This morning I was sorta late getting up. The sun was up and my close relative had called me to come for breakfast. This means I was sleeping real good; the aroma of coffee didn’t even jerk me into consciousness. That is a result of being peaceful and having a good day of family and fun on the weekend. I enjoyed about all I could stand, pie and homemade ice cream ended the day with me plumb tuckered out!

I am in the need of a fix on the hay rake. It is not really shot, just takes a major amount of time to keep it going. The offspring have fussed in great detail about how desperate they are to have working equipment when the hay is dry enough to rake. I figure if gasoline is over $3.50 a gallon, a hay rake will cost me about 10 head of good steers or maybe even more. I am sweating the whole ordeal. I had the rake in the shop and fiddled with it all day to try to fix whatever the big problem is, and now I know. It, the entire rake, is worn out.

My close relative is preening to go with me to shop this morning. She hustled me around so much that I only had swallowed my breakfast and my plate was gone. It is a good thing I don’t saucer my coffee because the saucer was gone, too! She informed me that the crispness was gonna burn off, the coolness of the front will be dissipated and we will burn up looking at rakes unless we hurry. Then I got the idea, she wants to make me stop someplace for her to shop, too. Takes me awhile to get the old brain defogged, but I finally realized the hurry.

I did my chores and talked to the offspring about their thought on a rake and we agreed on what we all wanted, but they didn’t say a word about helping foot the bill. Nothing in the sick pen and Snip getting only half rations cuts me pretty short of chore time. The barn cats eat more than the livestock. I wonder if the barn rats and mice are eating the cat food!

We hit town, the biggest little town in our area, and headed out to the equipment dealer. People were all over the place, and cop cars had streets closed. I thought it must be a big emergency to hold up traffic all over town, side streets included.

It was a parade, the mayor in a convertible riding high and smiling wide. His face was real red from the exertion of waving and hanging on to the seat. The high school band was right behind him, and everyone was patriotic as the band played “America The Beautiful.” The flags were waving and men took off their hats as they passed.

It is my opinion, and everyone has one, a small town parade is icing on the cake when we realize that the country we live in is free and pretty safe! A feller standing near told us the celebration was for a soldier returning home safely after spending his second tour in the war-torn East. I was embarrassed about sitting in the car, immediately got out and waited for the hero to pass, as did my close relative.

The cost of a rake didn’t sound so bad after considering the price two tours of duty cost that man and his family. They did that service for us, the American people, and I am thankful!

Stand tall, Americans, we are free because we have folks who will fight the battle for us. And trusting God will keep us free.

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

Opinion, Pages 6 on 06/12/2013