I am pretty sure we are about to surpass the deficit of rainfall for this year. It would be a great feeling to be out of the red on rain. I know we don't ever take the water for granted and yet we sometimes seem to think it will just happen. I know who sends it.
I checked the pastures early yesterday morning for downed cherry trees. Never have lost any cattle to the wilted leaves of them, but the cyanide will kill a good bovine plumb dead! I believe in keeping all we have breathing as long as possible. I intend to cut the two big cherry trees that are in the fence line in a pasture south of headquarters. I need to remember to take the chain saw with me and get it done!
And that brings up the memory thing again. How in the heck are we supposed to remember all the stuff we know when our brains are so full of information? I might forget to do a small errand for my close relative and it is suddenly a sign of something dreaded and the threat of a doctor appointment is thrown at me. I am getting older and, hopefully, I will continue to get older, but that isn't a sign of dementia. Shucks, I forgot stuff when I was a young feller!
My cousin that lives out in the home country called last week to say his parents had both been ill. His father has Alzheimer's and is not aware of anything anymore. His mother is not able to care for him, and so they are both in homes for the care and help needed. I sure feel for the folks that are going through illnesses and serious family problems. We live longer and our old bodies still wear out. We have no parts stores for replacements like Napa has for cars.
On a lighter note, cattle prices are continuing to stay high. How about a beef producer getting enough moisture and having high prices at the same time! Makes plenty of us old broke fellers happy and probably our bankers, too. I suspect there will be loans paid off this year that are so old the paper they are written on is yellowed and fragile. I know we are almost paid out on a couple of ours and that makes for a good, or at least better, night's sleep!
The old soft-shelled turtles are out and crossing roads. I wonder where they think they are gonna go, having left a pond or creek and hiking out to the unknown. Those old reptiles eat lots of our fish and are about as ugly as God can stand to let live, so I don't try to protect them. We have some neighbors that make soup out of the meat and I take them all the big ones I can shoot and make a clean kill. They welcome the treat!
It is my opinion, and everyone has one, depending on where you were raised and what your mother put on the table, you are right fond of today. I can't see eating stuff that is so dang ugly, but some of the highest priced food in the country is a huge bug looking critter from the ocean, lobster. I don't understand the consumption of raw oysters or the need to chow down on kidney pie. Looks like they could all do a little better on mountain oysters; at least they are clean and tasty!
Keep smiling and praying!
Bill is the pen name used by the Gravette-area author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 05/20/2015