At First Light (and a cute side story)

Sure, it’s a phrase you hear often in old cowboy flicks. But I’ll be damned if it’s not still useful. I got up this morning when it was still dark and had coffee with my folks. They’re going to work cattle today. Why today, you ask? Since it’s the middle of the week, and I can’t help because I have to work? Well, my dad’s going to be out of town for the next couple of weekends with his job, and they have to be done this month, so that’s just how it works out. But, of course wanting to do what I can, we finished our coffee then I went with them ‘at first light’ to get the cattle in the lot. Many, many things can go wrong at this stage of working cattle, so the more people you have to help, the better. Cows can run through fences, they can JUMP fences (I swear to God it's true. You’d never guess, but some of these old girls can jump like gazelles. You can’t help but marvel at their grace, even as you’re seeing RED because they just got out and now you have to go get them back in.), they can just scatter and all run different directions around the field … the possibilities are endless for them, actually. But, when you have several people all moving them in the same direction, they usually go where they’re supposed to. And this morning, except for one cow/calf pair, we got all the girls exactly where we wanted them. And we did it all at first light. (incidentally, is there a 'second light'?)

The Side Story:

Then, I promptly jumped in my car and zoomed back to Kirksville to get ready for work. I was going slow enough, though, that I happened to catch a sight that made me giggle. The highway to Kirksville goes through several teeny towns. Through one of these towns, there’s an access road that leads down to a small river. Every once in a while, you’ll see people who have parked their vehicles on one end of this access road and walk to the river and back for exercise. This morning, an old farmer about 65 years old, was out walking. He had his white tennis shoes, his short-sleeve, snap-front blue plaid shirt tucked neatly into his blue jeans, his cap … and his pliers on his belt.

Because you simply never know what you’re going to run up against when out walking. The first time you don't bring your pliers is when you need them the most. It's a good life lesson there. :)