Tag: Cattle

The Cows Are Out

I saw these calves out of the fence this morning.

I saw these calves out of the fence this morning. And I just felt like I needed to tell someone. It seemed like the responsible thing to do. So I’m tell you since I don’t know who owns these cows. In fact, I don’t even know anybody that lives on the road where I saw them. I didn’t grow up in this town.

I imagine that whoever owns the cows will take care of the situation. Promptly. It might be a nuisance to have to stop what they are in the middle of doing and go try to round up loose calves. But this is probably not their first rodeo. And they’ll probably get the cows back in the fence and mend the fence right away.

This wasn’t the last time I caught these two yearlings out of the fence.

Things like that get taken care of quickly on the farm. I doubt there will be a meeting with all of the department heads to see whether it is a real problem or not and who will take responsibility. Or follow up departmental meetings to see who will be assigned to an interdepartmental special task force team. And no third meeting with the reluctantly volunteered staff to develop a plan of action. I bet just one man and a sack of feed took care of this issue.

Not all problems are this simple. Yet I am afraid that we often make a more complicated solution for problems that are even less important than cows being out.

The Cow Sale

One of my only surviving and most vivid memories of my grandfather Tinker Reynolds is of him taking me in his old blue Ford Ranger to the Cow Sale in Ashville, Alabama. I’m only assuming it was Ashville, I could not have been more than two year old. I’m pretty sure Dan-Dan, which is what we called him, wore a plaid shirt that day. We stopped at the grocery store and I picked out some of those nasty orange circus peanuts and probably a Grapico. It seemed like Dan-Dan knew everyone at the cow sale, talking and laughing with old men who were similarly dressed.

I didn’t go to the cow sale again until I was grown and living in Virginia. It was always fun, and the food at the little cafeteria was good. It got even more fun when I was able to start taking my son Wesley, who never wanted to leave. We would call my dad after each trip, and Wesley would give him the highlights of the sale, always most excited about the bulls. “Poppy, there was a big ole’ bull with really looong horns!” Poppy would laugh and we would talk about going to the cow sale next time he was in town. We never got the chance.

There are some things that are more easily introduced by a grandfather. Such is the cow sale. I still enjoy taking Wesley to the Cow Sale, but I am an outsider and it shows. I’m not wearing boots or a denim shirt. My hat is wrong, and I show up at the wrong time. But Wesley doesn’t realize this yet, he’s just making memories.

If there is someone that you need to make memories with, or perhaps more importantly, if there is someone that needs to make memories with you, I know just the place. More than likely, there is a livestock auction within driving distance of where you live. Just show up and act like you know what you’re doing, but be sure not to make any sudden movements during the bidding

Support

Your patronage is greatly appreciated.

$5.00