Me and all that palaver about the sick pen being empty and how well all the calves were doing was just a big old blow! I have nine in the pen, all have fevers and running noses and the other end, too. I have already run up a big vet bill and will continue to see him daily until they die or get well.
The Doc informed me it was probably the sudden changes in the weather and close proximity to the neighbor's fence that brought on the sickness. Whatever the cause, the illness is mine to take care of.
I have not determined which is worse, hay making or cold weather. I must be losing my grip on this business because I have turned into the biggest sissy this side of the Mississippi. My old gloves are worn thin, there are two gaping holes in my coveralls and I am afraid to take them in the house to be fixed because they smell so bad. If my close relative were to wash them first, they might just fall clear apart! I have a hand-me- down jacket from one of the offspring, but it isn't very warm and the zipper just works half way up.
The newspaper office has decided to make getting the daily paper a chore. The price has gone up right regular in the last two years and now they will make us drive to the highway to get the dang thing.
We all have troubles, but if the fellers that deliver during the wee hours of the morning need a job bad enough to do that, they shouldn't mind a quarter of mile of gravel road. That puts just one more spasm in my gizzard this morning.
My close relative has gone to a benevolent meeting today. She left real early to pick up several others and head down to a county several counties away. Therefore, and because of the sweetness of her helping others, her other relative had to eat cold cereal for the main meal of the day! Go figure, how can that be fitting for a hard working man?
I suppose the flat tire on the hay truck was a gift this glorious day. It is about a half day job to pull the tire off, get the inner tube out, repair the old patched up thing and then put the tire back together, get it on the truck and go. I only spent one and three quarters of an hour doing the chore this morning because I was so dang aggravated.
It is my opinion, and everyone has one, there will be days like this in all lines of work. It would be devastating for a pencil lead to break if you were a CPA, the water to stop if a café dishwasher, lights to go out if you were an inspector at a sweat shop.
Sure, I am thankful for where I am, but I am gonna have to make myself feel better some way. And feeling better for me is a hot meal of beef, beans, biscuits and pie! I am on my way to the coffee emporium to soothe my poor old bent out of shape nose!
Bill is the pen name used by the Gravette area author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 12/10/2014