Country Savvy

I was just laughing about an incident that happened a couple years ago.  A friend of mine had sold a couple of short yearling calves (about 10 months old) and had ask me to come help him get them loaded.  It seems that the fellow he had sold them to had not seen them and had sent an employee down from Montana to transport them back to his dairy.  Now he probably knows dairy cows, but he doesn’t know longhorn cattle. As we were sitting around talking while waiting on the fellow to come and load the calves, Jack mentioned that he was going to load them in the back of a pickup truck.  Normally there is no problem with a stock rack and I was not concerned.  But hang on to your hat, the fellow showed up with a small Ranger pickup with a box cover made of 2×4’s and 1/2 inch plywood.  It was two feet high and had been covered with plywood for a top, basically no more than the size of a camper shell.

Now the fun started.  we had to build a ramp to get the calves to even think about loading into this “crate”.  As you might imagine, putting two 400 lb animals in a small pickup with a stock rack is one thing, but when these two finally entered this crate, they lifted the top off the pickup when they went in.  With some tie downs, we were able to secure the top to the truck so it would not come off.  Next we had to secure the front, back and sides from busting out. Now the crate was complete, the yearlings were in, and trying to stand up with knees bent. To lay down they were compelled to lie on top of each other.

After the paperwork was completed, the fellow started his 1500 mile trip at about 6pm.  He was going to stop someplace to get some sleep, but would not be able to let the yearlings out for food or water.  Out of concern for the longhorn, we suggested that they have a vet check them out when they arrive in Montana.

Jack got a call the next day, he had driven straight through and the yearlings had made it ok.

Now since we are experienced craters of cattle, and if you want to crate up a few in a 4×4x6 crate, we are for hire.  Of course we do not warrant the end results. And I must say that of all the ways I have loaded cattle for transport, this is the most unique and last resort method.  But far be it for me to say it can’t be done, with these eyes of mine, I have seen and believe anything can be done with imagination.

I really had wished that we had a picture of this, but we had no camara at the time.

God Bless and keep your health.

The other day, I was listening to the radio. The song, “Are the good times really over” or something to that effect by Merle Haggard, while old, it really says a lot for today’s situations.  People are on Welfare, get food stamps, and now will get free medical if the Health Care bill is passed.

When I was a teenager, people worked for a living.  Whether they took in ironing, worked picking cotton, or dug ditches, they worked for a living and were proud of what they did.  I delivered papers in an area of town that was not wealthy.  One of my customers was an old man without legs.  He had no wheelchair, only a small platform with rollers.  He could scoot around on it using his hands on the sidewalk to move. I always had a problem collecting from him, but when I would catch him home, he always paid.  His house was a small two room that was probably no more than 500 sq ft.  It was not necessarily clean, but was not cluttered either.  He would always take time to talk to me as an equal, and I did learn from him.  He made a living selling pencils on the sidewalk in downtown.  Most people walked by him and didn’t much give him a glance, but those that did, I think understood that this was his job.  He was not a freeloader, but actually tried to make what money he could by selling the pencils. I learned that you can always find work of some type, it is up to you to take that opportunity and use it to your advantage. Once he gave me a reflector for my Cushman scooter.  He was concerned that I was not safe driving at night.

Not only did people work then, but they still had compassion and were willing to share the few dollars they had with others.  It was not the government sharing, but real people, doing real things for others.

Will those times return, no, but we can try to keep it from getting worse.  We still have organizations that help those in need, we still have people who want to take care of themselves, and we still have pride.  It is not for the government to give us health care, money to live on or a house to live in.  It is up to us to work for what we get, it is up to us to take care of the cost of living, and it is up to us to have pride in ourselves for being self-sufficient.  I urge everyone to work, don’t be a puppet for the government by being a taker, instead, be a giver, help others as they would help you.  There is no Robin Hood to take from the rich and give to the poor.  When the rich are taxed, then we loose jobs that they may have for us.

Working maintains a healthy body, and mind.  Lets don’t waste the abilities we have and put them to good use.

God Bless and keep you