OPINION? EVERYBODY HAS ONE: Trouble makes life interesting

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Beautiful weather to enjoy, except for the dust. The arid ground and the rainless sky have about choked us to death for a couple of weeks. Hot cattle want to stand in ponds, and we have fenced off most of them. I feel rather sorry about it; you know, a dip would feel good to any who waded in.

I thought about the ponds being a place of problems years before we fenced them off and provided clean water for all the pastures we could. The dirty water had to be contaminated with diseases and full of feces and urine, slime and algae, but the old hides sucked it up like it was good. I suspected the infections in many of the udders were caused by the microbes in the water, and many a good mother cow ended up with three or two quarters instead of the four God intended.

I still rave about the ponds being full and the water being clean, and we do water out of them. But the cattle are not allowed to get into the water. I am reminded of the muddy smell and taste of a hog that was too old to butcher and yet was, due to a broken leg. I know hogs love mud holes, but I sure wouldn’t want to provide one for them!

I don’t need to worry about the hog business anyway. I have been eating bacon so thin you could read a paper through it - tastes like a whiff of bacon but doesn’t even make the skillet greasy. I want some taste in my food, and I have so stated. That sorta washed over my close relative. Not much of a reaction, just what I expected!

Hogs and ponds are not high on the list of things to do this morning. I have to run the mower around the place because the weeds are taller than me and thick as fleas on a dog’s back. I can’t find the trail to the shop building because of pig weeds and those nasty purple mint weeds.

Seems like the thistle and purple mint love to grow tall and bloom during the hottest and driest parts of the summer. I hope you fellers that have mint don’t forget that it can kill cattle. A couple of hours spent destroying it could save you some cattle, especially if they are penned.

I fired up the old tractor yesterday so I could hook up the brush hog. It coughed and wheezed but is ready to use. I suspect it will be a hot job and, by the time I finish checking cattle, it will be warm enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk - if I had a sidewalk!

It is my opinion, and everyone has one, running along through life is what makes it interesting. What would fellers like me do if everything was perfect all the time? We wouldn’t have much to talk about, fuss about or take care of. I am thankful I have something to do every hour of every day. The trip is interesting and the destination is waiting for all of us. I think I will endeavor to make it enjoyable.

Bill is a pen name used by the Gravette author of this weekly column.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 07/24/2013