Last night I went a little crazy.
A few years ago I was with my friend V at a bar in
Florida. We had been talking, drinking, and having a good ole' time when one of
the guys we were chatting with did the unthinkable. He made V's cousin cry. As
soon as she found out my hands were thrust full of a purse and I was watching,
mesmerized slightly confused and definitely a little bit mortified, her run/hop
down the boardwalk removing her heels as she went. She got in the guy's face about
not making her cousin cry and I was pretty sure she was going to stab him with
her stiletto. For the record, V is half Mexican, and we frequently joke about
her going "Mexican chick crazy" on the guy. Also for the record, she
didn't actually beat him to death with a high heel. He backed down and
apologized. I have always been a little in awe of her passionate side.
I tell you this story so that you understand where I'm
coming from on this one. Last night I went "Mexican chick crazy." On
a cow.
For the last three feedings the cows have gotten out when
I have begun moving them hay. The first time they banged against the gate and
it came open accidentally. The second time I noticed that the tractor had a
flat and they escaped while I was backing it up to try to fix the tire. I
swear, there was nary a cow in sight, but as soon as the gate was unattended it
was like a Goddamn military attack. "Alpha team: go, go, go!" "Beta
squad, flank! Now! Go! We've rehearsed this people!" I hopped off the tractor to see a stream of black
pouring out of the gate. Both of those times I kept my cool. After all one was
an accident and the other was my fault. Plus, they both happened on Saturday
mornings when I had help to put them back in.
Oh, but last night. Last night they ran out of the gate
while I was trying to get the tractor through it. Note, they still have had hay
in their feeders. They are just (rightly) convinced that there is a smidgen of
grass in the yard (since, you know, eating it Saturday morning). They would
rather have that than the icky old alfalfa and grass bales. Also, they are a
bunch of jerks and just kinda suck.
So last night I decided to use the tractor with a cab
because I mistakenly thought it had better headlights. Turns out that it has
headlights that point directly on the hood of the tractor, producing glare the
likes of which you cannot even imagine. Add to that a dusty tractor windshield
and I already am cranky because I can't see worth a damn. By the way, the cows
are black. So it is perhaps the worst combination ever for not running them over.
Anyway, I open the gate and run back to the tractor to
lift the bale, put it in gear and move forward, which admittedly takes longer than it does with the cabless tractor by a few seconds, when like a bunch of ninjas the
freaking strike force pours out of the gate. Ten cows run out before I can
block the opening with the tractor. I wedge the gate closed on one side,
blocking the rest of the herd between it and the tractor so cows can come in,
but not out - hopefully. Then I run around the barn and start screaming like a
drunken sailor banshee.
I am certain that if anyone had heard me I would have
been committed. I always joke about farmer's cursing, but this, this was the
pinnacle. I wasn't being clever and calling them "line breeders." BTW,
that is when you breed a son to a mother, thus making him a...I think you get
it. Or shouting "Son of a Brisket!" I was shouting something along
the lines of:
"WhatTheFuckAreYouDoingOut?! YouStupidSonsOfBitchingCows! GetYourAssesBackInTheGoddamnFence! RightNow!"
and running at them. Note that at this
point I am just pissed. I haven't crossed the line to crazy yet. Then Twoface's
daughter turned and stopped. She looked right at me like, "Yeah? What are
you going to do about it?" I charged her and pulled the knife out of my
pocket that I use to cut off the bale strings while shouting, "You wanna
go? I will fucking cut you, heifer!" She turned and fled, but that right
there is when I went "Mexican chick crazy." I'm pretty sure I leapt
at her with a knife. Yup. That happened.
That's right, V. I'm not always a passionate person, but
when I am I contemplate shanking a cow with a bale spear. Boom. Mic drop.
In other news, they didn't get out again and the rest of
my feeding went very smoothly. Perhaps cows respect the crazy?
