinning started he handed over the knife and told me what to do. Dressing lambs was new for both of us, but I've had plenty of experience with anatomy classes regarding dissection, and he's hunted for the past 70 years. I think we managed quite well. Friday we lost a lamb and a ewe. The vet says that it was worms which doesn't make us happy. Saturday we had the Pioneer Wedding. We had a fair number of visitors so it was a good day, but it is amazing to me how much work we can get done on site when there are more than 3 people there. Granted in a single room cabin lots of people can be a hindrance, but somehow we managed. We had an amazing dinner, roasted lamb (this one was supposed to die), roasted root veggies, mac and cheese, lemonade, potato souffle, fresh salad...I'm not doing the dinner justice when I say it was delicious. It almost rivals some of Grandpa's grilled brats, with Aunt Karen's homemade apple sauce - or ribbon jello -, Grandma's potato salad, and Mom's fancy salad. Oh yeah, I was the minister for this fake wedding of ours. I got to wear a wool coat, canvas vest, cotton shirt, canvas trousers, and a quaker oats hat. So, needless to say, the heat was horrible. But I got to dance with some pretty girls during the waltz, and then the Virginia Reel. I must say that the Virginia Reel is quite fun. But dangerous in work boots on grass. Sunday was uneventful, we lost another ewe Sunday night. Somewhere between 11 and 4. I only know that because that's as much sleep as I got that night, worrying about the poor thing.
Last week of June. The vet came out on Tuesday to de-worm our sheep and give the pigs their booster shots, which was a lot of fun. Herding sheep isn't the most enjoyable task in the world. Then crawling into a hog lot to wrestle those little guys made the day even better.
Today, well, Steve - my immediate boss - left for a fishing trip right after the wedding so I've been the big man on campus. Which is great, but at the same time it shows me how much I need to learn still. Today I got my real first experience driving the oxen without training wheels. All we did was move some fence rails, but...everything went well. We also butchered and dressed a duck which was fun, I did it last year too, but it is still fun. While we were dressing it I got to teach some kids about anatomy and how human anatomy is different from a duck. Yay for using my degree!
So that takes us through this past month. Hopefully things will calm down a bit more and I can regularly update this.
Buck
The second week of June was hectic. I had just found out that my sister is engaged the same day that a friend that I used to drive to HCHS was killed. Little bit of awesome, add a dash of devastating, bake for 30 minutes and that was my evening. That Tuesday my farm had a calf, who's name is Friendly. Supposedly it is a historic name - the wife of the territorial Governor of Iowa. That Governor shares his name with one of our oxen by the way. The rest of the week was fairly uneventful.
Third week of June. Kate's old farm had their second calf who is a bull calf, and very leggy. In fact, he is all legs. We've taken to calling him Skipper for some reason. Maybe it was because the calving which should have taken 1-2 hours max, took 6 hours. Ended up that Tony, and Sam had to pull him because the vet wasn't in the office at 10 PM. I also became an Iowa citizen this past week. Plates, car title, drivers licence, the whole 9 yards. Luckily one of my roommates didn't need their car that day and I got everything squared away before noon. -One side note here, Iowa's department of transportation is very strange. You can get a drivers licence at the DMV (DOT out here), but you can't change a title, or get your sticker, you have to go to the county hall. Strange. -
Fourth week of June. My phone died. Monday and Tuesday were brutally hot. It was nice to clear up all of the rain that we had gotten the previous week, and the crops are showing their love of the sun. Our corn has startled to tassel already, and in a week or so we'll probably have silks start to show up. Our potatoes are ready for harvest. Turnips, beets, beans, radishes, and rutabaga have been very popular in our dinners as they have gotten so big so fast that we're selling them at the garden market just so that the non-thinned veggies have room to grow. Anyway, apparently when you have your phone in a pocket that is saturated with sweat all day, in 90+ degrees of actual heat, plus the 8 or 9 degrees of heat index...a phone will die. I have a new one, and a new number, shoot me an email or talk to my folks, they have the number and I can get it to you. Wednesday Henry - a volunteer - and I slaughtered and butchered a lamb for the wedding later in the week. It was a lot of fun to do that, granted Henry did most of the work to start with, but I did the slaughter, then once Henry got the skinning started he handed over the knife and told me what to do. Dressing lambs was new for both of us, but I've had plenty of experience with anatomy classes regarding dissection, and he's hunted for the past 70 years. I think we managed quite well. Friday we lost a lamb and a ewe. The vet says that it was worms which doesn't make us happy. Saturday we had the Pioneer Wedding. We had a fair number of visitors so it was a good day, but it is amazing to me how much work we can get done on site when there are more than 3 people there. Granted in a single room cabin lots of people can be a hindrance, but somehow we managed. We had an amazing dinner, roasted lamb (this one was supposed to die), roasted root veggies, mac and cheese, lemonade, potato souffle, fresh salad...I'm not doing the dinner justice when I say it was delicious. It almost rivals some of Grandpa's grilled brats, with Aunt Karen's homemade apple sauce - or ribbon jello -, Grandma's potato salad, and Mom's fancy salad. Oh yeah, I was the minister for this fake wedding of ours. I got to wear a wool coat, canvas vest, cotton shirt, canvas trousers, and a quaker oats hat. So, needless to say, the heat was horrible. But I got to dance with some pretty girls during the waltz, and then the Virginia Reel. I must say that the Virginia Reel is quite fun. But dangerous in work boots on grass. Sunday was uneventful, we lost another ewe Sunday night. Somewhere between 11 and 4. I only know that because that's as much sleep as I got that night, worrying about the poor thing.
Last week of June. The vet came out on Tuesday to de-worm our sheep and give the pigs their booster shots, which was a lot of fun. Herding sheep isn't the most enjoyable task in the world. Then crawling into a hog lot to wrestle those little guys made the day even better.
Today, well, Steve - my immediate boss - left for a fishing trip right after the wedding so I've been the big man on campus. Which is great, but at the same time it shows me how much I need to learn still. Today I got my real first experience driving the oxen without training wheels. All we did was move some fence rails, but...everything went well. We also butchered and dressed a duck which was fun, I did it last year too, but it is still fun. While we were dressing it I got to teach some kids about anatomy and how human anatomy is different from a duck. Yay for using my degree!
So that takes us through this past month. Hopefully things will calm down a bit more and I can regularly update this.
Buck
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