This is Farmer’s worst day of the year. They are hooking up the snowplow blade and back blade to the tractor. Boy, oh, boy, does he hate winter. I think it’s beautiful. I, for the most part get to observe it from inside my warm, cozy house. He on the other hand gets up close and personal.
He has to plow snow and keep the roads open for the milkman and is frequently pulling people out of ditches. He has to keep the water from freezing in the barns and the snow off the roofs. He's in the elements more than he likes.
I do remember what it is like though. I helped feed calves in the past and for a while we had them in hutches outdoors. Carrying and slipping and sliding with 2 five gallon pails of milk slopping all over your legs was no fun. Then, try to get the calves to drink out of pails. Within 30 seconds your hands were of no use. Frozen fingers just don’t work so well. By the time you were done you could hardly walk. You couldn’t bend your knees because your pants were frozen stiff from the spilled milk.
A year ago we had a fun experience due to the snow. Farmer and I were on our way home from a pleasant evening out and got a call from one of the guys. “There are cows out down the road and someone hit one” he informed us. Great I thought, “Hamburger on the road.” After finding out no one was hurt a plan of action was discussed.
I would drop Farmer off to change his clothes and I would drive down the road and make sure no one else ran into the cows. It was snowing and blowing a little and there was about a foot of snow on the ground. When I crested the hill I was surprised to see no bovine in the road. There were two big guys and two cows wandering around in the yard beside the barn.
I jumped out and asked if everyone was OK. “Yep, we were just driving down the road and what the #@#@# a cow walks out and I hit it with the snow blade” said one of the big guys.
I had a small flashlight and couldn’t see the fence broke or down so figured they got out around the back. So, I started to herd the cows around the back. They were enjoying their freedom and didn’t want to go. One started to walk towards the guys and they scrambled back. I kind laughed to myself. These big guys were afraid of these docile cows.
Well, these ladies were in no hurry to get moooving back to the barn. Here I am walking knee deep in snow with such cute boots on, a good coat, no gloves, and no hat. The girls were just moseying along. I felt like I was in one of those California Cow commercials. Finally, about the time I got them around back, Farmer showed up with one of the guys from the barn.
They found the break in the wire and I sat thawing out in the truck while shining lights on the downed wire. Farmer looked for pieces of wire hanging around anywhere in the vicinity to fix the break.
I do remember thinking as the snow is soaking my jeans, going down my cute boots and my fingers turning into stubs that “You know, this snow isn’t really all that pretty. Why couldn’t this happen in July or August?”
The cows were fine, the guys were fine, and the truck was fine. My boots? Not so sure.
