OPINION? EVERYBODY HAS ONE: We can be thankful and recover from the drought

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

I am thankful and happy to say we got many bales of hay rolled up and stored away.

I drove and hauled until midnight four times this last week, and I know the offspring were shot too. We are so thankful for a wonderful first cutting and a week of dry weather to do most of it. Also got a rain just as we finished, another blessing!

This old rock pile dries out real fast, and it is hard to realize that after a two inch rain we need more by the next week. The geologist and folks at the Cooperative Extension can explain it all; but if you listen to some of us old timers, you get all you need. The scientific stuff is just extra weight to tote around in your brain.

We are also blessed with a big crop of chiggers and ticks. I have not yet seen ripe berries, but I already have red whelps around my belt line from just walking in the hay field. One of the concerns of folks in this area is Rocky Mountain Tick Fever, and it should be a concern to all who walk in tall grass, or maybe even short grass. I have had a tick fall out of a tree on my arm; they come to the smell of carbon dioxide. There was a feller with me so I could be proven truthful when telling the story.

We have some sneaky snakes around and about. They are around, and I am about to scream like a girl and run. I sure am easily spooked where snakes are concerned. I found one curled up under a pile of lumber we had dumped to burn and had to wait on rain before setting it a fire. I started looking through it for a piece I needed to cover a rat hole in the feed room. That critter was gray with black spots, and I poked him with a long stick. He didn’t run, so I did! I figured the patch job needed new boards anyway!

My close relative is not affected negatively by serpents. She has proven herself many times by rescuing me. She didn’t tell me she had thrown a big old blacksnake in the well house to remedy the rodent problem. She almost became a widow when I went in to replace a sack of dog food. I am not kidding; my knees get weak and my heart pounds.

The fellers at the coffee emporium are not full of good news. They are hoping the government stamps out the IRS and goes with a flat tax, like their wallets! They have more to say than the fellers on CNN or FOX about the crisis in Washington. I didn’t stay very long this morning because I’d rather hear stories about the big one that got away!

It is my opinion, and everybody has one, this country has a chance for a recovery from the drought if we use our heads and protect the growth. I know we need to replenish fish in ponds that are now full and fresh, reseed grass where it died and resist brush-hogging to the quick. If the grass gets belly high on your tall cows, just grin and enjoy it!

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

Opinion, Pages 4 on 06/26/2013