Grandpa Jack Excerpt (Patreon)

This section of his essay is my favorite--when he talks about the time he spent on his grandparents' farm. 

"Bringing the cows to the barn was a big responsibility for me at age eight or nine.  I rose before the sun was up and trudged off up the hills with our Collie dog Lady looking for the cows.  We always had a big Holstein bull feeding with the herd so I had to be cautious.  I usually picked up a few rocks to defend myself from the bull not realizing that the rocks would be useless if he charged me. The cows wore bells around their necks which clanged when they moved their heads.  I could find them by listening for the calling noise of the bells.  The herd would usually be loitering in a cool place under a pine forest canopy chewing their cuds and waiting to be herded down the hill to the barn.  Sometimes I would discover a baby calf that was born during the night and barely able to stand. I had to leave the calf with the mother while I drove the rest of the herd down and come back later when the calf could be loaded into wheelbarrow for the trip down."

Also, I sort of combined his dogs Lady and Pete and ended up with Pete: 

"Sometimes our dog Pete, an old German Sheppard whose teeth were missing from biting the tires of passing cars, would accompany me.  Pete was always looking for trouble and would occasionally locate a woodchuck in the field and run it into the refuge of a stone fence. Pete would bark and rile in pursuit while the woodchuck shrilled a deathly whistle of fear."

There's lots more, but I don't want to give anything away! 

xo

mm