Wednesday, February 20, 2008

just one of them mornings.......

I should have known it was going to be "one of them mornings" when I first opened my uncooperative eyes and felt that itch in my throat of a sore throat coming on. Then feeling Willow next to me I noted that she felt hot and suspected that she might be feverish ,too. Not a huge surprise since Riah and Larah have been home sick the last three days with the influenza virus going around~ the headaches, tiredness, sore throat, coughing and aches and pains.
I roll out of bed and think
"all I need is a cup of java with lots of cream in it to get me going"
That is one area where Michael spoils me rotten.When he leaves for work 45 minutes before I rise, he makes coffee in the coffee maker for both of us. I wake each morning to the smell of hot coffee in the coffee maker and only need to stumble over and pour my first "wake me up" cup.
But my usual routine was disrupted when I went to look at the coffee maker and it was off, unplugged and the top filter area where the water runs through was plugged and full of water and coffee grounds. Instead of coffee this AM I just had a mess to deal with.
I then proceed to go into the bathroom and find that the toilet is also plugged up. So instead of my usual coffee I spend my first minutes of the day plunging and washing, inbetween getting Lia and Hans up and cooking eggs and making bag lunches and all the other chores of morning.
In the middle of my mayhem,
the phone rings. It is a person from the chicken farm down the road and her message to me surely startled me to waking when she reported
"one of our people on the way to work this morning saw a cow on the road by your house calving!! You better get out there as it is mighty cold this morning!"
Oh yeah,
did I forget to mention that amidst all the craziness of this wild morning that it was -22 F with a windchill of around -40? Not the temperature for a calf to come into the world,,in the middle of the road no less!!??? YIKES!
First thing I do is try to call son Jordan at his house, 10 miles away. I know that I am going to need help getting a cow back in the pasture and I am picturing myself trying to carry a wet , freezing 80lb calf off the road and back to the barn. Of course though,
Jordan and Joanna are still asleep and all I get is their answering machine, to which I leave, I am sure, a rather frantic SOS message (ie JORDAN HELP! MAMA NEEDS HELP!).
I find my clothes and dress, and run out to start my car. Even in an emergency a car needs to warm up at least 5 minutes in this brutal temperature. I gather my warm down coat and get warm gloves from Larah before she and Riah and Hans and Lia head out the door for school. As I head out the door I am thinking I should grab towels to wipe down a wet calf, if it is still alive even. I am in such a hurry that I just grab the quilt that is sitting on the couch in front of me to use as drying/warmth for a newborn calf if needed. Then I head out the door and drive down the road to the place where I see a cow standing near the fence in the pasture looking at the road. This must be the area where the cow is out, I presume. But upon arriving at the perceived emergency situation I see no cows out,
no newborn calves, neither dead or alive,
no evidence whatsoever that a dilemna is taking place. I get out of the car and walk along the fence line on the snowmobile tracks. All I hear is the sound of my sorel boots crunching on the frozen snow and all I see is the cold vapor of my breath. The sun is out and it really is a starkly cold, beautiful morning. Where I walk along the fence I am next to the trees and sheltered from the wind and it doesnt feel all *that* freezing out to me.
I will have to say that I am confused at this point as I see no tracks showing that any cow was ever even out of the fence in the first place. All looks calm and peaceful as the cattle by the fence line stand against the trees chewing their cud with the clouds of frozen breath billowing out of their mouths and surrounding their heads like a frozen cloud.
I walk back to the car and find my cellphone, call Jordan and this time I get Joanna and tell her to tell Jordan "never mind" (lol) "dont come running in a panic until I investigate further and get back to you"
I proceed to walk most of the area around the pasture fence line looking for a rogue cow giving birth alone on the frozen tundra,,,but nope, not one to be found. I walk back toward the barn where the main herd are gathered around the big hay bales, check out each cow behind and see no sign of a cow calving or a dead frozen animal anywhere. By now my face is feeling the cold. My cheeks are froze and I find it hard to move my face, my nose is so cold as my running nose freezes onto my nose ring (now this must be why most old farmers in north country do not where metal rings in their noses. Ya think?)
Well,
as I mosie back to the warmth of the house I am thankful that I did not find an emergency on this cold morning. I dont understand what that person saw but I cant find any evidence that anything out of the ordinary was occuring as this person perceived as he drove by. All is silent, all is calm and cold. And that morning walk through the fields did much more to wake me up then a cup of java ever could today.......