I *knew* I Heard Something!

Last night I was laying in bed waiting for my alarm to go off at 1 am. I had my alarm set for 1 am because we had just got a new batch of chicks in yesterday and I needed to get up and check the temperature of the brooder to make sure it wasn't too hot or too cool in there for the chicks. As I was laying there, waiting for the alarm to go off, I could hear a cow or something making a weird noise.

We still have two cows who were bred late last year who still need to have their calves. Earlier in the evening, just before we went to bed, I was out checking the brooder when I heard a cow moaning or something. I told Dan the Man that he ought to go out an check the cattle, maybe one was calving. So he took the flashlight and headed out to check the herd. He came back in a few minutes later and said nothing looked unusual and no one was calving. So we went to bed.

Having my alarm set for 1 am made it hard to fully fall asleep, especially since I knew I needed to get up and check that brooder. So I drifted in and out of sleep until I finally decided to get up at about 12:45. I kept hearing weird noises outside. The window was open. At least I thought the noises were coming from outside. I couldn't be sure if I was dreaming and the sounds were coming from my dreams or if they were really coming from outside.

I put on my cowboy boots, grabbed a flashlight and headed outside in my "sock monkey laying on the beach" night shirt. I no sooner got to the driveway on the way to the brooder when I was startled by Charlie, our 4 year old half-blood Lowline bull.

Country Chicken Girl: "Whoa! Charlie, what are you doing out here???"

He was on a mission to get into the field with the cows. We don't put our bulls in with our cows until August since we like to calve in May.

I yelled at him and told him "no, no!" but he just proceeded to push right past me towards the cows. Naughty boy! I ran after him, while yelling at Danny who was sound asleep in our nice comfy bed. Good thing our window was open or he probably would not have heard me.

Country Chicken Girl (chasing Charlie in her jammies and cowboy boots, running past the house): "Danny, Charlie is out and trying to get in with the cows!"

Dan the Man: " Huh?"

Country Chicken Girl (finding it hard to run in cowboy boots and jammies): "Get our here! Charlie is out and trying to get in with the girls."

Dan the Man: "OH! Wait, I have to get dressed!"

I don't know why he couldn't just put on HIS cowboy boots and come out in HIS jammies, but no, he had to get fully dressed! Like anyone was going to see him!

So meanwhile I am trying to contain Charlie, who is a tamest bull we own. Probably because we showed him when he was a calf at the National Western Stock Show and The NILE. So, needless to say, he isn't afraid of me and knows I won't hurt him, so he just trots right past me. I run in front of him and "boink" him on the head with the flash light.

"That'll turn him," I think to my self.

Charlie squinting his eyes like I'm beating him on the head with a baseball bat: "Oh, oh, don't hurt me!" but still pushing onward towards the girls.

Country Chicken Girl: "Charlie, NO, NO! STOP!!!" More "boinking" on the head, "boink, boink" with the flashlight to no avail.

Finally, Dan the Man comes out and yells at Charlie and we finally get him turned away from the cows and headed back to the corral where he belongs. Why does Charlie listen to Boss Man Dan, but totally ignores the little Country Chicken Girl in her sock monkey jammies and cowboy boots?

Wow, exciting night life here at the Open A Bar 2 Ranch last night. Oh, you wouldn't have believed how clear the sky was and how bright the stars were. The milky way was "out of this world" and I saw a falling star.

Sorry there are no pictures for this post, but I'm sure you can use your imagination and come up with some visuals of the story yourself!

The End.